Confessions and Creeds in the NT

I agree with both premises of the author. It is biblical and right to declare our faith and practice. It is also beneficial to do so. Our church has a creed (which we call a statement of faith) which we claim is both for the edification of our church and for information to other churches, Christians, and the world at large.

I would add that while the idea of a creed is biblical, there are many written creeds themselves that are unbiblical -- that is, are not in accord with the truth of the Bible. Those creeds also are not beneficial, but rather harmful because they continue to promote heterodoxy. One of the defects of creeds is not a defect in the concept of a creed, but in the way churches may approach them -- as if we already know everything and there is never any need for revision. Probably a sad corollary of this is that conservatives, who sometimes should revise their creeds, most often will not do so because of their conservatism. Liberals, on the other hand, usually are not slow to revise their creeds, but usually for the worse and not for the better.

 

The Confessions are a nice summary of basic biblical doctrines, but are not inspired so not on same par as Bible....

 

True, but some here do object to even using them period, as being somehow "not Baptist"