Basic Christianity is a crucial foundation that must be deeply entrenched within the hearts and minds of believers. The essential and basic principles aid every Christian by showing and teaching them how great God’s love is for us. In John Stott’s Book, “Basic Christianity,” he reveals insight on what it is to be a Christian. He also dispels many erroneous teachings that have been brought into the Christian community. Stott states in the beginning of his book that many have held the assumption that God sits on His throne, aloof, distant, and unconcerned for our needs and problems (Stott, pg. 17). The fact that these people are unaware of is that God took the initiative and acted first as seen in Genesis 1:1, where it states ”In the beginning God….” This clearly shows that God in His omnipotence took time to create you, me, and everything in existence today. It is also stated in Genesis 1, God formed us in His image and breathed into us the breathe of “LIFE”; therefore a part of the Almighty is in the fibers of our being. Seeing that part of Him was separated, He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins to redeem the relationship that once was.
Jesus Christ is a man who has baffled and transformed the new age with his life and legacy. The question arose if He is just a man? Many speculated that He was just a prophet who was profoundly inspired with scriptural revelation. The truth is that He actually is the Son of God and everything he did reflected that of the Father, the
He received a B.A. degree from Philander Smith College in Arkansas in 1958, a B.D. degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1961, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University in 1963 and 1965, respectively. He taught theology and religion at Philander Smith College, Adrian College in Michigan, and beginning in 1970 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was awarded the distinguished Charles A. Briggs Chair in systematic theology in 1977. He taught theology and religion at Philander Smith College, Adrian College in Michigan, and beginning in 1970 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was awarded the distinguished Charles A. Briggs Chair in systematic theology in 1977. The thesis of this book is that one's social and historical context decides not only the questions 2 we address to God but also the mode or form of the
In the non-fiction philosophical book, Sam Harris, publisher of Letter to a Christian Nation, demonstrates his views of the flaws of Christianity. He contends the many contradictions he finds with the beliefs Christians hold to with their own lives and interactions with others. His goal in the book is to expose these errors to Christians themselves and present the question to them in a challenging tone. Harris does this by painting a vivid picture of the controversies surrounding Christians opposed to non Christians. He goes into great detail about his beliefs against Christianity and covers a broad scope, along with many topics.
Before attempting to classify Messianic Judaism, one must understand the beliefs of the followers of these religions, the traditions that they uphold, and the identity of their respected ancestors. Fisher describes Judaism as, “ having no single founder and central leader group making theological decisions.” In religious terms, Jews are those who experienced their long and often difficult history as a continuous dialogue with God. In a religions sense, Israel refers to all those who answer the call of God, through the Torah or teaching given to the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets. Christianity can simply be defined as all people who accept the belief that Jesus, a Jew, was born and died to fulfill the Jewish Old Testament prophecy.
Jesus and the holy spirit are just different forms of God. It is up to us how we see them. Our churches may have a certain image of them, but reading this book made me think it is up to ourselves how we see God, Jesus, and the holy spirit. It is easy for us to see Jesus as a handsome, tall, strong man, but he was not. He was just like us, his people.
As Ryle shows, simple does not have to mean simplistic. It is a great series to put by one’s nightstand and dip into before one retires for the night or to read each morning to begin the day with one’s mind on the things of the Lord. How can one go wrong studying the life of Jesus under the wise tutorage of J.C. Ryle? If you wish a more direct follow-up to Holiness, then explore Ryle’s volume entitled Practical Religion. In nineteen chapters, Ryle discusses in his usual plain manner the “daily duties, experiences, dangers, and privileges of professing Christians”.
Everything humans know today is because God himself made it that way. Humanity can be logically explained by God’s existence because if we believe in the religious stories which
McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever. This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’
That story you heard? About how we were all created by a super-powerful dude named God who lives up in the sky? Total bullshit. The whole God thing is actually an ancient fairy tale that people have been telling one another for thousands of years. We made it all up.
We see these people claiming that some time ago, there was nothing. Nothing but their god and his son Jesus. And then this god “spoke” all things into existence by commanding them to appear. They say that it took him six days to create all of the stars and the trees and the oceans, and that on the sixth day their god created man, and later on created woman.
God reveals himself in Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through 24 in His true form. He comes into the garden after Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit (He already knows that they have eaten the fruit because God is all-knowing). But, by falling into the serpent’s temptation, Adam and Eve turned away from God. They basically ruined everything for all of humanity (great job!). If Adam and Eve had listened to God, there would be no pain, we would live forever, and people would no nothing but God.
As I have matured in my Christian life, I have come to realize, now more than ever, that a keen understanding of God’s Word is the only way that the body of Christ can live uprightly and radically influence the world in which we live. Many Christians know of the Bible, hear it taught and preached at church; however, have not taken the time nor been discipled concerning the importance of establishing a relationship with the God and diligently seeking to understand His precepts. Because their lives are shallow and not grounded in a deep and abiding understand of God’s Word, they are “tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,” and are neither salt nor light in the world. Precept Ministries was founded and exists “to establish people in
A lthough, there were various people within the church that believed misguided beliefs regarding the LORD’S sexual presence, there still rose up those that knew the mystery of mysteries. Allegedly, though the centuries, Christ sexual teachings survive through the concealment of the brotherhood of Jesus Christ beginnings; which, one may say were the ‘Truth Holders.’ Above all, they quietly kept one of the supreme secrets alive through time; which endures as the knowing of God’s ‘real’ sexual presence within humanity. Suitably, the group attempted to nurture Jesus teachings as they were given; exalting Christ’s sacred truths through time. In due course, this group transpires into what a number of people assume is the elect of the brotherhood
"For the Son of Man came to seek and save who are lost." (Lk. 19:10). These are the words of the Lord to us. According to the apostle to the Gentiles, he is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." (Col. 1:15).
He gives people His grace, His glory and the truth (83). The Son of Man is another term to describe Jesus Christ (Stevens 83). Many authors used this phrase to express the humanity of Jesus and “Jesus uses it for Himself more than any other designation” (84). Going throughout the Old Testament, it is synonymous with the word man (84). In the book of Matthew, it said that Jesus is the Son of Man who comes in His glory and all the angels will come with Him.
Jesus is undoubtedly the result of two distinct natures not combined but together in one body. “Jesus is the Word who was God and was with God and was made flesh” (Bible, John 1:1,14) “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Bible, Heb. 1:3) Jesus has two natures, one of them