Walk into any bookstore, and you'll see hundreds of books on Christianity. Written for audiences ranging from laymen to professors of theology, they cover the gamut of Christian thinking, apologetics, and bible study.
They're all very worthy efforts, and I'm sure that they've helped a lot of people. They are, however, icing on the cake.
Christianity can be completely described, but theologically and as practice, in one short paragraph.
Do you believe Christ was killed on the cross, and came to life again in three days? Do you believe He did this to pay off your debt of sin, accumulated from the day you were born? Will you do your best to do what He said to do, namely, love God, and love your neighbors as much as you love yourself? If you don, congratulations. You're going to Heaven when you die.
That's it. Jesus did not go through everything He did so that people could climb a 'Christianity Ladder', from being baby Christians to being mature in the faith.
He never talked about any such thing. You're either in, or not. On /off. Binary solution set.
And now, get to work. The world is waiting, and it needs Him.
And He needs you.
(No disrespect is meant to Paul's writings, or to those who take great pleasure in 'unpacking' Scripture.Paul left a great deal of wisdom on how a church should be organized, and run, and how Christians should try to live in a community. Taking the Bible to bits to find deeper meaning helps a lot of folks, hence its popularity. My sole point is that these are extras, and you can live a perfectly good - in fact, a perfect Christian life if you believe in Jesus and do your best to do what He said.)
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