In a time when many people reject what they think Christianity is; this book clarifies what Christians actually believe.

A clear and compelling guide for skeptics, seekers, and believers alike in time for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. 

 

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Will you help Bishop Barron get this important new book into the hands of 1,000,000 people?
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Books Distributed: 95,299
Will you help Bishop Barron get this important book into the hands of 1,000,000 people?
Bishop Barron's Goal: 1,000,000
Books Distributed: 95,299
What Christians Believe:
Understanding the Nicene Creed
Written by Bishop Robert Barron
Foreword by Matthew Levering
Word on Fire  |  March 3, 2025
Paperback  |  164 Pages  |  5” x 7”
List Price: $9.95 $2 (80% OFF)
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The year was 325 AD, and Christianity was in crisis.

False teachings were spreading. The divinity of Christ was being questioned. The Church was fractured, and confusion reigned.

So what did the Church do? She boldly proclaimed the truth.

At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the Nicene Creed was forged—an unshakable statement of faith that defended what Christians have always believed about God, Christ, and salvation.

Now, 1,700 years later, the Church is in another crisis. 

More than a quarter of Americans claim no religious affiliation at all. Religious belief in general, and Christianity in particular, is increasingly regarded as mythical and unreasonable—the superstitious product of prescientific minds.

Many people reject what they think Christianity is; this book clarifies what we actually believe.

In this short book, Bishop Robert Barron invites skeptics, seekers, and lifelong Christians alike to consider this question through one of Christianity’s most pivotal texts: the Nicene Creed, an ancient statement of faith that has guided Christian thought for 1,700 years and is still professed by Christians around the world today. 

Bishop Barron walks readers through the Creed line by line, explaining its teachings on the mystery of the Trinity, the saving mission of Jesus Christ, and both the life of the Church below and the life of the world to come.

Drawing on Sacred Scripture, Church teaching, and the richness of the Catholic intellectual tradition, What Christians Believe unfolds the essentials of the Christian faith with conviction and clarity.
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“THE CREED” LIFETIME STREAMING ACCESS - $17 (57% OFF): Experience “The Creed,” a breathtaking six-part series filmed in the historic California missions, where Bishop Barron explores the depths of the Nicene Creed. Journey through the meaning of belief, the creative love of the Father, the shocking mystery of the Incarnation, and the drama of Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection. Encounter the Spiritus Sanctus—the “Holy Breath”—that unites the Father and Son, and discover the Church as the mystical Body calling humanity to forgiveness and divine participation. With clarity and conviction, “The Creed” reveals the intellectual and spiritual riches of Christian doctrine. Watch now on your computer, iPhone, Android, Roku, or Apple TV.

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“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.”

— Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
 




A Message from Bishop Barron

 

          Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
          This statement is, if anything, even truer today. For the past twenty-five years, I have been involved in the work of evangelizing the culture and have seen this reality firsthand. I have encountered many people who harbor an enormous antipathy toward religious belief in general, and Christianity in particular. And what has become crystal clear to me in that time is that the overwhelming majority of these critics do not have a firm grasp of what the Church actually teaches.
           What Christians Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed, an abridged version of my book Light from Light, is intended to address precisely this problem. The Nicene Creed is an ancient statement of faith that has guided Christian thought, both East and West, down the centuries, uniting believers across traditions and generations. As such, it serves as a fitting overview of the Christian faith, especially in 2025, which marks its 1,700th anniversary. In What Christians Believe, which features a foreword by theologian Matthew Levering, I walk readers through the Nicene Creed line by line, explaining its teachings on the mystery of the Trinity, the saving mission of Jesus Christ, the life of the Church below and the life of the world to come, and more.
          Today, more than a quarter of Americans claim no religious affiliation at all. In a number of studies undertaken within the past decade, people who have left the practice of religion were asked why they disaffiliated. They gave various reasons, but one of the most prominent was simply that they no longer believed in the teachings of Christianity. This book, which tries to explicate those teachings in a compelling way, is written especially for those who have wandered away from the faith.
        I would humbly ask that you read and share this little book and consider ordering a copy for your parishioners, your family, or your friends. May we, as a Church, work to clarify what Christians believe to nonbelievers, and fortify what we believe in our own hearts.

Thank you, and may God bless you,

Bishop Robert Barron
Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota)
Founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries










A Message from Bishop Barron

 
 
        Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
        This statement is, if anything, even truer today. For the past twenty-five years, I have been involved in the work of evangelizing the culture and have seen this reality firsthand. I have encountered many people who harbor an enormous antipathy toward religious belief in general, and Christianity in particular. And what has become crystal clear to me in that time is that the overwhelming majority of these critics do not have a firm grasp of what the Church actually teaches.
         My book What Christians Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed is intended to address precisely this problem. The Nicene Creed is an ancient statement of faith that has guided Christian thought, both East and West, down the centuries, uniting believers across traditions and generations. As such, it serves as a fitting overview of the Christian faith, especially in 2025, which marks its 1700th anniversary. In What Christians Believe, which features a foreword by theologian Matthew Levering, I walk readers through the Nicene Creed line by line, explaining its teachings on the mystery of the Trinity, the saving mission of Jesus Christ, the life of the Church below and the life of the world to come, and more.
        Today, more than a quarter of Americans claim no religious affiliation at all. In a number of studies undertaken within the past decade, people who have left the practice of religion were asked why they disaffiliated. They gave various reasons, but one of the most prominent was simply that they no longer believed in the teachings of Christianity. This book, which tries to explicate those teachings in a compelling way, is written especially for those who have wandered away from the faith.
      I would humbly ask that you read and share this little book and consider ordering a copy for your parishioners, your family, or your friends. May we, as a Church, work to clarify what Christians believe to nonbelievers, and fortify what we believe in our own hearts.

Thank you, and may God bless you,

Bishop Robert Barron
Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota)
Founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
 















 










 



























 


Contents




Foreword by Matthew Levering

1. I Believe

2. The Father

3. The Son

I. The Son of God
II. The Son of Man
III. The Descent
IV. The Rise

4. The Holy Spirit

5. The Church

6. The World to Come

Notes







 































 



 

Here’s What People Are Saying...









“Robert Barron is a great teacher of the Church and a gifted biblical commentator who breaks open the Word of God for our day as Ambrose and Augustine did for theirs.”
— George Weigel, Ethics and Public Policy Center






“One element of Bishop Barron’s appeal is that he’s so reasonable. He probably incarnates the classic Catholic synthesis between faith and reason more thoroughly and overtly than virtually any other living figure.”
— John Allen Jr., bestselling author and Vatican journalist





“In the Nicene Creed, we discover the intense excitement of God-wonder. Here is the deeper “theory of everything.” . . . Barron communicates this breathtaking story with sure-footed intellectual seriousness, breadth, and range.”
— Matthew Levering, James N. Jr. and Mary D. Perry Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary






“Bishop Robert Barron is arguably the greatest Catholic communicator of our times.”
— Arthur Brooks, Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership, Harvard University

























 
















 


 









 

 

About the Author

About the Author

 

 
Bishop Robert Barron is Bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester (Minnesota) and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He received a master’s degree in philosophy from The Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992.

Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and then appointed to the theological faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican. He served as the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary / University of St. Mary of the Lake from 2012 until 2015.

On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron to be Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was ordained bishop on September 8, 2015. On June 2, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Robert Barron the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. 

 


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