Homeschool Group's Statement of Faith

[Guest]

I recently joined a nearby homeschool group/co-op and I generally liked their Statement of Faith (which they have so that Mormons and JWs and such cannot join and teach our children). Anyway, I thought it was generally pretty broad (which I like) and I wanted to get you guys' opinions on it.

For example, what would you change about it (wording and such). Or what would you add to it?

I would want to word a Statement of Faith in such a way as to not keep, for example, Paidion from fellowshipping with a group. I know that he as well as others have a different spin on some things, and so I would want a sof that would be as inclusive as possible, without allowing cults and such in.

Anyway, here is the Statement of Faith...

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Statement of Faith

**Homeschool group** holds the following statements of Christian belief to be the foundation on which we will operate:

1. We believe the Bible to be the only authoritative Word of God, inerrant and infallible. (II Timothy 3:16,11 Peter 2:21)

2. We believe there is one true God, manifested in three distinct Persons known as the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:1, John 10:30)

3. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity and that He possesses all of the attributes of the Father. He is the only son of God. He was born of a virgin and He is God incarnate (both God and man). He is mediator between God and man and will return in glory.
(Matthew 16:27)

4. We believe the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, possesses all the attributes of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit indwells, instructs and empowers all believers for spiritual service. (Matthew 28:19)

5. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost, the saved to eternal life and the lost to eternal punishment, (John 5:28-29)

6. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit who gives us spiritual gifts for the purpose of equipping us for the building up of the body of Christ. (John 14:26)

7. We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are placed by the Holy Spirit into the spiritual body of believers known as the church with Christ as the head. Genuine salvation will show itself by righteous attitudes and edifying conduct as a believer submits himself or herself to the
control of the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 5:16, Acts 26:20, James 3:13, 1 Peter 27:12)

8. We believe in the creation of man by the direct act of God. (Genesis 1:26, Genesis 5:1-2)

9. We believe that man is sinful by nature and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is essential and an absolute necessity for his salvation. We believe that eternal life is a free gift of grace for all who believe. (Romans 3:l9 and 23, John 3:16-19, Ephesians 2:18-19, Titus 3:5-6)

I accept the above as true and correct

____________________________________________________________
Signature Date

[Guest]

Well..... if I had to subscribe to this statement of faith in order to teach in your home school group, I would definitely be excluded. I disagree with many of the statements.

I do subscribe to the Nicene Creed in its original form:

THE NICENE CREED
As set forth at Nicea, A.D. 325

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, only begotten, that is, of the essence of the Father;
God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made,
being of one essence with the Father,

Through whom all things were made; both things in heaven and things on earth;

Who for us people, and for our salvation, came down, and was incarnate,
and was made man;

He suffered, and was raised again the third day,

And ascended into heaven
And he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead,
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
And in one baptism of repentance for deliverance from sins,
And in one holy universal Church,
And in the resurrection of the flesh,
And in everlasting life.

[Guest]

I agree with Paidion. It goes beyond the historical Christian creeds and seems designed to exclude. Is the threat of Mormon's and JW's infiltrating your group really that much of a concern?

My wife and I homeschooled our son. He is in college now. We belonged to a "home school support center", which was essentially a school for homeschoolers. Although it was understood that most of the parents and most of the teachers were Christians, there was no litmus test or required creedal contract. There may well have been a Mormon family or two.

My son's soccer coach at the time was a physicist. We asked him if he would tutor our son. He agreed and began tutoring him in Euclid's Elements. Before long, a whole crowd of homeschooled kids were attending the lessons (many parents attended as well, because the lessons were fascinating). As a result, my son was inspired to pursue science, mathematics, physics, chemistry and even philosophy. A whole world was opened to him. The tutor became my friend (in fact, I'm helping him move next Saturday). He is a lapsed Catholic. He is also one of the most unyieldingly honest people I've ever met. If we had asked him to sign such a Statement of Faith before teaching our son, I'm sure he would have refused and we would have missed out on so much.

[Guest]

I didn't come up with the statement of faith, just had to sign it to be a part of the group. The reason I posted it is because I found it less restrictive than most statement of faiths that "churches" tend to put forth, so I wanted to see what you guys thought about it.

As far as being concerned about mormons/jws/non-christians, if I had children who were in high school and have learned to be discerning and have a good grasp on the scriptures, then no, I would not be as concerned. But as the mother of a five year old who is very impressionable, yes it would be concerning to have others that don't know the Lord teach my children.

[Guest]

Rae wrote

But as the mother of a five year old who is very impressionable, yes it would be concerning to have others that don't know the Lord teach my children.

You mean your son hasn't read Steve Gregg's "Revelation: Four Views" yet?

I think at 5 years old you've made the right decission.


Danny wrote

If we had asked him to sign such a Statement of Faith before teaching our son, I'm sure he would have refused and we would have missed out on so much.

Great point Danny. Statements of faith can unnecessarily box us in.

[Guest]

I generally dislike statements of faith as they are unnecessarily divisive, but if excluding Mormons and JW's was the goal, you could simply have:

2. We believe there is one true God

That would exclude Mormons.

And...

We believe that the head of every believer, and the church, is Christ (1Cor11:3, Col1:18 ).

That would exclude JW's since their true head is the watchtower.

[Guest]

Of course, the Mormon could always say "Well, we believe that there is only one true God....... for this planet."

Maybe something like, "We believe there is only one true God in the Universe and there are no other Gods besides Him."

[Guest]

Would this one exclude Mormons?

The Bible is the only book we accept as absolutely authoritative in matters of faith and conduct.


And re Jehovah's Witnesses:

We believe that Jesus Chist is Deity in exactly the same sense as the Heavenly Father is Deity.

[Guest]

I think those would work! Thanks!