Beliefs - Canadian Reformed Churches

The Holy Scriptures

Our churches believe that the Holy Scripture or the Holy Bible is the Word of God. This Word has no equal because it is:

inspired by God the Holy Spirit who caused many different men to write it over a considerable period of time.
infallible in that it is a completely reliable and trustworthy book which should not and need not be doubted;
inerrant, meaning that whatever is revealed in it is without error, contradiction or misrepresentation;
sufficient because it fully contains the will of God and reveals all that we need to believe in order to be saved.

This Word represents the final rule of faith and life in our churches. We receive it for regulation, foundation and confirmation of our faith. It serves as the basis for all authority in our churches.

The Creeds and Confessions

The main teachings of the Bible have been summarized in documents called creeds or confessions. Of the many creeds that have appeared throughout the history of the Christian church, we have chosen to adopt three creeds and three confessions as our own.

The creeds come to us from the early church, namely the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The confessions have come to us from the Reformation of the sixteenth century, namely, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dort.

We consider these creeds to be faithful summaries of the Word of God. As human documents, however, they possess human authority. Only the Word of God possesses divine authority. The contents of our creeds and confessions are always subject to and to be tested by the standard of the Word of God.