The creeds are great. I was raised in a tradition that said "Creeds bad - you follow our unwritten 'creed' " They were trapped in semantics that confession (though apparently flexible) was somehow sanctioned by Holy writ whereas creed .. argh bad used by the "beast of revelation"
If some research would be done - people would see that definite scriptural basis for creeds.
For example :
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. (Nicene Creed)
- compare this statement with Psalm 121
This statement alone separates us from the beliefs of millions of people in the world. That God created the "heavens and the earth" - not some primordial soup, or some life force that mixed salt and fresh water together.
The Father, the Almighty - maker of all seen and unseen.
Wow - creeds are so rich. I could do a teaching about how applicable they are to our faith and life now. Not just some mantra that we recite before the offering or the sermon, etc. but the very foundation and formulation (not source -Scripture is the source) of the dogma of our faith.
The preacher at my church was amazed one evening when I rattled off a few 'Catholic' creeds to him. He asked how I knew them and I told him I learned them from a great christian song called "Creed". The creeds I've heard are pretty awesome confessions of faith.
Posted by: Dale Taylor at September 22, 2003 01:39 PMSometimes ,I fear, believers today, think that their experience is more relavant than the lessons of believers in the past. When we can glean from the "cloud of witnesses" that have gone before us,we can enjoy a richer life by embracing the truths of the creeds that got others through...generation to generation
Posted by: Kate Mylin at September 28, 2003 08:20 AM