What Angels Wish They Knew: The Basics of True Christianity

by Alistair Begg

Argues that people today are searching for answers about life and its meaning, and reviews the answers provided by the Bible

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Spirituality

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Alistair Begg has been in pastoral ministry since 1975. Following graduation from The London School of Theology, he served eight years in Scotland at both Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh and Hamilton Baptist Church.

In 1983, he became the senior pastor at Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio. He has written several books and is heard daily and weekly on the radio program, Truth For Life. The teaching on Truth For Life stems from the week by week Bible teaching at Parkside Church.

Reviews

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regardless of where one is in their faith journey, this is a must read. Probably the most thoughtful and concise exploration of christian thought I've read to date and I found it to be encouraging and insightful.
Much like Alistair Begg's sermons ( I could hear his delightful accent throughout), he leans heavily on scriptural references to support his claims and teaching. Very well thought out.

I could not recommend it in any stronger terms.

[Sylvia Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written well. It was about a very basic level of Christianity (right in line with the title). It is a good book for folks who are interested in angels and theological glamor but are not used to diving deep. However if you already like to read theology books and if you already know who Alistair Begg is, this is probably not a book which would provide much value.

I would have left it unfinished, but it had a lot of Bible verses in it which are nice to read in any context. Plus I had bought it on sale and when I read books I've bought I feel a lot better about having paid for them.

[Siouxfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

I highly recommend the reading of this book even if you’re already a Christian along with the Bible to look up the verses quoted here and grow in the Lord Jesus Christ! If you’re not a Christian read this book (and Bible) come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior! No day is promised to us, there is no other way to Heaven but through the blood of Christ which was shed on the cross for all people!!

[Carolyn Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fundamentally Sound

This is a great book for anyone wishing to explore the Christian faith from the roots up. It is written in easy language which makes it an accessible read for those who wish to understand the truth about Jesus, salvation, justice, mercy, grace and eternal hope.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be in the library of every Christian, to be read over and over again!

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was filled with valuable insights and salient points, it just sometimes felt a little disjointed and not as cohesive as one would like.

[John Daily · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Christian life is not a call to try to fulfill very high standards by our own effort. There is no question that crowds of well-meaning but sad souls believe that to be the case. For them, Christianity is an ethical system we must apply ourselves to with as much endeavor as we can muster. Consequently, they stumble from failure to failure; and the harder they try, the worse it all becomes. The power for living the Christian life comes from God."

Begg is one of my favorite living preachers. Sadly, for some unknown reason, his ease of language use, breadth of offhand knowledge, and emotive range does not translate as well to the page. That said, this is a fine primer for newer Christians, or those who are looking to understand what this Christianity thing is all about.

"It is this new life that brings with it an appetite for the food of God’s Word, a sincere desire for the company of other family members, and a willingness to serve on the basis of the gifts and abilities we have been given."

The highlight of the book, for me, is his section on how important the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus is to our faith. "If the resurrection is not historically true," he writes, "then Christianity collapses immediately." Begg is not the first to form this thought; the apostle Paul knew it and wrote this to the church at Corinth: "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:14). And so it would be, but Begg carefully supposes the arguments in favor of a false resurrection and then, just as carefully, dismantles them. Again: There is nothing knew being written here; it is the way in which the case is being made that feels fresh.

"We should note [...] that this is one of the distinctive features of the Christian faith. Other religions [...] do not rely on the continued living presence of their founder as the basis for their claims to truth. But Christianity cannot get away so easily. Listen again to Paul, "And is Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (v. 17)"

Begg is a humble servant. Throughout the book, he quotes contemporaries such as Sinclair Ferguson, past influential leaders such as John Stott, and important shapers of the faith such as Charles Spurgeon. He is careful and considered in his approach to scripture, and understands the scope of a text as it pertains to the entirety of the Bible and the story it tells of God and us, and our relationships with him and each other. He understands the importance of togetherness of the Body of Christ, an increasingly more relevant and worrisome discussion as our society continues tor retreat into isolation masked as "social" interaction.

"As a people belonging to God we declare His praises. The corporate worship of God’s people is to be a fixed point in the Christian’s life. We are not to view the times when God’s family gets together as options but as joyful obligations. We should be able to say with the psalmist: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Psalm 122:1 NASB). Our participation should involve becoming members of a local church. In doing so, we are putting ourselves within the sphere of family discipline, we are asking to be shepherded, and we are able to discover and use the gifts God has given us for the benefit of the body. It is very important that we say no to isolation and yes to involvement. "

I wish this were a more academic book, but then it wouldn't be so good at laying out our faith for the new and the curious. If this is you, What Angels Wish They Knew, cringy title aside, is well worth reading.

[Jeremy Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Titles of certain books can be a little misleading. You read the title and may think that it pertains to something much different than what it actually covers. I feel that Alistair Begg's book What Angels Wish They Knew is one of those books. Reading the title you may think it is a book about angels. This is not the case, and honestly the book rarely even mentions angels at all.

Instead What Angels Wish They Knew is a book introducing the basics of Christianity. This includes going through the ideas of humans as fallen sinful individuals who are disconnected to God, the need for a savior, and how Jesus fills that role in his life, death, and resurrection. He also talks a little about what accepting Christ as your savior means and how to live as a Christian.

I wasn't too excited by the book honestly. I mean there's nothing inherently wrong with it. I just feel that others have done it better. Compared to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity or John Stott's Basic Christianity it just doesn't seem quite as good.

I think part of this is the fact that I've been a Christian for some time now and a book on the basics isn't really as interesting to me as it may have been say fifteen years ago. Any book on the subject may not interest me quite as much as it once was.

One of the other things that bothered me a bit was that he seemed to use a lot of quotes from other books at times. Which on one hand I don't mind quotes and it's often nice to see an idea backed up by other people. However on the other hand, at times he seemed to rely on quotes more than he did his own way of putting things. I found myself wondering why I'm not just reading the books he's referencing.

Another negative is that the title can be a bit misleading. If you simply read the main title, you could get the impression that this was about angels. The subtitle tries to offer a better direction to where the book is going, but if you need the subtitle to give you a more accurate idea of what the book is about it may be troublesome. I know I've had people ask me if it was a book about angels when they saw it on my bookshelf.

None of these things are that great of issues, but at the same time I don't really know that the book had any amazing positives. It's a pretty typical presentation of the Gospel. There's nothing that bad about it, but as I said earlier I think it's been done better. I just don't feel that it really added anything in approach or content to what came before it to warrant a recommendation.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book assuming that it was going to help me with some exegetical study on angels, their nature, relationship to God, etc. Nevertheless, the book, a reference to 1 Peter 1:12, is actually not about angels at all, but rather, another treatment to of the gospel. Growing up under the headship of Alistair Begg, I've been extremely blessed by Parkside Church, and Truth for Life Ministries. Begg's prose if friendly and conversational; an easy book to read for the layperson looking for something to engage in, and juts a little bit of meat to bite and chew off. Would recommend for the new Christian, looking to get a more structured view of what the gospel is, and why it is so wonderful.