Church of ChristOria, Apulia
Three crosses in silhouette on Calvary against a fiery sunset and dark clouds

Christian faith

What we believe

This page is our public summary of the faith: how we read the Scriptures together. It holds clear convictions on baptism, the Lord's Supper and the local church, but it is not a creed to sign, nor an authority beside the Bible. It remains open to being corrected by the Word.

The Bible

God's inspired authority for faith and Christian life.

We believe that all Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

We do not elevate human traditions, councils, or confessional documents as authorities parallel to the Bible. At the same time we do not claim to read “the Bible alone” without a hermeneutic: we draw inspiration from the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, a nineteenth-century American school of reading. Our conclusions remain ours, to be continually tested in the Scriptures.

Where Scripture commands or teaches clearly (for example on faith, baptism, and the Lord's Supper), we seek to obey. Where it is silent on a detail of practice or means (for example instruments in singing), we distinguish norms from the freedom of the local church. This is not the same rule applied everywhere in the same way: these are declared criteria, not “the Bible speaking by itself.” We do not treat our discernment as the only honest reading.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
(2 Peter 1:20-21)
“There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”
(John 12:48)

Trinity

One eternal God revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe in one living God, Creator of all things, holy, just, and merciful, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Himself declared His oneness with God: "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30) He also said, "Before Abraham was born, I am," (John 8:58) taking the divine Name upon Himself, and to Philip: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

The apostle John says it plainly: Jesus Christ "is the true God and eternal life."

Jesus is not a second god beside the Father, nor a creature elevated above others: with the Father and the Holy Spirit He shares the same divine nature. One eternal God, revealed in three distinct persons.

“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
(1 John 5:20)
“I and the Father are one.”
(John 10:30)
“"Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"”
(John 8:58)
“Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?"”
(John 14:9)

Jesus Christ

Son of God, crucified and risen, the only mediator between God and humanity.

Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God: conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived without sin, died on the cross for our sins, and rose on the third day.

He is Lord, Christ, and King. Only through Him do we have access to the Father and the promise of eternal life.

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."”
(John 14:6)
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
(1 Timothy 2:5)
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Salvation

By grace, through obedient faith: God saves; we receive His promise.

We believe in grace alone: no one earns forgiveness. Salvation is God's gift. We do not mean “grace alone” as inward faith only, without a public response: we mean grace alone received in obedient faith, of which baptism is a part. When Paul in Ephesians 2 excludes “works,” he means human merit (whatever would claim to buy or earn salvation), not every response of faith.

For us baptism is not a meritorious work added to Christ. It is the means and the moment when God applies the promise of forgiveness to those who believe (Acts 2:38; Romans 6): repentance, confession of Christ as Lord, and immersion. The cause remains God; baptism is the way faith receives what God has promised. This is not “faith plus merit.”

Other Christians locate forgiveness in inward faith alone, without tying it to baptism in the same way. We respect that reading; ours, studying these texts, is different. Continuing to live faithfully does not buy salvation: it is the fruit of those who have been reached by grace.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
“Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."”
(Acts 2:38)
“If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
(Romans 10:9-10)

Baptism

Immersion of those who believe with awareness: we do not baptize infants.

We practice baptism by immersion of those who believe with awareness: those who hear the Gospel, repent of their sins, confess Jesus as Lord, and are immersed in water. We do not practice infant baptism, because a child cannot yet believe or respond personally to Christ: in the New Testament, faith precedes baptism.

Jesus himself said: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

Baptism is neither an empty rite nor human merit. By God's grace, it is the means and the moment when we receive the forgiveness of sins, united with Christ in His death and resurrection. It is administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
(Mark 16:16)
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
(Matthew 28:19)
“Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
(Romans 6:3-4)
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
(Acts 22:16)

The church

The body of Christ, with pastors called to shepherd the flock according to Scripture.

The church is the body of Christ: a people called out of the world to worship God, grow in faith, and proclaim the Gospel.

Christ alone is the head of the church. In Scripture, pastors (also called elders or overseers) are not officials of a human organization, but shepherds of the flock. Our reading of the Bible on this role shows that it is not a formal title, but a function that the community recognizes in practice in those who exercise this service, beyond any aspiration to be called pastor. They are men called by the Holy Spirit to watch over the flock, teach the Word, and guide believers by the example of their lives.

Each local congregation lives under His leadership, recognizing in these men a spiritual responsibility, not institutional power. The church does not belong to hierarchies or external structures, but to Christ.

“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
(Ephesians 1:22-23)
“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
(Acts 2:42)
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”
(Acts 20:28)
“Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
(1 Peter 5:2-3)

The Lord's Supper

A weekly memorial of Christ's death and resurrection.

Every Sunday, as the first Christians did, we participate in the Lord's Supper: bread and wine as a memorial of Jesus' body and blood.

Jesus himself said: "Do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19)

It is a time of remembrance, gratitude, and communion for all baptized believers.

It is a deep invitation to recognize that grace flows solely from His sacrifice and His Love, not from our merits, exhorting us to live the cross of Jesus and place it at the center of our life, guarding His gift with responsibility.

“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."”
(Luke 22:19)
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.”
(Acts 20:7)

Worship

In spirit and truth: prayer, the Word, the Lord's Supper, and shared praise.

Worship is directed to God the Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit.

Worship includes prayer, reading and teaching of Scripture, fellowship of the saints, and giving for needs.

We sing praises to God, sometimes also with musical instruments. In the New Testament we find singing; we do not find an explicit command or prohibition regarding instruments. Many Churches of Christ take that silence as a prohibition and worship a cappella: on this the movement historically split. We read it as the freedom of the local church. It is not an “obvious” conclusion: it is a contested hermeneutical choice, and for us it is not a test of orthodoxy. The Psalms remind us that praising God with music belongs to Scripture; we do not treat them as a direct command for Christian worship.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
(John 4:23-24)
“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.”
(Ephesians 5:19)
“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.”
(Psalm 150:3-5)

Unity

One body in Christ: unity sought, not already achieved.

We believe Christians should seek unity in Christ, letting Scripture guide faith and practice, without elevating confessional documents as parallel authorities. This does not mean that only those who share our reading belong to the body of Christ.

We seek that unity without claiming to exhaust the church of Christ by ourselves, nor to have reached a completed purity. The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement from which we draw inspiration arose to unite Christians and, in part, ended up producing further divisions: we acknowledge that. Unity remains a horizon to pursue, not a destination we can boast of. We desire to be simply Christians: disciples of Jesus who let the Word guide faith and practice, knowing we carry with us a history and shared readings. Where other disciples of Jesus read differently, Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and other Churches of Christ, we do not claim the last word on their faith.

For this reason we do not participate in institutional ecumenism. We believe unity is built by examining Scripture together, not through interdenominational assemblies or joint statements that could place the Word in the background. This is not a rejection of other believers: it is how we, as simply Christians, believe we honor Jesus' prayer for the unity of His disciples.

We invite everyone to examine the Scriptures with us and to follow Christ wherever the Word leads.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
(John 17:20-21)
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
(Ephesians 4:4-6)
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
(1 Corinthians 1:10)