We as humans were created to be relational beings. Nobody would argue that we do not need connection with others around us. Whether it's having a significant other, family, or other friends. We need people to connect with! We should remember that the Christian life is more than that!

Scripture talks about us being in a "great cloud of witnesses". One thing that I think the modern evangelical church forgets is the past! We have over 2,000 years of church history!! We have thousands of theologians that have spent countless years formulating Scriptural and Christian theologies.

Many of these men wrote these theologies down in tremendously helpful and edifying ways! Some of them are short and sweet making memorization trivial, others are deep and profoundly pastoral to believers in their walk.

Some of the more common creeds are the Apostles Creed (340 AD), Nicene Creed (381), Athanasian Creed (450), and Chalcedonian Creed (451, some call this the Chalcedonian Definition). At my church, we alternate between the Apostles and Nicene Creed. These creeds offer basic beliefs of what is required to be confessed by Christians to consider themselves orthodox in their beliefs.

In addition to these there are confessions and catechisms. Creeds are intended to be short and easily memorized. Confessions and catechisms on the other hand are intended to be more thorough and longer. They typically take the form of question and answer. Within reformed churches they are used as teaching tools for children and new converts to Christianity or the reformed faith.

Some common confessions and catechisms are listed below:

1. Martin Luther's Small (1529) & Large (1529) Catechism - German
2. Augsberg Confession (1530) - German
3. First (1536) & Second (1566) Helvetic Confession - Switzerland
4. Belgic Confession (1561) - Belgium
5. Thirty-Nine Articles (1562) - England
6. Heidelberg Catechism (1563) - Netherlands
7. Canons of Dort (1619) - Netherlands
8. Westminster Confession (1647) - England
9. Westminster Shorter (1648) & Larger (1648) Catechism - England
10. Second London Baptist Confession (1689) - England

As I started, I believe the broad evangelical church does a disservice to members by ignoring these documents. Confessing these statements brings the benefit that we feel and are, in fact, connected with Christians from the past more! Some may say, "I have no other creed but Christ." That is, in itself, a creed/confession. It is a beautiful one, but one that doesn't say what you believe. Pelagius and Arminius believe in Christ but what they believed was declared heretical by the church.

One last thing I will share, is some Christians call themselves "Calvinist". Saying they follow John Calvin, the French reformer. However, many of the things John Calvin taught are foreign to them. They claim there are "5 points", but that is not true. John Calvin did not come up with 5 points to summarize his beliefs. Those 5 points are actually a reordering of the five heads (points) of doctrine as defined in the Canons of Dort! The Canons of Dort were drafted to combat the teachings of the followers of Jacobus Arminius who wrote the Five Articles of Remonstrance (1610). To claim your a Calvinist you really should know where it comes from.