eBook - ePub
Christianity For Dummies
Richard Wagner
This is a test
Buch teilen
- English
- ePUB (handyfreundlich)
- Ăber iOS und Android verfĂŒgbar
eBook - ePub
Christianity For Dummies
Richard Wagner
Angaben zum Buch
Buchvorschau
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Quellenangaben
Ăber dieses Buch
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
HĂ€ufig gestellte Fragen
Wie kann ich mein Abo kĂŒndigen?
Gehe einfach zum Kontobereich in den Einstellungen und klicke auf âAbo kĂŒndigenâ â ganz einfach. Nachdem du gekĂŒndigt hast, bleibt deine Mitgliedschaft fĂŒr den verbleibenden Abozeitraum, den du bereits bezahlt hast, aktiv. Mehr Informationen hier.
(Wie) Kann ich BĂŒcher herunterladen?
Derzeit stehen all unsere auf MobilgerĂ€te reagierenden ePub-BĂŒcher zum Download ĂŒber die App zur VerfĂŒgung. Die meisten unserer PDFs stehen ebenfalls zum Download bereit; wir arbeiten daran, auch die ĂŒbrigen PDFs zum Download anzubieten, bei denen dies aktuell noch nicht möglich ist. Weitere Informationen hier.
Welcher Unterschied besteht bei den Preisen zwischen den AboplÀnen?
Mit beiden AboplÀnen erhÀltst du vollen Zugang zur Bibliothek und allen Funktionen von Perlego. Die einzigen Unterschiede bestehen im Preis und dem Abozeitraum: Mit dem Jahresabo sparst du auf 12 Monate gerechnet im Vergleich zum Monatsabo rund 30 %.
Was ist Perlego?
Wir sind ein Online-Abodienst fĂŒr LehrbĂŒcher, bei dem du fĂŒr weniger als den Preis eines einzelnen Buches pro Monat Zugang zu einer ganzen Online-Bibliothek erhĂ€ltst. Mit ĂŒber 1 Million BĂŒchern zu ĂŒber 1.000 verschiedenen Themen haben wir bestimmt alles, was du brauchst! Weitere Informationen hier.
UnterstĂŒtzt Perlego Text-zu-Sprache?
Achte auf das Symbol zum Vorlesen in deinem nÀchsten Buch, um zu sehen, ob du es dir auch anhören kannst. Bei diesem Tool wird dir Text laut vorgelesen, wobei der Text beim Vorlesen auch grafisch hervorgehoben wird. Du kannst das Vorlesen jederzeit anhalten, beschleunigen und verlangsamen. Weitere Informationen hier.
Ist Christianity For Dummies als Online-PDF/ePub verfĂŒgbar?
Ja, du hast Zugang zu Christianity For Dummies von Richard Wagner im PDF- und/oder ePub-Format sowie zu anderen beliebten BĂŒchern aus Theology & Religion & History of Christianity. Aus unserem Katalog stehen dir ĂŒber 1Â Million BĂŒcher zur VerfĂŒgung.
Information
Part I
Uncovering What Christianityâs All About
In this part . . .
**IN a DROPCAP**
If youâve ever left your car out in ice or snow, you know that before driving, you first have to scrape off the windshield to have a clear view of the road. This first part helps act as that ice scraper by creating a clear picture of what Christianity is and showing you how the Christian faith compares to other world religions. Here I give you a backdrop on what Christianity claims as truth, so you can delve into the details that I discuss later in this book and understand why Christians do what they do. In that light, this section explores how Christians answer questions about the existence of God and the reliability of the Bible. I also introduce you to that which is responsible for Christianityâs existence: the message of Godâs grace.
Chapter 1
Good News in a Bad News World
In This Chapter
When you click the remote and watch the nightly news broadcast, good news is sure hard to come by. Instead, other peopleâs bad news always seems to take center stage: A burglar steals an elderly coupleâs life savings, a fire rips through an apartment building, or a hijacked plane crashes in Siberia. You visit the checkout aisle at your local grocery and see that other peopleâs bad news sells tabloids: a celebrityâs failed two-week-old marriage, a politicianâs scandal, or a mystery illness that causes an Olympic gold medalist to grow a second nose.
