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THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
The analysis of our real problem
What is the greatest problem we face? The Buddhist would say that it is our suffering, and Buddhist teaching is primarily a response to this. The Bible does have a great deal to say about suffering. However, it tells us that we have a greater problem still, the problem of our wrongdoing. The common word for this in the Bible is "sin". Indeed, it is sin which is one of the major causes of our suffering. For this reason, Buddhism becomes a religion of enlightenment, whereas Christianity is a religion of salvation.
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"To
come up with the right answers we must ask the right questions"
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To come up with the right answers we must ask the right questions. The fundamental question which the Bible asks (and answers) is, "How do you reconcile sinful human beings with a holy and a righteous God?" Humans were created in the "image" and "likeness" of God. We were given God-like qualities of a spiritual nature which enable us to enjoy a loving relationship with him. In this respect we are radically different from the animal world. Hinduism, Buddhism and New Age teaching blur this distinction.
Love must always involve freedom to choose and we have abused that freedom. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to their own way" (Isaiah 53:6). As a result of our rebellion and stubborn independence from God we have all become morally flawed. As Jesus put it, "Out of your heart come evil thoughts, vulgar deeds, stealing, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, greed, meanness, deceit, indecency, envy, insults, pride, and foolishness. All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God" (Mark 7:21-23).
All religions and cultures have their ethical codes. There is a built-in consciousness in humanity of right and wrong which points to our origin as beings created in the image of God. The problem is that none of us fully live up to what we believe. C. S. Lewis, professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge, illustrating the point from Greek, Roman, Chinese, Babylonian, ancient Egyptian and Old Norse sources, demonstrated that there was a "massive and immemorial agreement about moral law." The problem, he said, was that there was also a "massive and immemorial inability to obey it."
The result is that we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1), separated from God (Isaiah 59:2) and are his enemies (Romans 5:10). In contrast, God is morally perfect, described in the Bible as being "holy". He is so pure that no sin can dwell in his presence (Habakkuk 1:13). The moral gulf between us and God is such that we cannot bridge it simply by trying to be good (Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5). Such a deep problem demands a more radical solution. Before we can consider a satisfactory cure to our basic problem we must have an accurate diagnosis.
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With so many Religions, why Christianity?
The character of its founder, Jesus
The analysis of our real problem
The way by which we see forgiveness
A victory over evil and death which has already been won
The kind of commitment it asks of its members
