A Timeline of Apostolic Church Doctrinal Books
There is a common misperception that Pentecostals are uninterested in doctrine. The reality, however, is that this couldn't be further from the truth. But scholars today are often unfamiliar with the doctrinal writings which Pentecostals have produced in the past.
Daniel D. Isgrigg has put together a very helpful timeline of American Assemblies of God doctrinal books, and I thought it would be very useful to have similar resources from other Pentecostal denominations. And so here's my timeline of Apostolic Church doctrinal books.
I've included two things: catechisms and books which cover all the major doctrines. (So, even though one book on the list might sound as if it only focuses on one doctrine from its title, it actually covers much more.) I have not included books on a single doctrine or a few related doctrines (if I had the list would be much longer) — only overviews of the broad scope of Christian doctrine.
There may be a few other books or catechisms of which I'm not aware. (So, if you are aware of any, do let me know. And if anyone has any old copies of any of these, or any other old Apostolic/Puritan Press publications that you don't want or need, don't forget, I'm always interested — and even for books I already have, I will be able to get them into good hands and find them a good home.)
I've included a few books from outside the UK at the bottom, but I'm sure there must be more from other countries and in other languages, so again, if you know of them, let me know.
1913 (1914) — Athrawiathau Sylfeinol yr Eglwys Apostolaidd — D.P. Williams
1923 (?) — Holwyddoreg — David Congo Jones
1926 — Things Most Surely Believed
1928 — Fundamental Truths Believed by the Apostolic Church
1929 — A Catechism on the Tenets of the Apostolic Church — T. Davies
1932 — A Simple Catechism on the Primary Truths of Salvation — translation by T. Davies from the Welsh catechism of R. Evans
1937 — The Apostolic Church: Its Principles and Practices: Fundamental Truths — W.H. Lewis, Thomas Rees, J.D. Brownlie, V. Wellings, and J.J. Jones.
1939 — The Trinity, 2 vols. — D.P. Williams
1940s/50s — Fundamentals of the Apostolic Church
1953 — Asked and Answered: A Catechism of Apostolic Principles — J.B. Clyne
1954 — The Tenets of the Apostolic Church — series of booklets by various authors
1960— One Lord, One Faith —W.A.C. Rowe
1961 — The Apostolic Church: Its Principles and Practices
1988 — Introducing the Apostolic Church: A Manual of Belief, Practice and History — David Dicks, Owen Dando, Graham Daniel, Tom Saunders, Gordon Weeks, Ernie Williams
2016 — Apostolic Theology: A Trinitarian, Evangelical, Pentecostal Introduction to Christian Doctrine — Jonathan Black
2017 — A Little Catechism: An Introduction to the Christian Faith and Life
2017 — A Catechism on the Tenets of the Apostolic Church
Doctrinal books have also been produced by the Apostolic Church in other countries and languages, including:
French: Nous Croyons — Jacques Gloaguen
French: La Ration — J.B. Clyne
Italian: Catechismo Apostolico: i contenuti dottrinali della fede cristiana — Consiglio Nazionale della Chiesa Apostolica in Italia