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Books Worth Mentioning on the Apostles' Creed






Many books have been written on the Apostles' Creed presently and in the past.  Here are a few notable books that have a strong emphasis on the theological, historical, and practical side of the Creed.

1. Rooted: The Apostles' Creed by Raymond F. Cannata and Joshua D. Reitano

This book written by two PCA Pastors is a good solid and thoroughly biblical take on the Apostles' Creed.  The authors take apart the creed in thirteen chapters dissecting the biblical witness of the peculiar teaching of the Creed and how the elements of the creed point us to greater fullness in Christ.  The book's strengths are its continual connection with biblical teaching, its practical emphasis on the Christian life, and the down to earth nature of the book's tone.  The weaknesses are a scant interaction with the historical situation in which the creed was written.

*Doulos Resources is a publishing company that was started by J.E. Eubanks Jr., and time and time again produces solid resources both in theology and literature.

2. I Believe: The Christian's Creed by Helmut Thielicke

This book written by the late Lutheran theologian Helmut Thielicke is a very interesting read.  Thielicke, like in most of his writings, is concerned with how Jesus Christ is preached and lived in and among the masses.  His penetrating questions, theological acumen, and robust way of getting to the heart of the issue makes this book a welcome addition to studies on the creed.  To give you feel for Thielicke, here is from his writing on the section in the creed concerning Jesus Christ, God's Only Son,

"But - and here again is the problem - will this flight into a myth hypothesis really get us off the hook of the question of who Jesus was and whether he really lived?  The oldest accounts of him (Paul's report of the Resurrection, for example) were written barely a quarter-century after his death, and a respectable number of witnesses who had been Jesus' companions were still alive.  Myths don't develop in such a short span of time.  At best, the memory of a dead hero is adored with a few legends and transfiguring anecdotes.  The creator of a myth chooses the dim, distant past, beyond the reach of memory.  In 1968 he doesn't invent a divine being who, he maintains, lived in New York and died on Lexington Avenue in 1940.  Of all the theories about Jesus which have been propounded, this mythological explanation is the least likely.

According to the unanimous testimony of the accounts, it was always Jesus' acts that solved the question of his identity (76)."

3.  Other Titles: Exploring and Proclaiming the Apostles' Creed, Edited by Roger Van Harn

This title is a collection of essays by specialists in history. theology, NT, OT, and ethics.  Some of the highlights are Richard Burridge's essay on Jesus Christ Our Lord, Richard Norris on the historical situation of the creed.

I Believe: Exploring the Apostle's Creed by Alister McGrath, Affirming the Apostle's Creed by J.I. Packer, and The Creed: What Christians Believe and Why It Matters by Luke Timothy Johnson.

I can't comment on these last three books in that I've only perused the first two, but I can say that Packer's and McGrath's books are thoroughly evangelical treatments of the subject and will provide good spiritual nourishment for those who read them.

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