In part one, I focused on addressing the biblicist objection to using creeds in our churches. I highlighted several pieces of biblical evidence showing that employing “biblically subordinated confessions” is consistent with our God-given mandate to protect and proclaim the message of the gospel. In this article, I will address the other two contributing factors that may have led to this generally anti-creedal stance in many Asian churches: fixation with what is modern and pragmatism in doing ministry.

Fixation with contemporary trends is a cultural phenomenon. With technological advancement, we perceive that the new ways of doing things are better than the old ones. Using a fully automatic washing machine is better than manual washing of clothes. So, if we want to be relevant to our culture, we need to communicate the faith in new ways. We have to be an up-to-date church with contemporary worship and messages. Underlying this, according to Carl Trueman, is an assumption that “the past could not really speak in any meaningful way to the present.”¹

Closely related to this problem is pragmatism, “the notion that truth is to be found in usefulness.”² It is okay to be pragmatic and consider the practical results of our actions. But to be too preoccupied or overly driven by results is dangerous. We must not be too quick to embrace a discipleship program just because this program caused membership implosion in one megachurch. On the other hand, we must not dismiss the use of creeds and confessions in our churches just because they seem outdated, unpopular, and do not produce immediate results.

Augustine speaks so highly of the value of the use of creeds when he counsels new believers, “Receive, my children, the Rule of Faith, which is called the Symbol (or Creed). And when ye have received it, write it in your heart, and be daily saying it to yourselves; before ye sleep, before ye go forth, arm you with your Creed.”³ Historically speaking, the vast majority of churches have employed creeds and confessions in their church life and ministry. Why, then, must our “contemporary” church be an exception?

Of course, appealing to church history is not a conclusive argument. While we must not be driven by programs or methodologies that will bring immediate results, that does not mean that we do not care if our use of creeds in our churches will be beneficial. So, it is also important to answer this question, “How will confessing and teaching the creeds in our churches benefit us?” Let me mention five.

First, creeds can help us distinguish orthodoxy from heterodoxy. Creeds, although far from being exhaustive, teach us the core biblical doctrines of the Christian faith. Orthodoxy is important because a lot of people use the Bible but twist it to serve their own purposes. The creeds keep our churches firmly anchored and not “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph 4:14), especially by what we see and hear daily on social media.

For example, we become more alert when we hear someone deny the virgin birth of Christ because we affirm this line in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary.” Knowing the biblical teaching on the Trinity helps us see what is wrong with how unitarians view the Trinity and what makes the Christology of The Iglesia ni Cristo—a prominent Filipino religious group—heretical. Not only will we know what is unorthodox, but we will also be trained to defend the teachings of the Scriptures against those who contradict it “in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 2:25).

Second, creeds can connect us to the faith of many Christians throughout history. Many Christians today are more fascinated with what is hip and trendy. So, the old-fashioned creeds may be perceived as boring and irrelevant to us. This sort of attitude and behavior can be dangerous. Getting trained in the old ways can alert us concerning modern messages that sound ‘novel’ and yet may be detrimental to the Christian faith. In reality, the gospel is indeed an ‘old story’ with a timeless message for ever-changing times.

As Jaroslav Pelikan reminds us, we have to learn from the living faith of the dead and not from the dead faith of the living.⁴ It is prideful to say that you no longer need to learn what the early Christians can teach us. Your church did not start when it was founded fifty years ago or even 500 years ago during the Reformation era. When we confess the creeds, we echo what our forebears believed. As the Filipino proverb says, “Ang hindi lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan” (“He who does not look to where he came from will never reach his destination”). The same can be said regarding our Christian faith and theological convictions.

Third, confessing the creeds can help our church experience true Christian unity. Yes, there are tens of thousands of Christian denominations today. We can differ in our second- or third-level doctrines, which we consider “non-essential” for salvation. We also tend to be sectarian, focusing more on our theological tribes or traditional camps and being easily dismissive of other Christian traditions. We do not deny our obvious differences, but we must not forget our common bond as Christians—one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Eph 4:4–6). The Nicene Creed reminds us that we belong to “the one holy catholic and apostolic church.” We are many, yet we are one.

Fourth, familiarizing yourself with the church’s creeds and confessions can help you read and study the Bible better. We must indeed draw our doctrines from diligent study of the Scriptures. But Michael Bird reminds us that we also need the “tradition” handed down to us through the church’s creeds so we can be better students of the Word. We need to consider creeds “biblically generated tradition,” expressing the “consensus of the universal church” regarding matters related to the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. That is why the creeds can serve as helpful guides as they tell us the “contents and concerns of Scripture itself.”⁵ When our church spent several months studying the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), we noticed how we grew better at grasping the Scriptures’ teachings through our increased familiarity with this catechism’s words.

Fifth, God can use the creeds to strengthen our faith. This is one of the primary reasons why our church studied the contents of the Apostles’ Creed right after the pandemic. During that period, I had to explain to our members what our church (and ten thousand other churches!) believes and why we believe it. When we interview prospective members, our church elders ask them what they understand about the gospel and our church’s statement of faith. This is also an opportunity for them to get clarity about what we believe. As elders, we want to communicate to them that right beliefs anchored in the gospel are the most important thing in our church. It is not just about good experiences or exciting church programs.

This emphasis is especially crucial during the present time when people’s beliefs change constantly, and largely depend on what makes them feel good about themselves or what is culturally acceptable. With the ever-present danger of being “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph 4:14), we increasingly need rock-solid, unchanging truths that will serve as bedrock and anchor of our faith, hope, and assurance.

When introduced to seemingly new ideas, Asian Christians have a propensity to ask questions like: “How is that thing beneficial to me? What does it have to do with my relationships with others?” These are good questions which I have tried to answer in this article in trying to sell the benefits of using the creeds in our churches. For all the benefits I mentioned, I believe confessing the creeds together will help our churches be spiritually richer, stronger, and healthier. So, take up the creeds from your grandma’s treasure chest and see for yourself what they have to offer.

Derick Parfan is the leading pastor of Baliwag Bible Christian Church in Bulacan, Philippines since 2009. He is also founder and executive director of Treasuring Christ PH (treasuringchristph.org), a ministry dedicated to publishing gospel-centered resources in English and Filipino. He is author of Five Solas, One Gospel: Mga Foundational Doctrines para sa Filipino Church Ngayon (Treasuring Christ PH, 2021). He holds a ThM degree in Theological Studies from AGST. He is married to Jodi (since 2008) and has two sons (Daniel and Stephen) and one daughter (Kyrie).