Rev Ian Farley reviews 'Christianity: A Complete Introduction', by John Young and Greg Hoyland (2016, RRP £14.99)

Although published this year, purchasers will want to note that this is an updated version of a 20-year-old book, part of the Teach Yourself series. The text is very clear and well laid out. There is a good introduction and suggestion of how to use the book. After each section there are examples of further reading, most of which are books published since 2000.

A Complete Introduction?

There are four parts to the work: Jesus and the Bible, Beliefs (sacraments, prayer, spirituality), History and Today's World. In theory readers could start at any section that interested them, although the authors do encourage everyone to read the 'Jesus' section first.

Some readers may consider there to be imbalances in the coverage: for instance, there are ten pages on textual criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism and non-canonical books of the Bible, but only one page on the issue of inspiration. There are two pages on Anglicanism but only 13 lines on Pentecostalism. These divergences, however, highlight that the authors go to great pains to be descriptive without being resolving. They do not take sides on what many would take to be supremely important matters.

This does not mean they say nothing: they play down hell; they are very circumspect on the phrase 'born again'; there is no questioning of the Christian Year; Creationist viewpoints are not included in the review of resolving the tension between science and faith; the designated important books of the New Testament are the four Gospels, there is just one sentence on Paul and justification by faith- Romans is not mentioned. On the other hand, the different understandings of both baptism and the Lord's Supper are fairly represented.

A Difficult Task...

It is very difficult to compact the whole of Christian history into one quarter of one volume. Purchasers would do well to register that the goal is to elucidate the differences that might appear to someone who has really no knowledge of churches today. As a one-volume work this book may be worthwhile in this context, and it is easy to read. However, Christian buyers looking to introduce a non-Christian friend to the faith may prefer to look for four shorter but more specific books dealing with the topics separately and from a confessional angle.

Christianity: A Complete Introduction (368 pages) is available in Christian bookshops and from Amazon. Also available as an e-book.