Essential Christianity ebook

I'm here on this site, by way of listing to Pastor Greear's podcast about "Jesus on Marriage." I'm divorced for about 14 years now and I'm still single. However, I date every few years when I feel like it. Lol
I loved listing to this particular podcast, because it helped me to see that God's plan for my life may not be for me to get married again. I'm able to live the rest of my life in God's peace, even if that means being single for the rest of my life.
I find myself basking in his light. My ...new look on life is truly "God's Plan."

Thank you Pastor Greear!

Pastor and author J.D. Greear explains the basic story of Christianity in this book, focusing on different foundational elements of faith in each chapter. Greear's writing style is conversational, honest, and humorous, and he writes about complex ideas in ways that people can connect to regardless of their existing background with faith or level of interest in theology or philosophy.

"Essential Christianity" will help and encourage Christians who want to better understand and articulate their beliefs, and it is accessible ...to skeptics who are curious about Christianity. However, I don't think that this book will be useful to many people who are deconstructing childhood faith. Greear writes in an understanding way about why many young adults are leaving the institutional church and questioning their faith, but the book doesn't say anything that lapsed or questioning evangelicals haven't heard before. It's best for people who already agree with Greear or have never heard or considered what he's saying.

On a related note, I didn't think that the intermission regarding same-sex sexuality was helpful. Greear needed to include it instead of skipping over controversial verses in his source material, but he didn't add anything new to a contentious conversation that is a hang-up for many people considering faith. This doesn't address current shifts in the debate and won't change anyone's mind, and Greear doesn't engage with any alternate interpretations of those verses in Romans, not even to argue against them.

Overall, I would recommend "Essential Christianity" to Christians, and to skeptics who are curious about the Christian faith and want to read a book that covers a wide variety of information in a highly readable way, instead of taking scholarly deep dives. This is a good introduction to foundational Christian beliefs, even though I think it could have been better.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In Essential Christianity, J.D. Grear endeavors to explore the key points of the Christian faith.

Using Paul’s letter to the Romans, he covers the “essentials” of the Christian life. He aims to answers hard questions that deal with religion, the struggle that comes with the Christian life, and overall truth.

I really appreciated the use of scripture in this book. ...Obviously, Grear is drawing from an entire book in the Bible. But he is careful to cite and use scripture as the base for his framework. He is able to take a seemingly complicated subject (the essentials of Christianity) and offer an easy to digest explanation.

I also appreciated how Grear is clear that true Christianity is only best understood through the power of the gospel.

“The gospel is not just the diving board off which we jump into the pool of Christianity; it’s the pool itself. The deeper you go into the gospel well, the sweeter and outer the water becomes.”

This book would be fitting for unbelievers, and particularly skeptics and those who have been “on the fence” about Christianity. It is also a great refresher for believers who are struggling to vocalize the tenants of their faith.

I received a free copy of this book from The Good Book Company in exchange for an honest review.