Creeds

This is the first example of my new essay-publication strategy - instead of plonking the whole thing up on dna in depth, I'm sticking the question and abstract here and then if you're interested you can ask me to email you the full deal! And I may or may not oblige depending on my assessment of your motives ;)

Ok so the question was (something like):

Describe the role creeds have played in church life and argue the case for your view as to the role they should play.

And the abstract is:

Focussing specifically on the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Chalcedonian Creed, this essay explores the role creeds have played in church life, noting their origin as baptismal confessions, and their gradual increase in complexity to combat heresies of the day. Following this, they were used for teaching purposes and, only much later, incorporated into church liturgy. The essay then discusses eleven potential problems relating to the creeds’ content and their function in contemporary church life. Their effectiveness in church life is then assessed. On this basis, it is suggested that the use of creeds in church ought to be carefully limited.