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I gota reply.
As I see it (this is my view, formed before becoming a “Mormon”) a creed is where a group of men got together and compromised on what should be gospel and what shouldn't be part of the gospel.
I see the cannon of the Bible also as a compromise among men.
“I see the cannon of the Bible also as a compromise among men.”
The issue always comes down to this: FINAL AUTHORITY. Who has it? Or in what document is it invested.
Concerning the Scriptures and the canon of Scriptures, it is my observation that we always leave God out of it. God Himeslf promised to preserve His Words, and I believe that He is pro-active in doing so. No matter who might claim to have come up with the canon or order of the books, or what books were included or excluded, I believe ultimately it was God Himself Who superintented and brought to every generation His preserved Words.
God did NOT merely give His Words to the human Apostolic authors and then go off and leave them to the devices of men and to the human wisdom of church or other councils. He has Personally and deliberately superintended the preservation of His words, SOMETIMES PERHAPS TO SPITE THE LACK OF REAL WISDOM OF COUNCILS.
If God had given His words by inspiration (2 Timothy ch. 3), and then just sat back and (in affect) said, “Okay, now lets just see what men will do with them; will they handle them properly?” I would in that case agree with you that the canon on Scripture is no more valid than the opinions of mere mortals, or their creeds. But I believe in the case of the Bible, God ultimately pulled the strings, regardless of the intentions of men.
There are more references in the Scriptures to Divine PRESERVATION of the Words of God than there are to Divine INSPIRATION. Both doctrines are found in the Bible, and one is actually useless without the other.
If some human councils sat early in the history of the church, close to the days of the apostles, to decide which books should be in the Bible, I believe God had the power to direct and control the outcome, even if the men in those councils had motives inconsistent with the will of God, the Author, Inspirerer and Preserver. The outcome would astound the hearts of even those men, so that to every generation, God’s Words are preserved, just as He promised.
Don’t leave the Divine Author and Preserver out of the equation.