Christianity Explored
Template:Anglican Portal Christianity Explored is an informal Christian evangelistic teaching course developed by Rico Tice and Barry Cooper at All Souls Church, Langham Place, a leading evangelical Church of England church.[1]
Course outline and versions
The session topics are (1) Introduction, Meaning of Life; (2) Who is Jesus? Authority; (3) Why Jesus came: Sin (4) The crucifixion and atonement; (5) Grace, not works; (6) Jesus' Resurrection (7) What is a Christian? (8) Assurance; (9) Choices: King Herod; (10) Choices: Disciples. There is also study of the Church, the Holy Spirit and prayer.[2] Spin-offs include a youth version entitled “CY”[3] and a follow on course entitled “Discipleship Explored”[4]. There are also "English Made Easy" editions of both Christianity Explored and Discipleship Explored.[5]
Reaction
The Church of England generally (e.g. in the 2003 publication "Evangelism - Which Way Now?") considers it, along with Emmaus and Alpha, as one of a "trinity" of courses covering all wings of the church. Other churches have also used the course: in 2006-7 the Irish Presbyterian Church’s board of youth and children’s ministry used the youth version CY extensively with the Boys Brigades.[6] It has also been used in Asia, with leader training run by the Methodist church in Singapore. [7]
Comparison with other evangelistic courses
Christianity Explored is distinguished from the Alpha Course by shorter videos in less formal settings, less emphasis on the Holy Spirit and by a themed study of scripture – in this case Mark’s Gospel.[8] 9 Marks comments that Christianity Explored is "plainly an answer to the Alpha course". It says that the course does a "fairly good job of explaining the gospel clearly" but finds it over-full of material, and holds the view that "the use of the sinners’ prayer and immediate assurance is ... troubling."[9] It allows Christianity Explored "the best treatment of sin, giving it a whole session", along with good treatment of grace and atonement.[10]. This is in agreement with (or perhaps derivative from) a 2001 article in the British Evangelical Council magazine which commended Christianity Explored, in direct contrast to Alpha, for its teaching on grace, penal substitution and the Holy Spirit.[11][12]
See also
References
- ^ All Souls Church (2008), What is Christianity Explored?, retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Gilbert, Greg (2001), Evangelistic Course Comparison Chart (PDF), retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ CY is the evangelistic course for young people in the 21st century., 2007, retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Tice, Rico (2007), Fresh Expressions - Discipleship Explored, retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Tice, Rico (2008), The Promo Movie: Rico Tice talks about the English Made Easy Edition of Christianity Explored., retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Presbyterian Church in Ireland: Board of Youth and Children's Ministry (2007), Annual Report
- ^ Methodist Church in Singapore (2007), Response Exceeds Expectations, retrieved August 2007
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Hobbs, Cedric (2007), Resource review: Christianity Explored, retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Gilbert, Greg (2001), Evangelism Course Comparison Guide, retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Gilbert, Greg (2001), Evangelistic Course Comparison Chart (PDF), retrieved 31 December 2008
- ^ Anon (Autumn 2001), "The 'Alpha' and the 'Christianity Explored' Courses", BEC Foundations (47): 36–44
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ The 'Alpha' and the 'Christianity Explored' Courses, 2001, retrieved 31 December 2008