Personal creed

I've been doing some work on a personal creed for my EFM (education for Ministry) class. For the record, here's what I've got so far. Definitely a work in progress. I owe big thanks to my fellow EFMers for most of the thoughts on the last four topics (Creation, Sin, Judgement, and Redemption). The (T, A, C) stuff has to do with the four-source theological reflection methodology taught in EFM, and the letters indicate what factors I think contributed to my beliefs on those topics. T = tradition; A = action (that is, personal experience); C = culture (the one I was brought up in).

I believe that Jesus Christ is:
- Risen, meaning alive in a real and powerful way, despite having lived and died nearly 2000 years ago. That Christ is risen means that He is available to today's Christians as their living Lord and savior, and indeed that He invites us into an ongoing, vital, life-giving relationship with Him. (T, A)
- Fully human, meaning human in every way. I believe Jesus lived, loved, struggled, doubted, experienced the full range of human emotions, suffered, and died, just as any of us do. I believe that His suffering (no more or less than His human joy) was a necessary part of being fully human, since suffering is an intrinsic part of the experience of human life. (T, C)
- Fully divine, meaning one with God in an ineffably profound way, so much so that to speak of Him as the second person of a Trinity, along with God the Creator and God the Holy Spirit, is an authentic and deeply revelatory metaphor for describing who God is. Further, His suffering (no more or less than His joy) is an indispensable pointer to important truths about who God is: that suffering is also an intrinsic part of God's identity. (T, A)
- The Way, the Truth, the (Bread of) Life, and the Light of the World. (T, A)

I believe that God the Creator is:
- The Mother/Father/Creator/Source of the universe, all things, and all individual creatures. The Ground of Being. (T, C)
- Love. (See below.) (T, A)
- A bestower of boundless unearned grace, mercy, forgiveness, salvation, and redemption. (T, A)

I believe that the Holy Spirit is:
- God within us. (T, A)
- The bestower of spiritual gifts giving us the power to work for God's purposes in otherwise impossible ways. (T, A)
- Within us as Fire, or as Breath, or as Living Water according to our need. (T, A)
- The Holy Comforter. (T, A)

I believe that the Love is:
- Patient and kind, not jealous, conceited, proud, ill-mannered, selfish, or irritable. Forgetful of wrongs, unhappy with evil, happy with the truth. Undefeatable and unfailing. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) (T, A)
- Universal and all-forgiving, yet demanding and desiring that the beloved grow in faith, hope, love, righteousness, and wholeness. (T, A)

I believe that humankind is:
- A complicated creature. (T, C, A)
- Created in the image of God, and therefore, through the grace of God, capable of growing toward God in all the ways noted above. (T, C, A)
- An animal with a strong propensity toward temptation and evil, sins committed against God, fellow creatures, and self. (T, C, A)

I believe that creation is:
- The gift of God's continuing activity to renew the world.
- Collaborative, meaning that through God's grace, we can participate in the work of creation.
- Good and miraculous, in God's image.
- Evolving.

I believe that sin is:
- A turning away from God that separates or alienates a person from God.
- Rejection of God's unconditional love.
- Idolatry - conscious or unconscious, meaning putting something that is not God in the place of God.

I believe that judgment is:
- God's assessment of the genuineness of our attempt to live in a way that is pleasing to Him.
- God's business - Jesus commanded that we not judge one another.
- The result or consequences of our behavior toward God and creation.

I believe that redemption is:
- God's act to restore the fullness of His relationship to us.
- Assented to by the individual human, but not earned.
- Being forgiven.