The Definition of Christianity

by David W. Gooding, John C. Lennox

Who gets to determine what Christianity means? Is it possible to understand its original message after centuries of tradition and conflicting ideas? Gooding and Lennox throw fresh light on these questions by tracing the Book of Acts' historical account of the message that proved so effective in the time of Christ's apostles. Luke's record of its confrontations with competing philosophical and religious systems reveals Christianity's own original and lasting definition.

available as free ebook download

Genres: Christian, Theology

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

David W. Gooding is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Greek at Queen's University, Belfast and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. His international teaching ministry is marked by fresh and careful expositions of both testaments. He has published scholarly studies on the Septuagint and Old Testament narratives, as well as expositions of Luke, John 13-17, Acts and Hebrews.

Reviews

[Bojan Ostojić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, it shows how although Luke wrote Acts with orderliness in mind, ir appears that the Spirit decided to use his endeavor to highlight how the early Church dealeth with different social and cultural issues that we even face today. Most controversy was resolved back then, yet we face same questions today.

[Erisson Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livreto simples, de fácil leitura, que visa expor uma definição do cristianismo baseado em alguns relatos contidos no livro de Atos dos Apóstolos. Com a prerrogativa de que ao longo do tempo "acréscimos supersticiosos" foram incorporados ao verdadeiro cristianismo, os autores retornam aos primeiros fatos da história da Igreja para apresentar aos leitores uma versão essencial da religião cristã. É um livro prático e um tanto apologético, que pode ser útil para apresentar o cristianismo em meio a um mundo secularizado.

[Leandro Couto]

Gooding and Lennox offer a pithy lesson on Luke's book of Acts, showcasing defining elements of Christianity in the order they appear in the text, uncovering Luke's subtle and interesting thread of reasoning and highlighting the powerful and unadorned historicity of the New Testament. A short and delightful read!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on Christianity

[Theo Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

- This book is designed to grasp the historic facts at the heart of the gospel, and to understand its original message and centuries of tradition and conflicting ideas. It includes topics such as: the world's fatal flaw, "magic" and the gospel, and christ and philosophy.
- What I liked
- Good explanations
- The book explained what it was trying to explain very well. The chapters were fairly useful, although I think more could have been said about proofs of God or Christianity. The language wasn't engaging, but it wasn't hard to understand either.
- I think this book helps answer a really good and important question around what the "definition of christianity" is. I don't this this is designed to convert anyone to christianity, but would work as well as a starter to a course on christianity, or as a beginning book to someone interested in discovering more about what Christianity is actually about, and answering some common questions or misconceptions about it.
- What I disliked
- I thought the book was a bit dry and not very engaging. It wasn't that it was hard to understand, but that I got bored very quickly reading it and I think I definitely missed some of the information.
- I would recommend this book to people interested in God and Christianity, and what it means to be a christian.

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book uses the book of Acts to introduce the spectrum of what is Christianity. Since the book is so short, it is only able to highlight a few key points. In this regard the book is really good, and I greatly appreciate and respect the main points that were made. This book (and I expect the others in the series) is a good resource for preparing material designed for those who are new to Christianity, or new to Christian doctrine.

[Sam]

Breve pero contundente enseñanza del libro de Hechos.

[Dustin Tramel · Rating 5 out of 5]

These guys are excellent writers. They do fantastic at putting academic knowledge into easy to read words.

[Irvin Sales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as powerfully packed compared to the 3 other books of this series. Nevertheless, contains a lot of truth and nice perspective towards Christianity.