Should churches enforce conformity to creeds?

I have written elsewhere on the danger of dogma. Here, I want to explore the potential weaknesses of (over)reliance on Christian creeds and confessions in the life of the church.  Recently, in an unprecedented move, a group of American theologians and pastors within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) moved to amend their denominationโ€™s confessional statement, โ€œThe …

Church traditions and the creeds (1)

Thomas Cranmer,  the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury and chief architect of the Anglican formularies. Real or imagined crises are often the catalyst for the formulation, promulgation and revision of creeds and confessions. During the brief period during which the New Testament writings were being composed, a โ€œtrinitarianโ€ confessional pattern emerged that shaped later credal formularies.  …

What is a creed?

The second in a series of posts about religious creeds and confessions. A creed is a short formal statement expressing religious truth. The English word โ€œcreedโ€ derives from the Latin credo, โ€œI believe.โ€ This implies both assent to concepts and trust or reliance upon the implications of such concepts. A creed, therefore, is firstly a personal confession of faith, and a personal …

In the shadow of death

A sermon for Good Friday by Rod Benson Romans 5:6-8 Many Australians today identify Good Friday with nothing more than fish pie, or a long weekend, or beer, barbecues and beaches. But if you were to walk along Main Street and take a straw poll, and ask, โ€œWhat is Good Friday about?โ€ you might get …