The best succinct collection of what I would regard as the essential creeds and confessions of the Christian church in one volume. This collection includes The Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed, The Athanasian Creed, The Chalcedonian Definition, The Augsburg Confession, The Belgic Confession, The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, The Canons of Dort, The Westminster Confession of Faith, The London Baptist Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism, The Westminster Larger Catechism, and The Westminster Shorter Catechism. Whether you are continental Reformed, Presbyterian, or Baptist, everything you need is really here in one place. Chad Vandixhoorn does give a wonderful introduction to each creed and confession. I think every Christian home would do well to have this book along with their Bible.

We use this in elder and deacon training at our church. This book is an incredible resource that takes its readers into the meaning of the words of the confession without simply becoming a hobbyhorse for the author to just talk about the topic on his own. Instead, he draws upon his own deep studies of the Westminster assembly to help the reader understand what is written in this important confession that defines the doctrine of our own church.

Years ago this book was published under a different title: ‘The Creedal Imperative.’ I would have put that book on this list, but instead I’m posting this updated version of that book. Trueman’s core contention in this book is that the creeds, though ancient, really do speak to the topics of personhood an identity which have so consumed our culture. A return to authority and tradition would do our world well, argues Trueman. This book is an excellent read, especially for someone who is skeptical that creeds can really be all that helpful.