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The correct preface to the ancient creeds is not "Christian, what do you believe" but "Christian, in whom do you believe"
Because their chief goal is not to distill general core doctrines of the faith, their chief goal is to distill the specific core of who our God is
Because their chief goal is not to distill general core doctrines of the faith, their chief goal is to distill the specific core of who our God is
The Apostle's and Nicene Creeds are more rightly pledges of allegience than they are mere doctrinal summaries, meant to identify the God to whom we are committed against false perversions
And this makes sense given they evolved from baptismal confessions
And this makes sense given they evolved from baptismal confessions
Coincidentally, this is why many people are disappointed in the how much the Creeds leave out; if you approach them primarily as summaries of core doctrines of the faith you're going to notice giant holes
But that is an error in approach, not a shortcoming in the Creeds
But that is an error in approach, not a shortcoming in the Creeds
Part of the reason the Creeds are so often misunderstood is because we tend to teach their origin primarily as reactions against heresy
But that's false
They were developed out of baptismal confessions, and expanded to provide clarity in reaction against heresy
But that's false
They were developed out of baptismal confessions, and expanded to provide clarity in reaction against heresy
The Creeds were expanded to provide clarity, to clarify that the God we profess is not the god of the heretics
The point is not what, but who
The point is that *this* is the God we worship, the Triune God of grace - Father, Son, and Spirit - not some cheap ineffectual imitation
The point is not what, but who
The point is that *this* is the God we worship, the Triune God of grace - Father, Son, and Spirit - not some cheap ineffectual imitation
