Breaking Open the Creeds : What Can They Mean for Christians Today?

Over the past two centuries our understanding of the universe, of biology, of human nature, and of the sacred scriptures themselves has undergone a virtual revolution. How, then, can these creeds, couched in the concepts and language of a bygone age, still make sense to contemporary Christians? In this book of sixteen short chapters, the author not only gives the historical background of each statement―especially noting the development or refinement of the basic ideas that took place during the few centuries that separated the composition of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds―before going on to suggest what they might mean for us today. Designed for individual readers as well as for adult or college classroom use, the book offers several questions for reflection and/or discussion at the end of each chapter. †

Richard W. Kropf holds doctorates in theology from the University of Ottawa and University St-Paul in Canada. A priest of the Diocese of Lansing in Michigan, he is the author of several books on faith and spirituality. With the church's permission, he retired in 1981 to a life of contemplation and writing in the north woods of Michigan.