CH 272 Saving Creeds: Passing on the Faith in the First Seven Centuries of Christianity

Abstract

One day a pious Christian woman approached Augustine after he had been preaching to his flock in Hippo. She bore a dead child in her arms. "Baptize him," she said, "so that he will have new life." How, indeed, did Christian men and women in the first seven centuries of the church understand the faith? How was the faith taught and held in the minds of the people? The above incident illustrates the tremendous task the church faced in passing on the true faith. How, must Augustine have groaned, not to kill the spirit of faith in this woman, and yet to guide her in correct belief? This seminar is an introduction to a vast body of literature of which few students of Church History are aware. It consists of explanations or interpretations of the creed for the people. The texts take us to the heart of the church's mission to teach the faith and to interprete it for its time and its place.