Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Book: Core Christianity

Author’s note: Well, I’m a touch behind on book reviews, so I’ll be trying to catch up on them. Most of the books I will review are ones provided (given, free, not-paid-for-by-me) to me for review. None of the sources require anything but an honest review.

If you search Amazon.com for “Core Christianity,” you’ll find several books with that title. And a few others that don’t have anything like it in their title. In fairness to author Michael Horton, the full title here is Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God’s Story. Being a big fan of Horton’s The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way, I wanted to read this less-than-textbook sized offering. After all, this one’s 192 pages instead of 1056…and hurts less when you drop it on your foot!

With that being said, it’s also worth noting that Horton approaches theology from a Reformed perspective. (He’s the author of For Calvinism, after all.) That being said, Core Christianity looks at theology from a broad enough perspective that even Baptists who blanch at words like “predestination” can benefit from it.

First, Horton addresses theology from a practical angle. The subtitle is not false advertising: this book is about how we as people fit in the work of God. He has taken the time, throughout, to provide background information showing how the specific doctrines of the faith mentioned are truly universally held.

Rather than dwelling on the finer points of theology, Horton has focused on central tenets such as the Trinity and the Incarnation of Jesus. That is how this attains the goal of being about “Core” Christianity. I am not quite ready to put this alongside Mere Christianity, but I can readily see it as a basic discussion text for small groups of Christians wanting to grow.

I can readily recommend this one for growth in Christ.

Free book? Y:ep. Influence? Maybe, but I did buy the much more expensive academic version of it, so it’s not like I’m a mindless drone. More like a theology book nut who somehow gets small books free and buys big ones.

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