So far in my series of post around the topic of doing theology, I have covered the 5 ways not to do theology and explored the source of doing theology correctly. Today I want to explore the help we receive from the creeds, confession, and catechism, in doing theology correctly.
Before we explore today's topic, a few important points to keep in mind. First, theology is the study God, the Bible, Jesus, sin, salvation, and all the other truths the Bible brings to light. Second, all of us are theologians. Third, theology is at the heart of a Christian, in that, what a person knows and thinks always drives what they do. Fourth, doing theology is the point of both studying theology and living theology.
To understand how the creeds, confession, and catechism help us in doing theology, we first must arrive at an understanding of what these important documents are. Many Christians today hear the word creed or confession and automatically think of the Catholic Church. Many Christians view creeds or confessions as old, outdated documents of a dead, lifeless faith. Many Christians run from the creeds and confessions because they believe they have no place in the spiritual life of God's people. Sadly, all of these assumptions are flat out wrong. The creeds, confessions, and catechisms are an important part of the Christian faith and still play an important role in the daily life of God's people. Thus creeds, confessions, and catechisms are a helpful part of doing theology.
A creed is a short statement about a set of beliefs in the Christian faith. A creed will typically begin with, "I believe". They are concise statements that clearly define what the Bible teaches about a particular subject. The Apostles Creed is a 12 line belief statement about the Christian faith, including God, the mission of Jesus, and the place of the church. The Nicene Creed expands upon the Apostle's Creed, by focusing on belief around the nature of Jesus and how His nature was critical to His mission. The Athanasian Creed builds yet again upon the creeds before it and defines the nature of the Triune God. Creeds are very helpful becasue they are short, succinct statements, right from the Bible, that lay out foundational truths of God's people.
A confession is a longer treatment of truth, than a creed. Confessions are usually broader, in that they cover more truth from the Bible. Confessions, deriving from the Latin verb, meaning, confess. They are very important because they explain what the Bible believes about a particular subject, in a systematic way. Confessions like, "The Belgic Confession", "The Augsburg Confession", The Westminster Standards", "The thirty-nine Articles", and "The London-Baptist Confession", all point to what a particular group of God's people believe the Bible teaches about the important doctrines of the Bible. These confessions cover topics like, Creation, Salvation, Jesus Christ, God, the church, the ordinances, the Holy Spirit, and others. Confessions are extremely helpful because they answer what the Bible teaches about a particular subject in a organized way.
A catechism is similar to a confession and a creed, yet is structured differently to help in teaching doctrine. A great example of a catechism is, "The Heidelberg Catechism". A catechism is a belief statement structured in a question and answer format. A question is asked, for example, "What is the chief end of Man"? The catechism answers the question by teaching the truth that is asked in the question. The answer given to the previous question is, "the chief end of man is to glorify and enjoy God forever". A catechism might take a creed, a prayer from Scripture, the 10 commandments, or a set of doctrines from the Bible, and explain them in a helpful way by asking and answering questions. Catechism are helpful for God's people because they focus on truth and theology from the Bible and explain it in a way that answers questions, we as God's people might ask.
So understanding what creeds, confessions, and catechisms are, we can begin to see how these tools and documents are very helpful in doing theology. How do we know our particular interpretation of a passage is correct? How do we know if our understanding of a doctrine is right? How do we know if our theology is right? How do we know if we are doing theology for the glory of God? Look at what the creeds, confessions, or catechisms say about the particular passage, doctrine or theology. Taking what we understand, know, or see from the Bible and comparing it to the creeds or confessions, is an extremely helpful way of doing theology right. Doing theology, with our Bible as the authority is critical to godliness. But doing theology under the Bible, with the lens of the creeds and confessions, is a tried and true way of making sure we are living under the Bible correctly and doing theology right. These tools are lens and frameworks that are very helpful in doing theology right.
I am a creedly, confessional, catechismic Christian. My understanding of the Trinity is best explained by the Athanasian creed. I live by the confession that is the London Baptist Confession of 1689. I have learned and grown so much by studying and reviewing the Heidelberg Catechism. These creeds, confession, and catechism are helpful tools that keep me on the strait and narrow of doing theology correctly.
So creeds, confessions, and catechisms, are all helpful tools, that God's people should be using, that help us do theology rightly, for the glory of God. Do you know, use, or understand any of the historical and true creeds, confessions, or catechism?
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