All Church Creeds are Dangerous

They violate sola Scriptura, since they are additions.
They compete with the authority of the Bible!

 All Church Creeds are Dangerous

Historical origin of creeds: The ancient "rule of faith" (regula fidei) was not a creed!

 "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)

Refutation of the false Roman Catholic and Orthodox argument:

1. 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.
2. 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!
3. 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.

Find a true Sola Scriptura local church in your own home town. 

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.

"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)

"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)

"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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