The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Apostles' Creed and the Solas

I realize many may disagree with me, but I do not think the Apostles' Creed is concise enough on 'grace' if it is comprehensive document on the gospel.

Would the writers of the creed affirm the 5 solas?

The Apostles' Creed arose out of the early Western church and should be thought of as a summary of the Apostles' teaching rather than directly attributable to them. Originally it was essentially a baptismal confession and had several variations. The form in use today dates from the eighth century.

The Creed was never written as a statement concerning the subject of "grace" nor even salvation specifically. Remember, the vast majority of creeds and confessions were written to address a certain issue or to meet a pressing need.

As far as what the original writers or later revisionists of the Apostles' Creed would affirm in regard to the Five Solas, you would have to ask them.

John C.

I don't think you'll find the 5 solas in the Apostles' or Nicene Creeds. After all, they came from the Catholic Church, albeit long before the Reformation distinguished itself from the RCC with the 5 solas among other things. The doctrine emphasized by the Creeds is the doctrine of the Trinity. It refuted certain heresies circulating around at the time and established the deity of all 3 members. I hope this helps.

The value of a good gospel-creed goes well beyond the "original setting" / time-and-place bound issues of the day it was created, i.e., it is not limited by the specific concerns it originally sought to address, but exceeds its own intended scope IF interpreted in an organic, evangelical, Christological fashion: for instance, one of the Reformed confessions, Heidelberg Catechism is built around the triple / triune devision of the Apostles' Creed with the respective three hortatory parts designated as "Creation/ Providence", "Redemption" and "The Way of Thanksgiving [for a redeemed soul]", which correspond to the confession of the Father, of the Son and His states, and of the Spirit, as the Spirit of communion of saints / remission of sins Who causes us to expect the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. It is noteworthy to observe, that quite irrespective of the original views of the framers of the Creed, the Catechism, for example, interprets Christ's descent into hell, as having to do with His suffering upon the accursed tree, and NOT with his imaginary personal descent into some abode of an imprisoned spirits. Now, the HC is an unabashedly Reformed and Calvinistic creed, as is well known to all who have taken time to read it AND it is equally well known that its interpretation of the Apostles' Creed is self-consciously meant to be harmonious both with Scriptures AND the Apostolicum. Does the HC go beyond the original purpose and scope of the Apostolicum? In all likelihood, yes. But is there anything wrong in such an organic conception of the creedal heritage? Don't think so.
Scripture itself teaches us not to get fixated upon "the original setting", or else, the Scripture's own application of the originally literal Mosaic command "not to muzzle the mouth of the [literal] ox" to the gospel ministry is spurious / unlawful. But the apostle saith "Doth God take care for oxen?" {see 1Cor. 9:9}, which means, does God care only about literal Arians of the first half of the first millennium, or does His care extend to the broader needs of His church? The answer, in my opinion, is obvious: He does care more about the whole body of truth, as reflected upon in the Apostolicum, then about the time bound need to respond to the pressures of Arianism and other early church "isms".
Thus, I would affirm that, if taken organically and harmoniously with the Scriptural gospel, the Apostles' creed does contain all the 5 solas in it, by way of implication.
For instance, the divinity of the Son logically establishes the efficacy of His cross-work and thus, of its invincible, salvific effect upon those for whom / in whose behalf it was performed. Hence, - the 3d point of TULIP is contained there (of course, in a nutshell, not in any developed fashion), as well as the rest of the truths of the Gospel, according to God's grace.