Why the Creeds

 Have you ever wondered about why we have creeds and why we should care about them?  We live in a time of confusion.  Moral and spiritual confusion.  Large numbers of the general populace seem incapable of being able to make basic distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil.  The fruits of this confusion is rooted in having severed ourselves from the anchor of truth.  Since so many in our society no longer affirm an objective truth that exists outside of and independent from ourselves, but instead have embraced a subjective “my truth” view, we are awash at sea with no anchor or rudder.  Unfortunately, this relative view on truth has not left the church unaffected.  Many in the church seem just as confused and are steadily being influenced to question the moorings of truth so that many are unsure about what they really believe.  In the months ahead I want to write briefly on the Apostles Creed as a means of helping us know not only what we believe and but what we ought to believe.  Come along with me as we consider this important affirmation of Christian doctrine.  Before we get into the creed I think it worthwhile to ask the question, “Why have a creed at all?”  What is a creed?  Is it right to have a creed?  What should a creed be about?  These are a few of the questions I hope to answer.  So, what is a creed?  The word “creed’ comes from the Latin word “credo” which means, “to believe, to trust.”  So, a creed is a set of fundamental trusted beliefs organized into a statement that affirms those fundamental truths.  You might wonder why a creed is important to have since we already have the bible.  To answer that its helpful to remember two things.  First, the Bible has several examples of creeds within itself.  The Shema is a kind of creed, “Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut. 6:4-5).  This statement is a fundamental belief that is meant to be recited and affirmed.  Several New Testament passages also act like creeds; “For we believe that Jesus died and was raised again (I Thess 4:14, Phil 2:5-10, I Cor 15 :3-5).  These are simple and memorable ways of affirming essential truths.  Secondly, it is helpful to remember that a creed aims to summarize the essential Christian message.  We ask important questions like, “What does the Bible say about God, Jesus, salvation and the life of the age to come?”  As a result the Christian church has formed creeds as a way of organizing fundamental truths into clear and concise statements about the Biblical message.  Another important reason for Christian creeds is refute false teaching and the confusion that arises when one no longer knows what he or she believes.  The creeds became vitally important in the early days of the Christian church because of the tendency to add or take away from the person and work of Jesus the Christ.  For example, how do we refute Ebionites who claimed that an angel entered Jesus body at his baptism, or the docetists who denied that Jesus had a real physical body, or the gnostics who claimed that Jesus saves us from a wicked God by a secret knowledge of our primeval origins, or the Arians who taught that Jesus was a created being like God the Father but not equal to the Father?  All or part of these false teachings are present in modern day groups like the Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Unitarians, Universalists, Christian scientists, Seventh-Day Adventists etc.    As a result, the Christian church, in the struggle for the articulation and preservation of the truth, established creeds.  The most famous and important creeds were the Apostles creed (a basic formulation of the apostles teaching -150-200 AD), Nicea (dealt with Arianism which denied the divinity of Jesus - 325 AD), Constantinople (dealt with Apollinariansim which denied the humanity of Jesus - 381 AD), Chalcedon (dealt with the relationship between Jesus’ divine and human natures - 451 AD).  You and I probably don’t think that often, or at all, about these moments in church history are vital to the purity of the gospel and therefore our spiritual life.  If even the slightest amount of falsehood is mixed in with the truth we can be led astray.  Doctrinal purity and clarity is essential for right belief and practice.  As a result, over the next several months I would like to lead us through a brief but deliberate consideration of the Apostles creed.  I use this creed because it is the simplest and most concise of all the creeds.  Jude tells us in his letter to “contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”  May the Lord help you and me to never assume the truth but always be vigilant in our understanding and application of what was handed down to us.  If you would like to see a list of ancient and modern heresies you can go to https://www.sgapologetics.com/modern-day-heresies.php

Pastor Paige