Confessions of Faith 
Variations
on the term "confession" are found in the NT (e.g., I Tim. 3:16;
6:13). In the early church the word was used to describe the testimony of
martyrs as they were about to meet their deaths. Its most common usage,
however, designates the formal statements of Christian faith written by
Protestants since the earliest days of the Reformation. As such,
"confessions" are closely related to several other kinds of brief,
authoritative summations of belief. The term "creed" most frequently
refers to statements from the early church which Christians in all times and
places have recognized, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Definition
of Chalcedon, and (less frequently) the Athanasian Creed. While Orthodox
Churches hold to the authority of seven ancient ecumenical creeds, and while
the Roman Catholic Church continues to use the term for later doctrinal
formulations (as "the Creed of the Council of Trent," 1564), it is
not uncommon to speak of just the Apostles' or just the Nicene affirmations as
the creed. "Catechisms" are structured statements of faith written in
the form of questions and answers which often fulfill the same functions as
confessions. Finally, the technical term "symbol" is a general
designation for any formal statement, whether crdeed, confession, or catechism,
which sets apart the community which professes it from those who do not.