The Outsider's Guide to Christianity

This book provides a short, dispassionate introduction to Christianity in simple terms for people who know little or nothing about the subject, providing insight to the beliefs and practices of Christians. Although written from a Christian perspective, the book aspires to be both objective and inclusive throughout. As well as covering the history and the reasoning behind Christian belief, topics of belief which are difficult for outsiders to understand are covered, such as church in all its various forms, the Bible, Heaven and Hell, miracles, sin, sex and marriage, forgiving others, praise and prayer, and why bad things happen. Christian characters in media fiction are there for dramatic purposes and this usually gives a false impression of what Christians believe and how they behave. This book explains why the Christians we come across in real life believe what they believe, why they read the Bible and go to church and why they do the things they do – things which are not generally understood by non-Christians.

Having served in the British Merchant Navy for 13 years, Roger Lancaster taught as a college lecturer, living in Bristol with his wife, Rosemary, and four children. He became a Christian at the age of 45. For more than 35 years since then, he has served as a churchwarden and undertaken many lay duties in the church. He is a speaker for the Christian charity Mercy Ships and has served time as a volunteer crew member aboard their hospital ship in West Africa.