What Is Christianity

Gail Ramshaw frames this new introduction to Christianity around the basic questions that students ask. Investigating Christianity as a lived experience, she opens each chapter with a voice from the field of religious studies and then presents answers to each chapter's question by surveying the history, doctrine, practices, and convictions of Christian churches. Written for undergraduates with little or no background in the breadth of Christianity, the text of the book reports on the diversity of Christian belief and practice, and is accompanied with student-friendly learning helps.

A basic text to help provide structure, background, and perspective for a first year college course in theology or religious studies. It is ecumenical in approach, though not without some impact from the author’s being a Roman Catholic.

An important answer book for everyone, from seeker to long-time believer, systematically covering the fundamentals of Bible doctrine and Christian living.

Esteemed former leader of the Anglican Communion distills the essence of the Christian faith. With clarity and insight, the former Archbishop of Canterbury takes the reader to the heart of what Christianity means for those who practice it and the hope it offers to the world at large. A book for all who wonder what the Christian faith is all about, and what difference it really makes.

In this book, Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) provides a historical sketch on the nature of Christianity and the unifying power of Christ. He proceeds from unity to diversity—on where the Christian church agrees to the areas where it differs. It is apologetic and evangelistic, ecumenical and Reformed, and historical and theological in scope. In this succinct book, Bavinck traces the history of Christian doctrine and life, distinguishing the East from the West, and then focusing on the West through the Reformation to the twentieth century. Both at the beginning and the end of the book, he places before the reader what he deemed the most important religious and theological question of the day: Who is Jesus? “It is no small task which Dr. Bavinck has undertaken, to tell in sixty-two small pages all that Christianity is, and that, in a series in which it is brought into comparison with other ‘great religions’. He has fulfilled this task, however, in a most admirable manner. His method is, first, to point out what all Christians are agreed upon; and then to give an historical account of Christianity in its origins and it its progressive manifestations in the great forms of the Orthodox Eastern, the Romish, the Lutheran, Reformed Churches, with further descriptions of the forms it has taken since, in Anabaptism and Socinianism, and the New Protestantism rooted in the Enlightenment. His plan thus resolves itself into an informal sketch of the historical development of Christianity. This sketch is written with remarkable grasp of details and an equally remarkable power of synthesis. We cannot imagine how the work could be done better.” —B.B. Warfield

Are you a minister who is interested in doing a Bible study about the essentials of Christianity?Are you a small group leader looking for a 12 week Bible Study that will encourage many discussions?Are you a preaching pastor who wants to have material to go with a message series about Christianity?Are you a Christian parent who desires to do a home-discipleship study with a Christianity Bible topic?Are you a homeschooling parent who desires a study of the core teachings of Christianity?Do you want to learn what Christianity is all about? Are you a Christian leader studying Christianity?Are you a Christian Leaders Institute student who is studying the "Christian Basics: Introduction to Christian Doctrine?"Maybe you are investigating the claims of Christianity?Are you a church leader who seeks to understand the fundamental teachings of the Church?"What is Christianity?" packs many incredible study features !Get the paperback Bible study edition of the foundational teachings of Christianity written by Dr. Edwin Roels, a highly recognized Bible teacher! Tens of thousands of students at Christian Leaders College and Christian Leaders Institute have studied "What is Christianity?" This book is the foundational teaching for doctrine at Christian Leaders Institute.Student Reviews: Students are asked to review this book when they finish "Theology 101 - Christian Basics: Introduction to Christian Doctrine." Thousands have reviewed, "What is Christianity?"Here are the types of comments we see every day."I learned and reaffirmed my beliefs in the Bible.""The materials are very rich, and I will use them for teaching new believers/discipleship classes in the church.""I liked the simplicity and the reaffirmation of foundational truths in the Word.""What is Christianity? refreshed my memory in spreading the gospel and witnessing to others.""I have a better understanding of the most important topics in the Bible.""I usually only have a few minutes, if that, with the individuals in the motorcycle community that I am trying to reach. This course has helped me with making the most of those few minutes.""The material was easy to understand and very helpful.""Growing up in the Christian faith, it's easy to take many of the foundational Christian teachings for granted. As I worked through this Christian basics course, I found myself correcting my thinking in certain areas that I had mistaken before.""As a recent convert to Christianity, I loved how it broke down everything so simple and really explained the basics of Christianity.""It has been a long time since I have been able to pursue my calling. This course has helped me to strengthen and refresh my knowledge in Christian basics so that I can help spread the gospel to others."

For the first time, Thomas Oden's Systematic Theology classic series (individually titled The Living God, The Word of Life, and Life in the Spirit) is available in one complete volume. A renowned theologian, Oden provides a consensus view of the Christian faith, delving deeply into ancient Christian tradition and bringing to the contemporary church the best wisdom from its past. In this magisterial work, Oden tackles the central questions of Christian belief and the nature of the trinity. Written for clergy, Christian educators, religious scholars, and lay readers alike, Classic Christianity provides the best synthesis of the whole history of Christian thought. Part one explores the most intriguing questions of the study of God—Does God exist? Does Jesus reveal God? Is God personal, compassionate, free?—and presents answers that reflect the broad consensus culled from the breadth of the church's teachers. It is rooted deeply and deliberately in scripture but confronts the contemporary mind with the vitality of the Christian tradition. Part two addresses the perplexing Christological issues of whether God became flesh, whether God became Christ, and whether Christ is the source of salvation. Oden details the core beliefs concerning Jesus Christ that have been handed down for the last two hundred decades, namely, who he was, what he did, and what that means for us today. Part three examines how the work of God in creation and redemption is being brought to consummation by the Holy Spirit in persons, through communities, and in the fullness of human destiny. Oden's magisterial study not only treats the traditional elements of systematical theology but also highlights the foundational exegetes throughout history. Covering the ecumenical councils and early synods; the great teachers of the Eastern church tradition, including Athanasius and John Chrysostom; and the prominent Western figures such as Augustine, Ambrose, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, this book offers the reader the fullest understanding of the Christian faith available.