Product Description

Remedial Christianity views Christianity from both within and without. With a wide angle, it views Christianity as one of the world's major religions and contrasts and compares its doctrine and practice with those of other great religions. In narrower focus, it examines not only the distinctively Christian beliefs, but the breadth of Christianities within Christianity. Written clearly and with humor, Remedial Christianity provides a valuable tool for everyone seeking to understand Christianity and to forge a viable and sustainable personal faith. Illustrated and includes "Discussion Questions and Exercises" and a "Recommended Reading" list for each chapter.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #557602 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 279 pages

Review
"For years I have wished to find a book that is sufficiently lucid and cogent to be understood by non-specialists." -- Rick Hubbard, The American Alliance for Religious Literacy

"This book is a wonderful introductory text . . . a clear and readable overview of Christianity that mixes humor with education." -- Rev. Dr. Mary Tumpkin, President, Universal Foundation for Better Living

About the Author
Paul Alan Laughlin is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Otterbein College, Westerville, Ohio, where he teaches Comparative Religions and American Religious History. An ordained minister, he is a frequent leader of workshops and seminars on the relationship between Christianity and Eastern religions.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"Not only have my incoming students exhibited little sense of what it means to assert that Christians are historically monotheists (as opposed, say, to deists, pantheists, or monists), but their initial comments about God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit (much less the Trinity) have been so vague and superficial (and often purely sentimental) as to reflect little real understanding. Even such distinctive and indeed axial Christian doctrines as Sin, Grace, Incarnation, and Atonement are at worst barely recognized and at best completely unexamined, dimly grasped, and unrelated to one another in any consistent way. Consequently, any profession of faith that my students might make or notion of salvation that they might harbor is groundless, free-floating, and without context -- theological, existential, psychological, or sociological.

"If my thousands of students over the years are at all representative of the larger population, and I believe that they are, I must conclude that the vast majority of Christians today simply don't know nearly as much about their professed religion as they should; or, to put it more strongly, they are pervasively and persistently ignorant about the very faith they claim to embrace. Indeed, it is not uncommon for students in one of my college courses, after weeks of exposure to information about the scripture, theology, and historical development of Christianity, to wonder silently and sometimes inquire aloud why no one has ever told them this important 'stuff' before."

Customer Reviews

Christianity Presented with Substance and Humor
Having been with this book through several drafts, I can say with confidence that this is a very basic book for those who would like to increase their understanding of Christianity and its place in the contemporary scene. It has chapters on the Bible, God, the human Jesus, the Christ of faith, sin and human nature, grace and salvation, the Church, and a final chapter on alternative views and future prospects. The book is equallly useful for college classes in religion, for adult study groups in churches, for training courses for religions education teachers, and for the general reader. It presents the latest scholarship in lively prose, useful graphics, and with study questions and extensive references.

The author's extensive knowledge of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism add richness to the discussion of Christianity by presenting the faith within the context of alternative belief systems.

Bordering on brilliance, in my view, and begging for more extended discussion are the sections on "A Mythical Christ" and "A Mystical Christ."

Remedial Christianity is written and illustrated with a touch of refreshing humor. It is a treasure trove of information and ideas, and it is affordable.

Oh what I didn't know!
When I was about one chapter into this book I stopped to wonder why it was called "remedial." As I continued to read, it dawned on me that this is a perfect title in that while a very broad range of topics relating to the history of Jesus, the Bible, the Church, and various forms of Christianity are covered, they are not covered in depth. Rather, Dr. Laughlin manages to give us enough information to make us stop and think and thirst for more. It would be easy to lapse into well deserved accolades over this book, but suffice it to say that it was exceedingly difficult to put it down and I found myself not able to read two other books at the same time as this one, as would be my normal custom.

I can't help giving an excerpt that is, to me, an outstanding example of the clear and forthright prose from this scholar:

"While the thorough going skepticism of many Unitarian-Universalist may be too radical for most Christians, it is quite clear that Christianity has taken a turn in that direction and will have to embrace the attitude of Liberalism in a major and deliberate way in order to survive, prosper, and maintain its relevancy in the Third Millennium. The modern scientific world view is simply too pervasive, productive, and compelling to ignore; and all of us reared in the West are so acculturated into it that we simply accept it as the way the world operates. Any religion -- Christian or otherwise -- that demands of its followers that they deny their senses and minds in order to believe, or that tries to shield them from the prevailing worldview, is doomed to anachronism, retrogression, and eventual oblivion."

And there are many more worthwhile gems of wisdom and scholarly corrections to common misperceptions about the many different faces of Western Christianity. This book is logically organized, clearly documented with excellent exercises at the end of each chapter. It comes complete with wonderful bibliography and glossary of terms. It will take every lay-person with the curiosity to learn more about Christianity to the next level of understanding.

My sincere wish is that so many Christians, and those of other religious paths, read and learn from this book that a grass roots movement to modernize this wonderful religion takes place. Simply a marvelous text.

Remedial Christianity: What Every Believer Should Know About
I have been waiting for this book. Very clear, highly cogent,it provides in print what I have struggled to translate in my own terms in 25 years' worth teaching and preaching, confirmation, adult, inquirer, classes and retreats, all of which would have been so much easier with Laughlin's book as the basic text. What I believe to be of particular significance, in the context of today's religious climate, is that Laughlin lays out traditional and contemporary perspectives so clearly, thereby enabling the reader to see the available choices to be made regarding one's personal beliefs. RM is an example of that rare combination of sound scholarship and easy accessibility. This is simply an outstanding book. I am grateful for it. I am excited by it.