Part one: Do I Have to go to Church?
You would find it very difficult to find a church worthy of the name in my opinion. The twenty-one churches I have attended, including the two I led, don't qualify! In this part I tell my life story revealing the discoveries I made along the way about following Jesus. These give pointers as to how we might yet develop a genuine church.
Part two: Can I Trust the Bible?
In this part I ask whether the text we have today is what the authors wrote and how well it has been translated for us, drawing on my knowledge of Hebrew, Greek and Biblical studies. I also address issues of history, science, miracles and prophecy. No technical knowledge is required.
ISBN 978-0-9550053-4-3
for £4-75 (Kindle £0.80)
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My friend Chris Pitts of Colchester told me I should write a book in the summer of 2021. This is what emerged.
I find it hard to engage with other people about my ideas when face to face as I am so focused on taking them seriously as people, hearing what they have to say, that my own concerns tend not to come up, so writing a book seems a better way of trying to communicate.
I really do believe that we have misunderstood what Jesus wanted his church to do and to be since the earliest days, and from my experience in the UK I doubt that we have a genuine expression of what he wanted from his church anywhere.
I thought that telling my life story might be a helpful way of raising the relevant issues. I have left details of other people out of the account and not identified where the various churches are so that nobody will feel unhelpfully exposed.
People wonder about the Bible. Has it been translated properly? Was the original text reliable? Who wrote it anyway? I share my investigation of these issues, my learning of Greek and Hebrew to study the original, my thoughts about science, history and miracles then and now and other issues. I have written in a non-technical way, with occasional humour. It is aimed at ordinary people rather than specialists.
Feedback, comment, disagreement all appreciated!
David Pennant, Woking, UK