I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true Christian church of all times and all places
Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
I recently had an interaction with an acquaintance who happens to be a Youth & Family Pastor. He recently stumbled upon an online article from last year about Jim Carrey talking about the significance of suffering which he eventually links to Jesus. Like the newspaper article, this Pastor fawned over Carrey’s proclamation of suffering’s salvific powers, and like too many mainstream Christian media outlets, linked this message of Carrey’s as the gospel itself.
But this is NOT the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not some vague metaphysical archetype as described by Carrey; rather Jesus Christ is THE ONLY WAY of salvation, not simply a model of it. This Youth Pastor wondered out loud why the mainstream media and Christian media had not made Carrey’s gospel proclamation more well-known, he for one was super excited about this message, sharing it to all who would listen.
Well, I decided to give him a reason why it might not have gained the attention he thought it deserved. I proposed the reason his message wasn’t more popular was simply because it was not a new message – nor was it a Christian one. The message shared by Carrey was the most popular mode of salvation – try harder and work harder. In his message, it centered around suffering leading to two decisions, one leading to resentment, and the other leading to “forgiveness, which leads to grace.” The gospel according to Jim Carrey can be best summed up in his own words, “suffering with compassion and with forgiveness, and that’s what opens the gates of heaven for all of us.” In fact, Carrey’s message is the standard new age mantra which is hardly news worthy.
I don’t fault the Pastor for falling for Carrey’s purposeful deception; I say purposeful because Carrey was speaking with Christians so Carrey wrapped his message in Christianize. And if we were talking about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness in broader cultural terms this conversation would be able to keep a Christian appearance without much harm. Instead, this Pastor and the media are trying to sell this as the gospel. I pointed all this out to the Pastor and his response was, “No Matter.” Well, now we have a problem.
Because Carrey’s message is NOT the gospel; it is by definition another gospel.
Why isn’t Carrey’s message the gospel; he sounded smart, nice, loving, and he used Jesus as a model of suffering and forgiveness – isn’t that the good news? No. Basically, what Jim Carrey said was this: Here is a bridge. Here is how the bridge was built. You too can build a bridge. Build the bridge, come to the other side. How is this good news? The world is not short on advice, wisdom, and how-to guides. And just in case there was a shortage, I started this blog.
What is the Christian gospel?
This is where the Christian gospel separates itself from the world of guru’s, life coaches, and actors/artists. Jesus did not come to provide another guide on how to live life. He came to save. And that is exactly what Jesus accomplished. You see, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, is not a model of salvation, it is the price of salvation that has been paid in full. There is nothing we can add; nothing we can do to improve it. Jesus paid the entire debt we owe, to realize this gift is to simply place your faith in Jesus that this sacrifice, HIS sacrifice, is sufficient. We place our faith in Jesus that He has saved us. Again, not because we deserve it, not because we have earned it, but instead, because God is patient, loving, merciful, and full of grace. The gospel is that Jesus did all the work, none of which we could do, and only by trusting in this can we have everlasting fellowship with God.
The gospel according to Jim Carrey is, “suffering with compassion and with forgiveness, and that’s what opens the gates of heaven for all of us.” Yet, the gospel according to Jesus Christ is, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6]
I believe Jesus. I pray and hope you will too.
Bonus Footage: Jim Carrey on Jesus
My apologies there is some fowl language in this video.
Imagine a woman walks into a room wearing stethoscope around her neck. As she takes a few steps into the room she glances at a man seated opposite of her and she yells at the man, “Amoxicillin!” She then looks towards a woman leaning against the wall and yells, “myocardial infarction!” Without skipping a beat, she continues to walk through the room heading towards the back exit and before she departs, she glances toward an infant and shouts, “Gastroenteritis!” This woman had the appearance of a health care provider, confidently and loudly shouted medical sounding words, but it was a charade of utter nonsense. And this example illustrates the ministry of David Hogan.
In speaking engagements, David Hogan routinely chirps, hops, and skips while shouting, “Jesus is King!” all sandwiched between Christian-sounding words and pietistic platitudes. To the casual observer he sounds like he is saying something—after all, a lot of words are emanating from his mouth—but, when Hogan breaks out in his Christianese, he is quite literally not saying anything meaningful. Hogan might as well be chirping and hopping while saying, “Pizza squid is light mud car! Jesus is King! Fire!” I am confident many in attendance would still throw up a hand and respond back, “Amen!”
This is not to say that Hogan is incapable of coherent thinking or clear expression. He has no problem talking about how tough he is, how brave he is, how strong he is, and how spiritually gifted he is—he has a lifetime of tall tales about himself. In between stories about himself, he most likely will share a story about how the “Holy Ghost” knocked some people around a room and they left saved. Hogan routinely uses the word, “gospel,” but I have yet to hear him explain the gospel. The best I have been able to conclude is that David Hogan’s gospel is all about power and health. I am not being hyperbolic when I assert that Hogan’s gospel is entirely about power and health, I have not heard him talk about the gospel in any other terms.
We ought not be surprised of Hogan’s different gospel; listen to Hogan explain or teach Holy Scripture and it becomes clear why he has such a shallow and poor theology. For example, listen to five minutes of Hogan explain Luke 17:11-19 and it ought to become clear he is NOT pulling from the biblical text—he is borrowing a few facts from Scripture to make a point that is not in the text.
David Hogan is a false prophet and a heretic. I am willing to correct this label is someone can provide me a video of David Hogan sharing the biblical gospel or correctly handling (teaching) the word of God.
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