Faith in Formulae: A Collection of Early Christian Creeds and Creed-related Texts (4 vols.)

by Wolfram Kinzig

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

, 2017

Overview

Creeds, such as the Apostolic and Nicene creeds, have shaped the core of the Christian faith. It is therefore surprising that for over a century there has been no comprehensive collection of the early Christian creeds in their original languages. However, the study of their history has made excellent progress. In the general introduction to this four-volume set, Wolfram Kinzig summarizes the present state of research. This is followed by a collection of all creeds and credal formulae of the early Church in Greek and Latin, covering the whole period from the writings of the New Testament down to the early Middle Ages. The source texts are taken from the most up-to-date critical editions available and newly found texts have been added. They are accompanied by English translations and where applicable introduced individually by brief remarks on their authorship, date, and provenance. The volumes feature useful notes and cross-references.

Key Features

• Provides a full, critical, survey of modern scholarship of the creeds
• Gathers all the available evidence for the composition and use of the creeds from the beginnings of Christianity until the ninth century
• Features the first complete collection of the Early Christian creeds

Contents

• Preface
• List of Abbreviations and Editorial Signs
• Introduction
• Credal Formulae in the Old Testament
• Credal Formulae in the New Testament
• Symbolum and Its Meanings in the Early Church
• Baptismal Interrogations from the Second and Third Centuries
• Credal Formulae and Rules of Faith from the Second and Third Centuries
• Eastern Creeds, Credal Formulae, and Creed-Related Texts (4th-8th Centuries)
• Western Creeds, Credal Formulae, and Creed-Related Texts (4th-8th Centuries)
• Laws and Synodal Canons Relating to the Creed (4th-8th Centuries)
• The Creed in the Liturgy and in Daily Life (4th-8th Centuries)
• The Creed in the Carolingian Reform
• Appendix I. Further Unpublished Creeds and Credal Statements
• Appendix II. Synopsis of Hahn/Kinzig
• Appendix III. Addenda
• Bibliography
• Indices
• Biblical Passages
• Ancient and Medieval Authors and Sources
• Inscriptions, Papyri,Ostraca, Wooden Tablets, and Parchments
• Manuscripts

Praise for the Print Edition

[E]very theological library must own this four-volume set, Faith in Formulae. Without question it has become the new standard in its field and promises to remain that way for many years to come. . .This set is a stunning achievement in primary source material.

—Kelly M. Kapic, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

In these four volumes Wolfram Kinzig has put together the largest compilation to date of texts which profess to set out the principal tenets of the Church between the second and the eighth centuries of the Christian era...The result is a monument of erudition, an invaluable resource for all future scholarship, and pleasurable reading for those who have hitherto been unable to approach the texts for want of an English rendering. . . . In scope there is nothing to match it, and it makes many texts available for the first time to Anglophone readers in translations which are invariably accurate and lucid.

—Mark Edwards, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

Product Details

• Title: Faith in Formulae: A Collection of Early Christian Creeds and Creed-related Texts, Volumes I–IV
• Author: Wolfram Kinzig
• Edition: First Edition
• Series: Oxford Early Christian Texts
• Volume: I–IV
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2017
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 1945
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Creeds; Creeds › History and criticism; Theology, Doctrinal › Early works to 1800; Theology, Doctrinal › History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Theology, Doctrinal › History--Middle Ages, 600-1500
• ISBNs: 9780199609024, 9780199609031, 9780198758419, 9780198758426, 9780198269410, 0199609020, 0199609039, 0198758413, 0198758421, 0198269412
• Resource ID: LLS:FAITHFORMULAE01
• Resource Type: text.monograph.confessional-document
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-03-19T18:26:55Z

About Wolfram Kinzig

Wolfram Kinzig studied Evangelical Theology and Latin in Heidelberg and Lausanne. He completed both his PhD in theology and his Habilitation in Church History in Heidelberg. From 1985 until 1986 he was a Graduate Visiting Student in Christ Church, Oxford, followed by a Visiting Studentship in Trinity College, Cambridge (1986-7), a Research Fellowship in Peterhouse, Cambridge (1988-92), and a Senior Research Fellowship in King's College, Cambridge (1992-5). Since 1996 he has held the Chair of Church History (patristics) at the Evangelical-Theological Faculty of the University of Bonn. He is also the founder and speaker (director) of the Centre for Religion and Society (ZERG) at his university.