Kenda Dean begins her latest book with these words: “American young people are, theoretically, fine with religious faith—but it does not concern them very much,… Read More »Book Review: “Almost Christian” by Kenda Dean
A friend of a friend once shared that, moments after his baptism, a church leader admonished him: “Well, Jesus has done his part. The rest is up to you.” For this individual, Christian character was a duty by which we get the rest of the way to heaven after the initial “boost” from Jesus.
One recent Sunday morning I met a man visiting our church. His wife Jane had stayed home while he and his boys attended worship. When I asked him about Jane, he said, “She wasn’t raised in any faith. That’s why she’s not here.”
Two hours later I rejoiced with Orion’s mother as Orion was baptized into Christ. A seventh grader from a strong Christian household, Orion nonetheless had much to learn about God. His new life was just beginning.
Before leaving the church building I received a note from Albert. A seventy-something widower, Albert has attended every class offered by our congregation. But in his note, Albert remarked that there’s still so much he’s trying to grasp about the Bible.
D. A. Carson’s latest book was written for Jane, Orion and Albert. Carson is a research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the author of over 45 books. This book, entitled The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God’s Story is Carson’s attempt to summarize the narrative of Scripture for non-believers, new believers, and seasoned believers.
In his book “After You Believe” N. T. Wright describes the character-culture into which Jesus and Paul entered. It was dominated by Aristotle “about 350… Read More »Pagan Character and Christian Character (After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters – N. T. Wright)