No Creed but the Bible?

by Alex St. Onge

an article originally published by Always Ready Ministries

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.
—Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:9 and in four other places in Scripture—

When I first started attending church, I often heard the phrase, “no creed but the Bible.” I was a new believer at that point and 15 years old. Like most young people, I came to Christ with preferences for many things modern. I’m not referring here to philosophy or wordviews, but to but to style and interests. I would have rejected outright the idea I might benefit from Christianity’s past, which in my mind included dusty, old, dry, and boring creeds and liturgical statements—not to mention a history that seemed equally foreign and antiquated.

I knew, however, that the Bible was God’s Word, “living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword.” (Heb. 4:12). I knew as well Scripture was and is God-breathed, powerful and beneficial above all other literary works (see 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). So, I readily assumed “sticking with” the Bible was exactly what an authentic believer does. Why shouldn’t I? Such a belief is well-intentioned, sincere, and in many ways rooted in biblical truth. Today I believe this notion is naïve, but more on that in a moment. At the time, it made perfect sense to me to rule out using statements drafted by human beings.

Rethinking My Perspective

Of course, the Bible is and ought to be every believer’s final authority on all matters to which it speaks. I have come to understand, however, that Christians can uphold the Bible in this way and still benefit from the rich gems embedded in the church’s creeds, confessions, and other statements of faith. Let me put it another way. The mind-set behind the phrase “no creed but the Bible” is understandable but flawed. The believer who totally shuns historical statements of Christian belief is refusing to avail himself of critical insights and lessons. Such lessons were forged in the fires of persecution and trial, as well as in the heat of battle to preserve the truth of God’s Word against heresies, both subtle and blatant. (Keep in mind that heresies frequently reappear!) Furthermore, confessions and creeds serve as a commentary on Scripture. As contemporary Christians, we can learn much, not just from what our spiritual ancestors said about their beliefs, but also from how they expressed them. We also should understand that not all expressions of Christian belief are old. A number of them have been drafted in the 21st century.

In his helpful volume Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology, theologian Millard Erickson defines a creed simply as “A summary of the beliefs of a person or group, often a denomination.”1 Take note: Ironically, under this definition, the phrase “no creed but the Bible” can be considered a creed in and of itself! Are you sure you want to adopt a self-refuting creed? Yet the primary point of this phrase is bedrock truth! It echoes the very same idea that various confessions in church history have said about the Bible—and they’ve said it right off the bat! Here are two examples.

      • The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 begins its first chapter with the line, “The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”
      • The Westminster Confession of Faith makes this statement in Chapter I, article VI: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”

A good creed or confession is not a work that adds to Scripture, nor is it a text of teachings and beliefs completely independent God’s Word. Rather, it is a document that finds its source and purpose in properly expressing, and sometimes explaining, what the Bible teaches. Any creed or statement of faith should be followed and remembered only if it aligns with the Scriptures.

Old, Outdated, and Boring? Not by a Long Shot!

Perhaps you don’t see confessions as inappropriate or wrong. You might not ever have. Yet you still might view them as boring, long, old, and even unnecessary. Or you fear that they can turn into something congregants mindlessly recite without appreciating the substance of what is being said. I understand! Sometimes I don’t have the time or patience to read and memorize confessions or creeds. It’s a challenge for us as believers to mindfully and meaningfully interact with the things we do, say, and sing in church every week. This task is not new, and it is ongoing. How can creeds fit into our worship experiences and draw us closer to God?

Believe it or not, a creed can effectively help us “blow the dust off our Bibles” and understand them more clearly. They can encourage us to see the Bible in a fresh, new light when it otherwise would be especially challenging to understand. The aim of a statement of faith may be to effectively address a few specific false teachings in the church or in the culture, as with the Nicene Creed, which was fashioned to fight off heretical teaching in the early church. Or the aim can be to put into one coherent document many scriptural teachings to make learning spiritual truths and principles easier, as with the confessions we cited earlier. The ultimate purpose of creeds and confessions, no matter how old, is to fulfill commands in Scripture to “stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, whether by what we said or what we wrote” (2 Thess. 2:15). They are to ensure sound doctrine, both by teaching truth and effectively refuting falsehoods (see Titus 1:9; 2 Tim. 4:1-3; also see Jude 3-4).

Summary

In creeds and confessions, we can mine some of the greatest gems of biblical truth. We’re speaking here of truths that have power to bring men to their knees in awe and repentance before God, and that enable believers to live as lights and salt in an otherwise dark and tasteless world. Modern-day Christians should make it a point to become familiar with the historical contexts from which various confessions and creeds emerged. Further, they should interact with, read, and cherish these texts. Reviewing, we cite five reasons why.

      1. Creeds and confessions aim to properly explain the teachings of the Bible.
      2. They provide boundaries for belief that otherwise might be pushed or crossed by people or groups who do not study the Bible well.
      3. They protect us from falling for unbiblical teachings and encourage us to submit to those the Bible upholds.
      4. Expressions of Christian traditions and beliefs help us to distinguish between believers of different denominations while still recognizing the orthodoxy of each.
      5. They provide concise summaries that help us grasp biblical teachings more readily and thoroughly, as well as biblical references that reinforce what Scripture says.

Having said these things, we still should trust a creed and confession only when it agrees with Scripture, and never when it doesn’t.

Simply put, the creeds and confessions of our brothers and sisters throughout history should make us better and more diligent, truth-loving readers of the Bible. Creeds and confessions do not replace the Bible but rather point us to the authority of Scripture and make it easier for us to understand and apply.

For further study:

 

November 19, 2018

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Note:

1Millard J. Erickson, Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House, 1986.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.