Why Creeds? (3/19/2012)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading 1 Cor 15:3-6.

To begin with I need to say that the Bible is the foundation for Christianity. Everything we need is found within its pages. The building blocks for the Church/Ekklesia are there. Practical instructions for right spiritual living are there. The basics for our doctrines and theology are there. The Scriptures do contain creed-like passages, what we might call statements of faith. And of course, the Bible is the source and guide for each of the historic creeds.

Creeds are brief statements or summaries of basic beliefs. They're an attempt to put these beliefs in a memorable form to help Christians make affirmations of faith. They're meant to capture the essence of our doctrinal beliefs, the core teachings of our faith. They were meant to be memorized because the majority of people didn't have access to the written scriptures at the time.

I'm going to make general statements about liberal and conservative belief. I use these designators very simply. Not all liberals are fully Gnostic and driven only by intellect. Not all conservatives are truly Christian, but are badly stuck in tradition. Theologians of the liberal kind picture themselves as the leaders into a new horizon. They say things like "the word myth doesn't mean what most people assume it to mean." They tell us the ordinary, "unschooled," person can't truly understand because the meaning is too complicated and requires the specialist's academic ability to explain. This is blatantly Gnostic because of its "insider information" basis. Theologians of the conservative stripe can go too far into defending the "old" orthodoxy and tradition because of the apostasy of the liberals, and get themselves trapped in legalism.

Modern day Christianity, especially in America, can't escape from the charge that they've replaced solid biblical instruction and the making of true disciples with religious entertainment. Many have no idea that creeds can help people gain a basic understanding of spiritual truth. The creeds can help us understand that even through doctrinal and theological controversy, Yahweh's Word has stood strong. A twentieth century scholar writing about the Resurrection isn't more highly qualified than a first century eyewitness in interpreting the meaning of our Lord rising from the dead. We need to know the historical teachings of the early believers, especially those who were eyewitnesses. Hopefully, as we look at how the creeds were developed to fight the unbiblical intellectual teachings that tried to take over the Church, we can become more grounded in the historical teachings ourselves.

I'll venture to say that creeds began with the Shema. This is found in Deut 6:4-5. "Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one. Love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." The verses that follow go on to tell us that this truth is to be learned and passed along from generation to generation. This basic understanding of Yahweh was to be shared throughout all time. There's something important we must be sure we understand about this statement, "Yahweh is ONE." The word one is ECHAD, which means a compound unity. The Father, Son, and Spirit are completely and absolutely united as one in thought and substance, but they are also separate entities.

There are several New Testament examples of creedal statements. The passage you read to begin is one. Another is Col 1:15-20 which speaks of the supremacy of Jesus as the fullness of God and the Head of the Church. There are others and portions of them can be found in the different creeds still in use today.

As the Church continued to grow in the first and second centuries, a need arose for apologists. An apologist is one who argues in defense or justification of the truth of Scripture. Tertullian is recognized in this capacity. He wrote a book called Apology which underlined the legal and moral absurdity of the persecution of Christians. He attacked heretics, explained the meaning of the Lord's Prayer and other things like baptism. He was one of the early Church leaders who developed the orthodox understanding of the Trinity, being the first person to put the word into writing.

The biggest battle during this time was fought with the Gnostics. The Gnostics believed knowing truth was more important than having faith. You could call the Gnostics the first liberal theologians because they combined human religious thought with biblical ideas. The Apostle's Creed was developed to directly fight Gnostic teaching. The Christian leaders worked hard to write something which could explain their biblical convictions in a short enough form for the majority of believers to memorize. It was likely used for a while before it began to come into common use as a baptismal confession in second century Rome.

This creed is obviously built upon the belief in the Trinity, but it doesn't attempt to explain our Three-in One God. Its central concern is giving the general public an idea of how Yahweh relates to the world and mankind. It affirms belief in Jesus and his redeeming life. It points us to the facts of his direct involvement in our world and the world to come.

The Gnostics taught that salvation comes from some "secret" knowledge of the spiritual realm. The Apostle's Creed stated that it comes by the direct action of Yahweh in human history. The writers wanted to point to the specific event, not some hard to grasp insider information known only to an elite inner group. The Gnostics

The Phrase "the resurrection of the flesh" is aimed specifically at the Gnostics. It stresses that a truly whole man is a three-part being, not a divided one like they taught. They said man has a good soul and an evil body, that only the soul could be redeemed. The Christians stressed that the body isn't a burden to be discarded, it's a gift from Yahweh for use now and in eternity. We don't need salvation because we're trapped in an evil body. We need it because we willfully choose to disobey Yahweh. Our evil isn't only in our flesh, but also in our evil thoughts and desires. We don't need a teacher to help us find Yahweh. We need a Savior.

The Nicene Creed is a further development of the Apostle's Creed. It was built in defense of orthodox Christianity. One teaching it was built to refute was that Jesus was some half-god and half-man, not truly one with the Father. A compromise was tried that stated Jesus was only "like" the Father, but not fully God. This was firmly denied and eventually we find "true God of true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father." The fight against false teachings was a very important part of forming these teaching tools of our faith.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. He's ONE God, not many or multiple gods. He's the Creator of everything in the universe, not just certain things. He's not limited to what man can understand about him,. He is the Almighty.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God. Jesus is unique and truly divine. He's not a separate or lesser god. What's to follow deals with the issues that the early Church needed to affirm and establish due to the challenges they faced.

Eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father. Jesus is fully one with the Father. He's truly and fully God, not some lesser of demi-god. He's not less than the Father in any conceivable way. Jesus stated this very clearly in John 10:30.

Through him all things were made. Jesus was a full participant in the Creation, and according to Col 1:17 all things are sustained and kept alive by him.

For us and for our salvation he came down from Heaven. Jesus laid aside his divinity and became fully human. This enabled him to become the acceptable sacrifice for our sins.

Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. Jesus shared our human experience of birth, life, and death. He was Jesus the man, not the half-man and half-god. He truly lived as a human making him the ultimate and true example for right living.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontious Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. Crucial historical information to refute the Gnostic idea of an only spiritual Jesus. He was human and he really died. It wasn't some spiritual play-acting, but a real death with real suffering.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Again some historical proof. He really died, so he really rose from the dead. Jesus fully triumphed over sin and death and now fully shares in Yahweh's sovereignty.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom will have no end. The final victory is at hand. The reign of Yahweh's Kingdom will definitely come. Jesus promised he would come back and when he does he will be the absolute Judge.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. The Holy Spirit is a full partner in the Trinity. He's not just some essence of the Father and the Son, but a full and equal part. As such, he's worthy of praise and glory and honor.

Who has spoken through the prophets. The Holy Spirit has been and continues to be active in our world. He speaks into the hearts of the prophets and gives words of life and hope, or conviction and condemnation.

We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church. The Church is worldwide and founded on the principles taught by the apostles. Its witness continues based on the foundations laid by the first Christians and the ongoing apostolic leadership of today's Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. This is to overcome the fights about how baptism is done, the methods used. It's meant to focus us on its necessity as an act of obedience as we begin walking out our Christian life.

We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. As 1 Cor 15 says, if there's no resurrection we have nothing to hope for. There is life after death, a joyous existence promised us by Jesus and proclaimed throughout the Bible.

I know this is very brief, that many of the points could have much more explanation. But I hope this helps you understand that the creeds aren't just old liturgical tools. They were established with a purpose, to help believers know the basic truths of their faith. If you hunger for more information, this could be a good Bible study subject. Think of going through the points and finding the scriptures which confirm them. Blessings in your search. May you find Yahweh's Truth and be blessed by it.

Blessings & Peace, Mike