I remember the first time I heard the expression, “No Creed but Christ.” I didn’t know how to respond to that because, at first glance, it sounds so simple, so pure. Without thinking about it too hard it sounds right. I mean, it’s Solus Christus – Christ alone – right? It’s Christ who is the foundation of our faith. Creeds just complicate that.
But, the more you sit down, and the more you think about it, the more you study Scripture, and the more you reflect on the history of the church, the more you realize that this phrase, as well-meaning, and as good intentioned as it is, misses something vital.
You, for the expression, “No creed but Christ” – which is a creed in and of itself – to stand, one has to begin with the assumption that Creeds, somehow, someway, replace the word of God, rather than summarize or affirm it. It has to assume that the Creeds of the Church (The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed) are nothing more than the creeds of men, and that, as one opponent to creeds writes, “Jesus required total commitment to this proposition, “No creed but Christ.” He taught that all the creeds, commandments, and churches of men must be “rooted up” so that the Word of God can reign supreme over the souls of men.”
The fundamental problem here is that this assumption reveals a deep and underlying misconception and misunderstanding about both the purpose of the Creeds, and their relationship to Christ and His word.
Arising in periods of great theological turmoil, when heresies threatened to distort and overtake the Gospel Message, and redefine who Christ was, these creeds, anchored in God’s Word, have anchored the church in orthodoxy, reminding us of who God is, what He has done, and who we are in light of His revelation. They have guarded the church from error and united believers for generations.
The Creeds as a Shibboleth
One of the most enduring stories from the book of Judges is from the twelfth chapter. It is the story of when the Jephthah gathered the men of Gilead to fight against Ephraim. We may not remember it from those names, but we remember it because of one specific word: Shibboleth. Shibboleth became a dividing line between friend and foe. To say it, and to say it right was declare oneself to be on the side of Gilead, while to stumble over it and mispronounce it was to reveal oneself as an outsider and an enemy.
Our Creeds are like a Shibboleth test, except, whereas it tested national and tribal allegiances in Judges, for us it tests theological and spiritual allegiances, dividing and distinguishing between orthodoxy and heresy. They ask us basic, fundamental questions, such as “Do you confess the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?” or “Do you believe in the incarnation of Christ? The Crucifixion? The Resurrection? The Ascension of Christ?” “Do you believe in the bodily resurrection?”
To confess these Creeds then is to affirm the historic Christ faith, that faith “once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3) It is to firmly declare, with faith, clarity and conviction, the true of the Gospel against those voices that rise up and try to redefine it or dilute it. They are a safeguard, one that protects us from heresies that have been with us from antiquity to present, whether it is Gnosticism, Arianism, Universalism, or any other that try to change Christianity.
Why the Creeds Endure.
This is why the Creeds, century after century, for almost two millennia, have endured: they are not innovations. They are not attempts to restructure and reorient the Scripture. They are simply a summary of what the Word of God preaches and teaches, encapsulating biblical true in a concise manner that allows the Church to speak with one voice. Their enduring value is in the fact that they are both simple and yet deep. They are profound and accessible at the same time as they unite believers across centuries and cultures as we join with the voices of the great cloud of witnesses. And, as we do, we are then declaring the same faith that has sustained the church through persecution, schism, and reform.
It is for this profession of orthodox faith that Athanasius of Alexandria would go into exile five times for. Though the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed hadn’t been formalized yet, to hear the words of the martyrs is to hear echoes of the creeds and what they taught, reflecting the theological truths that the creeds would later codify to protect the church from heresy and preserve orthodoxy.
These Creeds weren’t developed in a vacuum, and they weren’t built on shifting sand. They were forged in the fires of struggle and the depth of suffering, amidst trials and tribulation, and built on the solid rock of Christ. They stand because they are a strong, vibrant expression of our faith against a world that is constantly trying to reframe it.
And we see it. We see it throughout history as we witness attempts to change Christianity that distorts its core. During the Enlightenment it was the attempt to reduce faith to nothing more than a moral, philosophical system. During the modern age, it was the rise of secularism, and relativism, that challenged the uniqueness of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures. In our post-modern world, we are witnessing new challenges that are rising.
Yet, through all of this the Creeds stand firm, declaring the unchanging truth of the Gospel, leaving no room for ambiguity as they point us away from the gods of our own design and towards the living God.
Why Hold on to Creeds?
And this points us to the need to hold fast to our Creeds. They are not, as some would state, “legalistic, Pharisaical, narrow-minded traditionalism.” They are a confession and a call, reminding us of the core truths of our faith, challenging us to know and trust the God we proclaim. They are a call to set aside our own pride and vanity and live in humility, recognizing the faith of our Fathers, those who, in the midst of great threat and persecution, were strengthened by the power of the Spirit to be bold in their witness. They unite us with believers, around the world and throughout the course of history, reminding us that these things we believe, this faith we hold on to, it is not just personal, it is communal.
But more important than all of this, our Creeds point us to Christ as they declare the Gospel and tell us that God isn’t distant and detached from us. He acts in history to redeem us through His Son. In the Creeds what we find is assurance, hope, clarity and truth, testifying of a God who is faithful to His promises.
So when we confess these Creeds, we can do so with joy and reverence, knowing that we are a part of something larger than ourselves. We are a part of a church that spans the scope of time and space as we are gathered as Gods people set apart by grace and truth. In a world where everything seems to shift or crumble, these Creeds stand as a firm foundation, guarding our faith and helping us run the race with endurance, knowing that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8)
