The Faith : What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters

We have watched with fear as the dark clouds of radical Islam and terrorism have gathered. Religion and Christianity seem to lack the answers today's world needs. Or else they're broken. At a time when darkness and anarchy engulf our world and we've lost hold of the truth that prevents us from drifting away, best-selling author Charles Colson and Harold Fickett show us where we can stand. Not with man's solutions or innovations. But with the truths of Christianity that we've relied on for 2000 years to give us a clear view of the world and how we're meant to live in it. Many doubt that God has revealed himself in a way we can understand clearly. We are divided over what Christians believe. The belief that many religions stand alongside Christianity with equal footing has weakened our ability to embrace The Faith whose founder is Christ. Can absolute answers be found, in spite of the confusion, the ignorance, and diverse understandings of what truth is? Addressing the anguish of our times, in which the clash of civilizations has become ever more threatening, author Colson focuses on what Christians most need to know. He takes into account the public's skepticism of traditional religion, its drive to be spiritual without being religious, and the many voices within the church urging that believers ''reinvent the brand.'' Right belief, or orthodoxy, consists in what God wants us to know so we can meet and follow him. Unless we understand what God has communicated, his invitation cannot transform us and our culture. When we embrace that belief, we find joy and create cultures that are life-giving for believers and unbelievers alike. The Faith presents what all Christians have believed across the ages. The book ends by considering how God's Great Story applies to our own historical circumstances and individual lives. The epic Christian themes, what God has revealed in Jesus Christ, describe our one true hope--the rock on which we can stand. This is a book for our troubled times and for decades to come, for Christians and non-Christians alike. It is the most important book Chuck Colson has ever written: a thought-provoking, soul-searching, and powerful manifesto of the great, historical central truths of Christianity that have sustained believers through the centuries. Brought to life with vivid, true stories, here is what Christianity is really about and why it is a religion of hope, redemption, and beauty. Rightly understood and rightly communicated, the Christian faith is one of great joy. It is an invitation to God's kingdom, where tears are replaced by laughter and longing hearts find their purpose and their home. This is the heart of the gospel: God's search to reclaim us and love us as his own. But have we truly grasped this? Those of us who have disdained Christianity as a religion of bigotry---have we repudiated the genuine article or merely demonstrated our own prejudice and ignorance? Those of us who are Christians---have we deeply apprehended the mission of Jesus, and do our ways and character faithfully reflect his beauty? From the nature of God, to the human condition, to the work of Jesus, to God's coming kingdom, and all that lies between, how well do we understand the foundational truths of Christianity and their implications? The Faith is a book for our troubled times and for decades to come, for Christians and non-Christians alike. It is the most important book Chuck Colson and Harold Fickett have ever written: a thought-provoking, soul-searching, and powerful manifesto of the great, historical central truths of Christianity that have sustained believers through the centuries. Brought to immediacy with vivid, true stories, here is what Christianity is really about and why it is a religion of hope, redemption, and beauty. God And The Faith -- Everywhere, Always, By All -- God Is -- He Has Spoken -- Truth -- What Went Right, What Went Wrong -- The Invasion -- God Above, God Beside, God Within -- The Faith And Life -- Exchanging Identities -- Reconciliation -- The Church -- Be Holy : Transform The World -- The Sanctity Of Life -- Last Things -- The Joy Of Orthodoxy -- The Great Proposal. Charles Colson And Harold Fickett. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 227-235). Addresses modern-world questions about the Christian religion and its tenets, drawing on historical events and present-day anecdotes to illustrate its joyful aspects while explaining the faith's embrace of the example and message of Jesus.