The Apostles' Creed - (Christian Essentials) by Ben Myers (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

ECPA 2019 Book Award Finalist

SparkLit 2019 Christian Book of the Year Award Finalist

You recite it. But do you understand it?

The Apostles' Creed has become so familiar to us that we don't think about what we're saying. Christians from different times, places, and traditions have been united by its eternal truths. We believe them, we recite them, but do we build our lives on them?

The fact that so many in the early church died for their faith means they were caught up in something greater than themselves. What were those truths? How did they empower a revolution? How did early church pastors and theologians use the Apostles' Creed as the essential guide to the basics of the Christian life?

Ben Myers re-introduces that creed. He shows us what about the Christian faith is so counter-cultural, and what truths embedded in the Apostles' Creed we've come to assume, when really they should amaze us and earn our allegiance unto death.

From the Back Cover

ECPA 2019 Book Award FinalistSparkLit 2019 Christian Book of the Year Award FinalistYou recite it. But do you understand it?The Apostles' Creed has become so familiar to us that we don't think about what we're saying. Christians from different times, places, and traditions have been united by its eternal truths. We believe them, we recite them, but do we build our lives on them?The fact that so many in the early church died for their faith means they were caught up in something greater than themselves. What were those truths? How did they empower a revolution? How did early church pastors and theologians use the Apostles' Creed as the essential guide to the basics of the Christian life?Ben Myers re-introduces that creed. He shows us what about the Christian faith is so counter-cultural, and what truths embedded in the Apostles' Creed we've come to assume, when really they should amaze us and earn our allegiance unto death.

Review Quotes

ECPA 2019 Book Award Finalist

SparkLit 2019 Christian Book of the Year Award Finalist

"Like the Creed, this gem of a book answers the question, 'What do Christians believe?' But because it is sensitive to the unique doubts and fears and cynicism of the 21st century, it winsomely answers the question behind that question: 'How could Christians possibly believe that?' Myers shows as much as he tells, introducing us to the audacious wisdom of ancient voices whose insights prove timely and perennial. This is the catechesis we need for a secular age, overcoming the forgetting we parade as enlightenment."
--James K. A. Smith, Calvin College

"This brief but brilliant book gives the reader fresh eyes for an old statement of faith. Ben Myers discusses each article of the creed in turn, recognizing the points where it offends the sensibilities of our skeptical age. He brings early Christian writers into the conversation to show that there is nothing new about our current preoccupation with gender, authenticity and autonomy. Myers pays due attention to the priority of Scripture, and weaves together theology, history and tradition. This is a warm, accessible and contemporary appreciation for those who know the Apostles' Creed well and those who don't know it at all. A gem."
--Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia

"Ben Myers has given readers a precious gift in this short series of meditations on the Apostles' Creed. Like the Church Fathers whose work permeates this book, he treats us to a series of pithy, pertinent reflections that demonstrate theological depth - yet with a surprisingly light touch. Tackling hard matters like gender and God's fatherhood, the virginal conception, the descent into hell, and the persons of the divine Trinity, Myers is alive to both the richness of Christian tradition and the needs of the hour. This is popular theology in the best sense of that term, making accessible the great truths of the Christian faith."
--Oliver D. Crisp, Fuller Theological Seminary

"I am very thankful to Ben Myers for his concise, readable commentary on the Apostles' Creed. He joins the refreshing movement that is retrieving the church's long and well-established theological consensus and urging the contemporary church to embrace this wisdom from the past. His book helps today's church confess the Apostles' Creed as essential truth about the triune God and the salvation he offers."
--Gregg R. Allison, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Ben Myers has written a simple yet elegant and sublime account of the Christian faith according to the Apostles' Creed. Myers works through the creed, word by word, phrase by phrase, and explains its meaning in a way that is both memorable and meditative."
--Michael F. Bird, Ridley College

--Oliver D. Crisp, Professor of Systematic Theology, School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Ben Myers has given readers a precious gift in this short series of meditations on the Apostles' Creed. Like the Church Fathers whose work permeates this book, he treats us to a series of pithy, pertinent reflections that demonstrate theological depth-yet with a surprisingly light touch. Tackling hard matters like gender and God's fatherhood, the virginal conception, the descent into hell, and the persons of the divine Trinity, Myers is alive to both the richness of Christian tradition and the needs of the hour. This is popular theology in the best sense of that term, making accessible the great truths of the Christian faith."

"I am very thankful to Ben Myers for his concise, readable commentary on the Apostles' Creed! He joins the refreshing movement that is retrieving the church's long and well-established theological consensus and urging the contemporary church to embrace this wisdom from the past. His book helps today's church confess the Apostles' Creed as essential truth about the triune God and the salvation he offers."

--Gregg R. Allison, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine

"Like the Creed, this gem of a book answers the question, 'What do Christians believe?' But because it is sensitive to the unique doubts and fears and cynicism of the 21st century, it winsomely answers the question behind that question: 'How could Christians possibly believe that?' Myers shows as much as he tells, introducing us to the audacious wisdom of ancient voices whose insights prove timely and perennial. This is the catechesis we need for a secular age, overcoming the forgetting we parade as enlightenment."

--James K. A. Smith, Calvin College, author of You Are What You Love and Awaiting the King

About the Author

Ben Myers is director of the Millis Institute at Christian Heritage College and a research fellow of the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University in Australia. He is the author of Salvation in My Pocket: Fragments of Faith and Theology and Christ the Stranger: The Theology of Rowan Williams.