Benjamin Franklin on the Failure of Creeds "But there are so many creeds, all claiming to be
right, that I should not know which to take. They were all made by learned men, and if
they can not agree on the kind of a creed, how am I to decide which is right?" says
one. It is a matter of great moment and of much relief that, aside from all these
conflicting, clashing, and erring creeds, there is one book that all parties concede is
right. They all agree that the Bible is right that it came from God. They all
further agree that it contains the law of God that the law of the Lord is perfect.
The only wonder is, that man ever attempted to make any other creed or law for the Church.
Such an undertaking could not have commenced without two wicked assumptions: No man of intelligence will affirm, in plain terms, that the Bible is not sufficient for the government of the saints; or that man uninspired man can make a creed that will serve a better purpose than the Bible. Still such affirmations are implied in every attempt made by uninspired men to make a creed. If you admit, as all are bound to do, that the law of God is in the Bible; that nothing may be added to it, nothing taken from it, and that no part of it may be changed, there is not an excuse in the world for making another law. The law of God in the Bible is the law, the divine law, the supreme law, in the kingdom of God; and it is a treasonable movement to attempt to get up another constitution, law, name, body, or officers, apart from the constitution, law, name, body, and officers as found in the Bible. But the matter now in hand is to find a safe course to pursue. Can this be done? All
admit the Bible is right. All admit that the law of God in the Bible is right. All admit
that those who follow the Bible honestly and faithfully, in faith and practice, will be
saved. All admit that wherever any creed differs from the Bible is wrong. Then it is
infallibly safe to take the Bible and follow it. When men undertake to prove that a human
creed is a good one, they argue that it is like the Bible. If a creed like the Bible is a
good one, why will not the Bible itself do? If the Bible will not serve the purpose
is insufficient and a failure a creed like it would be equally insufficient. When
men make a creed to do what the Bible would not do, they should certainly make it
different from the Bible, or it would serve no better purpose than the |