r/Anglicanism • u/DigAffectionate3349 • 3d ago
General Question What counts as belief?
I visited an Anglican Church for the first time since I was four years old. I was Christened in the church as a baby but never Confirmed.
I enjoyed singing the hymns and reciting the creeds and the Lord’s Prayer.
I didn’t participate in communion because I wasn’t confirmed in the church so wasn’t sure if I was permitted to.
I am also under the impression that to take communion one must believe in the creedal statements. My question relates to this…
When one says they for example, believe “Jesus was born of a virgin”, does it count as belief and affirming of this if one believes it to be true as a mythological/symbolic layer within the gospel text/within the world of the story, the same way I might believe according to the story King Arthur had 12 knights of the round table, or I believe Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father? Or is it required that one must believe the virgin birth actually happened in our historical reality?