I grew up in an anti-creedal church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

They love to say,

“We have no creed but the Bible! No creed, just the Bible!”

The irony behind that ideology and framework is that this very concept is, in fact, a creed. And it’s a creed that doesn’t come from the Bible.

Do you see the irony?

So you believe in NO CREED but the Bible… which in and of itself is a CREED. But nothing in Scripture supports the idea… the very idea that you hold… ONLY THE BIBLE.

The further problem is that the same church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, goes on to claim that one must accept the life, ministry, and writings of Ellen G. White (which is something other than the Bible).

SDA Belief #18 (https://adventist.org/beliefs#belief-18)

“This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and we believe it was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church.”

The official stance of the church:
(https://gc.adventist.org/official-statements/statement-of-confidence-in-the-writings-of-ellen-g-white/)

“(Ellen White’s Writings) … they uplift the normative character of Scripture and correct inaccurate interpretations of it derived from tradition, human reason, personal experience, and modern culture. We commit ourselves to study the writings of Ellen G White prayerfully and with hearts willing to follow the counsels and instructions we find there.”

You can’t make these statements and also claim that “we have no creed but the Bible.” It’s intellectually dishonest!

Furthermore, it’s not possible to read the Bible as a decontextualized believer. And if you read the Bible without a proper understanding of the Bible, you will misread it.

The traditions and creeds of the early Christian church are essential and should be understood. Don’t fool yourself and think one can have NO CREED but the Bible.