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Ashley Curtis
Diane Leclerc
THEO2100
04/09/2018
My Theology Paper 1
I am going to start out by stating that I am a Christian, but I am not a Nazarene. There are
a couple of things that Nazarene's believe that I agree with, but there are some core beliefs of
mine that are different from the Nazarene church's beliefs. It definitely isn't my goal to dog
anyone in any way, especially if they are doing the best they can to serve God the way they
believe is right. However, I'm not shy about my beliefs, so I'm just going to be to completely
honest in this paper.
One core belief that contradicts Nazarene doctrine that I hold is predestination. Many
denominations think that it is against the character of God to believe that other beings existed
with God before the foundation of the world. But I trust that before the world was ever formed, I
(along with others) chose God. In the very beginning, I knew that I'd be able to live this life by
the grace of God, and my salvation was secured before I was ever born. The Bible says, "For
those God foreknew he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters" (New International Version, Romans
8:29). This thought may scare some Nazarenes or seem like heresy, but I believe it to be backed
up with scriptures such as this.
I believe in free-will, but because I am predestinated, nothing I do will get me "kicked
out of heaven" or anything like that. This doesn't give me a free pass to live like the rest of the
world though. In fact, I believe just the opposite. Because of the beliefs that I have, I am held to a
different standard. If I am going to claim to be a predestinated Christian, then I need to live a life
that won't be a stumbling block to others to save myself from being a hypocrite.
Another core belief that I hold that's significantly different from Nazarenes is that there is
one God in three offices, rather than one God in three persons. What I mean by this is that He is
essentially one Person, that has three attributes of God - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I
believe that God was manifested in His Son, Jesus Christ and He is now revealed to us by the
Holy Ghost.
