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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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First Sunday after Trinity |
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June 10, 2007 Why Do We Have a Creed? Few things will cause more hue and cry these days than a Christian saying, “Here is the Truth.” People today believe truth is relative, which really means, non-existent. What is “true” for you, meaning that it gives comfort and meaning to you, may not work for everybody, therefore, it isn’t “true” for them. Even in the Church, people decry statements of what is or is not “true.” The fact is that most “churches” today, or perhaps I should say, most “Christians” today aren’t concerned about truth. They are more “experience” oriented. They don’t want to think about the nature and work of Christ. They want to get a good feeling from worship, believe they are going to Heaven, and hear sermons about parenting and stress management. It is natural that these Christians and churches no longer say the Apostle’s Creed in worship. The whole idea of a creed is foreign to them. “Why should we have a creed?” they ask “Don’t creeds restrict free inquiry? Don’t they inhibit real faith? Aren’t creeds written by fallible men, therefore, necessarily leading astray those who follow them? Isn’t it better to have ‘No creed but the Bible?’” But the truth is that even in the early days of the Christian Church we had statements of belief to define and summarize the Christian faith, and that is all a creed is. Scholars have identified several short creeds in the New Testament. Peter’s statement of faith in Matthew 16:6 became one of the earliest creeds, and was said by the Ethiopian in Acts 8:37; “Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” It was simple, direct, and clear. It was sufficient for its time. But as the Church came into contact with the pagan religions, and as some in the Church attempted to accommodate the Christian faith to paganism, creating the early heresies, the Church had to respond by identifying the true faith more fully. The letters of Paul were a major part of this effort, but after the close of the canon, the heresies continued, sometimes attempting to “prove” their doctrines by Scripture. So it became necessary to say very clearly, “This is the meaning of Scripture. This is the true faith given by Christ, proclaimed by the Apostles, and recorded in the Bible.” This was done by summarizing the Bible’s teachings in short documents, called creeds. It is very important to note here that the Christian faith did not develop over time. Some wrongly assume that Christian doctrine evolved as new issues arose, so that what we believe now is far different from what early Christians believed, and what early Christians believed was far different from what the Apostles believed, and what the Apostles believed was far different from what Jesus believed. Nothing could be more wrong. The faith once for all delivered unto the saints had to be restated many times, but it was always the same faith, the same doctrines. As people arose denying the nature and work of Christ, the Church had to reply. The Church had to express clearly the truth about Jesus, but it was only stating what the Apostles had received from Christ. It was not developing its doctrine as it went along. We find on page 578 of the Prayer Book the important question about the meaning of the Creed, “What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief?” “What? I’m supposed to learn something from it?” Yes, its not just another pretty thing to say on Sundays. It teaches something, and what it teaches is important, and, as the Catechism suggests, it teaches the personality and work of the three different Persons of the Trinity. “First,
I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me and all the world. Secondly
in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind. Thirdly
in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the people of God.” So here we have the meaning of the Creed. It teaches us about God. It is a brief summary of the Bible’s teaching about the nature of God and of His grace poured out on us. We know instinctively that this world is warped because people are warped. But we are not alone or deserted. The great Triune God who created this world good, and against whom we have all rebelled, came to this world in the person of Jesus Christ, and went to the cross to release us from the living death we have created for ourselves. When He physically left this world to return to the Father, He sent His Holy Spirit to be God with us, and to live, not just in this world, but in our hearts. So He is not just the Great Spirit out there somewhere, He is the Holy Spirit right here in us. And He is still working for good in this world, and in your life. This is what we learn in the Creed. It is not just a dry, dusty summary of meaningless doctrines. It is a survey of the love of God in action for you. In the final analysis, this is not only what the Creed teaches, it is why we have the Creed. In the name of the Triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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