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IIIM Magazine Online, Volume 5, Number 16, May 10-May 17, 2003 |
Creed or Chaos
There is an essay by a well-known British author of this century entitled, "Creed or Chaos."1 While not agreeing with much of the content of the essay, the title very nicely describes the urgency of having and using the historic creeds of the church. We are convinced that the only alternative to creeds is ecclesiastical chaos. History has proved that, especially in this century. In refusing to have creeds or in moving away from her creeds the church has exposed herself to the chaos that the floods and winds of doctrinal change, spiritual ignorance, and worldliness bring.
Some have begun to realize this and
to return to the creeds, and for this we are profoundly thankful. Others,
however, continue to neglect and despise the creeds, and it is to them
especially that this article is addressed in the hope they will reconsider and
see both the Biblical basis and the need for creeds in the church.
It is that Biblical basis that we
hope to establish first of all. Then we wish also to address some of the
objections that are raised against creeds. Finally, having established and
defended the necessity of creeds, we wish to point out some of the specific uses
of creeds in the church, for unless the creeds are known and used, having them
is of no value.
In order to see that the use of creeds is Biblical, we must remember that "creed" is from a Latin word which means, "I believe." That tells us what creeds are. They are an expression of the faith that lives in the hearts of God's people. In the creeds, believers, usually as a body, tell the world what they believe the Word of God teaches. Creeds, then, do not exist apart from Scripture or over against it, but are simply a confession of what believers find in the Word of God. And what they find in the Word of God, they confess.
In having creeds, therefore, believers are only
doing what the Word of God itself commands them to do - confessing their faith.
For this reason the creeds are often called "confessions." So it is here first
of all, in the fact that creeds are confessions, that we find a Biblical basis
for having them.
There are any number of passages that command
believers to confess their faith. In
In confessing their faith in creeds believers are
only doing in unison what Nathanael did when he said, "Rabbi, thou art the Son
of God; thou art the King of Israel" (
That they are required by Scripture to make a common
confession is also clear. In
This is exactly the way in which
creeds are justified by those who have written them. In the preface to his
"Con
fession,"3 for example, John Knox says:
For we are most certainly persuaded that whosoever denies Christ Jesus, or is ashamed of Him, in the presence of men, shall be denied before the Father, and before His holy angels (p. 342).
It is really impossible to be without creeds. Every believer believes something about what the Word of God teaches. And insofar as that faith is precious to him he confesses it. He really cannot do otherwise, if he loves Christ and loves the Word. Everyone and every church has a creed whether it is written down or not. Even in those churches that reject creeds there is a creed which has there as much force and authority as the written creeds do in churches that have them.
Likewise, those who use the slogan, "No creed but
Christ," will very quickly be found to have quite an extensive "creed" or
belief, not only about Christ. Ask them, for example, which Christ they confess
- the Christ of the liberals who is only an example to believers and who did not
shed His blood for their sins, the Christ of the Mormons or of the Jews, or of
the Romish church. Thankfully, you will find that their creeds includes a great
deal of sound Biblical teaching about Christ and His work.
You also find that their creed, their belief, includes
much more than a confession of Christ. Though they have no written
creeds and say "No creed but Christ," they do not really
hold to what they say. Try, for example, to teach the Biblical
doctrines of election or of limited atonement in many such churches.
You will be politely but firmly told, "We do not believe
that here," that is, "It is not part of our creed."
Or, ask to have an infant baptized in most such churches, and
you will be shown the door. "We do not believe," you will hear as you leave, "in infant
baptism."
The second way of demonstrating the necessity and importance of creeds is by way of reference to the promise of Jesus in John 16:13 : "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." This promise of Jesus is fulfilled as the Holy Spirit gives God's people the ability to understand the Word of God.
The creeds are one of the fruits of that work of the Spirit.
To deny the usefulness of creeds and their place in the church
is to deny that the Spirit of truth has worked in the church of
the past, or at least to deny that His work has any relevance
for the church today. By so doing the church today cuts herself
off from the church of the past, denying the fundamental unity
of the church in all ages. This is one of the great weaknesses
of the church today, that she has no ties to the church of the
past - does not know the history and lessons of the past, nor
the battles the church has fought, nor God's faithfulness to His
church through all the ages. She tries to stand completely on
her own against the forces of evil, instead of seeing herself
as part of that great "army with banners" that is "fair
as the moon, clear as the sun" (Song 6:10).
Not only that, but by cutting herself off from the church
of past, the church today says in effect that every generation
must start all over in its searching of the Scriptures and pursuit
of the truth. Thus she sets herself an impossible task - a task
that is either set aside as too great so that there is little
knowledge of the truth in the church, or which leaves her no time
for other things.
This is well-stated by the Presbyterian author, G.I. Williamson:
The Bible contains a great wealth of information. It isn't easy to master it all - in fact, no one has ever mastered it completely. It would therefore be foolish for us to try to do it on our own, starting from scratch. We would be ignoring all the study of the Word of God that other people have done down through the centuries. That is exactly why we have creeds. They are the product of many centuries of Bible study by a great company of believers. They are a kind of spiritual "road map" of the teaching of the Bible, already worked out an proved by others before us. And, after all, isn't this exactly what Jesus promised? When he was about to finish his work on earth, he made this promise to his disciples: "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" ( John 16:13 ). And Christ kept his promise. When the Day of Pentecost came, he sent his Spirit to dwell in his people. The Holy Spirit was poured out - not on individuals, each by himself, but on the whole body of Christian believers together ( Acts 2 ). And from that time until this, he has been giving his church an understanding of the Scriptures. It is no wonder that the church expressed itself from very early times through cre eds (p. 3). 4
He adds:
And right here we see one of the most important things about a creed that is true to the Bible - it remains true down through the ages. It does not need to be changed again and again, with each generation, because it deals with things that are unchanging. Thus, an accurate creed binds the generations together. It reminds us that the church of Jesus Christ is not confined to one age, just as it is not confined to any one place. In other words, there is a unity in what Christians have believed, right down through the ages. Just think of it: when we confess our faith together . . . we join with all those believers who have gone before us. Does not this demonstrate that there is indeed just one Lord and one true faith? (p. 3).
