The Value and Importance of the Apostles Creed

The most commonly asked question I have received about missional-ecumenism, at least from many conservative Christians, is this: “How can we work together with other Christians if we do not agree on essential Christian doctrine?” Added to this is the concern that somehow I am asking Christians to give up something important to the faith.

I believe the answer to this question is not fully provided by my response on this week’s video but I do believe the best place to begin a response is with the two great creeds of Christianity: the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. For centuries Christians had these two great standards as a guide to what they personally confessed. This was what the one, great, catholic and apostolic church likewise confessed; i.e. the Christian faith.

There is more taught in Scripture than what we have in the creed but there is never less. There is more to be given if people are to grow and become healthy Christians. But do not minimize the role of essential, core orthodoxy. You can and should believe more but never less. The famous C. S. Lewis was right when he said that this creed allowed us to establish and define a kind of “mere Christianity.”