Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed has some problems for a memorialist Protestant. One is:
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
Certainly a memorialist Protestant would acknowledge the validity of baptism and believe in the forgiveness of sins, but would have serious problems with linking the two as the creed does. The creed is sacramental and a memorialist is not.

Sacraments are a means whereby God conveys grace to man. If baptism brings along forgiveness, then it's a sacrament, ie, a means of grace. If it's a means of grace then it's more than just a memorial.

For a Christian who holds to a memorialist view, the creed must be re-interpreted to mean something different than what it meant to the people who wrote it. This is a reinvention of the faith.