You and I are not the first ones to read the Bible. Christians as individuals and the church as a corporation has been hearing, meditating upon, and reading God’s Word for its entire history. One of the principal fruits of that corporate reflection upon Scripture has been the church’s confession of and about Scripture. When the church faced the challenge posed by Arius and his followers, she did not simply quote Scripture. She composed a confession, a summary of what she understood Scripture to teach about God. When Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms, he did not simply quote Scripture. He confessed the singular authority of Scripture over against the authority of popes and councils. This is the Christian practice and it is a biblical practice. Here is a talk I gave recently at Community Bible Church in Nashville on the use of creeds and confessions: How Not To Be A Heretic: