What guide or standard of authority should we follow in religion: the Bible or man-made denominational creeds and creed books? Different denominations have different creeds and church laws, thereby contributing to religious division and confusion. Should we follow human religious laws or the inspired Scriptures?
Introduction:
Every responsible person realizes that religious people are divided into various different groups. Those who claim to believe in Jesus have formed contradictory, disagreeing denominations.
People often wonder about the cause of this division.
One reason people are divided is that they follow different religious guides or standards of authority: creeds, creed books, church laws, etc. They use different ways to decide what they will believe and practice. When different religious guides disagree with one another, then the people who follow those creeds will necessarily disagree with one another. But, if all people would follow one and only one guide, this would be a major step toward unity.
The purpose of this lesson is to examine the human creeds of various denominations and compare them to the one truly undenominational guide, the Bible.
By a "creed" I refer to a source of authority which a group recognizes as a standard of guidance by which it determines church doctrine. Should we accept as authority in religion the various creeds, creed books, and church laws written by men according to their human wisdom, or should we follow the Divine wisdom revealed in Scripture?
In this study, we will document our statements by quoting from the creeds of various groups. Jesus and His apostles often examined the beliefs of various groups of their day. We will simply follow their example, but we do not seek to hurt anyone. Rather, we are concerned about souls. We seek to help people know truth and receive eternal life.
Notice how the Bible compares to other standards of authority in the following ways:
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