I would like to question the need for creeds old or new.

The human desire to package mystery is always foredoomed to failure.

I believe that the historic fourth century creeds were formulated in response to the Roman genius for law and order. By contrast Jesus of Nazareth seems to have been quite a disorderly person. Wisely he did not visibly aspire to be a systematic theologian!

The early Church appears to have been satisfied with the simple affirmation ‘Jesus is Lord’, discovering the Spirit in the power of resurrection. Perhaps our task as progressive Christians is to reinterpret these concepts for our present time. I suspect that this will have more to do with discipleship than with the worship of a divine Christ (Matt 7:21).

Conceivably contemporary discipleship will major on living out Jesus values in the world, and therein encountering the new life of Spirit. I take these values to include love, compassion and forgiveness, propelling us endlessly over conventional barriers. My list of perceived values is of course by no means exhaustive. No doubt there are many more.

With kindest regards,

David Stevenson