How did Scripture influence the ancient Christian creeds? Did the earliest precursors to the creeds influence the formation of Scripture itself? Were Christians the only people in antiquity who made creeds, as has often been alleged? The authors of this volume investigate the relationship between Scripture and the creeds.

Were ancient Christian creeds designed as summaries of Scripture, or, conversely, was the formation of Scripture itself subject to creedal as well as canonical considerations? To what extent were there non-Christian antecedents and analogies to the church's habit of making creeds? The contributors to this volume investigate the relationship between Scripture and ancient Christian creeds. The essays in this volume are divided into four sections devoted to related lines of inquiry. The first asks whether the Christian creeds are sui generis as sometimes claimed, or whether there are close analogies in Jewish and Graeco-Roman antiquity. The second section investigates key critical issues in scholarly study of the creeds. The third turns to case studies illustrating how early Christian writers deploy the creeds in their engagement with scriptural topics. The fourth section turns to thematic studies in the creed.

Autorentext
Born 1961: Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; McDonald Agape Visiting Professor of Early Christianity at the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome. Born 1979: Rev. John A. O'Brien Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

Inhalt
Markus Bockmuehl/Nathan Eubank : Introduction. The Creed and the Scriptures - Markus Bockmuehl : The Myth of Creedless Judaism - David Lincicum: Monotheism, Creation, and Providence. Theological Summaries in Philo and Josephus - John T. Fitzgerald : Christian Creeds in the Context of the Ancient World - Andrew Radde-Gallwitz : "History, Not Legend". The Apostles' Creed in Modern Scholarship - Wolfram Kinzig : The Origins of the Roman Creed. New Reflections on an Old Problem - Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski : The Roman Creed and Its Origin, Early Context and Function - Frances Youn : The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. How Irenaeus Provides Clues to the Relationship Between Creeds and Scripture - Khaled Anatolios : The Apostles' Creed in Light of Nicene Hermeneutics. A Program for Trinitarian Deification - Blake Leyerle : A Creedal Gloss in the Baptismal Catecheses of John Chrysostom - Elizabeth Klein: "Creator of Heaven and Earth," the Martyrs and the Formation of the Canon - Jennifer Strawbridge : "Begotten, Not Made". Colossians 1 and Creedal Formation - John Sehorn : Kensis as Criterion of Canonicity in Origen's On First Principles - Chi-Kin Lei : The Absence and Presence of the Descent Phrase in the Apostles' Creed and the Old Roman Creed - Jennie Grillo : "He Descended to Hell". Israel Between Death and Resurrection in Scripture and Creed - Robin M. Jensen : "He Ascended into Heaven". A Visual Event in Visual Art - Nathan Eubank : The Savior of the Bible and the Judge of the Creed - Anthony Pagliarini : The Meaning and Function of Communio Sanctorum as an Article of the Creed