There has been a recent discussion about Baptists and creeds as the Nicene Creed was discussed at the Southern Baptist Convention. It has been claimed by some that Baptists are, by definition, anti-creedal. Is this true?
It might be helpful look back at some Baptist history.
Baptists, emerged out of the battle for state church in England, a battle that often was based on what creed you subscribed to. Baptists were a reaction to those creed-heavy traditions, and it in part was a pendulum swing away from what it came from.
The earliest Baptists reacted so much that they rejected any written sources in worship. This included prayers, sermons, and anything else other than the Bible. There could be no reading of ancient creeds. Most Baptists have left that extreme view of written sources in worship far behind.
So Baptists have not had much room for creeds. But they are not non-creedal. One of the Baptist distinctive is the creed of “Jesus is Lord.” Of course that is a biblical creed that was held by the earliest Christians.
Since Baptists focus on the local church and independence, individual congregations can choose whether or not they want to use creeds. Some will reject creeds and some embrace them.
Interestingly, many conservative Baptist churches who would not normally recite a creed, do subscribe to various theological statements such as the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.
It is possible that some Baptists today associate the ancient creeds with the Roman Catholic Church, something that would not be attractive to them.
The point of this is that the ancient creeds, such as the Nicene Creed, are not intrinsically anti-creed but they are naturally suspicious of creeds because of their origins.
