Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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"I Believe," We Have No Need for Creeds.
09/24/2012 - Jeff Downs
Many of us have heard a statement similar to this "we do not need creeds, we have the Bible." But the fact of the matter is, this statement commits intellectual suicide - it is a self-defeating. It similar to writing "I can not type a word in English" or "Don't trust anything I say." The fact of the matter is, I am now typing in English, and if you can't trust anything I say, should you trust the statement "Don't trust anything I say." The statement we do not need creeds, we have the Bible" is itself a creed, it is a statement of belief (credo = I believe")The fact of the matter is, one can not get away from creeds and confessions. The biblical writers wrote and used them, the early church wrote and used them, creeds and confessions were written and used during the time of the Reformation, and as matter of (historical) fact, we still write and use them today.
We'll Carl Trueman has now provided for us a newly defense of the use of creeds and confessions. He writes in the closing of the first chapter "read the rest of this book and see whether creeds and confessions might not actually provide you with a better way of preserving precisely those aspects of biblical, Christian faith which are most valuable to you and which you passionately wish to communicate to your church." Trueman latest book is titled Creedal Imperative (Crossway, 2012). You can read the Introduction and first chapter here.
Of course, you could also check out Burk Parsons' booklet on this issue, titled Why Do We Have Creeds?" Sinclair Ferguson kindly says of this booklet, that it "deconstructs muddleheadedness and gives us a fresh appreciation of the necessity and usefulness of the church's historic creeds." Or, if you are looking for something ancient (well, at least from today's standards), you can check out Samuel Miller's The Utility and Importance of Creeds and Confessions.
I believe, that is all for now.
08:49:36 - Category: Theology Matters - Link to this article -
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