the need for creed

On Friday afternoon in work, we were talking about the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), in particular, but about the idea of a creed, in general. (Not the sort of discussion you might imagine a software engineer having in work.) My colleagues were asking me about my ordination and what it would involve, hence we got onto the WCF. I made the point that one of the things required of me is to affirm that the WCF is a right and accurate confession of my own faith.

This didn’t sit too well with a particular colleague. His disagreement rests on his belief that the Bible isn’t authoritative. He wouldn’t use those words, but I don’t think I’m putting words in his mouth because I believe this is the idea he is driving at. He believes that the Bible was written for certain people at a particular time; its use nowadays somewhat limited, and can best be described as an old map of streets. (That is, some bits are out of date and should be discarded. Furthermore, it doesn’t cater for modern changes.)

But this doesn’t work… If the Bible isn’t an authoritative, authentic and true resource, then it is useless. How are we to know God more without it? How are we to guide our lives without it? How are we to know that what we believe is correct? For example, Muslims believe in a god, Christians believe in a god and Mormons believe in a god. They can’t all be correct.

(Although the Bible itself says it’s words are “God-breathed”, that is not valid to one who is outside of the faith because it is circular logic: in logic, something isn’t true just because it says it’s true.)

But the Bible is more that simply a “resource”; the Bible is God’s very word. By His Spirit, He inspired the writers of the various books to write infallible words; words from another world that speak straight into our hearts. Words that cut deeply and lift up high. Some words that we understand, others that we will never understand fully. It’s not some mushy love-letter from heaven, as some universal atonement/Arminian believers would have us believe, but it is simply the truth of the matter. Truth is not mushy and loved-up; it simply is.

So we have the Bible, but why creeds? Surely the Bible, which was written by inspired writers, is enough? A cursory look at Church history from about AD 33 onwards would suggest otherwise. The Bible was not written in point-by-point form. It was not given to us in trite theological statements that concisely, eloquently and completely articulate God and all that He has revealed to us. Rather, the Bible must be interpreted and this is where all the denominations and disagreement, and the need for a creed comes in. (Despite some of the book’s content, I quite like Rob Bell’s recent tag line for his book, Velvet Elvis: God has spoken; everything else is commentary.)

Rather than examine Church history to show where, why and when creeds came into being, I’ll leave that as a to-do item for you, the reader. (Hint: look up the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed to see some examples.)

It’s sad that some in today’s Christian circles are dismissive of creeds, denominations and even the idea of organised churches. They say the Bible is all they need. From what I can discern this leads to only three conclusions. Either they don’t know what they believe, they don’t think it’s important to know what they believe or they’re blind to the fact that they subscribe to their own personal creeds and “non-denominational” traditions and beliefs.

All three are dangerous positions. For someone not to know what they believe or think it unimportant to know, how can they believe? Yes, they might know who they believe in, but so did Nadab and Abihu (c.f. Leviticus 10). The blindness of the set of people who fall into the third conclusion is even more scary.

Not knowing what one believes leaves one open to heresy and strong attacks from Satan. For example, in one of his letters Paul forbids women to speak in church. Now, I don’t know Paul but I don’t think he was being sexist. Rather, I think he recognised the fact that the women he was addressing weren’t educated in the faith and were, therefore, much more prone to believing fallacies and heresies. His guidance to them was to stay quiet, and if they had questions to talk to their husbands (or fathers, I suppose) who would have been taught the truths of the faith.

May God give those who are against creeds and statements of faith eyes to see, so that they may realise the importance – even the necessity – of such.

good advice

My sister, Steffi, emailed me yesterday all the way from South Africa! I really wish I could get down there to see her but, alas, it is prohibitively expensive. We have, however, promised each other that a trip to New York closer to Christmas will be on the cards.

Steffi’s email contained some timely, good advice for me. She was talking about my ordination happening this weekend. (I’ve been elected an elder.) She was telling me not to worry and not to be nervous because God has chosen me for this. She advised me to pray about everything and use my position to bring about positive changes. Of course, I knew all this, but sometimes I need to be reminded of the obvious things.

Steffi went on to say something trite but which had great meaning, and had the welcome effect of calming me even further. It’s something so brilliantly trivial that speaks for itself, so I’ll simply leave you with her words:

This place was not meant to be a place for our perfection, but preparation for it!

it was going to happen sooner or later

It was! Honest! I’ve been a fan of the Mac design for a number of years now. When the PowerBook came on the market, I wanted one. The the MacBook came on the scene, and again I wanted one. But I was always a little wary because of the price, availability of software, etc.

But now I’ve done it; I’ve taken the plunge. On Monday 16th April 2007 my brand spanking new MacBook Pro arrived and I am well impressed!I’m a total Mac convert now. Why? Just go watch all the Mac/PC ads and you’ll see why! (I know I’m a sucker, but hey… I’m cool… I own a Mac!)

Postscript: thanks to Andi and Sarah for helping me out with the little things!