Some things sound so spiritual we assume they must be true.
“We believe in the Bible, not creeds.”
“We don’t want to be bound by the traditions of men!”
“We believe in Scripture alone.”
Each of these statements contains a grain of truth but wrongly understood can lay the groundwork for theologically naïve thinking. Without learning from the creeds, we can make false conclusions from the truths of Scripture.
How what seemed like a good idea went wrong
The phrase “No creed but the Bible” became popular in the 19th-century American Restoration Movement. It was a time of religious revival in the United States, and leaders emerged believing it was an opportunity to do away with denominations and unite the church around the Scriptures once and for all. They thought that all that was keeping believers from standing together was the creeds and confessions of their history.
The desire for unity and commitment to the Scriptures was admirable, but it naively assumed that everyone would read the Bible the same way. In fact, the movement itself split in 1906 over whether instruments should be used in worship and whether missionary societies could be used to advance the gospel. What became clear was that the leaders in this movement did, in fact, have a creed, but they just hadn’t articulated it in writing.
What’s wrong with “No creed but the Bible”?
The division of the Restoration Movement highlights the problem with ignoring or eliminating creeds. Creeds are just statements attempting to summarize the Bible’s teachings. Even if you reject written creeds, everyone still has a set of beliefs that guide their actions and decisions. Evaluating your beliefs in light of what a consensus of church leaders has expressed is an important way to clarify whether you’ve correctly understood the Scriptures.
Creeds have also been used to protect the church against false teaching. If you and another person disagree about what the Bible teaches in a particular area, do you just assume that they’re wrong? Or do you give up your own position and assume they’re right? Disagreement should force us back to the Scriptures, but creeds and confessions show us what a majority of the church has believed. The church can, of course, be wrong, and God might reveal new insights to you from His Word, but surely that’s the exception, not the rule, which is why humility is essential. If you’re excited about what the Holy Spirit is teaching you through the Bible, you should be all the more excited about what the Holy Spirit has been teaching His people from the Scriptures throughout history.
Are creeds biblical?
The Bible itself contains what scholars believe are simple creeds. Deuteronomy 6:4 is probably the oldest: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Jews have been putting these words on their doorframes for thousands of years as a short summary of their faith. Their Assyrian or Egyptian neighbours might hear some of the Bible’s teachings and be impressed by them, but the creed would help clarify where they stood. They could ask, “Do you believe that the LORD our God is one, or do you believe in multiple gods or another god altogether?”
In the New Testament, many believe, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 functioned in a similar way. Paul writes:
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.
Notice that he identifies these words “as of first importance” and has received them and passes them on as a way of preserving the faith. This would be one way that a church could identify a true disciple from a false teacher. Philippians 2:6-11, 1 Timothy 3:16, and Romans 10:9 might have functioned in the same way.
Don’t Protestants believe in “Scripture alone”?
The Reformation cry of “Sola Scriptura” never meant that we don’t learn from anything but the Bible. It says that only Scripture holds ultimate authority over us. Creeds and confessions can and should be tested by the Bible, critiqued by the Bible, and subject to the Bible. Nevertheless, creeds can guide us, protect us, and unify us.
In future episodes, we’ll look at some of the creeds and confessions that have been foundational to the church. Understanding why creeds exist prepares us to appreciate what they say and why the church has guarded them for centuries.
In awe of Him,
Paul
