Yesterday I posted about catechisms and some of the resources we’ll be using this year.  Among the resources I mentioned were a couple of catechisms set to music:

• Ask Me Whooo (the First Catechism)
• the Baptist Catechism Set to Music (Keach’s)

There is other music available which is credal in nature, ‘though most of it is less detailed than these catechisms.  Several artists have songs called “Creed” which are based on the Apostles’ Creed*.  They spell out some of the most fundamental doctrines of the orthodox Christian faith.

• “Creed” (Rich Mullins)
• “Creed” (Petra)
• “Creed” (Third Day) — I believe this is a re-recording of Rich Mullins’ version.
• “This I Believe” (Shane & Shane) — This one seems to be a considerably looser adaptation than the previous three.
• “Apostles’ Creed” (Jason Silver) — This is literally the Apostles’ Creed, word-for-word.  That has an obvious benefit, but it’s also (in my opinion) less lyrical than the adaptations, many of which are still pretty close.
• “Apostles Creed” (Graham Kendrick) — This is almost word-for-word, though it makes a few tweaks, like updating the wording to “universal church”.*
• “Creed” (Richard Jensen)
• “Apostles Creed” (Miranda Dodson)
• “Apostles Creed” (Apostles Church)
• “The Apostles’ Creed” (Redeemer Presbyterian Church) — This one has a hymn-style sound.  The instrumentation is gorgeous!
• Another site I found mentioned that this (the version immediately preceding) can be sung to Beach Spring/Beech Spring, a tune you may be familiar with from other hymns.  (It’s one of the tunes “Come Thou Fount” is sometimes sung to, as well as “Come, Thou Christians, Be Committed”.)  If you need the lyrics as arranged for hymn tunes, they’re available here.
• “Manifesto” (The City Harmonic) — This one has a little creed-inspired piece, and that’s followed by  The Lord’s Prayer.

If you like rap, Shai Linne has two whole albums of theology.  (Lyrical Theology, part 1: Theology; and part 2: Doxology)  I’m typically not a big fan of rap, but I like some of these songs, anyway.  C.H.R.I.S.T. is my favorite, so far.  (“Christ created all things, right? Lord of Lords, King of Kings, right? Came through a virgin birth, right? God in the flesh, walked the earth, right?…”  This song covers so much theology in such a short space!  And it covers theological terminology like sanctification and justification.)  Doxology has more of a “slow jam” flavor overall than the heavier rap sound of Theology.

Why Use Creeds and Confessions?

Some will ask why we should use creeds and/or confessions, suggesting the Bible is enough.  It is true that the Bible is adequate to teach us what we should know!  But there are a few benefits to creeds/confessions.

1. It would take a long time to recite the whole Bible.  Reciting a brief summary of the key doctrines can be done much more quickly.
2. Most of the creeds/confessions were created in response to particular errors of doctrine.  They clarified what the church as a whole believed to be the accurate teaching of Scripture.  For this reason, they are very useful in guarding against these same errors.  This is especially true for those who may not yet be thoroughly familiar with all of Scripture; “new” teachings can easily be weighed against these known truths.
3. They are a simple way to articulate what we believe, to our children and to others.

Like the catechisms (which have a similar purpose), they do not (or at least should not!) substitute for Scripture. But they can serve as a tool supplemental to Scripture to help us makes sense of what we read, remember what we know, and quickly weigh doctrines against the historically-understood tenets of the faith.

(Wikipedia summarizes it well: “The purpose of a creed is to provide a doctrinal statement of correct belief, or Orthodoxy.”)

Do you have any favorite credal/theological music?  Please share in the comments!

*When you read “holy catholic church” in the Apostles’ Creed, it is not referring to the Roman Catholic church.  “Catholic” means universal.  When used in the lowercase, the “catholic church” refers to all Christians everywhere, as opposed to a local church fellowship.

NOTE: While I am familiar with some of the artists mentioned in this post, I am not familiar with all of them, so I cannot vouch for any of their other music.  (Rich Mullins is sound.  Shai Linne is sound.  Petra, as far as I’m familiar with them, is sound, but I don’t know their newer music.)