One question, five answers

Jo Clifford
‘Faith was about believing things you didn’t understand’

I believe in God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth…’

I lost count of the number of times I had to say the Apostles’ Creed during the nine years I spent at the supposedly Christian boarding schools where I was forced to live as a boy.

I didn’t understand a word of what I learned by heart during those years, but that didn’t matter, apparently….

Jo Clifford is a playwright, performer, and member of Augustine United Church, Edinburgh. She writes at the lightinside.substack.com

___

Andy Braunston
‘We shouldn’t cling unthinkingly to credal statements’

The answer to this question should not be either/or. As an enthusiastic theology student in the late 1980s I discovered Liberation Theology – a type of theology which is concerned with an analysis of society. It asks why the rich have the money and power, and is concerned with social justice and the liberation of the oppressed. It came to prominence in Latin American Catholicism but has Protestant thinkers too….

Andy Braunston is the URC’s Minister for Digital Worship and Co-Secretary of the Worship, Faith, and Order Committee. He lives in Orkney with his husband, Ian, and their two dogs

___

Simon Cross
‘Belief wasn’t a scientific judgment, it was a heart commitment’

My friends sometimes mock me for an insistence, sometimes bordering on pedantry, to define terms. I’m cautious, you see, about throwing around words like ‘beliefs’, or even ‘God’, without explaining what they mean. After all, two people might say ‘I believe in God’ and yet mean something quite different to one another. Now’s not the time to try to define what we mean by ‘God’, but we should certainly ask what it is, first of all, to believe….

Simon Cross is a URC minister in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. He is a writer and the Chair of the Progressive Christianity Network (Britain)

___

Narapa Stephen Johnson
‘Beliefs, practised, establish our values’

As a Buddhist, my values and beliefs are intertwined and are reinforced and developed through application and practice. The key here is the word practice. The last UK Census highlighted questions about practice of a particular faith. Many people were found to have provided answers based on things such as their place of birth or the tradition of their parents rather than the application and practices of a particular tradition. For example, being born in Myanmar does not make someone a Buddhist just as being christened as a baby does not make an adult a practicing Christian….

Narapa Stephen Johnson is a Buddhist chaplain and mindfulness teacher trainer. He works with veterans with PTSD. He is a Mountain Rescue team member in the Lake District

___

Florence Wright
‘Beliefs bring people together’

Both beliefs and values impact how we live and how we connect with others. If I have to choose one as more important, I’d say beliefs – because they shape our values, motivate our actions and keep us hopeful.

In deciding which is more important I considered the difference between myself and friends who share my values but don’t believe in God. Without a belief in a higher power who is perfectly just and loving, I’ve seen friends struggle to stay hopeful especially in social justice spaces. This isn’t to say Christians are immune to burn out, but our beliefs provide a profound source of hope. I hold firmly to the promise that one day, wrongs will be made right, the oppressed will be liberated, and creation will flourish. This is something I choose to believe even when circumstances are bleak and this belief sustains and encourages me….

Florence Wright is an intern at the Joint Public Issues Team

___

This is an extract from an article published in the Issue 1 – 2025 edition of Reform

Subscribe to Reform