Christianity 101

What do Christians believe – from the existence of God to the age-old promise of the return of Jesus Christ, his Son? How do Christians understand the Bible’s teachings? The Old Testament laws? Which of those must believers obey without wavering? How do we make sense of the “difficult” parts of the Bible that often seem to baffle even the Church? How much of the Bible’s message has been “lost in translation”? If the Church seems to be shying away from answering some of life’s most difficult questions, is that because there are no answers? Has history now proven beyond doubt that the Judeo-Christian worldview is way past its shelf life; science has made God superfluous – or does history, in fact, if we look closer, have all the hallmarks of God’s involvement with mankind so that we can still find Him in the “signs (and science) of the times”?

Christianity 101 explores these and many more − a hundred and one, in fact – aspects of the Christian faith. If, from a logical, philosophical, and yes, scientific point of view, Christianity makes no sense, is not reasonable, does not reflect reality, then why should anyone stick to it, especially in an age that so clearly appears to reject it? This book’s purpose is to challenge the reader − believer and non-believer alike – to think twice about their standpoint regarding the Judeo-Christian worldview, their opinion about what the Bible teaches on some controversial issues, and to use this as a platform from which to dig deeper into that which we so long and endeavour to know: the truth of it all.

Truth, after all, remains that which sets us free.

Johan Niemann is a hematopathologist who grew up in Pretoria, South Africa but is working and living in New Zealand. He is married to Marichen and has two children, Madelle and Simon. He loves reading (detective stories), road trips, and the Kruger National Park! Christian Apologetics became a huge interest of his over the past ten years and – after eight years of work − finally resulted in this book.