John R.W. Stott, Basic Christianity, Inter-Varsity Press,
Illinois, 1971
Vince's opinion:
I first read this book many years ago, and I certainly enjoy it
quite a bit (I actually went off to buy like 20copies of it and
gave them to my friends, think still have 3 or 4 copies in the
cupboard).
What I like this book so much is the simplicity of the message, in
that the author attempts to explain christianity and the gospel
message in a basic and simple manner.
* For those that wants more complexity, more indepth/wide debates
and informations, this is definity not the book.
Here is an abstract to it (its a very short book)
Christianity
Today the word is ambiguous. It conjures up in our minds a variety
of thoughts and memories, different for each person. For some, it
brings to mind certain historical events, such as the Crusades, the
Spanish Inquisition, or the Salem Witch trials. Others may think of
church, worshiping God, or going to Heaven. For still others, it
may be a reminder of the recent scandals among television
evangelists. However it is that we perceive Christianity, our
perceptions are based on our experience and knowledge of it. For
many people, this experience may include hearing about it through
the media (e.g., TV, newspapers), attending church, talking with
friends and relatives, or observing people who call themselves
"Christians". However, many people do not have any knowledge about
Christianity from reading the Bible. Since this is considered by
most everyone to be important to Christianity, gaining an
understanding of what it says is helpful in forming a more complete
view of Christianity. It is therefore my intention to present and
discuss various topics that may not be known other than through the
Bible.
I want to emphasize that for someone to better understand
Christianity through knowledge of the Bible, it does not matter
whether or not that person considers the Bible to be true. Indeed,
just as in gaining an understanding of any religion, it is only
important to understand that its followers take their holy books to
be true. Thus, the topics presented are meant to be informative,
and not persuasive, in nature. That is, they only discuss what the
Bible says, without attempting to persuade one to believe that the
Bible is true.
