THE PEOPLE OF THE CREED The Story Behind the Early Church

AFTER 95 A.D. the Apostles are gone; the Church is in the hands of people who never knew Jesus personally. How can an "apostolic" Church function without Apostles? How will the gospel survive confrontations with pagan thinkers as well as with opponents who call themselves Christian?

Something more than the emerging New Testament is needed because learned and holy men can-and do give the same Scripture passage diametrically opposed meanings. And something more than episcopal authority is needed because bishops can-and do disagree.

The search for this "something more" is the fascinating story behind the early Church. And the benchmarks of this unique tale are the great Creeds of Nicaea. Constantinople and Chalcedon.

From the early second-century "rules of faith" to the late sixth-century Apostles Creed, the author describes the creative interplay between the simple faith of ordinary believers and the lofty theological debates of the great names of Church history. This is the 500-year story of "people like you and me who tried to express in their ordinary lives the gospel's central teaching. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

Fully indexed, with map, clear and comprehensive timelines and a glossary of terms.