DrJamesAch
New Member
But isn't any creed, confession, catcheism, articles of faith, etc., a list of beliefs that any denomination believes to be the truth? We, in the ORB's, have what we call "The Articles of Faith", and it is by these which we are governed by. These are our beliefs as to what we believe the Word of God means. Now, some of it would be in accord with the LBCF, but some wouldn't. So, if one doesn't agree with our AoF, would they be considered rubbish, too?
I know that confessions, creeds, catcheism, articles of faith, etc., are founded on the Word, but some people would consider one solid and the other rubbish, and so on. Any of these needs to be founded correctly on the Word. Just because any of them puts a list of verses to support that portion of a creed and/or confession, doesn't mean that what they believe is what is being espoused by the Word.
You have some good points there.
One thing to note is there is nothing wrong with churches that have a "statement of faith" but these churches do not rely on these as the final authority. It must be realized that these confessions were the result of groups getting together to resolve conflicts between Calvin, Arminius and other doctrines prevalent that they did not agree with, and by their agreement they determined that such were the appropriate beliefs of all Christendom. It isn't just a general statement given by a local church, it is considered a universal authority parallel to the Bible, and is often quoted over the Bible to resolve conflicts. All you have to do is follow some of their debates and you will see this carried out over and over again.
They treat those creeds the same way that the Catholic church treats the Council of Nicea, Council of Trent, etc...(Apostle's Creed, Anesthesian Creed, Nicene Creed) Notice how similar they are with the Catholic church (hence "REFORMED"). Have a disagreement, gather a synod or council, write a creed.
There are classic signs that help identify a cult-like mentality. The 3 main ones are created by man, rigorous defense of the man who created them, and an additional publication that parallels the religious text.
*Mormons: Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon
*Jehovah's Witnesses: Charles T. Russell, Joseph Rutherford, Studies in the Scriptures
*Islam: Mohammed: Hadith interpret Quran
*Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Science: Christian Monitor parallels Bible
Calvinism: John Calvin: Institutes and later those who didn't want to be identified with a baby sprinkling murderer called it "Reformed Theology" "Sovereign Grace" and adopted several confessions (Belgium, Philadelphia, Westminster, etc..) which constitute the official belief systems that they hold the rest of the world accountable to.
These are the traits of a cult, not Bible believing Christianity.
Last edited by a moderator: