Feeling the Need for Creeds
Our age is suspicious of creeds. No one needs to tell us what to believe; we think to ourselves, we have the Bible for that. That kind of mindset in the "real" world of technology would divorce a man from the gathered wisdom of thousands of years. Imagine someone saying, "I don't need someone to invent the wheel, I am smart enough to do that for myself!" Why, therefore, is the Church willing to adopt that kind of thinking in the even more consequential world of theology? There are several reasons.
First, whether we like to admit it or not, the progressive Church has imbibed deeply from the surrounding culture-- a culture that instinctively believes new is always better (consumerism), truth claims are always relative (relativism), no one is ever really wrong (pluralism and multi-culturalism). Following these ideas, it is easy to see how the Church has no taste for old-fashioned, out-moded ideas (history and tradition) and tends to look askance on authoritative credal statements (one man's effort to force opinions on other people).
Building on that kind of thinking, and in the second place, the progressive Church is too quickly enamored by a false and mindless humility. You know the kind of thinking: who am I to condemn you for interpreting the Bible differently from me? You have your perspective, and I have mine, so let's agree to differ. How would that mindset go down in the math room? "Okay, Johnny, from your perspective 2+2=69. I prefer to see the answer as 4. But if 69 is true for you....?" Do you see how ludicrous that would sound
The progressive will cry foul at this point-- but mathematical truths and theological truths aren't the same. There is no debate in Math, but good men differ when it comes to theological formulations. This is one of those half-truths we must not tell as whole truths. In theology, there is a legitimate place for a certain broad-mindedness regarding peripheral issues and debatable subjects over which men can and do differ. However, with men of a progressive bent, this list of disputable doctrines is endless and tends to grow until almost every cherished doctrine is pushed out to the periphery. Some mainline Churches, when it comes to the ordination of candidates for high Church office, regard even the existence of God as a desirable but optional extra. ( I'm referencing the ordination of an atheist as the Bishop of Durham a few years ago).
Such "progress" hides behind a generous largesse, the kind that eschews exclusivity and that desires to embrace as many "good men" as possible. You know the kind of thing, "Though he might not agree with us on every point of doctrine, he's a good man and we should have him in our Presbytery. The important thing," the liberal says, "is that we are agreed on all the great central doctrines of the reformed and christian faith!"
When someone comes off with a remark like that, always ask them, "What are these central doctrines, can you give me a list?" They will usually respond with something generic like, "Oh, you know, Justification by faith alone, the five solas, the five points of Calvinism, the inspiration of Scripture—you know, things like that."
There are two red flags in that response right off the bat: First, the list is never exhaustive. The progressive invariably trots of 4 or 5 "central" doctrines of the faith, but they always end with some version of etcetera. Second, the doctrines they list are never accurately defined. The first step towards liberalism, remember, always involves men using orthodox terms to describe unorthodox ideas. So it is not enough to simply trot off that someone believes in justification by faith alone or an inspired Bible. We must go deeper. Creeds are a time-tested vehicle for giving this depth.
A third reason our too many churches in our progressive age eschew creeds is simply an arrogant overconfidence in their own ability to get it right. We don't like being told what to believe. We like defining things for ourselves. We are the ones, after all, who have rejected all the old certainties to embrace confusion at the bathroom door! Once again, I would note, it is neither humble nor wise to doubt what God has clearly revealed. It is the essence of piety to listen when God speaks, to embrace what He says, and to do whatever He commands. We should never doubt in the dark what God has clearly told us in the light. For when it comes to theology, ignorance is not the mother of devotion. It is, in fact, the mother of heresy. It is one thing to doubt ourselves; it is quite another to doubt God and the clarity of His Word.
In the final analysis, clear, written, propositional statements of doctrine (creeds) flow from and honor a clear, written, and inspired message from God. Over the centuries, God has used them to define the limits and the length of orthodoxy. In other words: to be Orthodox, you must believe this and not that (limits of orthodoxy), and you must believe all of these things (the length of orthodoxy). For this reason, I thank God we are members of a credal/confessional Church. It keeps us honest as well as safe.