Matthew 22:34–40 (ESV) - "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

In this, Jesus cites the Shema, one of the oldest known creeds in the Bible, dating back to God's revelation to Moses (~1300BC):

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (ESV) - “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

1 Corinthians 15:1–8 (ESV) - "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

This is a creed given to Paul by the disciples, originating probably within 5-10 years of the crucifixion of Jesus, if not earlier.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into 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 life everlasting.

Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.

God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

Good people go to heaven when they die.

From Smith and Denton's 2009 work "Soul Searching".

"I am the only truth I know. My emotions are God-given. They tell me what to do and how to live. To be my truest self I should follow my instincts. My body and my gut know more than my mind. An unjust and repressive society has held me back from becoming my best self. It has warped my faith in my own abilities and my relationship with others. I owe it to myself to practice self-care. I owe it to the world to perfect myself: physically, spiritually, and morally. There is no objective right or wrong. Different people and different societies have different moral obligations."

From Tara Burton's 2020 "Strange Rites"

By calling ourselves progressive, we mean that we are Christians who —

1. Proclaim Jesus Christ as our Gate to the realm of God;
2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the gateway to God’s realm;
3. Understand our sharing of bread and wine in Jesus’s name to be a representation of God’s feast for all peoples;
4. Invite all sorts and conditions of people to join in our worship and in our common life as full partners, including (but not limited to):
   • believers and agnostics
   • conventional Christians and questioning skeptics
   • homosexuals and heterosexuals
   • females and males
   • the despairing and the hopeful
   • those of all races and cultures, and
   • those of all classes and abilities, without imposing on them the necessity of becoming like us;
5. Think that the way we treat one another and other people is more important than the way we express our beliefs;
6. Find more grace in the search for meaning than in absolute certainty in the questions than in the answers;
7. See ourselves as a spiritual community in which we discover the resources required for our work in the world: • striving for justice and peace among all people, • bringing hope to those Jesus called the least of his sisters and brothers;
8. Recognize that our faith entails costly discipleship, renunciation of privilege, and conscientious resistance to evil — as has always been the tradition of the church.

From the previous Progressive Christianity dot Org statement of values, dated 1997.

By calling ourselves Progressive Christians, we mean we are Christians who:

1. Believe that following the way and teachings of Jesus can lead to experiencing sacredness, wholeness, and unity of all life, even as we recognize that the Spirit moves in beneficial ways in many faith traditions.
2. Seek community that is inclusive of all people, honoring differences in theological perspective, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, class, or ability.
3. Strive for peace and justice among all people, knowing that behaving with compassion and selfless love towards one another is the fullest expression of what we believe.
4. Embrace the insights of contemporary science and strive to protect the Earth and ensure its integrity and sustainability.
5. Commit to a path of life-long learning, believing there is more value in questioning than in absolutes.

From the current Progressive Christianity dot Org values, 2022.

I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural.

I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling-child of God.

I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.

I believe in the church of everyday saints as numerous, creative and resilient as patches on the AIDS quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder.

I believe in the call to each of us that love is love is love, so beloved, let us love.

I believe, glorious God. Help my unbelief. Amen.

Rev Rachel Small Stokes; creed was made popular after being preached in 2023.