The third line of reasoning in defense of creeds makes reference to II Timothy 3:16, 17 , "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." It is the reference to doctrine that is important here.
Strictly speaking, Scripture is not doctrine (the systematic
exposition of the truths of Scripture in their relation to one another). This is implied in
If Scripture is profitable for
doctrine, then the church does right in setting forth doctrine in her creeds. If
doctrine is as important as the Word indicates, then the church ought to have
such doctrinal statements.
Some of the objections that are raised against creeds
we have already dealt with, but there are other, more important
objections, as well. Some say that having creeds denies the unique
authority of Scripture, and that the creeds, in fact, take us
away from Scripture and lead to the neglect of Scripture in the
church. Others say that creeds cause division in the church of
Christ, even that they are the primary cause of division between
Christians. Both of these objections are easily answered.
As far as
the authority of Scripture is concerned, the creeds when properly used neither
push aside the authority of Scripture nor draw Christians away from Scripture.
Rather, they point to the Scriptures and serve as a kind of "map" of the
teaching of the Word. This they do especially by the numerous references to
Scripture that are found in most creeds. No doubt there are a few who attach too
much authority to the creeds, but the creeds themselves claim that Scripture is
the only authority and show it is by referring to it.
From that point of view they do the same thing that
the preaching does - they compel believers to search the Scriptures to see if
the things taught in them are true (cf.
That creeds cause division in the
church is another red herring. The creeds do not cause the divisions that do
exist in the church, but only recognize those that are already there. In fact,
insofar as the creeds do teach the truth of Scripture (and we have the promise
of Jesus in
John 16:13
that they do, though not perfectly), the creeds instead of causing division
promote unity. It is, of course, the truth that brings unity. We learn that from
Amos 3:3 , "Can
two walk together, except they be agreed?" We learn it also from
Ephesians 4:15-16 ;
"But speaking the truth in love, may
grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the
whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying (building up) of itself in love."
The existing divisions, therefore, are not caused by creeds but by a failure to
know and submit to the truth. It is the lie that divides, not the truth.
That brings us to speak of the usefulness of creeds, since the very first and one of the more important uses is what might be called their constitutional or unifying use. The creeds of a church are her "banner displayed because of the truth" ( Ps. 60:4 ), and serve as a rallying point for all those who make the same confession of the truth. Thus, the creeds of the Reformed churches are sometimes referred to as the "Three Forms of Unity."
Closely related is the apologetic use of the creeds.
Apologetics is the defense of the truth of the gospel (the "answer" in
Then there is also what could be called their
juridical use, that is, they are useful in settling and avoiding disputes. They
are useful in settling disputes because they show what Scripture teaches,
bringing together the teaching of all Scripture on a certain matter. They are
useful in avoiding disputes because they set forth the things that are
important, thus steering clear of "foolish and unlearned questions" that gender
strife (
Very important is the catechetical use of the
creeds. By this we mean that they are used to teach the truth to children and to
new converts. They are useful in this respect because they teach the doctrines
of Scripture. Anyone who has done any teaching knows that it is almost
impossible to learn anything unless the teaching is systematic and carefully
arranged in its logical relations. This the creeds do, especially the catechisms
which were designed for teaching both young and old.
The creeds can even be used pastorally. They are not
cold, abstract statements, but warm, practical expositions of
the truth and can be used to direct the attention of those who
are in need of pastoral counsel to the Word of God. A good example
is the application of the doctrine of predestination in the Canons
of Dort, I, 13:
The sense and certainty of this election afford to the children of God additional matter for daily humiliation before him, for adoring the depth of his mercies, for cleansing themselves, and rendering grateful returns of ardent love to him, who first manifested so great love towards them. The consideration of this doctrine of election is so far from encouraging remissness in the observance of the divine commands, or from sinking men in carnal security, that these, in the just judgment of God, are the usual effects of rash presumption, or of idle and wanton trifling with the grace of election, in those who refuse to walk in the ways of the elect.
Several other uses of lesser importance are the homiletical and the liturgical. Some churches, by way of insuring that the whole counsel of God is preached in the church ( Acts 20:27 ), follow in the preaching at least one service each Lord's Day, the teaching of a particular creed. In this way all the doctrines of the faith are set forth in the church and the people of God well grounded in the truth. This is the homiletical (having to do with sermon making) use. In other churches the creeds, usually the shorter creeds like the Apostle's or Nicene Creeds are recited as part of the worship of the church. In this way believers make mutual confession of their faith in obedience to Christ's command in Matthew 10 .
There are, we believe, other uses of the creeds as
well, but these are the most important. What needs to be emphasised, however, is
that the creeds are of value ONLY if they are used. If they are just matters of
the church archives and are left to gather dust in the church, there is no
profit at all in having them. Nevertheless, it is necessary to have and use
them, as we have shown. The alternative is ecclesiastical chaos, the kind of
chaos that is destroying the church today, making her witness ineffective and
troubling the lives of her members.
In
Rev. Ronald Hanko is minister of the Covenant Protestant Reformed Church of Northern Ireland, Ballymena. Article used by permission of prca.org with the help of Rev. Gise Van Baren.