Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Book #21 - I Believe - Exploring The Apostles Creed by Alister McGrath


McGrath is becoming known as one of the most prolific writers of our time. He turns out texts at an almost unbelievable rate, yet I had never read a full book of his. I can now understand why he has become so popular. This book is filled with treasure and can easily be used as a reference or teaching text yet it maintains an element of readability that books of that style generally lack.
The topic itself I found interesting. I think that in general a large portion of the church is afraid of and shys away from anything that could be considered liturgical. I think we fear that we will either somehow be tied to groups and denominations that we would rather not or that following a liturgical path somehow makes us lose touch with a modern audience. While I think that we always need to be mindful of he way that we apply the Gospel message, we also need to be aware that the message in itself never changes. This is a strong advantage of some liturgy and creeds in themselves; they allow us to memorize and a retain facts that are important to us.
McGrath does a line by line, thought by thought analysis of the Apostle's Creed in this book. The historical background of the Creed itself is inspiring and made me want to keep digging. Each line is discussed and backed by Scripture. While I never felt that the truth was shorted it is quite clear that much more could have been said/ written on many of the topics addressed. That is another positive to this book in my opinion, it is not overwhelmingly long. I registers in at around 120 pages. I have become more aware of the fact that I learn much more and others get communication better if we stick to simple thoughts rather than extending our conversations. Not to imply that this book is simplistic. It covers the topics that it is designed to in clear fashion. It may just work into a Sunday School series in the coming new year. I will be adding other McGrath titles to my book pile in the future.

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