What is Presbyterian?

Living Faith

Presbytery of Hamilton

Presbyterian Church in Canada

WHAT WE BELIEVE:

Central Presbyterian traces its roots in Hamilton back to 1841. But, in another sense, its roots go back two thousand years to Jesus Christ. As Presbyterians like to say, Jesus is ‘our prophet, priest, and king’. In any Presbyterian Church, and thus at Central, faith or belief, is primarily faith or belief in Jesus Christ. Members of our church may have a variety of beliefs about any number of things, but the one belief or faith that we hold in common is our commitment to Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.

In the early centuries of the church, various summaries of the faith were used. Two of these remain in current use, namely, the Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed. Though springing from ancient theological debate, the theological convictions of these two creeds remain as short statements of what classical Christianity has always believed.

Early in the sixteenth century, many voices joined to call for a thorough-going reform of the church, among the voices that of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Though debtors to the whole church, Presbyterians are among those who have inherited both the theological emphases and church polity promoted by Calvin. Among those emphases, the following stand out:

• God comes first. God loved us before we ever loved God
• God loves sinners. This is the heart of the Good News we believe
• God came to us in Jesus Christ to show God’s love and life
• Jesus died for our sins and rose again. In Him, we are offered forgiveness and new life
• God is still at work bringing us to faith in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit
• When God brings us to faith, we are part of the community of faith called the church.

Presbyterians have always been concerned not just with how we become Christians, but how to live like Christians. The Christian life, however, is lived not only within the church but in the world. Presbyterians confess that all of life belongs to God and that God is to be honoured in every aspect of created life, in our families, in our workplace, and in our social and political life.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada, when its parts finally came together in 1875, adopted a seventeenth century creedal statement called the Westminster Confession of Faith as the theological basis for its life. This older statement has been supplemented by a contemporary statement of faith called Living Faith. Living Faith presents a fine summary of what Canadian Presbyterians believe. And we at Central are happy to stand with that statement and joyfully confess to God, to ourselves and to the world, ‘This is what we believe’.