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Oldest Mennonite Confession of Faith

Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by Rebel, Apr 18, 2015.

  1. Rebel

    Rebel Active Member

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  2. Eliyahu

    Eliyahu Active Member
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    Very interesting.

    << The Providence of GodWe believe with Holy Scripture that God has known from all eternity all things that happen, have happened, and will happen, both good and bad. [Nevertheless] this foreknowledge compels no one to sin. We confess also that though He foreknows all things, that which happens is not all His will nor work. Even as He is a fountain of life, a Father of light, and in Himself the only true good, so also everything that proceeds and flows from Him, being willed, foreordained, and worked by Him, is good, holy, righteousness and light, for the eternal God cannot will, ordain, or bring forth anything contrary to His own divine nature. Therefore we confess God to so govern the world that whatever is virtuous, good, and righteous upon earth comes through His providence and eternal will. We confess further, that whatever appears before God as presumptuous, as departure from His commandments; all disobedience, all sin, all malice and evil brought forth among men, is neither His will nor His work but contrary to Him, though He sees and permits it in His patience. In summary, we confess that God at times punishes people because of His righteousness. This punishment, though it seem evil in the eyes of men, is righteous before God. Therefore He also orders, and brings to a good end, the evil works of the godless. >>

    Need to review further but quite interesting.


    Eliyahu
     
  3. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for posting this.

    Maybe I'm missing it, but where does it say how a person can be saved?
     
  4. Thousand Hills

    Thousand Hills Active Member

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    Good question, I grew up in an Anabaptist tradition, and can honestly say I never heard a clear presentation of the gospel.
     
  5. Jerome

    Jerome Well-Known Member
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    Huh?:null:

     
  6. Rebel

    Rebel Active Member

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    Explain please.
     
  7. Eliyahu

    Eliyahu Active Member
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    In general their confession is simple but their gospel tells:


    We confess concerning the gospel, that it is the good news of the grace of God, made manifest in Christ, proclaiming the blessing of eternal salvation and life to the entire human race through the shed blood of Christ, upon the condition of faith in the under.17


    Eliyahu
     
  8. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
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    What you quoted was a statement of historical fact, not necessarily how one gets saved.


    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
     
  9. Thousand Hills

    Thousand Hills Active Member

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    Sorry it took a while to get back to you, been busy. Let me modify my statement, fortunately we occasionally had Missionary Baptist types preach revivals, I can still remember as a young child a local evangelist saying "do you know, that you know, that you know?". So thankfully I did hear a fairly clear gospel presentation, but it was only on rare occasions, I looked forward to those guys coming to preach, and was always on the edge of my pew.

    To keep it short, here's my take (having spent 25 years there).

    -Too much emphasis on achieving World Peace/Peace on Earth (the bible is clear this will never happen because of the fall, Christ brings peace to individuals, who in turn change their society as they live out their faith, peace will not exist apart from Christ. They sought :1_grouphug: without Christ.)

    -Too much emphasis on saving the planet/environment (we should be good stewards, but I observed worship of creation rather than the creator).

    -Stated NT was their only creed. That is fine and dandy, but as we see here everyday much disagreement can be had even over the simplest verses. This leaves the door wide open to all types of beliefs.

    -The OT was rarely if ever preached from, other than your typical children's stories (Jonah, Noah's ark, etc.) Took me years of study to put some of the pieces together (OT and NT)

    -No expository preaching.

    -Absolutely little to no concern for missions or personal evangelism.

    -Definitely not "high church", but prideful just the same about traditions (feet washing,etc.) and "living simple". Different end of the spectrum, but similar "works based" approach.

    -A majority of the churches in our region were dead or dying, those that were getting by were comprised of generations of the families that founded the church 50 to 100 years ago. (Not really uncommon in more rural areas in the SE whatever the denomination UMC, FWB, PCUSA, etc.)
     
  10. Rebel

    Rebel Active Member

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    Could I ask you which denomination you were a part of?
     
  11. Thousand Hills

    Thousand Hills Active Member

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    I've probably given enough clues that if you are familiar with the Anabaptist movement in the US you will figure it out. There are old threads here where they have been discussed in the past.
     
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