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    The Next Step: Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity
    The Next Step: Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity
    The Next Step: Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity
    Ebook106 pages1 hour

    The Next Step: Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity

    By Donald H. Lingerfelt

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    About this ebook

    This book is set out in three parts: questions and answers, Reformation thought, and an essay on why we can trust the Bible to be the work of God. The first part, questions and answers, delves into the basic questions of Christianity. What the Bible say about life, how we should live and what the Bible teaches about the big questions. The second part teaches about the Reformation and what the Reformers believed. Why did they rebel against the established church and start their own organizations? What were some of the details of their theology?


    The third part is about the scripture itself. Why is the Bible reliable? Why should we believe what it says? Can we rely on it to inform us about what God has to tell us? These questions have plagued mankind for millennia. Fortunately, we can rely on the Bible and this chapter gives us the logical reasoning used to prove why the Bible alone is the word of God.


    The book is built on the Reformed model of theology, which puts the Bible in the primary position of authority. Unlike many other theological models which use some churchs political ideas, the book teaches only what the Bible teaches. The Bible is taken as a whole document, not in bits and pieces or out of context. The book assumes that the entire Bible is the work of God and cross-references its teaching by scripture, giving citations from both Old and New Testaments.

    The text of scripture is quoted extensively with cross references where the reader can follow along with the book and verify each doctrine as it is being taught. Because the book was originally intended to be used as a youth group study and it can be used for small or large group Bible study.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateDec 10, 2010
    ISBN9781456711320
    The Next Step: Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity
    Author

    Donald H. Lingerfelt

    Donald Lingerfelt was an assistant youth minister at his church when he began writing what became this book.  He began studying Christian theology in 1979 and soon discovered that there was a large difference between the theology taught in different churches that he attended and on the radio, and began his journey to find the truth.  This book is the culmination of that journey. He now lives in Oklahoma with his wife and his youngest son and has two older sons, one living in Michigan and the other living in Washington.  His degree is in Business Administration and professionally works as an Aerospace designer.  The reason for writing this book was not only to teach others what the Bible teaches, but to bring these things into one document.  Very few books exist that cover this material in one easy to read and concise manual.  He saw the problem as one of time.  It took a long time for him to find this information about basic doctrine for himself, and he wanted to reduce the learning period for others. His desire to bring the information together in a clear and logical approach, accessible for himself and others is what inspired him to spend three years writing this book.

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      Book preview

      The Next Step - Donald H. Lingerfelt

      Table of Contents

      Section 1 The Basic Questions

      Question 1: What is the meaning of life?

      Question 2: Is the Christian faith intellectually defensible?

      Question 3: How do we know for sure that God exists?

      Question 4: What are the attributes of God?

      Big Question: If God is good, then why is there evil in the world?

      Big Question: Can God create a rock that he himself cannot lift?

      Question 5: What are God’s Eternal Decrees and Providence?

      Question 6: What does God require of us?

      Question 7: What happens if we fail?

      Question 8: What is God’s provision for those who fail?

      Question 9: From what are we saved and what must I do to be saved?

      Big Question: If we are saved by faith and the Law has been overcome, how should we consider the Law of God?

      Big Question: Will everyone in the world be saved in the end?

      Question 10: Will we be able to receive salvation after we die?

      Question 11: What is faith?

      Big Question: Who is Jesus Christ?

      Question 11: What happens to us when we are saved?

      Big Question: What about free will? Don’t we have the free will to choose or not?

      Question 12: What are our responsibilities?

      Big Question: Does the Christian have to Tithe?

      Question 13: What are heresies and where do they exist?

      Question 14: What Church organizations today are considered heretical?

      Question 15: What does the Bible say about the last times?

      Section 2 Primary Doctrines of the Reformation

      Total Depravity

      Unconditional Election

      Irresistible Grace

      Perseverance of the Saints

      Section 3 How to Interpret the Scriptures

      Conclusion

      This book is dedicated to God, who makes all things possible, to my wife who has been patient with me through the writing of it, and to all librarians who enlighten the world.

