What Christians Believe : The Story of God and People in Minimal English

Many people today, both Christians and non-Christians, are confused about or unaware of the essentials of Christian faith. In this book, Anna Wierzbicka takes a radically new approach to the task of communicating "what Christians believe" to the widest possible audience. "The Story of God and People," the heart of the book, sets out the core tenets of Christian faith in narrative form using simple language that is accessible to anyone, even those with no familiarity with Christianity or Christian vocabulary. The Story is not only simple but also universal: though written in English, it is not phrased in full English--English as we know it today, shaped by history, culture, and tradition--but in "Minimal English." Minimal English contains only those 400 or so English words that can be translated into any other language; essentially, it corresponds to the shared core of all languages. In the introduction to the book, Wierzbicka explains Minimal English and minimal languages in general, and in "The Story of God and People" that follows, she demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding. At the same time, the use of Minimal English allows her not only to retell the Christian story in a strikingly new way, but also to rethink its meaning, bringing into relief its internal cohesion, logic and beauty. "Many people today - both Christians and non-Christian - are unclear or confused about the essentials of Christian faith. This book takes a radically novel approach to the task of communicating 'what Christians believe' to a very wide audience. 'The Story of God and People', which is at the heart of the book, sets out these essentials in narrative form, in 40 mini-chapters, accessible, in principle, to anyone. It is unlike any other introduction to Christianity, in that it systematically uses very simple words and does not assume any previous familiarity with Christian faith or vocabulary. The words used in this 'Story' are not only simple but also universal: while it is written in English, it is not phrased in 'full English', shaped by history, culture and tradition, but in 'Minimal English', in words which, evidence strongly suggests, correspond to the shared core of all languages. Readers who want to hear more about 'Minimal English' and 'Minimal languages' in general, will find the answers to most of their questions in Part I of the book ('Introduction and Overview'). 'The Story of God and People' demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding, and as such will be of great interest to anthropologists, philosophers, those interested in education, communication studies, translation studies and language technologies, as well as linguistics. Above all, however, this 'Story', together with the 40 brief commentaries on the 40 mini-chapters, hopes to articulate, in a fresh way, and without any religious or academic language, what Christians believe, making this clear for anyone interested, regardless of their background, religious or non-religious. It aims at facilitating genuine understanding and reaching out to all"-- Provided by publisher "Many people today - both Christians and non-Christian - are unclear or confused about the essentials of Christian faith. This book takes a radically novel approach to the task of communicating 'what Christians believe' to a very wide audience. 'The Story of God and People', which is at the heart of the book, sets out these essentials in narrative form, in 40 mini-chapters, accessible, in principle, to anyone. It is unlike any other introduction to Christianity, in that it systematically uses very simple words and does not assume any previous familiarity with Christian faith or vocabulary. The words used in this 'Story' are not only simple but also universal: while it is written in English, it is not phrased in 'full English', shaped by history, culture and tradition, but in 'Minimal English', in words which, evidence strongly suggests, correspond to the shared core of all languages. Readers who want to hear more about 'Minimal English' and 'Minimal languages' in general, will find the answers to most of their questions in Part I of the book ('Introduction and Overview'). 'The Story of God and People' demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding, and as such will be of great interest to anthropologists, philosophers, those interested in education, communication studies, translation studies and language technologies, as well as linguistics. Above all, however, this 'Story', together with the 40 brief commentaries on the 40 mini-chapters, hopes to articulate, in a fresh way, and without any religious or academic language, what Christians believe, making this clear for anyone interested, regardless of their background, religious or non-religious. It aims at facilitating genuine understanding and reaching out to all"-- Información editorial Many people today, both Christians and non-Christians, are confused about or unaware of the essentials of Christian faith. In this book, Anna Wierzbicka takes a radically new approach to the task of communicating "what Christians believe" to the widest possible audience. "The Story of God and People," the heart of the book, sets out the core tenets of Christian faith in narrative form using simple language that is accessible to anyone, even those with no familiarity with Christianity or Christian vocabulary. The Story is not only simple but also universal: though written in English, it is not phrased in full English--English as we know it today, shaped by history, culture, and tradition--but in "Minimal English." Minimal English contains only those 400 or so English words that can be translated into any other language; essentially, it corresponds to the shared core of all languages.In the introduction to the book, Wierzbicka explains Minimal English and minimal languages in general, and in "The Story of God and People" that follows, she demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding. At the same time, the use of Minimal English allows her not only to retell the Christian story in a strikingly new way, but also to rethink its meaning, bringing into relief its internal cohesion, logic and beauty. Many people today, both Christians and non-Christians, are confused about or unaware of the essentials of Christian faith. In this book, Anna Wierzbicka takes a radically new approach to the task of communicating "what Christians believe" to the widest possible audience. The Story of God and People , the heart of the book, sets out the core tenets of Christian faith in narrative form using simple language that is accessible to anyone, even those with no familiarity with Christianity or Christian vocabulary. The Story is not only simple but also though written in English, it is not phrased in full English -- English as we know it today, shaped by history, culture, and tradition -- but in "Minimal English". Minimal English contains only those 400 or so English words that can be translated into any other language; essentially, it corresponds to the shared core of all languages. In the introduction to the book, Wierzbicka explains Minimal English and minimal languages in general, and in The Story of God and People that follows, she demonstrates the effectiveness of Minimal English as a tool for global understanding. At the same time, the use of Minimal English allows her not only to retell the Christian story in a strikingly new way, but also to rethink its meaning, bringing into relief its internal cohesion, logic and beauty.