I've been drawn to revisit the basic creeds of the church, getting back to the core. That led me to thumb through the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed.
Both start fairly simply. God the Father is encapsulated quickly in the AC-
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
Note that there aren't any time-tables here. It doesn't specify old earth or young earth or how God made things, just that He did the creating. That can let us take one heated debate off of the front burner, at least as it regards the basics of historic Christian faith.
The one kicker to keep in play here is "almighty." All-powerful. That's one that is hard to grasp for some people, especially if you're the type who mocks the 23rd Psalm, "though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for I'm the toughest *&^%&&# in the valley." Not quite, Alpha Dawg, you get trumped by the Alpha and Omega.
At such core basics, we haven't kicked too many theists off the reservation. Jews and Muslims are still on board and even some secular agnostics who see God as the First Cause of the Big Bang but have little else for Him to do.
That will change when we pull out that troublesome J word.
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