“I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe” (St. Augustine). For many of us, first trusting in Jesus Christ was very simple: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Although we had a basic knowledge of who Jesus was and who we are, we believed and then began to understand. But now as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether young or old, we are called to pursue the LORD with all that we are, loving him with our hearts, our souls, and our minds (Matt 22:37). Our simple faith gave birth to an increasing knowledge of the LORD and his Word, which now continues to strengthen our faith.

Not only is this true of each of us individually, but this is also true corporately of the Church. One of the ways the Christian Church has expressed her knowledge and faith through the centuries is in the great creeds and confessions. By studying them, we grow in our knowledge and love of the LORD.

“But our church has no creed but Christ!” This bumper–sticker type slogan has virtually become a part of what it means to be Christian in contemporary churches. Have you ever stopped to think about what this statement means, though? It is actually one of the most ironic statements anyone can make. You see, when a person or even a church states that they have “no creed but Christ,” they are ironically, in fact, making a “creed,” a “confession of faith.” To say, “I have no creed,” is itself a creed! What we as Christians need to understand is that this is not a biblical way of thinking or acting, but in fact, shows that Christians have been influenced by modern philosophy. When someone makes the statement, “I have no creed but Christ,” he is actually falling into the trap of popular modern philosophy, when it says, “There is no absolute truth;” for, the statement, “There is no absolute truth” is itself a statement of absolute truth!

Therefore, let us all agree that everyone, including Christians and churches, have some system of belief behind what they say. Whether they speak of believing a particular creed or confession of faith or none at all, they all have a theology and way of thinking. Since we all have a creed and a way of confessing our faith to the world, this shows us that creeds and confessions of faith are not bad things. Instead, to be a “confessional church” is to be a church that believes and confesses the Word of God as summarized in the great creeds and confessions of the historic Church; it is to be a church firmly rooted in the Scriptures.

Where Are Creeds & Confessions in the Bible?
The practice of writing out summary statements of the faith that lives in the hearts and is confessed by the mouths of God’s people is as old as the Church itself. In the Old Testament, the people of God were like a little child confessing their faith in a very simple way. The primary confession of faith of Israel is what is called the Shema, which is the Hebrew word for “hear.” We find the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, which says, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God: the LORD is one!” God’s people recited these words every morning and evening (Deut. 6:7). Here Moses commanded the people of God to express their faith and commitment in the LORD by reciting this radical creed. It was radical because they had just come out of Egypt, which had many “gods,” and they were about to enter the land of the Canaanites, who had many “gods” themselves. So it was in the midst of false religion and idolatry that the Israelites confessed to the nations around them, that the LORD alone was “God of gods” and “Lord of lords” (Ps. 136:2–3), while the “gods” of the nations were merely “silver and gold, the work of men’s hands” (Ps. 115:4).

With the coming of the Son of God in human flesh in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4), the people of God reached an age of maturity. Therefore, the creeds and confessions that we read throughout the New Testament are many in number, and a fuller expression of the belief of God’s people. The primary New Testament confession of faith is Peter’s statement, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matt 16:16). Peter’s confession of Jesus consists of him being “the Christ,” that is, he is the Messiah and final anointed prophet, priest, and king of God’s people, as well as “the Son of the Living God,” meaning that Jesus is eternal with God.

Later on in the life of the Church, as the good news of Jesus Christ began spreading into the Gentile world, the Apostles gave the Church fuller creeds and confessions. Because they would soon die, the Apostles gave these more detailed creeds and confessions to the Church to record their teaching for generations to come (E.g., 1 Cor. 15:3–4; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Tim. 3:16).

What About Sola Scriptura?
“But don’t creeds and confessions contradict the Protestant belief in sola Scriptura, ‘Scripture alone?’” While creeds and confessions can usurp the place of Scripture in a persons’ life or the life of a church, we do not believe that just by having creeds and confessions we are placing them in Scriptures’ place.

First, sola Scriptura means that Scripture alone is the only God–given rule for faith and life. The inspired Word of God judges and rules our creeds and confessions. Our creeds and confessions’ authority and doctrinal purity comes from the inspired source of sacred Scripture alone. This means that they have a derived authority.

Second, sola Scriptura does not mean that we do not need any help in understanding the Scriptures. We live in an individualistic generation that expresses itself in a “me and my Bible” type of attitude. We must not forget that God, in his infinite wisdom, has established a visible Church, and that in the Church he has ordained pastors and teachers throughout the history of the Church to expound and interpret the meaning of Scripture to the Church.

Are Creeds and Confessions Necessary?
When the Apostles died and the Church was busy fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go into all the nations” (Matt. 28:19), there were two extremely urgent needs that confronted the confessing Church.

First, all the new converts to Christianity had to be taught the Christian Faith so that they could declare their allegiance to Jesus Christ. They had to be “catechized.” This word comes from the Greek verb katecheo, which occurs several times in the New Testament. It is a compound Greek word from kata, “down,” and echeo, “sound;” thus meaning, “I sound down.” Catechism is teaching with questions and answers. The early church’s basic outline of “new members classes” was the Apostles’ Creed, the Sacraments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.

Second, the early Church had to stand strong in the Faith of the Scriptures against many “heresies,” or false teachings. To confront and reject false teaching, the earliest churches gathered to write, for example, the Nicene Creed. Since representatives from the whole Church gathered to write this creed, it is an “ecumenical,” universally believed creed.

We are confessional churches, then, because we believe in Jesus Christ and our confessional status unites us to the transcendent reality that there has always been a church and it has always believed certain essential teachings.

_[For more info on this subject, see my book, The Good Confession: An Exploration of the Christian Faith.]_