The Story of Creeds and Confessions - by Donald Fairbairn & Ryan M Reeves (Paperback)

About the Book

Shows how the creeds and confessions represent the collective wisdom of the church throughout history, providing a unique vantage point from which to study the Christian faith.

Book Synopsis

Creeds and confessions throughout Christian history provide a unique vantage point from which to study the Christian faith. To this end, Donald Fairbairn and Ryan Reeves construct a story that captures both the central importance of creeds and confessions over the centuries and their unrealized potential to introduce readers to the overall sweep of church history. The book features texts of classic creeds and confessions as well as informational sidebars.

From the Back Cover

"This welcome study combines detailed attention to the foundation of creedal Christianity (especially Nicaea and Chalcedon) with authoritative accounts of later confessional traditions. It is especially effective in showing how early Christian worship of one name, Christ the Lord, led over the centuries and in different local contexts to elaborate accounts of Christian faith. A good book for beginning theologians and an excellent review for those who have traversed this ground before."
--Mark A. Noll, editor of Confessions and Catechisms of the Reformation

"This lovely book takes an inspired idea--telling the story of the Christian churches and their theological convictions through the history of the creeds and confessions--and executes it brilliantly. The result is an informed, thoughtful, and highly readable tour of the ideas and events that continue to shape the Christian faith today."
--Simeon Zahl, University of Cambridge

"A wonderful introduction to the creeds and confessions of the Christian church. Fairbairn and Reeves witness to the desirability of taking these documents seriously not only as historical artifacts but also as ongoing witnesses, insisting that what binds Christians together is of much greater significance than what separates them."
--Paul T. Nimmo, University of Aberdeen

"For theology to be ecclesiastically and historically responsible, a knowledge of the creeds and confessions of the church is vital. Yet those unfamiliar with church history often find the field confusing and intimidating. It is therefore a pleasure to recommend this book, which is both a fine guide to creeds and confessions and an engaging narrative of church history from the perspective of doctrinal development."
--Carl R. Trueman, Grove City College

"In a remarkable accomplishment not witnessed since Jaroslav Pelikan's Credo more than fifteen years ago, Fairbairn and Reeves trace in readable fashion the entire history of the church's creeds and confessions. Uniting Protestant convictions, ecumenical sensitivity, and scholarly acumen, this book is a solid introduction to the common heritage of the church."
--Hans Boersma, Nashotah House, Wisconsin

"Fairbairn and Reeves clearly and thoughtfully tell the story of the form, substance, and significance of Christian belief as this has been set forth in creeds and confessions. An excellent guidebook."
--W. David Buschart, Denver Seminary

About the Author

Donald Fairbairn (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the Robert E. Cooley Professor of Early Christianity at the Charlotte, North Carolina, campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Ryan M. Reeves (PhD, University of Cambridge) has taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, and the University of Cambridge.