Another Gospel?

 Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers

Today there is a movement within the Christian church to abandon some of the basic tenets of the faith, things that have long been the foundation of the church, its very reason for existence. Not that this is new - there have always been and will always be those who seek to make faith easier to practice, and God easier to live with, to get around the more uncomfortable aspects of faith. Being questioned are the reality of heaven and hell, the virgin birth, Jesus as the sole way of salvation, His deity, and the necessity of His sacrifice. One popular idea is that we can be Christians without believing in Christ at all, and that doing what good we can in this life will assure us a place in a beautiful afterlife.    

These views of Progressive Christianity are what Ms. Childers addresses in this book. She's done extensive research to back up her defense of the church's ancient creeds, going back to the beginning, seeking the historical Jesus and studying what the early church believed and why. Here she presents her findings and it is evidence both credible and convincing. I will read for myself some of the materials she quotes from, but for now what she took from them and shared in this book is enough to answer some of my questions and encourage me to hold fast to the truth given to us in the Bible. 

We've all had, or at some point will have, doubts; I think that's part and parcel of a life of faith. And I believe asking questions is healthy. No one ever asked us, or ever should ask us, to check our brains at the door. But questions are one thing; inventing a new 'gospel' out of those questions and doubts, without going back to the beginnings and asking why it is that we started believing what we believe in the first place, is another. The author has asked those very questions and shares with us what eye-witnesses to Jesus' life believed and how we came to have the Bible we depend on today. 

This book, if not particularly well written, is easy to read and understand for those of us not formally educated in theology. I recommend it to any who may have doubts and questions about the Bible and traditional Christian faith, yet do not find credible answers in the easy believism of Progressive Christianity.