Alister McGrath, The Landscape of Faith
Though this book is full of geographical imagery, the ‘landscape’ of the title, it is in fact, as it says, ‘an explorer’s guide to the Christian creeds’. McGrath sees the creeds as a guide to remind us what we believe in, but more than that: they are a map, a lens, a light, and a tapestry, showing us the wonder of God in different ways. He draws on writers such as Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S. Lewis to illustrate how we come to faith and what it consists of when we get there, weaving in some of his own story of conversion from atheism. A step by step analysis of the structure of our creeds shows what is there, why, and where it comes from, and the purpose of such a statement of faith. What does it say to a newcomer? What does it leave out? How was it pared down to this minimalist statement? How did such professions of faith sit with the early Christians, and what do they do for us now? This book gives a fascinating account of that section of our services with which we are all familiar, but which can say so much more than is just on the page in front of us.