Creeds and Confessions

Apostles’ Creed: Defending the Descent

By SI Filings
Apr 23 2020

"Despite being in the Apostle’s Creed, this doctrine is not universally believed. First, as the Catholic Church begin to drift more and more into sacerdotalism, the descent to the dead gradually morphed into a descent into hell. By the time of the reformation, Calvin rejected the doctrine as a Catholic hangover, assuming it was connected to the unbiblical concept of Purgatory, and today many evangelicals follow Calvin’s lead, and ditch the descent." - Jesse Johnson

Tags: 
Apostles’ Creed
Christology
Creeds and Confessions
267 reads

Pope: Confess sins directly to God if no priests available during virus pandemic

By SI Filings
Mar 25 2020

"A Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, including confession, called the Apostolic Penitentiary, issued a notice Friday, stating that though absolution of sin is the usual means through which sins are forgiven by a priest, in times of 'grave necessity,' such as now with the ongoing spread of the virus, other solutions are needed... Confession is considered a sacrament in the Catholic Church." - CPost

Tags: 
Roman Catholicism
Creeds and Confessions
Confession
258 reads

From the Archives – Using the London Baptist Confession of 1646 in the Local Church

By dwenkel
Feb 11 2020

Reformed Baptists are drawn to the London Baptist Confession of 1689 (originally issued in 1677) because it so closely mirrored the popular Presbyterian Westminster Confession of Faith. But the first two London Baptist confessions of 1644/1646 offer a window into history and a resource for Baptists today that is slightly different in its emphases. The London Baptist Confession of 1646 is Reformed and Baptist in its theology while emphasizing the newness of the New Covenant era that began with Christ. This article explores some of the benefits and challenges of using the London Baptist Confession of 1646 in the local church today.

Appealing Qualities

There are three appealing qualities of this Confession that are worthy of highlighting.

The Confession was originally drawn up and signed by seven churches in London in 1646. This was a “corrected and enlarged” edition of the first confession, published in 1644. The title of the original Confession of 1646 was: “A Confession of Faith of Seven Congregations or Churches of Christ in London, Which are commonly (But Unjustly) Called Anabaptists.” A copy of the original Confession of 1646 is widely available on the internet. An edition printed by Matthew Simmons and John Hancock in Popes-head Alley, London, 1646 is available online from The Angus Library and Archive at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford.

1552 reads

Is It OK to Confess That Jesus Descended into Hell? (What if it really means “descended to the dead”?)

By SI Filings
Nov 25 2019

"Thus one effect of Emerson’s book, I hope, will be for more churches to remove a needless stumbling block by changing the wording to something like “he descended to the dead” (as many churches already have). Anyone who can confess that Christ rose from the dead should be able to confess that he descended to the dead (cf. 42, 58)." - TGC

Tags: 
Apostles’ Creed
Creeds and Confessions
2059 reads

Why do we recite the historic creeds of the church in our worship services?

By SI Filings
Sep 26 2019

"...All we are doing is reading a summary of what the Bible says. Second, we believe recitation leads to memorization. It is very important that we understand the basics of Christianity...third, when we recite the creeds, we are affirming that what we believe about the teaching of Scripture is the same as what the Church has believed throughout history." - Ref21

Tags: 
Worship
Creeds and Confessions
939 reads

Is the 1689 Baptist Confession Sufficiently Missional?

By Bob Gonzales
Sep 12 2019

Evangelistic outreach and missions is of prime importance to the church. But neither the Westminster Confession (WCF) nor the Second London Baptist Confession (2LCF) gives much expression or emphasis to the church’s responsibility to take the gospel to all the nations. The chapter “Of the church” (WCF, ch. 25; 2LCF, ch. 26), is an exposition of the nature of the church universal and local, its authority, its institution, its membership, its government, its worship, and its fraternal relations. But the chapter offers no clear and comprehensive summary of the church’s duty to publish the gospel outside the four walls of its sanctuary.

1362 reads

A Few Creeds Plus the Bible: How to Shepherd a Church toward the Use of Confessions

By SI Filings
Aug 09 2019

"The purpose of creeds and confessions in the life of the modern church—in this case, Baptist churches—is the subject of much debate. Unfortunately, many churches fail to see the positive impact of creeds and confessions and, in so doing, disregard them altogether." - Church Leaders

Tags: 
Creeds and Confessions
363 reads

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