Content
'I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth...' In the majestic opening phrases of the Apostles' Creed we hear the passion of the early Church to define and substantiate the core of Christian belief. In the face of numerous prevailing heresies, the Apostles' Creed declared the uniqueness of the Three-in-One God and the universal scope of the divine work of salvation.
This book is an accessible introduction to what remains the most widely used of all Christendom's confessions of faith. Going through each phrase of the Apostles' Creed in turn, the author unpacks the meaning and explains its significance both historically and for Christians today. While the creed does not spell out how we are to live as disciples day by day, it is a unique 'rule of faith' that provides continuity of belief from generations past into our own time.
Contents list:
- Why creeds?
- I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth
- I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord
- He was conceived... and born
- He suffered, was crucified, died, was buried
- The great omission: between birth and death
- He descended... rose... ascended... will come to judge
- I believe in the Holy Spirit
- I believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints
- I believe in the forgiveness of sins
- I believe in the resurrection and the list everlasting
- Questions for reflection and discussion
Endorsements
Endorsements for The Apostles' Creed have not yet been added.
Reviews
From The Church Times - January 2010
Marshall Johnson writes from a broad American Lutheran perspective, at a fairly simple level. He presents the Apostles' Creed as a unifying force in the confusing diversity of modern society, and the contemporary Church. Its aim is to maintain community, a typically Lutheran goal, and to keep today's Church in contact and continuity with Christians through the ages.
Johnson struggles with the whole idea of the Kingdom of God, and why Jesus was first called Lord and Messiah. He wants to see Jesus as uniquely related to God, but not in such a way as to undermine the claims of other religions. At the end of the day, to confess Jesus as Lord is 'to put our priorities in proper order'. Yet there is a moderate conservatism underlying the book. Johnson feels the transatlantic pressure to replace 'I believe in God the Father' with the gender-neutral language of God as parent, but fears that any move away from speaking with the Bible and Christian tradition of God as Father will end up depersonalising the Creator and Redeemer of all. The book reads easily, and useful questions for discussion are provided for each chapter.
Reviewed by Peter Forster
Book details
- ISBN: 9781841016795
- Published: 23 October 2009
- Status:
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 112
