by James Thomas Lee, Jr. 12/01/01 Copyrighted 2001 by James Thomas Lee, Jr. Copyright Number: TXu xxx-xxx
Chapter 1. The Importance of This Study {305 words}
a. What I believe about the importance of this study {254 words}
Chapter 1. The Importance of This Study {305 words}
What is the most important thing in this world to know? If a person can only be correct about one set of issues in life, then what should that one set be? Is it more important to get a good education or to be rightly related to God? Is it more important to have a good job and make a good living or to have a solid understanding of spiritual matters? Does it matter what one believes, or is any belief all right so long as a person believes something? To many, these questions may not seem important. But to me, they are the most important questions that one can ask in this life, and their answers are the most important answers to be known because, at every level of existence, ignorance exacts a cost.
This six-part series of essays is being written to ask and answer the important questions about life and about one's relationship with God. If an individual can only be correct about one set of issues in life, then the issues presented here are probably the ones that that person needs most to know and understand. Why is that so? In my opinion, the answer is because God and spiritual matters, if they are real, have a complete and everlasting impact on one's existence now, and they will have an even greater impact in the future, as each individual leaves this life and enters into the vast unknown of eternity. If eternity is real, then each person needs to have access to some basic, spiritual answers now. What we may or may not believe about the future will probably be of little value to us once we are on the other side of the grave, especially if we have held to some incorrect views.
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Important Theological Issues That Everyone Should Study
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Table 1. Important Theological Issues That Everyone Should Study
I believe that a study of God and eternal issues is the most important endeavor that a person can undertake. In part one of this series, the goal will be to look at some of the arguments for the existence of God, discuss Creation versus the scientific alternatives, and discuss some of the names for God.
In part two, the goal will be to look at how we got the Old Testament, believing the Old Testament, Moses and the Pentateuch, the writings of Isaiah, and the Old Testament Law. In part three, the focus will be on how we got the New Testament, believing the New Testament, and the Apocrypha. In part four, the study will examine the birth of Jesus, the early life of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, the impeccability of Christ, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, salvation only in Christ, and prayer. In part five, the study will consider the birth of the early church, the persecution of the church, the victory of the church, the birth of the Roman Catholic Church, and the birth of Fundamentalism. In part six, the goal will be to look at the Second Coming of Christ, the Tribulation, and the Millennial Kingdom.
My opinion is that Christians should not only know what they believe, but they should also know why they believe it. The purpose of this series will be to provide useful answers to all that are interested.
I believe that a study of God and eternal issues is the most important endeavor that a person can undertake. My opinion is that Christians should not only know what they believe, but they should also know why they believe it.
Chapter 2. The Existence of God
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