REAL CHRISTIANITY

Simple Truths That Will Change Your Life

Dedicated to Joseph and Ella-Ruth

Book reviews

"We know of no better interpreter of doctrine than Tom Wright. This book is an amazing testimony to the vitality and truth of the Christian faith."

Will Willimon

"In the writings of Tom Wright, critical thought is combined with the faith of the church. The reader can only rejoice at the opportunity to meet this wonderful Christian teacher."

Walter Bryggemham

"Fresh look. great ideas... An invaluable guide to Christianity for seekers and doubters as well as for believers."

Guinness Records

"What should Christianity look like today? I know of no one else who has answered this question as clearly as Tom Wright. And if you are interested in Christianity, you need to read the books of this author."

John Ortberg

Introduction

There are two types of travelers. Travelers of the first type have only a general idea of their path and like to make discoveries during the journey, use signs, ask for directions there, and even lose their way. Representatives of the second type of travelers want to know in advance what path awaits them, where a rural road will turn into a large highway, how long each part of the voyage will take, and so on.

About the same can be said about people who go to concerts. Some prefer to be directly affected by the music itself, so that they can ride its waves, not knowing where they will be in a minute. Others like to study the programs in advance in order to know about everything in advance and keep the whole picture in mind while they listen to individual musical numbers.

The same classification applies to readers. Some people may skip the introduction to start right from the first chapter. The latter will want to understand in advance where we are going and when what music will be played there. It is for such people that this introduction is written.

I set out to describe Christianity in general terms with the intention of presenting its attractiveness to people living outside the faith, and explaining its essence to Christians themselves. It's an incredible task, and I don't pretend to cover the whole story—or even to answer all the questions that are usually covered in books of this kind. I have only tried to give this theme a certain form, as a result of which three main parts of the book have emerged.

First, I intend to consider four phenomena that concern modern man: the desire for justice, the search for spirituality, the thirst for relationships, and the enjoyment of beauty. I suppose that each of these phenomena points to something outside itself, although it does not give answers to the question of what this strange and wonderful place is. Each such topic is like the echo of a voice, the vague but exciting sound of someone's conversation around the corner of the house when we do not see the speaker. This is where the name of the first part comes from: "Echoes of the Voice". The four chapters of this movement are similar to the first movement of a symphony: there are musical themes that a good listener tries to remember and keep in mind while listening to the second and third movements, where other melodies will sound, which, when encountered with the first themes, will generate "echoes" of various kinds. In other words, in the first part I raise questions that I will then discuss, step by step and not always directly, at least in part, in the following chapters. I ask the reader to be patient when, as he reads the next two parts, he expects to grasp the unity and inner relationships of this book.