Reviews
The Creed,
by Luke Timothy Johnson.

review by Arthur Grimshaw

The Creed-What Christians believe, and why it matters by Luke Timothy Johnson. Darton Longman & Todd-2003 $34.95 from Rainbow Book Agencies

It is refreshing to come across a book which is so unexpectedly engaging. I guess it was its sub-title which captured my attention, for I do not remember having thought deeply about Creeds for many years. The author is a former Benedictine monk, currently Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Emory University, who writes with an easy and accessible style.
In an age when credal statements are viewed with suspicion by people from many backgrounds, this fresh look at the Nicene Creed invites the reader to re-examine the foundational statements of belief to discover their significance to our contemporary world. Johnson¹s chapters on the origins and function of the creeds are relatively easy reading, even for people who have no grounding in theological studies. The author underpins carefully his appreciation of what the Creed is, and what it does in our contemporary world.
Professor Johnson treats each section of the credal statements expounding the background and meaning of the text in a comprehensive straightforward way, in language which is clear and relatively free from words or concepts which might deter a reader unfamiliar with theological dialogue. The author focuses especially on the amplifications in the Nicene Creed from the simpler statements of the Apostles Creed.
This work manages to unpack the complexities of theological controversies of early Christian times with admirable clarity.
Professor Johnson concludes his reflections on the Creed with an affirmation of credal Christianity in which he asserts that everything up to this point has been introduction, seeking to bolster his proposition that Christianity would be healthier and have greater integrity if it paid more attention to the Nicene Creed (p.297).
While the author writes from within the context of American culture, his observations are aptly relevant to the Australian scene, and we are bidden to think through the implications of our affirmations in the Nicene Creed and reflect on how they are, or ought to be, embodied by consistent patterns of individual and communal behaviour.
The other important insight is to recognise what indeed the Creed does not define and the implications which flow from that-affirming that Christians today can learn much about how to think and act as a church both from studying the contents of the creed and from imitating its example of theological reticence.
Johnson's book is a valuable and accessible treatment of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed for readers who wish to strengthen the foundations of faith, and bring life to what may seem to some a rather outdated formula in the Sunday Eucharist of the twenty-first century.