      The Next Step-

      Continuing Your Basic Education in Christianity

      The purpose of this book is to inform the newer Christian about the second level of theology. The problem has been that when one accepts the Lord and becomes a Christian, evangelistic Christians seem to move on to others and the new believer in Christ is left to flounder. The new believer believes that he or she has all the information necessary and, while there remains a great thirst for knowledge about this newfound faith, getting the information is difficult or impossible. Throughout history the church has had various documents and learning aids to help the new believer to gain the understanding he needs about the Bible. The earliest Church had the Didache, the early Catholic Church wrote the creeds, the Reformers wrote the confessions and catechisms, and today we have the Alpha course. The Alpha course is very good at teaching the basics of Christianity, but after that, then what? An extensive body of information exists out there to be consumed but unless there is a good teacher, the very existence of the information remains unknown. This course is to provide the next step in the education of believers, and as such is not a complete course on theology in itself, but provides much more information and detail than a basic course such as Alpha. An attempt was made to keep it short but intense.

      This book assumes that the reader has become acquainted with basic Christian doctrine to some extent and understands the basic tenants of the Christian faith. It will answer some of the great questions and accusations that society has brought against Christianity, those commonly asked by new believers and those who may have been believers so for many years. The information contained in this course has neither been kept secret nor hidden from view but can be found by those who desire to ask the right questions and have a library or the Internet close at hand. The biggest obstacle seems to be that the average Christian just doesn’t know where to find the information they need, or just haven’t realized what questions they need to ask. This book will attempt to answer all those basic questions and stimulate others. If you’re taking this book as a course, it is hoped that you will ask the instructor any questions that you may have, and get the answers you need. Should a question be asked that is not answered by this course (and there are many), there are many very good books on various subjects on the web, at your local church or library. I would also refer the reader to many of the books listed at the end of each chapter, especially the Systematic Theology books. Please note that this is not intended to be a complete course on Christian doctrine, but only a good next step in your education.

      Section One of this course answers questions commonly asked by both believers and non-believers concerning God, the Bible, and Christianity in general. Section Two gives the basic discussion concerning and important part of the reformed doctrinal model that is merely a systematic tour of the most important though misunderstood doctrines taught in Scripture. Section Three discusses the importance of, main doctrines concerning, and how to interpret the Bible. This section is extremely important because the Bible is the main document of our faith, and it can be easily misinterpreted. Many false teachers have been able to mislead the public about important issues and are still misleading people possibly out of ignorance, but mainly in order to enrich themselves at the expense of the new believer. Today all over the world, cults and heretics prey on unwary and ignorant believers, telling them all sorts of lies concerning God and we must be able to search the Scriptures to find the truth. Most find the Bible too confusing and accept the lies merely because they don’t know about the tools we have to understand what we are reading. The greatest minds of our time have written the general doctrines, rules, and methods for doing this and these are to be found in this last section.

      There are references in the book to the Westminster Confession of Faith. This was written in 1645 to aid in understanding what Christians should believe and can be used as a general guide for our faith and understanding. Should one believe that a passage from it is in error, pains should be taken to verify that particular point of doctrine because the Westminster Confession has passed the test of time among millions of Christians and has been found to be as close as man can come in interpreting the teachings of the Bible.

      I have been critical of various church organizations in this book, especially of the Roman Catholic Church, with which I disagree about many points. I do not dislike any member of any of the organizations, especially since many of my relatives are Catholic. My concern is with the doctrines of the Church itself, which I find to be contrary to Scripture in many respects. The comments should not be taken as personal attacks on anyone from any of these organizations.

      Section 1 The Basic Questions

      Question 1: What is the meaning of life? That is, why were we created? Why are we here in the first place? This is one of the major questions that everyone asks themselves at sometime during their life, usually during their teen years. The Bible has the answer, of course.

      It should be said that we are not the first to have asked this question, nor is this the first time it has been answered. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, this is the first question to be asked and answered. It says,

      Q. What is the chief end of man?

      A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

      The proof texts are these:

      For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Romans 11:361

      For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s…. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Corinthians 6:20, 31

      Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11.

      Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. Psalm 144:15

      "And the

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