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Course 26 · Lesson 6.1

Writing a personal statement of faith

8 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 26 outline

Module 1: Comprehensive Biblical Knowledge Examination

  1. Preparing: a review plan for the whole Bible
  2. The examination: books, story, genres and key passages
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers and planning review

Module 2: Historical Theology Examination

  1. Preparing: a timeline, key figures and key councils
  2. The examination: periods, controversies and primary texts
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers and planning review

Module 3: Systematic Theology Examination

  1. Preparing: an outline of the doctrines
  2. The examination: God, Christ, humanity, salvation, church and last things
  3. Sample questions and what a good answer contains
  4. Evaluating your answers, especially on fairness across traditions

Module 4: Philosophical Argument Evaluation and Historical Apologetics Assessment

  1. Evaluating a philosophical argument: premises, validity and objections
  2. Exercises: cosmological, moral, evil and hiddenness arguments
  3. Assessing historical evidence: sources, dating, witnesses and bias
  4. Exercises: the resurrection, the reliability of the New Testament and the canon

Module 5: Written Defense of Three Christian Propositions

  1. Choosing three propositions and defining the terms
  2. Building the case: arguments, evidence and sources
  3. Stating and answering the strongest objections
  4. Evaluating your defenses against the criteria

Module 6: Statement of Faith and Rule of Life

  1. Writing a personal statement of faith
  2. Relating the statement to the creeds and the traditions
  3. Writing a personal Christian rule of life
  4. Making the rule concrete and reviewable

Module 7: Reflection on Theological Development

  1. Mapping your development: beliefs held at the start and now
  2. Changes of mind: what changed and what caused the change
  3. Writing the reflection

Module 8: Strengths, Uncertainties and Continued Study

  1. Scoring the results of the components
  2. Naming your uncertainties without shame or evasion
  3. A plan for continued study, with dates for review

All courses

Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 6.1

What you will learn

  • Explain what a statement of faith is and how it differs from a creed and from a defense.
  • Write a personal statement in plain, honest first person language.
  • Mark which parts you hold with confidence and which with uncertainty.
  • Keep the statement private, dated and open to revision.

The big idea

A personal statement of faith says in the student’s own words what the student believes, why, and with what degree of confidence. It differs from a creed, which is a shared church statement, and from a defense, which argues against objections. It may be a page or two. Because it is private, it can be honest about doubts. It is dated, so that it can be compared with later versions. Nothing is submitted, and no one approves or grades it.

Key terms

Statement of faith
A written account of what a person believes. Some churches and organizations also publish statements of faith for their members.
Creed
A short formal statement of belief used by a church. The word comes from the Latin credo, I believe.
Confession
In one sense a longer statement of a church’s teaching, such as the Westminster Confession. In another sense an acknowledgment of sin or of faith.
Assent
Agreement of the mind to a claim as true.
Trust
Reliance on a person. Many traditions hold that faith includes both assent and trust.
Provisional
Held for now, and open to change. A statement may include provisional beliefs.

Background

The Christian tradition has two kinds of confession of faith. One is communal: the creeds and confessions that churches say together. The other is personal: from Paul’s brief confession in Romans 10:9 to Augustine’s Confessions, believers have written what they hold in their own voice. The statement in this lesson belongs to the second kind, though the next lesson asks the student to relate it to the first.

Honesty is the main quality. A statement should say what you actually believe, not what you think you ought to, nor what a church or teacher expects. It may include sentences such as: I believe this firmly, I hold this with some doubt, I do not yet know what I think about this, I have been taught that, and I have not made it my own. A statement of this kind is more useful than a long list of claims one does not really hold.

Nothing in this exercise is a test of orthodoxy. No church receives it, and the program does not tell the student what to believe. The aim is clarity: to know where you stand, so that later study can start from there.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: List what you hold

On a page, write in plain sentences what you believe about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, humanity and sin, salvation, the church and last things. Use your own words. Do not copy a creed yet.

Step 2: Mark your confidence

Beside each sentence, write a letter: F for firmly held, S for held with some doubt, U for unsure or undecided. Be honest. If you are not sure whether you believe something, mark U and say why.

