Why Say the Creeds?

Last updated on: October 17, 2015 at 1:50 am by Michael F. Bird

Why Say the Creeds? 2015-10-11T18:08:28-04:00 Michael F. Bird

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Matt Chandler has a great sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed with some good resources including wallpapers and music suggestions. I also love how he describes the importance of the creeds to The Village Church in the first sermon:

Here’s something to think about. When the early church recited this, it was simultaneously their greatest act of rebellion and their greatest act of allegiance. When the church gathered and they stood not in an air conditioned room, protected by rule of law, but when they stood, across the centuries, not knowing who would come in, being watched at who’s reciting this, they rejected the popular narratives of their day, whatever their day was. So in Rome they rejected that Caesar was lord. They rejected the narrative of the first century and said, “No, no, no. I reject that. I believe that Jesus is Lord.” Simultaneously, they rejected the narrative of their day and embraced, put their allegiance upon, the God of the Bible. It’s this beautiful moment when the people of God recited this creed. They said, “We don’t believe the story our culture is telling.” That story has some similarities, but it has changed throughout human history. In our day, by reciting this, if we believe, we’re saying, “We reject the narrative of materialism. We reject that stuff will satisfy our souls.” We’re saying, “We reject the notion that what I need to be physically satisfied is more and more and more partners. I reject that there’s not a way but everybody has their own.” We just fundamentally reject that narrative. Our narrative is that we believe in the God of the Bible. When the church recites this creed, distilled, pulled from, wrung out of the Word of God, we’re saying, “We reject the modern narrative. We believe the historic narrative, the narrative that God has come into the world to save sinners, that Jesus Christ has died for our sins, and we believe and trust that he has made known to us the path of life.”

As it is, I have a book coming out in early 2016 with Zondervan on the Apostles’ Creed called What Christians OUGHT to Believe (no controversy here) which uses the Apostles’ Creed as a basic syllabus for teaching Christian doctrine to those beginning theology for the first time. Part of my justification as to why we should creeds is this:

I would say this: the creeds remind us who we are as Christians and that we are part of God’s plan to gather his people around himself and to bring all of his children into his new creation. As N.T. Wright points out, it is certainly no accident that symbol was one of the words that Christians used for their creeds. They were badges to be worn by members, like a scholar’s gown, which declared that, “This is who we are and what we stand for.” The creeds symbolically mark reciters as saying in effect, “We are renewed as this people, the people who live within this great story, the people who are identified precisely as people-of-this-story, rather than as people of one of the many other stories that claim for attention all around.”[1]Thus, when we recite the creeds we are saying that this is what we, the church, believe about God, creation, Jesus, and the life of the age to come. This is who we are! The creed is thus a political manifesto: it declares that we are the people defined by this story, the story of God, the reign of Jesus, the experience of the Spirit, and the hope of the world to come.[2]

[1] N.T. Wright, “Reading Paul, Thinking Scripture,” in Scripture’s Doctrine and Theology’s Bible: How the New Testament Shapes Christian Dogmatics, eds. M. Bockmuehl and A. J. Torrance (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008), 64 (italics original).

[2]Luke Timothy Johnson, The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why it Matters (London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 2003), 45.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 16, 2015

Women Deacons for the Catholic Church?

Next Post

October 18, 2015 Book Notice: Stephen Williams on The Election of Grace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Lands Blogosphere Book Review Calvinism Colleges & Universities Ecclesiology Emerging Adulthood Evangelicalism Foreign Affairs Gospel of John Greco-Roman World Humor Just War N. T. Wright Old Testament Resurrection Terrorism Theological Education Travel Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, 'Let my people go'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joshua Aaron Elijah Moses

Books by This Author Books by Mike Bird

See All Titles »