UPON
THESE CREEDS WE STAND
A Defense Of Christian Orthodoxy
By Ed Decker
CREEDS: OUR INHERITANCE
Creeds have played an immense part in the
support system of the very lifeblood of Christianity! Those of us
who live in the marvelous latter-days era cannot comprehend their vital
role in the establishment and defense of Christian Orthodoxy.
With Bibles of every size and translation neatly tucked away in
virtually every home, church pew, library, hospital, airplane and hotel
room, it would appear that we have more Bibles than people! For
those of us who don't like reading, we even have 24-hour Christian
television and radio networks, and audio cassettes of every kind and
style.
A DIFFERENT WORLD
Try to imagine a very different world, the one
in which the early Church survived, where the Bible was guarded in
sacred trust and a world in which few believers were even able to read.
This was the world in which the Christian often gave up his very life
for a faith in the person of Jesus Christ. Suddenly, what you believed
and why you believed it became of vital importance. They knew the exact
context of what Jesus meant when he said, "Whosoever shall confess me
before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of
God!" (Luke 12:8)
In trying to understand the historicity
of the Christian Creeds, we need to understand that many of the central
doctrines of the Christian faith did not become explicitly defined
until heretical teachings began to erode the Implicit simplicity of the
faith. Yet, from the very first statements of faith by the first
Christians to the confession of the simple Doxology today, we see a
uniformity of purpose and doctrine which we must define as Christian
Orthodoxy. To step outside the general theology of these confessions
must be viewed as acts of Heresy.
A SIMPLE VIEW
In a simple view, the Bible
is the Word of God to, man. The Creed is man's answer to God. The Bible
is to be believed and followed. The Creed is to be professed and
taught. Actually, the First Creed dealt with the fundamental Old
Testament doctrine of monotheism. The Israelite Creed was distinctly
the doctrine of a One and Only One God. These are the
beginning words of the Shema, which you still hear today at the Western
Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem.
"Hear O Israel, Jehovah our
Elohim, Jehovah is One... "(Deuteronomy 6:4)
THE CONFESSION OF NATHANIEL
"Nathaniel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi,
Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel The Messiah)."
(John 1:49)
"And Simon Peter, answering, said, 'Thou art the Christ (Messiah),
The Son of the living God.' " (Matthew 16:16)
THE CONFESSION OF THOMAS
"Thomas answered and said unto him, 'My Lord and my God!' " (John
20:28)
THE FIRST TRINITARIAN CREED: THE BAPTISMAL
FORMULA
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew
28:19).
THE CONFESSION OF PAUL
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he
was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures..." (I Corinthians 15:1-5).
THE CONFESSION OF IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, AD 107
"Be deaf, therefore, when any would speak to you
apart from (at variance with) Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was
descended from the family of David, born of Mary, who was truly born
both of God and of the Virgin ... truly took a body; for the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us without sin, ate and drank truly, truly
suffered persecution under Pontius Pilate, was truly, and not in
appearance, crucified and died, who was truly raised from the dead, and
rose after three days, his Father raising him up, and after having
spent forty days with the Apostles, was received up to the Father, and
sits on his right hand, waiting till his enemies are put under his
feet."
THE CONFESSION OF IRENAEUS, AD 180
"The Church, though scattered through the whole world to the ends of
the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples the faith
in ONE GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, who made the heavens and the earth,
and the seas, and all that is in them; and in ONE JESUS CHRIST, THE SON
OF GOD, who became flesh for our salvation; and in the HOLY GHOST, who
through the prophets preached the dispensations and the Advent, and his
birth of the Virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the
dead, and the bodily assumption into heaven of the beloved Christ
Jesus, our Lord, and his appearing from heaven in the glory of the
Father, to comprehend all things under one head, and to raise up all
flesh of all mankind, that, according to the pleasure of the Father
invisible, every knee of those that are in heaven and on the earth and
under the earth should bow before Christ Jesus, our Lord and God and
Saviour and King, and that every tongue should confess to him, and that
he may execute righteous judgment over all: sending into eternal fire
the spiritual powers of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and
apostatized, and the godless and unrighteous and lawless and
blasphemous among men, and granting life and immortality and eternal
glory to the righteous and holy, who have both kept the commandments
and continued in his love, some from the beginning, some after their
conversion."
He later
added, "The Church, having received this preaching and this faith as
said before, though scattered throughout the whole world, zealously
preserves it as one household . . . and unanimously preaches and
teaches the same, and hands it down as by one mouth; for although there
are different dialects in the world, the power of the tradition is one
and the same."
THE CONFESSION OF TERTULLIAN, AD 200
"The Rule of Faith is altogether one, sole, immovable, and irreformable
-- namely, to believe in ONE GOD ALMIGHTY, the Maker of the world; and
his SON, JESUS CHRIST, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius
Pilate, on the third day raised again from the dead, received in the
heavens, sitting now at the right hand of the Father, coming to judge
the quick and the dead, also through the resurrection of the flesh."
THE APOSTLES CREED, AD 340
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only
Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin
Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; He
descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He
ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God, the Father
Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints;the
forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.
THE NICENE CREED, AD 381
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made;
Who for us men and our salvation came down from heaven and was
incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man; and
was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was
buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures;
and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; And
He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy
Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and
the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and
glorified, who spake by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian
and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of
sins, And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the
world to come. Amen.
A VOICE OF WARNING
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight
of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ." (Ephesians 4:14-15) "For there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders; inasmuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the
very elect, Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say
unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in
the secret chambers; believe it not." (Matthew 24:24-26)
JUST IN CASE
Just in case
a latter-day prophet has come to you and said that God has told him all
these creeds were abominations to Him (filthy in his eyes), and all
those who profess them are corrupt, take a real hard look at this
prophet. I tell you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has not left the
earth since it "was once and for all delivered." It never did! It is
the very same today as it was the day Christ died for your sins and
mine . . . on the Cross of Calvary, where He became our sin offering
and put the gospel He preached into reality. It is there for you today,
just as it was that day He paid the price. Will you take action today
in response to His gift? (Ed Decker)
Ed Decker
"Saints Alive In Jesus"
ISSAQUAH, WA. 98027