Review: The Creed by Robert Barron

When Catholic Bishop Robert Barron released his excellent commentary on the Nicene Creed, Light from Light (see our review here), he also produced a film series to accompany it, The Creed. The film series is made up of 6 1-hour long lectures exploring the Nicene Creed. Each lecture is beautifully filmed in an old mission chuch new Los Angeles and is interspliced with images of ordinary Catholics going about their lives and interview segments where Robert Barron responds to objections to the faith. The content is very similar to Light from Light, though he splits the book's chapter on Jesus into two lectures and combines the chapters on the Church and the Life to Come into one lecture.

The goal of the film series is to present a clear introduction to Christian belief for skeptics and for Christians who want to understand their faith more deeply. The film series succeeds better at this than the book. The films still include rich theological explanations of key points of Christian doctrine, but are more clearly articulated than in the book. In my review of the book, I said I did not recommend it for someone who was not previously familiar with philosophy or theology. I do not have the same reservation here as he explains his terms with clear definitions and helpful illustrations. The nature of a video lecture perhaps makes it easier for our culture that is less inclined to read.

For Protestants, there are occasional comments we might disagree with from our perspective, but these are few and far between. Robert Barron focuses on the core tenants of Christian faith that we also profess in the Nicene Creed. His teaching is also a gift for our traditions as he clearly explains the good news of who God is and what He has accomplished for us.

For anyone looking for a clear yet robust introduction to the core tenants of Christian belief, I heartily recommend this wonderful resource.