Step 3: Give a reason

For the most important claims, add one sentence on why you believe it: Scripture, reasoning, experience, the witness of others, the teaching of your church. Say honestly which reasons weigh most.

Step 4: Draft the statement

Write a clean draft of one to two pages. Use I. Start with God and move through the other topics. Include a short paragraph on how you hold your beliefs: whether with confidence, with questions, or in a mixture. Put the date at the top.

Step 5: Read it aloud

Read the draft aloud. Mark any sentence that sounds borrowed or false. Replace it with something you can say truthfully. Keep the statement in your notebook, and decide when you will read it again.

  1. Which sentences do I write because I believe them, and which because I think I should?
  2. Where do I have doubts, and can I state them plainly?
  3. What reasons weigh most for me: Scripture, argument, experience, tradition or others?
  4. Does the statement say anything about how I live, and not only what I think?
  5. What have I left out because it is hard to say?
  6. When will I read this again?

Examples

An honest line

I believe that God created the world and cares about it. I hold this firmly. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. I hold this with some doubt about how to understand it, but I trust it. (A constructed example.)

A line of uncertainty

I do not know what I think about the end of the world. I have been taught one view, and I have read others, and I have not decided. (A constructed example.)

A reason line

I believe the Bible is God’s word mainly because of what it has done in my life and in the lives of others, and because I find its account of people true. I am still learning how to read the harder parts. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

Catholic

Catholic teaching treats faith as a gift of God and an act of the person, and holds the church’s creed as the frame in which individual faith is professed. A Catholic statement may begin with the Creed and add personal comment.

Orthodox

Orthodox teaching places confession of faith in the shared life of the church and the liturgy. A personal statement is possible, but an Orthodox student would likely read it in connection with the Creed and a spiritual father or mother.

Protestant

Protestants often value personal testimony and personal confession, and many churches ask for a statement of faith at membership or baptism. Many Protestant traditions also hold confessions that guide belief.

Secular and scholarly

Scholars of religion note that statements of belief differ from practice, and that people may hold beliefs with varying confidence. Surveys of belief often fail to capture this, and a personal statement that marks degrees of confidence is more informative.

Why it matters

A statement of faith clarifies what a student actually holds, which is often different from what the student thinks. It can also show growth over time. Because it is private, it can say what a public statement might not.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: A statement of faith must be certain.

Correction: It need not be. Honest statements often include doubt and uncertainty, and the tradition of the Psalms is full of questions.

Misunderstanding: A statement of faith replaces the creed.

Correction: It does not. The creeds are shared statements, and a personal statement is the student’s own voice. They serve different purposes.

Misunderstanding: Someone must approve the statement.

Correction: No one does. The program does not receive or approve it, and it does not claim any authority to do so.

Knowledge check

How does a personal statement of faith differ from a creed?

A creed is a short shared statement used by a church, with fixed wording. A personal statement is written by one person in their own words, may include reasons and doubts, and can be revised. The two are related, since personal faith is often formed by the creed, but they serve different purposes.

Why mark degrees of confidence?

Because beliefs are held with different strength. Marking each as firm, doubtful or unsure makes the statement honest and shows where further study is needed. It also guards against stating claims one does not really hold, simply because one thinks one should.

Is the statement submitted or approved?

No. It is private, kept in the student’s own notebook or documents. The site does not collect, grade or approve it, and the program offers no certificate, credit or ordination. The student alone decides what to write and when to revise.

What belongs in a first draft?

The main topics, God, Christ, the Spirit, the Bible, humanity and sin, salvation, the church and last things, in plain first person sentences, each marked for confidence, with reasons for the most important claims and a short note on how the beliefs are held. It should be dated.

Think it through

  1. Which belief in your statement would you find hardest to say aloud to a friend?
  2. Does your statement describe how you live?
  3. Which sentence has changed most since you began the program?
  4. What would you like to be able to say a year from now?

Independent assignment

A first statement of faith

In your own notebook, write one to two pages, about 400 to 600 words. Cover God, Christ, the Spirit, the Bible, humanity and sin, salvation, the church and last things. Use the first person, mark each claim F, S or U, and date the page. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.

Further study