The Plain Man Looks at the Apostles’ Creed - William Barclay

Whether he is writing prayers for the plain man or expounding the mind of St. Paul, William Barclay reveals in every line his remarkable gift of communicating complex ideas in language uncluttered by jargon or obscurities. Over half a million of his Fontana books have been sold and are constantly reprinted. The Times Literary Supplement, summarising the secret of this enduring appeal, writes: ‘Dr. Barclay is a distinguished theologian, but he has always been a person who believes that the work of the theologian should have in mind people who are outside the profession.

Now the same powers of analysis and exposition are focused on the Apostles’ Creed. ‘If there is one statement of the Christian Church,’ writes Dr. Barclay, ‘it is contained here.’ After an introduction examining the Creed’s origins as a formulation of the collective belief of the individual Christians who are the Church -what we assent to by being part of the Church he explores each great affirmation from ‘I believe in God’ to ‘In the Life Everlasting’ in twenty-one lucid chapters. Dr. Barclay concludes with a penetrating analysis of the Apostles’ Creed for today when so many traditional beliefs are being called in question by theologians and laymen alike.