You and I are inundated with bad news, but itâs the yearning for good news that keeps us getting out of bed each day: a marriage proposal, a job promotion, the expectancy of a child or grandchild, the winning ticket of the Super Lotto. Good news not only makes your day, but it also gives you hope and optimism for the future.
Christianity is a faith thatâs all about good news. The heart of the Christian message is called the gospel, which means â you guessed it â the âgood news.â The Christian faith, therefore, claims to offer meaning and hope to people, not just for a day, but also for all eternity.
So what exactly is this so-called good news that Christianity claims? How is it different from other religions? And if Christianity is supposed to be about good news, why does it seem that so much bad news â scandalous priests, corrupt televangelists, and so on â flows from the Christian Church these days?
In this chapter, you discover the essence of Christianity and how it compares to other world religions. You also explore some popular misconceptions of the Christian faith so that you can discern what Christianity is and is not.
Packing Christianity into a Nutshell
Trying to define Christianity in a single sentence is kind of like trying to cram my familyâs luggage into the back of our minivan when we go on vacation â an impossible task until you start throwing many bags, even seemingly important ones, out the window. I spend this entire book diving into what the Christian faith is, but if I had to pack it into a nutshell, Iâd say that Christianity is the belief that God chose to create and love humans, and â at an incredible cost to himself â frees them from a tight spot if only they, in response, choose to reach out for his helping hand.
I dive into the cut-and-dry basics of Christianity later in this chapter, but first I give you the scoop on the whole shebang â from beginning to end (as briefly as possible!) so you know what youâre dealing with. So kick back, get a mug of java or tea, and read on for the story of Christianity. (If you want to get to the nitty-gritty, flip ahead to the section, âUnderstanding how Christians define their faith.â)
Going back to the beginning: People choosing, God responding
Christians believe in what they call the one True God, who is perfect, has existed forever, and created the world and all its itty-bitty little creatures (see Chapter 7). But when God created humans, he came up with something extra special; he not only gave people pinky toes and eyebrows, but also the one-of-a-kind gift of free will (choice).
God gave people the ability to choose whether to follow him and have a relationship with him or to go our own separate ways. The reason he did this seems pretty obvious to me: Suppose you desired a relationship with a special someone. Would you prefer a person who decidedly picked you out of a crowd, or would you rather have a robot that was programmed to do nothing else? Personally, I prefer the chooser. I often wonder why my wife decided on me, but I wonât argue; Iâll just enjoy the voluntary, albeit semi-crazy, decision she made. So too, God opted for a humanity with free choice. But when he did so, he took a risk, because people can decide to go their own ways and forget about him.
The first folks to live out this experiment in freedom were Adam and Eve. The couple had some good times with God for a while. But as the Bible talks about in the Book of Genesis, curiosity got the better of them, and they soon wanted to know what it was like doing what they wanted to do instead of what God wanted them to do. They disobeyed God, setting off a chain reaction of disobedience (or sin ) that has spiraled through every generation since them. See Chapter 4 for more on Adam and Eveâs escapade.
When people recognize sin in their lives, their natural response is to try to do something to make up for it. Humans have continually tried to earn Godâs favor by doing good deeds as a payback (see Chapter 15). Christianity says that payback with God is impossible, though. Think of it like this: Suppose a genie grants you a wish to be transformed into a fish if you want to. Because he asks you in the middle of a heat wave, the idea of being a fish surrounded 2 4/7 by chilly water sounds really cool, so you take the plunge into the deep blue sea. However, after a long swim and an initial fling with a puffer fish, you decide that the fishâs life isnât for you. Your natural response may be to swim upstream to where you initially jumped into the water and hope that somehow that action will reverse the metamorphic process. But no amount of swimming against the current will change you back into a human again. Instead, the genie, by his own initiative, has to change you back.