On Heresy and Right Doctrine: Creeds before Deeds

 

Paul counsels Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1Tim. 4:16, NIV). In this verse, Paul makes a crucial connection applicable to all Christians. That is, the way we live our lives, our choices to be obedient to God or to go our own way, is inseparable from the doctrine we hold and teach. The implications are twofold. First, wrong living can affect our beliefs and lead us to embrace false doctrine. Second, wrong beliefs can predispose us to sin and mature in heresy. The two are inseparable. One's ministry (and all Christians engage in ministry) is not distinct from one's private life. The lives we live affect how well we hear the Holy Spirit and understand Scripture.

Working from this foundation this essay will briefly discuss the danger heresy presents to the church and individual Christian. We will also make the case that the confession of correct doctrine, as found in the historical creeds, serves to protect both the individual and the broader church from heretical thinking.

In many churches today the word "heresy" brings to mind witch-hunts and bigotry. Postmodernism, with its fondness for tolerance, views religious truth claims as subjective and equivalent. The notion of orthodox belief is unfashionable and closed-minded. Thinking like this makes increases the potential for heresy.

Contrary to these stereotypical responses, the idea of heresy rests on the belief that truth is absolute and orthodox doctrine is built on the one revealed truth. Those opinions and teachings that stray from this truth are distortions or denials of the truth. They are false teachings leading people away from God's revelation.

Historically heresy has forced Christianity to clarify and define orthodox doctrine, often in the form of creeds such as that adopted at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. These creeds protect correct doctrine, provide a basis for sound teaching, and are a common source for the public confession of the faith. Philip Turner points out that, "The creeds thus served, and I believe continue to serve, as tokens or badges of Christian identity. They provided and continue to provide a norm both for reading the Scriptures and for evangelization and instruction." They also provided a basis to rule out false teachings and heresy.

Here Turner points to the creeds as they function within the whole church. Nevertheless, it is also important to ask what role they can play in the life and thinking of the individual believer. First, we have good reason to accept the creeds as well-reasoned and well-formed expressions of right doctrine. Second, we can look to the creeds as a lens through which to view and question the opinions and teachings we encounter from the pulpit, in the Christian press, on the internet, and on the airwaves. We can and should ask, "Does this teaching match up with the faith professed in the creeds?" If we are ignorant of the truth found in the creeds or fail to ask this question, we have not taken Paul's counsel to Timothy seriously and risk falling into error.

Corporately the church needs to understand that to stray from the creeds is to invite heresy. Turner argues that today the creeds are often viewed as "outmoded restrictions on the free play of thought and imagination." John Webster adds that when the church puts aside a working definition of heresy it represents "the loss of an operative notion of truth," preparing the way for false teaching and heretical ideas. A present-day example is the resurgence of the "oneness" doctrine that denies orthodox Trinitarian teaching along with the popularity of "oneness" teachers like T.D. Jakes.

How does the church protect against this dangerous tendency? Here both Turner and Webster point us to the creeds. Turner reminds us the creeds are a repository of the basic confessions of Christians. Webster contends it is confessing the creeds in the life of the church that provides a way to prevent the growth of heresy. He writes, "… through a publically [sic] affirmed creed or confessional formula the church repudiates the falsehood by which it is threatened. In a creed the church says yes to truth, and in saying yes it thereby says no to falsehood."

Corporate confession of the creeds will serve to keep the foundational doctrines of the church in front of the congregation. However, mere recitation is not enough. In addition, there is a need for a concerted effort to teach the meaning of the creeds and their Scriptural foundation from the pulpit and in a catechetical setting. While it is the responsibility of the church to provide the teaching, it is the responsibility of each Christian to seek out and take part in the teaching so they might understand what they confess.

The threat of heresy did not disappear with the formulation of the historical creeds. If anything, in today's environment shaped by relativistic and postmodern thinking, the threat is even greater. Add to this the ease and speed at which new ideas are communicated and the need to protect against false doctrine is even more pressing. We can build a strong wall of protection by the consistent teaching and confessing of the creeds of Christianity both corporately and individually.