Get to know the beliefs and practices inspired by Jesus Christ
Discover what it means to be a Christian and follow the gospel
Curious about Christianity? This friendly guide helps you understand the basic teachings of the Christian faith, exploring the common ground that all Christians share, the differences among the major branches, the key events in Christian history, the key theological issues, and the many ways Christians live out their faith in today's world.
The Dummies Way
* Explanations in plain English
* "Get in, get out" information
* Icons and other navigational aids
* Tear-out cheat sheet
* Top ten lists
* A dash of humor and fun
Discover how to:
* Express the core essentials of Christianity
* Appreciate the life and teachings of Jesus
* Understand why the Bible is central to the faith
* Respect the unique roles of the Trinity
* Explore controversial issues among the branches
Autorentext
Richard Wagner is publisher of Digitalwalk.net, a Web-based Christian discipleship magazine. He has more than a decade's broad experience in church leadership and teaching roles.
Zusammenfassung
Get to know the beliefs and practices inspired by Jesus Christ
Discover what it means to be a Christian and follow the gospel
Curious about Christianity? This friendly guide helps you understand the basic teachings of the Christian faith, exploring the common ground that all Christians share, the differences among the major branches, the key events in Christian history, the key theological issues, and the many ways Christians live out their faith in today's world.
The Dummies Way
- Explanations in plain English
- "Get in, get out" information
- Icons and other navigational aids
- Tear-out cheat sheet
- Top ten lists
- A dash of humor and fun
Discover how to:
- Express the core essentials of Christianity
- Appreciate the life and teachings of Jesus
- Understand why the Bible is central to the faith
- Respect the unique roles of the Trinity
- Explore controversial issues among the branches
Inhalt
Foreword: xxiii
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You're Not to Read 4
Foolish Assumptions 4
How This Book Is Organized 4
Part I: Uncovering What Christianity's All About 5
Part II: Exploring the Basic Principles of the Christian Faith 5
Part III: Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple: Peeking into the Christian Church 5
Part IV: Christian Living in a Postmodern World 5
Part V: The Part of Tens 6
Icons Used in This Book 6
Where to Go from Here 7
Part I: Uncovering What Christianity's All About 9
Chapter 1: Good News in a Bad News World 11
Packing Christianity into a Nutshell 12
Going back to the beginning: People choosing, God responding 12
Understanding how Christians define their faith 13
Being forewarned of stereotypes: What Christianity is not 16
Making Sense of Christian Paradoxes 20
Understanding How the Branches of the Church Came About 21
Putting It into Perspective: Christianity in the World Today 22
Focusing on facts about the faith 22
Relating Christianity to other world faiths 23
Chapter 2: Christianity: But Is It True? 27
Defending the Faith Through Apologetics 28
Exploring Whether God Exists 28
The world appears to be intelligently designed 28
People (most, anyway) can think and reason 29
People instinctively sense right and wrong 30
Demonstrating Christianity as a Livable Faith 31
Retracing Christianity as a Historical Faith 33
Examining artifacts 33
Documenting history in the Bible 34
Chapter 3: That Amazing Stuff Called Grace 41
Defining Grace 42
Grace is a costly gift 42
Grace is undeserved 43
Grace is an unexpected surprise 45
Grace in a nutshell 46
Receiving God's Gift of Grace: Salvation 47
Principle #1: God loves 48
Principle #2: People sin 48
Principle #3: God responds 50
Principle #4: People must choose 51
Understanding Salvation by Faith 52
Being Born Again 54
Dealing with Hopeless Cases 55
Last gasps for a thief 56
Within a stone's throw of judgment 56
The original wretch like me 56
Part II: Exploring the Basic Principles of the Christian Faith 59
Chapter 4: Sin: Why Do's and Don'ts Miss the Bigger Picture 61
Desiring to Be Different: The Original Ego Trip 61
Revisiting the Fall 62
Considering how the Fall changed everything 63
Grappling with the Definition of Sin 65
Categorizing two types of sin 65
Weighing different sins 67
Misunderstanding sin 67
Empathizing with God's View of Sin 69
Tying in Humans' Relation to the Fall 70
Warring with Satan (And Knowing Who You're Fighting Against) 71
Experiencing Temptation 74
Recognizing temptation 74
Responding to tempting situations 76
Sinning After You're Saved 77
Chapter 5: Jesus Christ: His Life, Ministry, and Radical Claims 79
In Brief: Introducing Jesus 79
Accounting for the early years 80
Stepping into the spotlight 82
Fulfilling his purpose 82
Looking at How Jesus Lived 83
Jesus pointed people toward himself 84
Jesus healed and cared for the down and out 85
Jesus taught his followers how to live 85
Jesus provided the ultimate example of how to live 87
Jesus changed the perspective of one's relationship to God 88
Jesus prepared his disciples to be leaders of his Church 89
Jesus voluntarily died on the cross 90
Considering Who Jesus Claimed to Be 90
Saving People: God's Game Plan from the Get-Go 92