CREEDS, CONFESSIONS and CATECHISMS

The word "creed" come from the Latin credo meaning "I believe".  Creeds, Confessions and Catechisms are summary statements of Christian doctrine and principle articles of faith, helping explain the Scriptures and safeguarding against serious misinterpretations of the Bible.  They may cover the entire ground of Christian doctrine, or only certain points as a result of a dogmatic dispute.  It is important to note that these documents, produced by the Christian Church and other bodies of believers over the centuries, are not inspired additions to Scripture, nor intended to be replacements for the Scriptures.  The Bible Scriptures themselves are the only authoritive, infallible rule of faith and practice.  The creeds carry only an ecclesiastical and relative authority, subordinate to the Word.

That said, I believe that, next to the Bible, these documents are some of the most important and profitable texts that a person can study.  I personally think it is a tragedy that these documents, once required teaching within the Church, are now mostly ignored.  Many have argued that since the documents were produced by man, they should be totally ignored in favor of Scripture. If this is the case, should we then ignore all sermons, Bible commentaries, theological books and all other Christian writings? I think not! Is it not valuable for Christians to consider how the Holy Spirit has spoken to our brothers and sisters over the millennia as they prayed and consulted the scriptures when they struggled with similar issues that we face today?

As the great preacher Charles H. Spurgeon used to tell his students, "you are not such wiseacres as to think or say that you can expound the Scripture without the assistance from the works of divine and learned men who have labored before you in the field of exposition (explaining scripture in a way that it can be clearly understood) . . . It seems odd that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others."

 ANCIENT

Creeds from the Bible
Irenaeus' Rule of Faith
Apostles' Creed
Nicene Creed (325AD)  (Constantinopolitan Creed 381AD)
Athanasian Creed  (Trinitarian Creed - 4th or 5th Century)
Chalcedonian Creed (451AD)
Canons of the Council of Orange (529AD)
The Statement of Faith of the Third Council of Constantinople (681AD)
 

 REFORMED

Geneva Confession (1536)
Calvin's Geneva Catechism (1536-45)

Scots Confession (1560) - John Knox
Belgic Confession (1561)
Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
Canons of Dordt (1619)

Westminster Confession of Faith (1647)
Westminster Shorter Catechism
Westminster Larger Catechism

Waldensian Confessions (1120, 1544 & 1655)
Savoy Declaration (1658)
 

 LUTHERAN

Luther's 95 Theses (1517)
Martin Luther's Small Catechism (1529)
Augsburg Confession (1530)

 ANGLICAN

Thirty Nine Articles (1571, 1801)
 

 BAPTIST

Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
A Puritan Catechism (1855 by C H Spurgeon)
 

 METHODIST

The Articles of Religion (1784) - John Wesley
 

 MODERN

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978)
The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (1982)
Theological Declaration of Barmen (Nazi Germany, 1934) - Karl Barth
 

 CURRENT STATEMENTS OF FAITH

Baptist Faith and Message (2000)
EFCA Statement of Faith
American Baptist Identity Statement

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