So, there is a period where a lot of stuff is going on and theology and understanding and doctrine is being formed and then becoming commonly understood and accepted, before it can ever be written down. So, we see that through the power of the Holy Spirit first, the message, the good news, the Gospel of Jesus was spoken aloud. And over time, doctrinal statements or creeds were formed, things that people would recite and memorize and say together as a statement of faith, as an agreed-upon thing. Like this is what we believe. And sometimes these things would be sung with a melody, sung together, kind of like how we have songs that we sing in church and we sing them but they are making statements about what we believe, even as we give our hearts in worship. They’re also making statements about what we believe to be true, or they could just be statements that were spoken, recited together, like ancient liturgy. So, people would say certain confessions of faith and declarations before they were baptized, knowing that their declaration, along with their immersion in water, could be a death sentence for them. And so, these statements were important and weighty and valued, and they weren’t just for baptism, I mean, they were for common life. They were statements that held people together in common, that they would memorize and recite and understand and ponder the mystery. And we encounter these at different points in the New Testament, and they’re older than the letter or whatever is being written. The statements embedded or the creeds that are preserved, they’re older than the writing. So, they give us a glimpse back into that formation period. Okay, are you with me because I can be tedious. So…so, the apostle Paul doesn’t have the writings of the apostle Paul, as he’s planting these churches. He writes the letters later to the churches to remind them of the statements, right, the creeds and stuff that he has taught them, the things that they can have tangible and hold in common and recite together when they come together for worship. So, that they can retell the story of what they believe, and these are earlier things than these letters.
Daily Readings and Commentary from the Daily Audio Bible