http://www.jackspipe.com/2006/01/13/the-necessity-of-creeds/ Pondering life in light of God's endless glory. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:13:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.jackspipe.com/2006/01/13/the-necessity-of-creeds/comment-page-1/#comment-1039 Jack’s Pipe » The heyday of non-denominationalism Sat, 30 Dec 2006 06:51:38 +0000 http://www.jackspipe.com/?p=180#comment-1039 [...] People from established traditions - Catholics, Orthodox, etc. - look at these non-denominational churches and rightly ask: What do you believe? All too often, the response is a one or two-page statement that really is little more than the Nicene Creed in bulleted format. Ask for more than that and it’s “We believe the Bible.” The problem is that Mormons and Oneness Pentecostals and evangelical feminists “believe the Bible,” too. The question really is, what do you believe about the Bible? This is why substantive creeds and confessions of faith have always and everywhere been a necessity. In a conservative Presbyterian or Lutheran church, the pastor has to doctrinally confess to the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Book of Concord. These confessions put a stake in the ground. There’s continuity, though imperfectly upheld. Mainline denominations abandoned their confessions long ago; most non-denominational churches don’t seem to have any. [...] [...] People from established traditions – Catholics, Orthodox, etc. – look at these non-denominational churches and rightly ask: What do you believe? All too often, the response is a one or two-page statement that really is little more than the Nicene Creed in bulleted format. Ask for more than that and it’s “We believe the Bible.” The problem is that Mormons and Oneness Pentecostals and evangelical feminists “believe the Bible,” too. The question really is, what do you believe about the Bible? This is why substantive creeds and confessions of faith have always and everywhere been a necessity. In a conservative Presbyterian or Lutheran church, the pastor has to doctrinally confess to the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Book of Concord. These confessions put a stake in the ground. There’s continuity, though imperfectly upheld. Mainline denominations abandoned their confessions long ago; most non-denominational churches don’t seem to have any. [...]

]]>