In the specific context of the Christian fatih, a 'creed'—also called 'rule of faith' or 'symbol'—is a concise but formal statement of the most important tenets of Christian belief that one must believe to count as a Christian. The word is derived from the Latin credo for "I believe."
One of the earliest found in the Bible is the Shema; "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut 6:4). Some form of a creed was already evidently in use early in the life of the Christian church. Paul, e.g., speaks of "the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . . .'" (Rom 10:8-9). Creeds have served important purposes.
1) Taught to those preparing for baptism, the creed provide both for them and for the church a way of acknowledging that they understand clearly the undertaking they are entering into in the rite of baptism.
2) In times of controversy, when responding to heretics or those who accuse Christians of false charges, creeds spell out the parameters of our belief, charting out the boundaries of our beliefs beyond which lies heresy. In fact, most of the historically significant creeds were the result of councils called by the leaders of the Church to clarify her stand on false teachings that had swept into the Church. The Nicene Creed, e.g., was formulated in the wake of the Arian controversy.
The Creed can be very useful to the lay-preacher deciding what to preach. A series, for example, of five sermons using, e.g., the Apostles' Creed, or the Nicene Creed, is a good way to remind the congregation of what it is that they have believed and how then to live it. The outline for the sermon is already there in the creed; it needs only to be fleshed out to make it meaningful for your particular congregation.
Print Resources
Bruce A. Demarest, "The contemporary relevance of Christendom's creeds," Themelios 7.2 (1982): 9-16. Pdf N
Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom. Vol. 1. The History of Creeds. Pdf N
Klass Runia, I Believe in God . . . 2nd ed., (London: Tyndale Press, 1968). 71pp. (theologicalstudies.org). Pdf N
©ALBERITH
190216lch