The Need for Creeds Today

Confessional Faith in a Faithless Age

J. V. Fesko

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781540962591
• eBook ISBN: 9781493427017
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

2020 For the Church Book Award

This brief, accessible invitation to the historic creeds and confessions makes a biblical and historical case for their necessity and shows why they are essential for Christian faith and practice today. J. V. Fesko, a leading Reformed theologian with a broad readership in the academy and the church, demonstrates that creeds are not just any human documents but biblically commended resources for the well-being of the church, as long as they remain subordinate to biblical authority. He also explains how the current skepticism and even hostility toward creeds and confessions came about.

ONE

Biblical Arguments for Confessions

Introduction

As democracy spread throughout the burgeoning United States of America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ideals of freedom and Christianity mingled and gave birth to a decidedly American form of religion. Barton W. Stone (1772–1844), Thomas Campbell (1763–1845), and Thomas’s son Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) were leaders of the Restoration movement (also known as the Stone-Campbell movement), which wanted to peel back the layers of accumulated dogma and return Christianity to what they believed was its purest, most primitive form. The movement leaders referred to their break with the Presbyterian church as their “declaration of independence.” And Alexander Campbell encouraged his followers to commemorate July 4, 1776, as a day equal to the Jewish Passover. That is to say, Stone and the Campbells created a populist movement that rode on the winds of American democracy and freedom. Instead of confessions of faith, the Stone-Campbell movement trumpeted the motto “no creed but the Bible.” It was clear that many in the new world had little space for confessional, old-world faith.1

The anti-creedal movement grew as those churches that embraced theological democracy outpaced their confessional competitors. In 1776, Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches were dominant, holding almost 40 percent of the American churchgoing population. But by 1850, about 54 percent of American churchgoers were attending Baptist and Methodist churches, with Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches together claiming only about 15 percent of the pie.2 The sentiment that creeds and confessions were unbiblical, and thus to be rejected, thrived in the nascent nation. Considering how popular the “no creed but the Bible” mentality was and continues to be, we must ask, What does the Bible have to say about confessions?

At first blush, such a question might seem absurd. Some might ask, What does the Spirit-inspired Bible have to do with these all-too-human documents? But closer examination shows that there is biblical evidence to support the claim that confessions of faith are both biblical and necessary. To prove this claim, this chapter surveys eight biblical texts: the institution of the Passover liturgy (Exod. 13:14–15), the giving of the Shema (Deut. 6:4–6), the apostle Paul’s five “trustworthy sayings” (1 Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:7–9; 2 Tim. 2:11–13; Titus 3:4–8), and Jude’s exhortation to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3).3 Each of these texts captures the idea that God expects his people to take his authoritative revelation, reflect on and study it, restate it in their own words, and pass it down to future generations. The Bible mandates the creation and maintenance of a biblically faithful confessional and catechetical tradition. After surveying the eight texts, the chapter presents an analysis, exploring how the Bible warrants confessions and catechesis, provides protections against dead confessionalism, and reveals an indissoluble link between confession and piety. It then concludes with summary observations about the need for biblically faithful confessions of faith.

Instruct Future Generations (Exod. 13:14–15)

God’s revelation comes in several different forms, but it is more than a divine memorial, an echo of God’s voice. Israel is supposed to record God’s Word and reflect on it for generations to come. The first time God commands Israel to perform this catechetical task is when he gives instructions for the celebration of the Passover. The Israelites are supposed to reenact, remember, and rationalize the Passover:4

And when in time to come your son asks you, “What does this mean?” you shall say to him, “By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.” (Exod. 13:14–15)

As Israelite families gathered and partook of the Passover meal, God knew that younger members of the community would ask about its significance. As children tasted the food and stepped into Israel’s past, their parents would explain the Passover to them. They would recall God’s mighty deliverance from a powerful foe and the judgment that fell upon the firstborn of Egypt, which constituted the rationale for the sacrifice or dedication of the firstborn. This is evident by the use of a result clause: “Therefore [עַל־כֵּן] I sacrifice.” The Bible presents a pattern of God’s word-act-word revelation along with the subsequent, biblically governed reflection on it and repetition and explanation of it.5 In other words, God first gave his word to depart Egypt. He then performed a mighty act in delivering Israel from Egypt. God then gave a subsequent word explaining the significance of the act of deliverance. Through God’s word-act-word revelation, he is his own interpreter. This same pattern unfolds in the celebration of the Passover. God instructs Israel to perform the Passover. The Israelites perform the act and reflect upon God’s word and deliverance. Parents then explain the significance of the Passover to their children with a subsequent word. The revelation-reflection-repetition pattern appears in Jewish halakah, the laws derived from the written and oral forms of the Torah and that extend into the Hellenistic traditions and rituals in Talmudic form.6 In short, God instructed the Israelites to pass the knowledge and significance of his word-act-word revelation down to future generations. This is a divinely commanded traditio. The word traditio is derived from the Latin term trado (to hand over); hence, a traditio—or “tradition”—is a teaching, doctrine, or saying handed down from generation to generation.7

