Reviewing some Internet bookmarks that I had saved for the anthropology class I teach, I ran across a post by Matthew Dowling where he shares the Massai Creed. About 50 years ago, some missionaries developed this expression of the basics of the Christian faith in terms that would make sense to the Massai, a semi-nomadic African people. Read through the creed, thinking about the ideas expressed:
We believe in the one High God, who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth. We have known this High God in the darkness, and now we know him in the light. God promised in the book of his word, the Bible, that he would save the world and all nations and tribes.
We believe that God made good his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from that grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.
I have some minor quarrels with the doctrine, but like the idea of expressing the Christian faith in terms that people can understand. If you were going to write a description of the Christian faith similar to this one, who would you write it for and what sort of language would it employ?
Tim,
What do you think about the practice of reading a creed communally in the assembly (Say, the apostle’s creed or perhaps Nicea)?
–guy
Guy,
As far as comfort, I’m not comfortable with that practice, but not for doctrinal reasons. For some reason, I have a problem with reading man-written statements congregationally, even though that’s essentially what we do every time we sing.
I can’t say it’s wrong, I’m just saying that it would make me uncomfortable. Maybe if it were preceded by a statement saying, “Please read this. If you’d like to affirm the statements expressed here, join me in reading it aloud…”
Grace and peace,
Tim
I would love to hear the Maasai sing that creed. I bet the sound of it is unnerving and awesome!
I would write a description like this for anyone who asked, but I would have to develop enough of a relationship with them to find the language that would speak to their heart before I could do the writing.
Have you ever read Vincent J. Donavan, “Christianity Rediscovered”? It’s a great book to read about Donavan’s mission work with the Massai people and his ‘rediscovery’ of an indigenous apostolic Christianity in the mean time.
Grace and Peace,
Rex
Tim,
Thanks for the mention. If your readers are interested in more of these contextualized creeds, I recommend Jaroslav Pelikan’s book “Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition.” That’s where I first encountered the Massai Creed.
Matthew