Creeds and confessions
Creeds in the Bible
There are numerous passages of Scripture which are considered by many to essentially qualify as creeds or declarations of faith. The following are examples:
- "The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut 6:4, 1 Cor 8:4)
- Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9 , Phil 2:11)
- Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory, (1 Tim. 3:16, ESV).
- "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God," (John 6:68-69, ESV).
- For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, (1 Cor. 15:3-7, ESV).
- By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, (1 John 4:2, ESV).
Notable creeds and confessions in church history
- Apostles' Creed
- Nicene Creed (325 AD)
- Chalcedonian Creed (451 AD)
- Athanasian Creed (c 500 AD)
- Canons of the Council of Orange (529 AD)
- Anathemas of the 2nd Council of Constantinople (533 AD)
- Creeds and Statements from 600 to 800 AD
- Luther's 95 Theses
- Augsburg Confession (1530)
- Scottish Confession of Faith (1560)
- Belgic Confession of Faith (1561)
- Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
- Tridentine Creed counter-reformation initiative by the Roman church at the Council of Trent (1563)
- Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
- Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (Anglican 1571)
- Canons of Dort (1618-1619) - The Five Points of Calvinism
- First London Baptist Confession (1644 and 1646)
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)
- Westminster Shorter Catechism
- Westminster Larger Catechism
- Savoy Declaration (1658)
- Helvetic Consensus Formula (1675)
- Keach's Catechism of 1677
- London Baptist Confession of 1689
- Philadelphia Confession, 1742 [1]
- Carter Lane Declaration (John Gill's Confession), 1757
- Methodist Articles of Religion
- Baptist Confession of 1689 (Spurgeon's edition) [2]
- New Hampshire Baptist Confession, 1833
- Spurgeon's Catechism of 1855
- Methodist Social Creed
- Baptist Faith and Message (1963)
- Abstract of Principles (Baptist 1859)
- Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
- Evangelical Statement of Faith
Resources
- John H. Leith, ed. Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present. 3rd edition. John Knox Press, 1982. ISBN 0804205264.
- Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes, 3 vols. (volume 3). Harper, 1919.
- J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 3rd edition. Continuum, 2006. ISBN 0826492169.
- Jaroslav Pelikan, Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition. Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN 0300109741.
See also
External links
- Creeds and Confessions (Phil Johnson)