A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Gary Steward
Carl Trueman’s Crisis of Confidence is an updated and revised version of his previous work, The Creedal Imperative, published by Crossway in 2012. It contains the same number of chapters as its predecessor, with new material sprinkled in throughout that highlights the importance of historic creeds and confessions in addressing the recent cultural ascendency of “expressive individualism” (xv). As it turns out, the historic confessions of the church are not only helpful for Christian belief and worship. They are also invaluable in helping us understand who we are (anthropology) and how we are to live our lives (ethics). According to Trueman, “Creeds and confessions are even more important now than before: they anchor us in history; they offer us reasonably comprehensive frameworks for thinking about the connections between God, anthropology, and ethics; and above all they point us to the transcendent God who rules over all things” (xvii).
In chapter 1, Trueman addresses some of the cultural trends that war against fundamental truths that a healthy confessionalism presupposes. These trends include things like rejection of external authority, the belief that feelings are authoritative, a distorted view of the past, consumerism, disbelief in human nature, fear of excluding others, and a distrust of language and propositional statements. These trends in contemporary culture have influenced the church by making adherence to confessions and creeds “implausible and distasteful” (34). To counter the current situation, Trueman advances four basic presuppositions which must be embraced for confessionalism to have a sound footing: “Human beings are not free, autonomous creatures defined by [internal] feelings but creatures made in the image of God and always defined by external relationships to God and each other,” “The past is important and has positive relevance to teach us,” “Language must be an appropriate vehicle for stable transmission of truth across geographical space,” and “There must be body or an institution that can authoritatively compose and enforce creeds and confessions” (10-11). Trueman presses those in the church to reflect critically on how their assessment of confessionalism has been shaped by the cultural forces around them (35).
In chapter 2, Trueman makes the biblical case for confessionalism and argues that confessionalism follows naturally from the teaching of Scripture. The Bible itself expects the church to use something like creeds and confessions in its governing of believers. Trueman rebuts two major objections to confessionalism raised in chapter 1 by asserting the adequacy of human language to communicate divine truth (37-46) and also by asserting that human beings have a fixed essence that remains consistent across various cultures and ages (46-50). Trueman then argues that the church has been instituted by God to be a community with its own “structure of authority,” centering upon the elders in the church, who are charged with ensuring that the members of the church adhere to sound doctrine and faithfully transmit sound teaching to the next generation of believers. As elders exercise their ministerial authority, they are to “hold fast to the form of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13 KJV). Trueman places emphasis on the word “form” in this passage, arguing that the New Testament charges elders to be more than just faithful to scriptural concepts (59). Elders are not just to memorize and recite the Scriptures either; they are to adhere to forms of language which encapsulate the teachings of the Scriptures. Truman asserts from 2 Timothy 1:13 that “The Bible itself seems to demand that we have forms of sound words, and that is what creeds are” (60). Trueman argues that other passages in Scripture support the idea that the church is to adopt and use creedal statements, including Philippians 2:5-10, 1 Timothy 1:15, 1 Timothy 3:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, and 1 Corinthians 11:2. Those who desire to be faithful to the teaching of the Bible should feel compelled to see extra-biblical creeds and confessions used in church and denominational life as subordinate standards to Scripture.
In chapter 3, Trueman looks at the history of the early church and explores why the church felt compelled to draft creedal statements in the first few centuries of the church. Early church creeds had both a pedagogical and ecclesiastical function, and not to have the early creeds would leave a functional vacuum on fundamental doctrines that would inevitably be filled with something else. Trueman explores the specifics of creedal statements that were developed from the period of the Didache to the Council of Chalcedon. Through confessional developments, the church’s position on what the Bible teaches about Christ became stabilized. The early church’s doctrinal statements reflect the interconnected nature of biblical doctrines, and they helped the church distinguish heretical teaching from orthodox teaching. They also helped the church to pedagogically instruct others in the Christian faith. In chapter 4, Trueman goes on to examine a selection of major doctrinal standards that emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Anglican Articles, the Book of Concord, the Three Forms of Unity, the Westminster Standards, and the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. Trueman closes this chapter by arguing against adopting a pick-and-choose form of generic confessionalism, calling believers to adopt a particular confession and the ecclesiastical commitments that go along with it.
In chapters 5 and 6, Trueman shows the practical usefulness of creeds and confessions for the life of the church. Given the doctrinal precision and pedagogical aim of the creeds, Trueman asks “Why would we not use them?” (141). All churches have forms of words and a type of liturgy that they use, even if unacknowledged. The creeds were intended to assist us in worshipping the one, true God, and their use can help the church be appropriately “counter-cultural” in its worship (137-139). In addition to being useful for corporate worship, the creeds and confessions of the church are practically useful in setting guard-rails around the church’s teaching. They also offer succinct statements of the Christian faith and provide needed moral guidance for the church. Trueman lists many other ways that creeds and confessions promote healthy churches.
Trueman’s treatment of confessionalism will challenge and stimulate consideration of a number of topics that are important for the church today. The summary above has not done justice to the extent and scope of issues that Trueman touches on, often in passing. Along the way, he deals more significantly with questions such as: Should church elders be held to a different confessional commitment than ordinary church members? Should churches revise the historic confessions for today? Trueman takes positions on these questions which are both prudential and historically-informed.
Trueman has written this book under the conviction that “creeds and confessions are vital to the present and future well-being of the church” (1). Trueman argues that there is a “biblical imperative” as well as a “practical imperative” for churches to adopt full-orbed creeds and confessions that are open to public consideration and used to protect and inculcate the deposit of truth that has been entrusted to the church. All in all, this book will challenge Christians who reject confessionalism for a “no creed but the Bible” position that is common in many parts of American evangelicalism. Trueman’s writing is thought-provoking in clearly articulated. This book deserves to be widely read and considered.
Dr. Gary Steward
Dr. Gary Steward is an Associate Professor of History and Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Colorado Christian University. He specializes in American political and religious history and has published works on the American Revolution and Christian approaches to social reform in antebellum America.