Nothing New Under the Sun

Written by Pastor Nuckols Monday, 08 February 2010 11:55

            We are not a part of church or confession of faith that is innovating new doctrines or teachings. Rather, we share the ecumenical faith of the ancient church because of our adherence and stand on the three ecumenical creeds, the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian. Together with the other confessions in the Book of Concord, the creeds share a relationship to Scripture, not as being infallible in character, but nonetheless as true explications of Scriptures. In fact, they do not only illuminate the Bible’s true meaning, but they have their roots in Scripture from both a phenomenological and historical perspective. If we examine the word “creed” etymologically, that is by tracing the origin of the word, we discover that it is derived from the Latin word “credere” which means nothing other than “to believe”. We can say that creeds are statements of what Christians believed at a particular moment in time.

            In conducting a comparison between such brief expressions of faith in the Bible and the long elaborate statements of the ecumenical creeds, the fixed and rigid formulations of the latter hardly seem to reflect the personal and spontaneous character of the former. This may give rise to a number of objections so common to this day and age. Without doubt, many a Christian’s battle cry can be heard, “The Bible only is the religion of us Lutherans” and not some later formulas passed by the church. Others might place greater demands on a person’s ethical expressions where what you do becomes your hallmark true Christianhood rather than what is confessed and believed, particularly as such formal statements as the creed. Others, while finding the setting and the statements of the creed from a historical perspective appealing, reject their validity for today’s time and situation.

            Opponents to the creeds, such as those aforementioned, seem to be oblivious of the basic claim of the ecumenical creeds. They never want to represent a movement away from the personal and brief statements of faith in Scripture, but rather a radical return to their deepest meaning and implications as these were opened afresh by controversial and problematic attacks. Indeed, it may be said the ecumenical creeds are once again successful attempts at finding answers to the fundamental question Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” in a given context. Faith is never confessed in a vacuum, but it relates to important events and challenges within a Christian’s life.

            The three ecumenical creeds will be relegated to antiquity. According to the motto, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:1), they may be used as important yardstick to address contemporary questions and problems which are often not so new after all, but mere repristinations of former old heresies. This advice applies in particular to young churches in the mission field that may be relieved in having these creeds in their possession to combat new controversies on the Triune God. But, we, too, must include the creeds in the personal expression of our faith as we continue to seek answers to the question, “Who do you say I am?” The most apparent evidence of our commitment to the creeds, apart from having received them into the Book of Concord, is that they are given a special seat in the liturgy of our church. Their important seat in the liturgy of the Christian Church has always included their value for pre-baptismal catechetical instruction and confirmation.

            In view of the creeds, two further reasons may justify their validity for today. There is the saying “the person who belongs to God also understands who God is” and that “a church without a past has not future.” The creeds were for the Christians a means to openly publicize their faith in the Triune God to the outside unbelieving Grecian and Roman worlds. Just as the quality of a trumpet depends on its clear sound, so too, our faith may keep nothing back of the truth about the Triune God. In this way, our faith and the creeds belong together just as fire and light are inseparable from each other.