The Essence of Christianity
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
The Essence of Christianity explores the meaning and significance of the Nicene Creed for today. This is one of the early creeds which define what Christians believe and, used by many different churches in worship, it occupies a central place in Christian inspiration.
The Cambridge theologian and philosopher of religion Brian Hebblethwaite introduces the central teachings of the Christian faith in a clear, lively and accessible style. He considers the relations between Christianity and other world religions in the context of current patterns of belief and unbelief in the west. He also asks why many people find it hard to put their trust in a God of love. This book shows how theological insights can enrich traditional Christian belief and at the same time defends the Creed’s claims to truth.
Top Highlights
“The so-called ‘secularization thesis’ holds that, especially in the west, but increasingly world-wide, religion is being marginalized by the rise of modern science and its technological applications on a vast scale to the structures of human life.” (Page 11)
“The God revealed in Jesus Christ is one who lets his creatures be, respects their freedom, and draws them into relation with each other and with himself, only by grace and love.” (Page 45)
“as a mutual love in God preceding the incarnation.” (Page 57)
Product Details
- Title: The Essence of Christianity: A Fresh Look at the Nicene Creed
- Author: Brian Hebblethwaite
- Publisher: SPCK Publishing
- Publication Date: 1996
- Pages: 214
Sample Pages from the Print Edition
Reviews
1 rating
Glenn Crouch
10/25/2013
I was looking forward to reading this book, as I wanted to have an in-depth look at the Nicene Creed and thought that to do this from a non-Lutheran point of view, would be good in deed. The book starts out very well - and the intro lays things out - and after reading it was quite keen to continue with the book... First few chapters were not too bad - but I started to be a little disappointed that the Author would give tolerance to views of Jews and Muslims (whilst I think most of his comments in this area were fine, I did find it strange to be included in a book on the Nicene Creed) but basically dismissed Christians who had different views to himself. For example it seems the Theistic Evolution is the only interpretation for the "Modern" Christian - not too mention that I found his continued distinction between the "man Jesus" and "Jesus Christ" a bit disturbing. The Author does have a strong view on the Trinity, which is a good thing for a book on the Nicene Creed - but it seems that he puts more weight on the Creed than on the Scriptures that it is based upon. I feel that the Author is trying to hard to balance Liberal Critical viewpoints with arguing for the reliability of the Creed. And thus I think, at least for me, misses the mark.