As Christians living in the postmodern West, we no longer find ourselves in a position of cultural dominance. As Christendom continues to collapse in the present, we would perhaps do well to look back into the past in order to glean from the wisdom of those believers who came before us and who found themselves in a similar situation in their own day.

In 1 Pet. 3:15, believers are instructed to honor Christ the Lord as holy and to always being prepared to give a reason or defense for the hope that they have. It is vital, therefore, that Christians are quickly able to recall the essential doctrines of the faith. In the early church, when literacy rates were low and the scriptures were not readily available to the average person, believers were taught these vital truths in the form of creeds.

Following the deaths of the apostles, the early Christians began to formulate creedal statements that served as summaries of biblical doctrine primarily for the purpose of instructing believers before they were baptized. Having come to faith in Christ out of the surrounding culture, these new believers were beginning a new life as followers of Jesus and needed to be able to confess before others what they believed.

We who live in the 21st century have access to the scriptures and other Christian resources that our brothers and sisters of the past could only have dreamed of, but perhaps we run the risk of being overwhelmed with all of this information. Although we go to churches that hold to specific doctrinal statements and we ourselves have varying amounts of knowledge of certain biblical doctrines, we may struggle to differentiate between primary and secondary doctrines. Although we may be able to clearly articulate the Gospel, we may find that our ability to situate the message of faith alone in Christ alone within a wider biblical and theological context.

As believers in the Lord Jesus, we want to live boldly as His followers, being equipped in the truths of the faith and ready to proclaim them to an unbelieving world. We will therefore begin a study of some of these vital truths, using the Apostle’s Creed as an outline for our study. Although this creed is by no means perfect, it has been used by believers for this very purpose for nearly two millennia. From January until August we will work our way through the vital doctrines taught within the creed, considering together their biblical basis as well as how they confront the unbelieving world in which we live.

May God be pleased to bless the study of His Word!

-Thomas