Reviews for Essential Truths of the Christian Faith

The average rating for Essential Truths of the Christian Faith based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-09-22 00:00:00 Daniel Spindel I read this book after having finished Everyone's a Theologian. The two books are very similar, but I feel that this one is easier to understand. There are 102 short chapters of about 5 pages or less that can be read as a supplement to Bible study, in a book group, or (as was my case) on a lonnnnng airplane ride. Most of the chapters are excellent. The author gives Scripture-based explanations for Christian doctrines such as the Holy Trinity, baptism, communion, etc. Most of his explanations are easy to understand -- though I'd still highly recommend "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis to new or young believers as that is even easier to grasp. However, I feel that this book is poorly titled. It really should be something along the lines of "Essential Truths of Calvinist Christianity" or something like that, as the author is pretty clearly a Calvinist and obviously believes that is the only Scripturally sound way to view salvation. That being said, I took issue with several of the chapters. There are strong, Scripture-based arguments both for and against Calvinism, and I repeatedly find myself in the "against" camp. I would recommend this book to those who aren't entirely new to the Christian faith but aren't considered "mature" believers yet either. I guess figure out where you are on your journey and decide if this book is right for you. :)

Review # 2 was written on 2008-10-30 00:00:00 Wade Mashburn first off, this book is really a great work, meaningful for Christians or non-Christians who want to know about the essentials of the Christian doctrines without going into the details. It gives explanations in wonderful wordings (simple and clear) about christian basic theology. Believe me you wont be bored with it... if one reads it faithfully, you can finish it in one night! He chops it off into small parts discussing one theme in 3 pages at the most, that made me want to savor every theme and felt a bit loss when it was all done. The first few chapters (I - VI) describing what CS Lewis said in Mere Christianity as 'HCF' highest common factors, factors that can be said to be held by all Christians regardless denominations. However starts on chapter VII (the doctrine of human being and the fall, salvation, etc) the color is thickly Calvinism, so if you are not in this group i have warned you, don't be surprised because there is no mention in the covers about the book being in the league of Calvinism considering not everyone knows who Sproul is. the point that the book covers almost everything important to Christianity (including the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, infant baptism etc) made it a must read especially to all Christians. The book is a plus, many times over! i highly recommend it!