Historically I belonged to a denomination (although they would never call themselves that) who proudly waved the moniker “Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.” It ran alongside “No creed but Christ; No book but the Bible.” In all honesty, I believe they were sincere, but succeeded more in practicing the latter slogan. I still believe in that one. While I have no problem with a creed (although I don’t know any of them with any real knowledge), I stand firmly in the camp which says there is no need for any other book. My problem with a creed is when it becomes the gauge for orthodoxy and not the Bible.

However, that slogan would take on a different meaning if it was some variation… like “No creed but Christ: No book but the Bible unless tradition overrules it.” You see…in many churches tradition trumps the Bible. You have heard, I’m sure, the seven last words of the church are “We never did it that way before.” You might also hear a slight variation to that: “We have always done it this way and it can’t be changed.” So we bang our head against a stone wall which will never be moved. All because of tradition.

Next week starting every Tuesday night at 8:00 and going through Wednesday, I am going to start a series of 12 blogs for 12 weeks on the book “Creature of the Word.” I invite your participation in blogging about it or in your comments. I certainly don’t have this whole thing figured out. I’d love to have you join me.

FYI: I no longer consider myself part of that denominational “camp.” I prefer to just say I am a Bible-believing follower of Jesus who happens to pastor a church with that same desire. The name is immaterial.