When considering the global Christian family, we are quick to realize that diversity and disparate opinions are the rule. We are not just one church. Even a quick glance at historical theological disciplines introduces us to Roman Catholic tradition, the Greek Orthodox tradition, the Anglican tradition, the various Reformed traditions, Anabaptist traditions, Moravian traditions, and many more. Global Christians are anything but one lockstep church.

Approximately thirty percent of the world’s population call themselves “Christian." That totals just over two billion people who live in almost every nation on every continent on earth. Precise numbers are impossible to come by, but experts agree that there are thousands of denominations and sects within the Christian family, each a bit different from all the others. From cherished dogmatic principles to behavioral codes to manners of dress, the differences between Christian denominations are profound. Repeat: We are not one lockstep church. Likewise, within every particular denomination, matters of biblical interpretation, sacraments, church governance, ordination, human sexuality, soteriology, eschatology, and even Christology are sources of significant debate and disagreement.

Among the readers of this book are some who call themselves “Baptists.” Historically, that is a meaningful and honorable name. But what kind of Baptists? There are Southern Baptists, Cooperative Baptists, American Baptists, Free Will Baptists, Missionary Baptists, and a hundred other kinds as well.

When I served as student pastor of a United Methodist church in eastern North Carolina, immediately across the street from our congregation was a Primitive Baptist church. Both our churches were small and did not have air conditioners, so in summer we left the doors and windows open. Thus, those who were members of my congregation had a choice: they could listen to the sermon I was preaching or the one being preached across the street. They both came in at about the same decibel level. We always concluded our services by noon, whereas our neighbors concluded theirs about 2:00 p.m. I would usually exit my church about the time our neighbors had taken an intermission for lunch on the grounds. There I was, a student preacher who looked all of fourteen years old in my robe and stole, and there they were gazing at me as if I were from another planet...

On Sunday morning wherever you worship, the odds are strong that you occupy a pew with other members of your own congregation who disagree with you about subjects varying from the Virgin Birth to the sacraments to whether or not the Bible is the literal or the inspired, poetic word of God. In one’s own house of faith, people are seldom of a single mind.

In short, the Christian church does not even remotely resemble a great ocean liner moving along a charted course to transform the world. At best, it is a flotilla of thoughts and practices that sometimes defies anyone trying to determine a method to its madness or any evidence of a common destination, let alone a common map for getting there...

The treatment of each theme in this book’s chapters will be biblical, theological, historical, sermonic, and sometimes anecdotal. Upon closing the Bible after her first reading of it, St. Therese said, “I see myself there reflected.” Hopefully in the consideration of the chapters to come, you will find your faith reflected and, perhaps, even strengthened.

Read. Ponder. Discuss with someone you trust. And then, to quote Fred Craddock, “Chase your own rabbits.” Any book of theology is ultimately a personal journal for the reader. Thus, may you find in these pages whatever is personally best for you.

The things that separate us become the hot topics of our faith conversations: baptism, salvation, apostolic succession, sexual orientation, divorce, abortion, women in ministry, the role of faith and politics, biblical interpretation. The list is long and only grows longer as the church continues to reinvent itself. Somehow, though, in the midst of our diversity, there are a handful of common threads that keep holding us all together.

Obviously, the best idea always seems to be for one to begin at the beginning. For people of faith, the beginning is the concept of God as Creator…...