There's a lot you want to learn about the Christian life. This volume offers you both the head knowledge and the heart knowledge youneedto be a close disciple of Jesus Christ. You'll learn what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit really do, what youreceivedin God's gift of salvation, and what the Bible's big themes are and how they fit together. You'll learn why biblical truth offers the only ultimate answer, why you can trust God even when life makes no sense, and why Jesus came and how He could be both God and man. You'll learn how you canguardagainst common slip-ups and pitfalls, how you can pray with power and confidence, and how to know and follow God's will for your life. Through 36 brief, fast moving chapters, you'll cover miles of ground in your Christian understanding, hitting the high spots of even the deepest Bible doctrines and discovering how to put it all into practice in real life. Whether you're new to the Christian faith or in need of a refresher, the New Christian's Handbook presents the basics clearly, in a way you can use.
Max Anders (Th.M. Dallas Theological Seminary, D.Min Western Seminary) is the author of over 20 books and the creator and general editor of the 32 volume Holman Bible Commentary. Dr. Anders has taught on the college and seminary level, is one of the original team members with Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, and has pastored for over 20 years. He is the founder and president of 7 Marks, Inc., a ministry specializing in support for local churches.
Parts of this book did make me think, and I enjoy the Bible study group I joined that is using this as its text. However, the failure to cite sources for figures and statistics, and the completely false quote from George Wald (I suspect others were terribly misquoted as well, although I have not done the research) which 5 minutes of research will reveal as false, are completely unacceptable. Also, I can't stand it when people who clearly don't understand the theory of evolution present it as the evil, worldly alternative explanation to God creating the universe. Plenty of Christians (including myself) have no trouble reconciling evolutionary theory and God as the Creator. In fact, the official position of the Catholic Church as well as many Mainline Protestant denominations (including the United Methodist Church, ahem, the church at which I am participating in this Bible study) is that they do not see a conflict here. And basically saying in one chapter that to be a real Christian you have to be a total literalist (i.e., you have to take the Creation account in Genesis literally), then casually stating in a later chapter that plenty of good Christians don't take the biblical account of the end times literally? Not cool, man. Not cool. As an aside, I would really like to know who the "major scientists" are who are "increasingly expressing doubt about the theory of evolution".
Subtract the personal and apparently uninformed opinions presented as biblical truth, the bogus quotes, add citations for the borrowed facts and figures, and you have a good book here.
I couldn’t put this book down! It’s great for beginners and long time Christians. It brings back into focus what matters and is put in layman’s terms. I for sure will read this again.
Overly simplistic view of Christianity. I would only recommend it to the developmentally disabled who cannot grasp the higher concepts of this religion. If you have a hard time "getting" Christianity and have been filled with non-Biblical mumbo jumbo, this book may clear a few things up.