JUSTIN TAYLOR|3:05 PM CT
In his new book The Creedal Imperative Carl Trueman writes:Christians are not divided between those who have creeds and confessions and those who do not; rather, they are divided between those who have public creeds and confessions which are written down and exist as public documents, subject to public scrutiny, evaluation, and critique; and those who have private creeds and confessions which are often improvised, unwritten, and thus not open to public scrutiny, not susceptible to evaluation and, crucially and ironically, not subject to testing by scripture to see whether they are true or not.
He concludes his first chapter—which you can read online—with a gentle challenge and encouragement to anti-confessional evangelicals:
I conclude this chapter by posing a challenge to those who, in their earnest desire to be faithful to Scripture as the supreme authority of faith and life, claim that they have no creed but the Bible. Reflect critically on the cultural forces that are certainly consonant with holding such a position and ask yourself whether they have perhaps reinforced your antipathy to creeds and confessions in a way that is not directly related to the Bible’s own teaching at all. Then, setting aside for just a moment your sincere convictions on this matter, read the rest of this book and see whether creeds and confessions might not actually provide you with a better way of preserving precisely those aspects of biblical, Christian faith which are most valuable to you and which you passionately wish to communicate to your church.
Here are a couple of commendations of the book:
“If the title of this book sounds boring to you, then it probably means you need it! Doctrinal aversion, radical individualism, unexamined subjectivism—these are only a few of the problems afflicting the evangelical church. In The Creedal Imperative, Carl Trueman wisely applies his vast historical knowledge to offer a remedy for such deficiencies. This book is especially important for so many believers whose Christian life, like mine, grew out of the soil of vibrant experience with insufficient doctrinal moorings. And beyond merely correcting errors, the lessons here have great potential for protecting the church, reinvigorating our cherished beliefs, and fostering greater unity in our worship. I’m grateful for Carl, and I’m grateful he wrote this book.”
—C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries
—C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries
“It is commonplace among many church leaders to dispute the need for confessions of faith on the grounds of the supreme authority of the Bible. In this timely book, Trueman demonstrates effectively how such claims are untenable. We all have creeds—the Bible itself requires them—but some are unwritten, not open to public accountability, and the consequences can be damaging. Trueman’s case deserves the widest possible hearing.”—Robert Letham, Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Systematic and Historical Theology, Wales Evangelical School of Theology; author, The Holy Trinity and Union with Christ
2 comments:
As stated several times before on this blog, I as a protestant believe very strongly in the first doctrine of The Salvation Army. If I didn't I never would've signed the Articles of War years ago.
However, even the Baptists have something known as "soul competency"(though at times you'd never know it by the actions of the Southern Baptists in America since the fundamentalist takeover of that denomination began in the late 1970s). If I'm not mistaken the Catholic Church also has its own version of soul competency.
Simply stated what it amounts to is that no matter what one's church doctrine or doctrinal edicts are, or in the case of protestants, take on any church's scriptural teaching is, no believer should ever be required to go against their own conscience in matters of faith and morals. Whatever is going down between the individual believer and God is between that individual believer and God and no one else! And for that matter nor is it anyone else's business!
What I perceive as being much more dangerous is when the Body of Christ (protestant style) with its emphasis on the authority of the scriptures slides into a form of idolatry known as Bibliolatry. This is where we often times very subconsciously and unknowingly begin to worship the words of the Bible in place of God. It is where we forget that the Bible is the communication of God in words and thus limited at times by the constraints of human language and that it is Christ who is the perfect Word in the flesh. It is HE who reigns in the end--not the human language of Bible from whence we now only see through a glass darkly!
Daryl Lach
USA Central
"You Must Go Home By the Way of the Cross, To Stand with Jesus in the Morning!
No Surprise here - I agree with Daryl.
The problem I have with rigid creeds is that they are just that - rigid. As our understanding of both God and the Bible increase, there is no room in creeds for them to change and grow.
I used to be extremely conservative in my theology. Then I went to Training College, and was introduced to deep study of the Bible. Along with other experiences, I was forced to question my Theology. I am now quite liberal. I realise that none of us fully understand the Bible, and there has to be room for movement and changes in thinking, morality, etc. If there is no room for movement and growth, then we are looking at something that has stopped growing and moving. That only happens in one of two scenarios:
a) It is perfect. This can't be the case because we are all human, and we have not yet been raptured up to Heaven and made fully perfect.
b) The thing is dead. This is more likely.
The need for rigid creeds, rather than being a thing that revitalises our faith, in fact kills our faith and proves that God is dead.
Having a set of basic rules for the new Christian, and those who are very weak in their faith, is good. This was the teaching of Paul and the early church when they wrote to Gentile Christians. But Paul then goes on to say that we must at some stage move away from 'milk' and start eating 'solid food'.
Yours in Christ
Graeme Randall - Former Australian East in London
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