In “The Need for Creeds”, Jaroslav Pelikan expresses his ideas as to why creeds are so vital for the Christian religion. He made the listeners realize that creeds are an integral part of the Christian religion that help to sustain, expand, and develop it and, what is more important, preserve it and make it stronger. As understood from the podcast, creeds are the statements of belief that distinguish Christian religion from other religions, that have certain political and military power, and that makes religion accessible to people who might not know the language of the religion.
To begin with, creeds are needed to make the Christian religion distinct from other religions. As stated by Pelikan, “It is one of the differences between Christianity and other major world religions that Christianity has spawned many creeds … thousands of pages of creeds” (The Need for Creeds). Thus, for instance, the Jewish or the Muslims do not have any creeds. This does not mean that their religions are unable to expand just like Christianity does for the expansion takes place not owing to the creeds. The need for creeds in Christianity emerged as a need for religious faith; the creeds make this faith more powerful and make it possible for the believers to address their creeds to somebody. Thus, the presence of creeds is what makes the Christian religion different from the others.
In addition, creeds are needed for the Christian authorities to be able to expand their political influence. As mentioned by Pelikan, it was named the creed that made Constantine able to win so many conquests that once used to take place in the Roman Empire. During her travels to Jerusalem, Constantine’s mother found the nails from the true cross in Jesus’ sepulcher which the Emperor then “melted down into a bit for his warhorse. “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war!” And as he marched and conquered, the creed came right with it” (The Need for Creeds). In this way, creeds add powers to political leaders and make it possible to exercise authority more efficiently.
And finally, creeds are needed to access those who do not speak the language of the Christian religion. The universal power of creeds lies in their ability to be distributed evenly through music. Thus, for instance, Bach’s Credo in Unum Deum is what Pelikan recognized as “a set of this great creed of the church” (The Need for Creeds). Even without words, the idea of Unitarianism may be delivered to people who are unable to cognize the essence of Christianity due to the ignorance of the language. It is through this and a number of other Christian musical pieces that are able to transfer creeds that it is possible to deliver religion to people.
In conclusion, Pelikan’s “The Need for Creeds” opens the eyes of those who did not know why creeds are so necessary for the Christian religion. According to this podcast, creeds make Christian religion unique and different from all the other religions for the majority of them do not have creeds; moreover, they help political leaders exercise their authority and make the country of the believers mightier; and lastly, creeds contribute into the expansion of the religion because they can be expressed even in music and music can be accessed and comprehended by those who do not know the language of the Christian religion.