The Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic

by Richard D. Phillips, Mark Dever, Philip Graham Ryken

Three pastor-scholars explore the meaning for evangelicals today of the Nicene Creed's affirmation of the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic."

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, Church

146 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2004

About the author

Richard D. Phillips (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary) is the senior minister of Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, South Carolina. He is a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, chairman of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, and coeditor of the Reformed Expository Commentary series.

Reviews

[Emmanuel Boston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent book. I know what I marked on the stars, so please, read on. Extremely quick read--read it in a few hours. Phillips and Ryken are Presbyterian whereas Dever is Baptist. You are made aware of some differences, but in such a way that contributes to the point of the respective chapters. The tone is a median between academic and pastoral. The style is easy to follow: Ryken's the easiest and clearest.

Phillips, Ryken, and Dever take the Nicene creed and discuss each of the adjectives of the Church. They handle things extremely well (from a Protestant perspective, mind you) and in a helpful manner. That was the point of the book; the point was not to give a comprehensive view of the Church Universal, but to deal with the creed, handle misconceptions, and approve of our historic faith. I ought not grade it on a scale which it never pretended to acquiesce to, therefore I believe it should receive 4/5 stars for attaining its goal; I would give it a 2/5 for appealing to a majority audience; I would give it a 4/5 for explaining things in a manner that would be extremely beneficial for a new Christian in a liturgical setting or a primer to the doctrine of the Church.

Should you buy and read this book? It really just depends on what you're looking for.

[Graham Heslop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent exposition of Scripture under the four Nicene attributes of the church. The four historical attributes - each treated in their own though somewhat overlapping chapters - are bookended by two very helpful chapters from the editor, Richard Phillips, where he ties the church to Jesus' ministry in the 1st century (Matthew) and his ongoing ministry as the ascended Lord, seated at the right hand of God the Father (Ephesians). This is a timely application and accessible development of these significant marks for the 21st century