Is the Bible a Creed?
"The Bible is our Creed"
This is the answer many Christians (e.g. Mennonites, Church of Christ, Baptist, Charismatic etc.) will give when asked about creeds. But is the Bible a creed?
First off, what is as creed, exactly? Well, the word creed comes from the Latin word "Credo" meaning 'I Believe". So, could that work in the phrase, "The Bible is my creed"? Of course, I do indeed believe the Bible. It is the infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God, the book by which lives and nations should be governed. Without it, we would be lost. But the Bible is not a creed.
A creed, basically is statement of faith. It's what you would say if I asked, "So, what do you believe?" Are you going to quote the entirety of the Bible to me? No, you'll concise it and explain in your own words what you believe based on the Scripture (I hope). The Bible is not, really, a creed. It is the substance on which creeds should be founded.
Some say that creeds, since they are man made, are bad. Okay, so let's ditch all the sermons, all the commentaries and all the great Theological works of the past. Are these not the works of men? But would anyone really suggest the removal of St. Augustine's The City of God or John Calvin's Institutes? What of Luther's 95 Theses? Should these and others, because they are the work of men, be shunned? No! I repeat no! We would loose a treasure trove of Theological jewels and sweet morsels which have fed the Church over the ages. It was, I might point out, St. Augustine who led both Luther and Calvin to their belief in predestination by way of expounding Paul's letters. These works and others need not be shunned and neither should the creeds as long they agree with scripture.
While the Bible is not a creed, it does contain some creeds, such "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Duet 6:4 KJV) and the Corinthian Creed (1 Cor 15:3-4). But the three historical creeds are:
The Apostles' Creed, The Nicean Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Apostles' Creed emerged as a creed based the essentials of Apostolic teaching and is the earliest statement of faith of the New Testament Church. Pretty much all Orthodox Christians agree on the content (albeit there is some debate over "He descended into Hell", which I will not discuss here but I think the Rev. Jeffery Meyers deals with it quite well in The Lords Service.) The Nicean Creed came as a result of the Council of Nicea, where Christ's deity was confirmed. It is very much like an expanded version of the Apostles Creed.The last creed, the Athanasian Creed, is traditionally attributed to St. Athanasius, although some skeptic scholars doubt this (naturally, I mean, do modern historian really believe anything really happened anymore? seesh!). This creed differs from the previous two in that it focuses on the Trinity, expounding on this doctrine in a beautiful way.
Personally, I think the Apostles Creed in particular is a good teaching tool for Children's ministry- I mean after all, it's designed as a simple expression of faith even a child can comprehend. Rather than the Pledge to the Christian Flag (which is nothing more than a parody of the American pledge that never mentions who Jesus is other than "Savior".) and the "pledge to the Bible" (our allegiance is to He who wrote the Bible, not the Bible itself...) and use instead this creed of old.
I'd like to close with a story that I believe illustrates the beauty of the Creeds:
Recently, I attended the funeral of an older, distant cousin who was a Methodist. The service was held at a Methodist church and is probably one of the best funerals I've ever been to (I soaked in the high church elements since I don't get to see that very often). Toward the end of the service, we stood and recited the Apostles Creed. There I was, a Presbyterian standing amid Methodists and who knows what else, saying this ancient creed and not batting an eye lid (though noticed "He descended..." had disappeared). The thought occurred to me that this was what the creed is designed to do- to allow a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, an Anglican, a Methodist and even (perhaps) a Baptist stand shoulder to shoulder and say in unison,
"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Ghost:
I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting. Amen."
This is the answer many Christians (e.g. Mennonites, Church of Christ, Baptist, Charismatic etc.) will give when asked about creeds. But is the Bible a creed?
First off, what is as creed, exactly? Well, the word creed comes from the Latin word "Credo" meaning 'I Believe". So, could that work in the phrase, "The Bible is my creed"? Of course, I do indeed believe the Bible. It is the infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God, the book by which lives and nations should be governed. Without it, we would be lost. But the Bible is not a creed.
A creed, basically is statement of faith. It's what you would say if I asked, "So, what do you believe?" Are you going to quote the entirety of the Bible to me? No, you'll concise it and explain in your own words what you believe based on the Scripture (I hope). The Bible is not, really, a creed. It is the substance on which creeds should be founded.
Some say that creeds, since they are man made, are bad. Okay, so let's ditch all the sermons, all the commentaries and all the great Theological works of the past. Are these not the works of men? But would anyone really suggest the removal of St. Augustine's The City of God or John Calvin's Institutes? What of Luther's 95 Theses? Should these and others, because they are the work of men, be shunned? No! I repeat no! We would loose a treasure trove of Theological jewels and sweet morsels which have fed the Church over the ages. It was, I might point out, St. Augustine who led both Luther and Calvin to their belief in predestination by way of expounding Paul's letters. These works and others need not be shunned and neither should the creeds as long they agree with scripture.
While the Bible is not a creed, it does contain some creeds, such "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Duet 6:4 KJV) and the Corinthian Creed (1 Cor 15:3-4). But the three historical creeds are:
The Apostles' Creed, The Nicean Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Apostles' Creed emerged as a creed based the essentials of Apostolic teaching and is the earliest statement of faith of the New Testament Church. Pretty much all Orthodox Christians agree on the content (albeit there is some debate over "He descended into Hell", which I will not discuss here but I think the Rev. Jeffery Meyers deals with it quite well in The Lords Service.) The Nicean Creed came as a result of the Council of Nicea, where Christ's deity was confirmed. It is very much like an expanded version of the Apostles Creed.The last creed, the Athanasian Creed, is traditionally attributed to St. Athanasius, although some skeptic scholars doubt this (naturally, I mean, do modern historian really believe anything really happened anymore? seesh!). This creed differs from the previous two in that it focuses on the Trinity, expounding on this doctrine in a beautiful way.
Personally, I think the Apostles Creed in particular is a good teaching tool for Children's ministry- I mean after all, it's designed as a simple expression of faith even a child can comprehend. Rather than the Pledge to the Christian Flag (which is nothing more than a parody of the American pledge that never mentions who Jesus is other than "Savior".) and the "pledge to the Bible" (our allegiance is to He who wrote the Bible, not the Bible itself...) and use instead this creed of old.
I'd like to close with a story that I believe illustrates the beauty of the Creeds:
Recently, I attended the funeral of an older, distant cousin who was a Methodist. The service was held at a Methodist church and is probably one of the best funerals I've ever been to (I soaked in the high church elements since I don't get to see that very often). Toward the end of the service, we stood and recited the Apostles Creed. There I was, a Presbyterian standing amid Methodists and who knows what else, saying this ancient creed and not batting an eye lid (though noticed "He descended..." had disappeared). The thought occurred to me that this was what the creed is designed to do- to allow a Presbyterian, a Lutheran, an Anglican, a Methodist and even (perhaps) a Baptist stand shoulder to shoulder and say in unison,
"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:
I believe in the Holy Ghost:
I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting. Amen."
Comments
Post a Comment