The Athanasian Creed

by Martin Davie

The Athanasian Creed is now the neglected Creed. Most of the laity do not know about it, its theology is not well understood even by the clergy, and it is almost never used in services, even in conservative churches. This book's aim is to counter this neglect of the Athanasian Creed. Its five
- Set out what kind of document the Creed is and when and why it was written;
- Give a detailed commentary on the Creed, explaining clearly what it teaches and why what it teaches is true; - Explain why the Creed still matters today, not only because of its importance in the history of Christian theology and liturgy, but primarily because of the continuing significance of its teaching. - Explore how people in the Church of England today can be encouraged to make use of the Creed both in theological education and in the everyday life of their parishes.

112 pages, Paperback

Published August 31, 2019

Reviews

[Alfred Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Next devotional is the biblical trinity

[Mark Einselen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the Anglican Foundations series goes, this has been the best book of the bunch by far. While the opening and conclusion still devolve into opinions particular to the author's churchmanship*, the bulk of the writing is insightful and compelling.

The exploration of the history of the creed is a bit repetitive. There's some speculation as to the origins and timeframe of the penning of the document. We circle 'round the points a few too many times. It's interesting at first, but drags after a while.

Things get interesting upon a deeper examination of the creed's content. Rather than stating, "this is important, so that's why we believe it" the author uses a show-don't-tell method to demonstrate the beautiful truths of the creed.

I found the segments on Divine Simplicity, the human/divine nature of Christ, and the absolute-exclusive statements ("except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved") to be especially thought provoking and convincing.

It's unfortunately rare for a work of theology to make my mind dwell on the character of God after closing the book, but this one did. That's the biggest compliment I can think of.

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* This shouldn't be surprising. The Latimer Trust has a distinct view of what Anglican Worship and churches should be. The fact that they are convinced it is the best isn't a surprise (otherwise they wouldn't practice it), it is simply not a practical approach to how a Communion functions in reality. I'm a bit of a pragmatist, and it shows.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one, very practical insights into how, as the Athanasian creed makes abundantly clear, precise and careful theology is important for saving faith. I thought the defence of this document in the fourth chapter was quite sound, indicating that its decline in use particularly in the Anglican communion has developed as a result of secular thinking seeping into the church, namely the rejection of the idea that theological precision matters and that God condemns people who turn their backs on orthodox belief.

The main criticism is that this needed serious editorial revision - primarily for the significant repetition of the historical and contextual information, but also for the spelling and grammatical errors throughout.

"The Athanasian Creed still matters today not primarily because of its historical significance, nor even because of its continuing official status in the Church of England, but because of the truth of what it says. God is three in one, Christ is one person uniting two natures, who died, rose, ascended and is coming to be our judge, and we need to hold fast to these things and worship this God if we wish to be saved and to live joyfully with God forever" (p. 88).

[Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Latimer Trust was kind enough to send me a copy of “The Athanasian Creed” by Martin Davie in exchange for an honest review.

The Athanasian Creed is perhaps the most neglected of the ecumenical creeds. Perhaps this is because it’s a good deal longer and not as smooth for liturgical use as the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. Nevertheless, the content of this creed is crucial for Christians to believe. Many people inadvertently give way to heresy in trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. Instead of flawed images, we should affirm the creed. This book is a good step toward changing our unfamiliarity with the Athanasian Creed.

The structure of this book is fairly simple. Davie begins by introducing the creed and its history. He then spends the bulk of the book giving a section-by-section commentary on the creed. He ends the book with a brief section of application.

This book is a wonderful introduction to the Athanasian Creed. It’s a pretty quick read too, so you get a lot of good information in a concise and understandable manner. The author makes a few claims/points that I take issue with, but there points of disagreement don’t detract from the overall quality of the book. You all will benefit from checking out this book! I know I did.

[Tim Sandell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful primer on the neglected Athanasian creed. Good section on its history, and a helpful roadmap on the creed itself.