Body: | Click to View All Church Creeds are Dangerous Click to View
Click to View They violate sola Scriptura, since they are additions.
Click to View They compete with the authority of the Bible!
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Click to View All Church Creeds are Dangerous
Click to View Historical origin of creeds: The ancient "rule of faith"
(regula fidei) was not a creed!
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Luther and Calvin merely replaced Catholic creedalism with their own creeds. Luther and Calvin practiced "pseudo-Sola Scriptura" because they used creeds in addition to the Bible.
Click to View "Luther and Calvin contradicted themselves because they
claimed to use the Bible only, then went on to write creeds in addition to
the Bible."
"Though he may have coined the slogan, the fact is that Luther himself did
not practice Sola Scriptura. If he had, he'd have tossed out the Creeds and
spent less time writing commentaries." (Which Came First: The Church or the
New Testament?, Fr. James Bernstein, Orthodox churchman, 1994, p 21)
Click to View Refutation of the false Roman Catholic and Orthodox argument:
We completely agree with this criticism. Luther merely replaced
Catholic creedalism with a system of his own. Luther and Calvin practiced
"pseudo-Sola Scriptura" because they did use creeds in addition to the
Bible.
Anti-sola Scriptura proponents, merely point out the error in
Luther's consistency, without changing the fact that Luther was indeed
right in advocating the Bible alone. Just for the record, all our churches
have absolutely no creeds, not even the Nicene or Apostles Creed! So not
only do we use the Bible alone, unlike Luther, we are above criticism
because we are totally anti-creed. We also have a much higher level of
doctrinal unity, than is seen in those churches that use creeds!
Therefore, using Luther and Calvinism as an example of the failure
of Sola Scriptura is irrelevant, since they were really advocates of
Pseudo-Sola Scriptura.
Click to View Find a true Sola Scriptura local church in your own home
town.
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Creeds are considered essential by many denominations
It makes us grieve when denominations use creeds instead of the Bible
alone. Israel claimed that a king was essential when they chose Saul. God
was furious because they had in fact rejected God as being king. (1 Samuel
8:7; 10:19) Churches that use creeds have replaced the Bible with a human
creed. We are actually offended that they would say, "without creeds, you
cannot know scripture". Creeds don't explain scripture, they replace
scripture. It is interesting that Reformed Protestants like Mathison are
full of contradiction. On one hand they fight the Catholics for claiming
scripture cannot be understood without the church, then they say scripture
cannot be understood without creeds. It escapes their notice that the
Nicene creed teaches baptism for the remission of sins... a doctrine taught
in the Bible, practiced by the early church and encoded in the creed. You
either accept all the creeds say or none at all. While we agree with the
doctrine of baptism for the remission of sins, we still reject the creed
because we have the Bible's clear statements that prove the doctrine: Mark
16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21.
Click to View "The question is not whether one will have a creed or not
have a creed. The only question is what creed one will have. Creeds and
confessions are necessary to a proper understanding of scriptural
authority. Without the use of creeds, it is impossible to establish
objective doctrinal boundaries within the church." (The Shape Of Sola
Scriptura, Keith A. Mathison, Reformed Protestant, 2001, p 277)
Click to View "The ecumenical creeds are simply the written form of the
confession of the faith of the universal Church. They are a confession of
what the Church as a whole has read in the Scriptures." (The Shape Of Sola
Scriptura, Keith A. Mathison, Reformed Protestant, 2001, p 279)
Click to View "The ecumenical creeds represent the hermeneutical consensus
already reached by the Church. They declare the basic essential truths
which have been confessed by all Christians from the first days of the
Church until today. They represent that which the entire Church has seen in
Scripture. ... if the Holy Spirit has been promised to guide the Church
into the knowledge of the truth of Scripture; if the entire Church for
thousands of years confesses to being taught by the Spirit the same
essential truths in Scripture, then it follows that those truths are what
Scripture says." (The Shape Of Sola Scriptura, Keith A. Mathison, Reformed
Protestant, 2001, p 280)
Rule of Faith: regula fidei: FF Bruce, in The canon of scripture, p
115-116, claims that the regula fidei was read and memorized by those who
were to be baptized.
by Steve Rudd
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