The Ancient Creeds in the Modern Church

Author: 
The Rev Nevile Davidson, DD, Minister of Glasgow Cathedral

The article expresses surprise that little if any place is given to the Creed today, either in religious instruction or public worship. The early Reformers recommended that the Apostles’ Creed should be used in public worship (Gude and Godlie Ballads 1567). It was regularly used for the instruction of catechumens and for those seeking ‘the ministrations of the Church’ in the late 16th and 17th centuries. A plea is made for a new recognition of the value of the ancient Creeds and their more regular use in Sunday services. Their value is theological; they represent the very heart and essence of the Christian Gospel. They are instructional; particularly for young believers. They also have great liturgical value; reciting them we declare our unity with fellow Christians and our witness to the world. A new creed may be desirable one day, but not yet. A brief examination is made of the opposition to the Creeds, and the article closes with the view that ‘Christians do not believe in the Creeds, but with the Creeds to help them, they believe in God’.

Reference: 
Volume 20 1950, p17