Creed simply means 'I believe' in Latin (ref: wiki). In other words, it's the statement of faith by churches during 3rd to 5th Century, just like the one here in this forum.
Creed helped people to understand better esp. the concept of Trinity, divine nature of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection etc. By repeating every Sunday, people know exactly what they follow, as people in those days don't have easy access to Scripture like today.
Hi felix,
Sometimes I wonder if the use for the creeds is a cop out for making disciples of believers through the Word. Granted, not every believer had the available scripture, but the early church made disciples of believers by studying the scripture and the epistles in the church.
I understand the political correctness of the use of the creed: but would you cite a creed that is indirectly endorsing the RCC as the "Church"? We are to love our erring brothers and sisters in Christ and there comes a time and now is when there is an ecumenical drive among christian denomenations to have a common ground: an agreement with the RCC while the RCC is making common grounds or agreements with other major religions of the world all done for the sake of love and unity, but both at the cost of the faith in Jesus Christ.
There is a call to stand apart for our faith: we do not need the creed and certainly, dropping it help us stand further apart from error introduced in them.
A little leaven leavens into a whole lump. Can a lobster know that it is in a boiling pot?
The Nicene creed introduced the errant practise of worshipping the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. Scriptures in post # 28 on page two of this thread has been provided for this reproof.
One poster sees it as non-applicable, but yet I point now to the lump of it all: the "holy laughter" movement: a movement of what believed to be the "Holy Spirit" coming over believers having unstoppable and uncontrollable laughter. The 700 Club reported it as happening all across the denomenations in 1994. Once it starts, these seducing spirits lead believers into seeking to receive them again and by calling upon the Holy Spirit directly to come.
Same way that those that experiences tongues that comes with no interpretation lead other believers into seeking after receiving these "familiar" spirits which they believe is the Holy Spirit for a sign of tongues.
The same format that leads other believers to seek after receiving the Holy Spirit for other signs of the flesh:
One testimony of a believer that did not believe the dramatic manifestations of the Holy Spirit were for today converted to this errant belief without testing the spirit when after that Sunday adult class on the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, they had a service on honouring the Holy Spirit on that Sunday which happened to fall on the Day of Pentecost. He experienced what felt like liquid nitrogen seeping through his skull which scared him, and he began to apologize against his will to the Holy Spirit.
So why is it that when attention is given to the Holy Spirit, addressing Him, and worshipping Him, that we have one movement of the "spirit" condemning another movement of the"spirit" as not being of God and vice versa?
We have different results from those that put their attention on the Holy Spirit: even if you agree that they failed to test the spirits and they should not believe every spirit to be the Holy Spirit: it still goes to point that these spirits after the initial encounter, lead believers to call on the Holy Spirit Himself to fall on them again and again and again with the same results and in other movements having different results and different signs and lying wonders by caling on the Holy Spirit. So why would God allow these seducing spirits to butt in when believers are calling on the Holy Spirit? Answer: The Son: Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.
So look at the lump and tell me how worshipping the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son is not the small leaven from which these lumps leavened from.
The common denomenator in all of these apostate movements is when they shift their focus from honouring the Son and the Father and from glorifying the Son and the Father towards honouring and glorifying the Holy Spirit.
Hence, the warning from Jesus Christ of Matthew 7:13-16 in how the way is broadened from John 14:6-7 in how we approach God the Father through the Son by making these spirits the "go to" spirits in relating to God, thus seeking after a sign and being an adulterous generation in committing spiritual fornication away from the Bridegroom. These are the spirits of the antichrist as the definition of "antichrist" applies as "instead of Christ".
So as one poster says that there is an absence of a practise does not mean the scripture is against it: there are scripture speaking against it: as it plainly states intendedly that the Father can only be honoured through the Son as the Father can only be glorified through the Son and the role of the Holy Spirit in us is to lead us to not speak of Himself: the Holy Spirit in seeking the glory of the Holy Spirit ( John 16:13-14) but to testify of the Son in seeking the glory of the Son because His name is really above every other name as that is to the glory of God the Father. ( John 15:26-26 & Philippians 2:5-11)
So while I declare these creeds and some hymnals ( Colossians 3:16-17) as going against scriptures: I do point out that there is a larger issue at stake and that is how a small leaven leavens into a whole lump. Once a small leaven is overlooked, then believers will not be able to acknowledge without His help and grace through His words to see where that "lump" came from.
And the fruit of the false prophet is being ecumenical in nature: gathering grapes of thorns and figs of thistles: so while they may explain away the use of the creeds: it is that ecumenical factor is the reason why it should be dropped. For the world to know that catholicism is not christianity: then to avoid misrepresentation and confusion, we cannot say the creeds.
And believers in the NT did not need to use them in representing Christ. And because faith will be hard to find in the latter days, it is more imperative than ever before to drop the use of the creeds.