Hear O Israel (Deut. 6:4–6)

Many are familiar with the first and greatest commandment, otherwise known as Israel’s Shema: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart” (Deut. 6:4–6). But what might not immediately strike the reader is that this is a confession of Israel’s faith for every individual and ultimately the entire nation. The Shema is Israel’s fundamental dogma, her magna carta.8 To preserve Israel’s faith, God bound covenant, confession, and catechesis together in the Shema.9 At the heart of the covenant lies Israel’s chief confession of faith, which consists of four words in the Hebrew text: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה ׀ אֶחָד (“The LORD our God, the LORD is one,” Deut. 6:4). Pious Jews recited this confession as a daily prayer, along with Deuteronomy 11:18–32 and Numbers 15:37–41. These references direct the Israelites to bind God’s laws on their foreheads, which they took literally and thus tied phylacteries to their heads (i.e., small leather pouches containing miniscule scrolls inscribed with God’s commands).10 The command to bind God’s law on their hands, foreheads, doorposts, and gates (Deut. 6:8) was an exhortation to meditate on and to memorize God’s law, not to tie leather pouches to their foreheads (see Prov. 6:20–22).11 Nevertheless, the point of the confession was to cement Israel’s collective conviction that Yahweh was to be the sole object of their adoration, affection, and allegiance. Israel’s external profession of this brief confession was supposed to serve as the sign of the internal disposition of the heart—the outward confession mirroring the inward conviction. There was no place for prevarication; a disjunction between confession and conviction was inconceivable.12

God wanted Israel to profess their faith, and he wanted their profession to protect theological orthodoxy, to express love for God, and to ground catechesis. Israel’s confession was a theological guardrail to keep them on the road of biblical monotheism.13 The confession reminded Israel to be devoted exclusively to Yahweh—confessional and theological orthodoxy going hand in hand with orthopraxy. One cannot take the confession of the Shema on one’s lips and then bow down and worship an idol. At the same time, God intended that love would mark this confessional orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Confession of the one true living God was not supposed to spring from legalism, from duty, but rather from love for him. Israel’s love for God was to be holistic and total, which Deuteronomy 6:5 captures with the injunction to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”14 According to Hebrew thought, the heart is the seat of the mind, will, and affections; the soul is the source of life and vitality—essentially, one’s existence. Deuteronomy 6:5 connecting heart and soul shows that the confession is meant to express whole-person devotion, and the inclusion of one’s whole “might” then emphasizes this intention. The New Testament adds another element: the mind (Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27).15 This love for God, therefore, is not to be merely affective; it is also to consist of obedience and use of the intellect.

As with the divine instructions regarding Passover, God commands Israel to use this confession for catechesis: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deut. 6:6–9). Individual Israelites would internalize the significance of this confession through meditation and study. But this internal reflection on the confession would ideally lead to catechesis: instruction of one’s family.16 God intends confession and catechesis to permeate every sphere of life, which is evident in the placement of the Shema (it serves as a springboard to chapters 12–26).17 Covenant, love, obedience, and catechesis are all enshrined in confession in this well-known passage from the Old Testament. This confession is a guardian, or a plumb line, to ensure Israel’s fidelity to its covenant Lord.18

Trustworthy Sayings (1 Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:7–9; 2 Tim. 2:11–13; Titus 3:4–8)

The foregoing confessional and catechetical instruction lies at the foundation of Israel’s theology; therefore, it should not surprise us to find the same pattern in the New Testament. This pattern appears prominently in Paul’s Pastoral Epistles and his five trustworthy sayings (πιστὸς ὁ λόγος).19 What does the apostle intend to convey by this lexeme, and what are its origins? The most plausible idea is that these are objective restatements of what Jesus taught about himself, as recorded in the Gospels, and also reiterations of other biblical teachings. That is, they repeat phrases and concepts that appear in the Gospels or in other portions of Scripture.20 Paul often employs earlier catechetical or liturgical material.21 The formula itself, “this is a trustworthy saying...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Biblical Arguments for Confessions
• 2. Reformed Confessions (1500–1700)
• 3. Causes of Deconfessionalization
• 4. Benefits of Confessions
• 5. Confessions and Piety
• Conclusion
• For Further Reading
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover