Introduction

When I start to rattle off the host of names ascribed to Christians, I begin to feel like Bubba, the Alabaman shrimp farmer from the Oscar-winning film Forrest Gump. In one of the film’s memorable moments, Bubba explains to Forrest Gump a bazillion different ways you can prepare shrimp, be they barbecued, scampi, gumbo, and so on. I suppose if you were to ask Bubba about the variety of Christians, he might say something like this: 

Anyway, like I was sayin’, there are born-again Christians, evangelical Christians, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, mainline denominational Christians, non-denominational Christians, charismatics, Pentecostals, and Calvinists. There are Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Free Methodist, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, and African Independent. You’ve also got your Shakers, Quakers, Amish, Coptic, Plymouth Brethren, Congregationalist, Episcopalian, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Evangelical Free Christians. That – that’s about it.... 

Although the taste differences between Bubba’s shrimp burger and coconut shrimp are great, each dish has the same primary ingredient. Similarly, Christians have a multitude of names with as many shades of belief, but the centrepiece for each Christian, no matter the label, is the same – Jesus Christ, a Jewish carpenter who lived some 2,000 years ago.

Christianity For Dummies is a friendly, approachable guide that introduces you to Jesus Christ, the Christian faith, and the Christian Church. This book is written for people who are curious about Christianity and wonder what exactly it means to be a “Christian.” It’s intended both for people who aren’t Christians and for Christians who are interested in discovering more about their faith. 

Keep in mind that any author brings to a book his or her background, experiences, and a specific set of beliefs. From the outset, let me make it clear that I’m a born-again, evangelical and Protestant Christian. However, my overriding goal for Christianity For Dummies is to be unbiased, fair, and respectful toward all branches of the Christian Church, so that a Christian from any of these backgrounds can point to the book and claim, “Yeah, that’s my faith.”

 

About This Book

If you want to know absolutely, positively all the nitty-gritty details of Christianity, I recommend getting a semi, driving to your local university library, and persuading some students to help you load up racks of books into the semi trailer. But if you want to discover what you need to know about the Christian faith, then you’ve come to the right book. Christianity For Dummies provides a hearty exploration of the Christian faith, but does so without requiring a semi or a band of starving students. This book also approaches the subject matter in an easy-to-understand manner, without overloading you with a lot of theological mumbo-jumbo.

 

If you read Christianity For Dummies from cover to cover, you find the topics logically ordered, with each succeeding chapter building upon what you read about in earlier chapters. However, this book is a reference book, so don’t feel like you must read it from start to finish. Instead, you may wish to open up the Table of Contents and find a topic that suits your fancy. Or flip through the pages ‘til you find a section that jumps out at you. Or perhaps you want to peruse the index for the subject that you’ve been curious to explore.