Of Creeds and Creativity…

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Funny. I don’t remember memory lane being this dark. It is difficult for me to listen to those old Petra songs anymore, but especially “Creed.” Take a listen:

I believe he is the judge of all men, small and great
The resurrected souls of men receive from him their fate

Although ostensibly a fanciful reinterpretation of the Apostle’s Creed, some of its unorthodox interpolations really go beyond the pale. Perhaps Mr. Hartman did not realize that “resurrected souls” implies a disbelief in the resurrection of the body, but what it is communicated is certainly not in any orthodox Christian creed. Yet, I think that what bothers me most about “Creed” — and a similar song by Rich Mullins, by far the better songwriter and more orthodox thinker — is that they are reinterpretations.

The words of the orthodox creeds were decided upon by the universal fullness of the Church, gathered together in council. The Church fought over them down to the very letter. The aphorism about not changing one iota comes from the fight with the Arians over whether Christ was of similar essence [homoiousios/ηομοιουσιον] or of one essence [homoousios/ηομοουσιον] with the Father.) Men and women spilled their own blood by defending these very words. To think that they can or should be “reinterpreted” disregards that sacrifice.

I appreciate the motivation for writing these songs: These songwriters want to expose their listeners to the content of the creeds, Hartman the Apostle’s Creed and Mullins the Nicene Creed — the more important and authoritative of the two. Yet, as I listen to them, I find that I cannot sing along anymore. This is not my Creed.

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