Why study the Apostle’s Creed

Why study the Apostle’s Creed?

From the preface to Common Ground

This book is for Christians who seldom recite the creed in worship or Christians who never learned the creeds or cannot repeat it without reading the words in a book or worship folder. The book is written with the conviction that what we believe is important and ought to be studied—especially those beliefs that are common ground with all other Christians past and present. If you attend a “non-creedal” church here are some reasons why understanding the creed is important:

1. The creed underlines the Bible. The creeds do not replace the Bible but underscore its important doctrines. They highlight the most important doctrines in the Bible—where we all agree. Not all Bible verses are of equal weight. For example, there are more verses on tongues than the virgin birth but that does not mean speaking in tongues is more important than the virgin birth. We do not get our doctrine using mathematics and add up the verses on a particular subject to calculate what matters most. The Holy Spirit guided the early Christians to see these core doctrines and put them into a creed. The Apostle’s Creed reminds us of the most vital doctrines in the Bible. It is doctrinal concentrate. In later creeds, the church became more talkative. This book focuses primarily on the Apostle’s Creed, though it sometimes refers to the more intricate Nicene Creed to expand and explain the shorter Apostle’s Creed. The Creeds are a sort of theological “Reader’s Digest” that underscores the most important doctrines of the Bible. Knowing the core claims of Christianity should be important to Christians.

2. The creed provides a minimum belief. The creeds are sparse and thus provide the minimum beliefs for a Christian. They leave out many doctrines that are specialties of the various denominations. That is their genius. Creeds provide us the bare minimum of Christian belief. You can be a Christian and not accept eternal security, speaking in tongues or entire sanctification, but you cannot be a Christian and reject the core doctrines in the creeds. Every Christian ought to believe more; however, no Christian should believe less. We should study the creeds to remind ourselves of the core beliefs where all Christians agree—the minimum required to call oneself Christian.

3. Creeds define heresy. The creeds provide both the inner core of doctrine and the outer limits of beliefs. They define what is doctrinally out-of-bounds. If a person says, “I think Jesus never really came back to life—He just was in a coma,” the creeds should set off alarm bells among Christians. We disagree about lots of things in the Bible and we are generous to those with whom we differ. However, we fully agree about the statements in the creed. When someone rejects a creedal doctrine, we are not supposed to be casual about it. Doctrine matters, especially core doctrines. The creeds are the referees on the playing field of theology. With so many secular books and TV shows focusing on religious issues, we need to know the doctrinal boundaries of heresy so we can hold tightly to the sound doctrines of the Bible.

4. Creeds are unifying. Creeds emphasize our common ground with other Christians. Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics disagree on many things but we unanimously agree on the Creeds. Denominations tend to emphasize their differences with other denominations, which presents a divided front to the world. The world says, “You can’t even agree among yourselves, how can you talk to us about truth?” However, we do agree on the vital doctrines in the creeds. Studying the creeds helps us emphasize our common beliefs to the world (and to ourselves). Studying the creeds is unifying.

5. The creeds have a long history. The creeds are our anchor to the historic Christian faith. The Apostle’s Creed at first was probably a list of questions asked baptism candidates. However, such an affirmation of faith needed to be more than a once-for-all baptismal statement reserved just for new believers. So, Christians began repeating the creed every week as part of worship. Most have done so ever since (with some modern exceptions). The Nicene Creed is the earliest official creed established at a universal council of the Church—it expands and details the core statements in the simpler Apostle’s Creed. The Apostle’s Creed is more popular and easier to memorize—it is the shortest full-length creed of all. Its origin has been attributed to the Apostles, but that is unlikely; the Apostle’s Creed started very early and essentially represents what the Apostles taught and wrote in the Bible. When we study (and recite) the creeds, we remember what Christians have always believed, and avoid cutting ourselves off from the Christian orthodoxy of 2000 years. Studying the creeds reminds us where Christians everywhere at all times and in all places agree. The creeds are the roots of our theological family tree.

6. The creeds show us what is worth dying for. The creeds remind us what we are willing to die for. Who would be willing to be burned at the stake for eternal security or the ordination of women? However, we would die before rejecting Jesus Christ as God. The church writes some things in pencil—they are easily erased by the nest generations. Other things are written in ink—they are hard to erase because our church believes them so strongly. The creeds, however, are written in blood. The martyrs died for these beliefs. We would too. The creeds do not change with the winds and whims of the times. If thousands of martyrs have died for these beliefs, we at least can take some time to study them.

7. The creeds are life changing. The creeds affect how we live. They are not merely boring doctrines. Studying the creeds will change the way you live. Revivalist evangelicals rightfully want to avoid being a “dusty musty creedal church.” We want a changed life, a vibrant daily walk with God. Yet what we believe affects how we behave. This book specializes in the practical effects of our core beliefs on how we live. The closing section of each chapter asks, “So, what about us?” If we really believe in everlasting life, it will change how we live life this afternoon. Doctrine changes our outlook, our values, our worship, and the way we treat others. The creeds show us God’s great plan of redemption. The better we know God’s plan of redemption the better our worship and living will become. The popular saying, “It’s the deeds, not the creeds” merely points out that creeds without deeds is dead formalism. However, the opposite is also true: deeds without creeds produce empty legalism. If “living the life” is all that matters, Buddhists, cult members and good-living agnostics might rate higher than many Christians. Believing the right things is also important along with right living. Christ-like living by people who reject Christ will not count in the end. Spiritual living without theological content is an empty shell. It is both right beliefs and right behavior that the Christian religion emphasizes. Our deeds show the world how to live but our creeds show them who to live for and why. Studying the creeds makes a difference in how we live.

8. We so seldom recite them. The less we say the creeds in worship the more we ought to study them. Evangelicals have stripped out of worship anything that is “too Catholic” or “too formal.” However, we, of all people, believe doctrine matters. We do not say, “Believe whatever you want so long as you are sincere.” We think doctrine is important. If we seldom recall our core beliefs in worship by seldom reciting the creeds, we at least can study them in Sunday school and in small groups so we know what beliefs we hold dear. This book is for exactly that use—to study and ponder the core doctrines that are the common ground for all Christians… and always have been. It is an exciting study and will change the way you worship and live.