Sorry, posting the content from the comments box is easier than thinking up a whole new post :-) This is from Mitch and I talking:


I still think if we compare the different creeds we'll see that they have 80% of stuff in common and disagree on the rest. That 80% is important though and shouldn't be redefined. The rest we can pick and choose as long as we still love one another :-)


Hmmm. Actually, I didn't intend to be re-defining the creeds themselves, but what place they take in our life of faith. In fact, I can honestly say that I can agree with every point in the Apostles creed (I even went over to Rob's site to check - though you gotta admit, the bit about the holy catholic and apostolic church is a bit of a stretch for both of us;-), but I don't think that agreement is what makes me right with God, what brings salvation. So I probably don't consider "the 80%" as highly as you do. To me Christ linked salvation to a heart transformed by the kindness, compassion, and freedom that he demonstrated and taught. Believing in a creed doesn't necessarily get us there...


But as i was pointing out previously, I don't really consider this to be making a mockery of "Church" history either, as throughout history, there have been groups inside and outside of what historically has called itself the Church (from the Franciscans, to the Waldensians, to the Bogomils, to the Anabaptists) who thought this way. Codes and creeds tend to be favoured by the ones in power, but there is no reason why we should assume, again going from Christ, that the ones in power were the only ones who could legitimately be called "the Church".