creeds

[Tom Bryant]

I've always found that the Baptist aversion to creeds was more the name "creed" and the tradition that surrounds that than the actual fact of what any given creed says. That, in large part, stems from our separatist roots, but as I said above, about 1/3 of all the current creeds and confessions that have existed since the beginning of the church are specifically Baptist.

We Baptists do have our own creeds that many of us use every Sunday without even realizing it... :smilewinkgrin:

Once saved always saved...
Whosoever will...
Come to Jesus...
Jesus saves...
Believer's Baptism...
Lord's Supper...
Take the hand of the pastor...
Priesthood of the believer...
Vote of the members...
Just one more verse...
Sing the first, third, and fifth verses...

And the list goes on and on. None of the above are found as texts of Scripture in that format, which means that those words, just like other creeds or confessions, are tidy summarizations of other more lengthy and detailed theology or doctrine.

So creeds are just basically something we say mindlessly because that's what our pastor said. I know that's what you are NOT saying.

I'll be gone for most of the rest of the day for a community thanksgiving dinner we're doing. So please talk kindly about me while I'm gone. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Aaron]

Wow, God's Word is fragmented and disorganized... I'm sure that's a new one to God who is supremely organized.

Okay. Take a breath. Look at what I said. I said as a treatise on Christian theology it is disorganized. The Book of Matthew is organized. So is each individual book. And there is a scheme to the arrangement of the books in the Bible.

But . . .

If you were to write a paper on the Trinity, or on the Holy Spirit, or on Christ, or on Baptism, Repentance, Faith, etc. there is no one book or chapter you could go to for a complete or really concise answer. These subjects are in bits and pieces throughout all of Scripture.

Thanks for putting the rationale for creeds so clearly and succinctly.

You're welcome.

Your ideas about why pastors are necessary makes me think you could use that reasoning to set up a pope and would no longer need the idea of the priesthood of believers. After all only a trained theologian can understand the Bible.

Seriously . . . ? I mean where in the kingdom of spuds did you come up with this?

 

[Aaron]

Question. Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father and the Son or does the Son and the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father? And how much importance to you want to put on that position?

That all depends on the price of rice in China.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

That all depends on the price of rice in China.

exactly this is why churches aproach creeds with knit gloves.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Aaron, you're right, I misread what you wrote. I was wrong about what you said and I am sorry.

I still disagree about creeds. I still think the best way to teach both new and mature believers is thru a solid exposition of the Bible not a creed that is very much tied to the time in which it was written. But the Scripture as unsystematic as you may believe it to be about doctrinal issues - and I disagree about your characterization - is still the best and only inerrant way of dealing with the wrong doctrinal issues we face today.