Since the Christian Church movement of the nineteenth century was intended to bring unity among believers through a simple faith in Jesus as the Christ, and by trusting the Bible as our only rule of practice as Christians, our early leaders rejected the creeds associated with the various denominations. A creed (from the Latin credo; “I believe”), argued men like Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, was meant not to bring believers together, but actually to be divisive by identifying those who agreed so as to reject those who disagreed.
A creed, our leaders reasoned, should contain neither more than nor less than what has been revealed to us in the inspired Word of God. Thus historic creeds like the Apostle’s, Nicene or Westminster Confession, while lofty and beautiful, could never accurately articulate what a follower of Christ believed.
Thus was developed the slogan “No creed but Christ” and practiced by adopting Peter’s confession of faith (Matthew 16:16). It is by this belief that a person is baptized and admitted into the church, and it is in this “creed” that Christian unity can be found. Any less than that is not of Christ; any more than that is a matter of opinion and not binding on other believers. On this “rock” Christ still builds and grows His Church.

Denis Whittet