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A Choice menu for new Christians
By James Moore Published by Dimensions for Living £5.99
If You Could Ask God One Question By Paul Williams and Barry Cooper Published by Good Book Company £4.99
James Moore's short book, Jesus' Parables About Making Choices, comes with the clue to its intentions inscribed on the back: "New Testament/Christian Living." Designed apparently for use in American Sunday schools, for adults it has a study guide at the back providing discussion questions for use in small groups.
The six parables studied include the Prodigal Son, the Sower and the Good Samaritan. Pointers to how to live the Christian life are deduced from the parables, and summed up in a simple message at the end of each short chapter.
Like the soil upon which the sower's seed fell, there is not great depth in these studies: if you are looking for a thorough exposition of the parable you will not find it here. What you will find, though, is simple, basic teaching of the sort that might be useful for, say, a post-Alpha group or a nurture group. However, such a group would need to be immune to irritation at the American slang and a rather slick, smart tone.
Totally British by contrast is Paul Williams's If You Could Ask God One Question. This comes from the Christianity Explored stable, and gives solid evangelical answers to a range of questions which might well be voiced at a Christianity Explored or Alpha group.
There are 12 questions, covering the existence of God, the value of the Bible, suffering, life after death, the place of other religions and other thorny issues. The answers are clearly, chattily and winsomely expressed and are often very amusing. The book is easy to read and states its case gently and with compassion. Appropriately for the readers itís designed for, it makes no assumptions of any prior knowledge of Christianity and the Bible, with explanations of terms given in footnotes. It also supplies helpful web addresses and suggestions for other readings to investigate in further study. A final section helps readers to discern their next step.
Ruth Allen ministers at Congleton URC and Haslington with Crewe URC
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Jesus'
Parables About Making Choices