Who Is a Christian? And other Questions: A Personal Search

By Edward Cox

This book deals with questions we might ask when troubles unexpectedly tear up the road ahead of us.  Is there a broad underlying purpose in life?  How does one deal with the cruelty and treachery we suffer when tornadoes of evil, with all their darkness, duplicity, and terror churn our way.  And yet what can we say about the profound beauty we sometimes experience?  The responses in this book reflect the author’s attraction to the writers in the Bible who knew about both rough roads and rewarding paths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385004539

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Copyright © 2023 Edward Cox.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NEB) taken from the New English Bible, copyright © Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press 1961, 1970. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked Phillips are taken from The New Testament in Modern English, copyright © 1958, 1959, 1960 J.B. Phillips and 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957 The Macmillian Company, New York. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0451-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0453-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023914530

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/28/2024

CONTENTS

Introduction

Question 1   Who Is a Christian?

Question 2   What Do Christians Do When Trouble Comes?

Question 3   Should We Listen to the Bible?

Question 4   Should We Listen to the Bible? A Personal View

Question 5   What about the Variety of Interpretations?

Question 6   What Does Christian Growth Mean?

Epilogue

Appendix

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

Some people enjoy asking questions. Exploring is fun. It challenges our creativity and can be especially satisfying when it leads to broader views and more rewarding paths to follow. At the same time, some people are far more interested in other aspects of life and may find questions unsettling, divisive, unproductive, or even destructive.

These pages address a few, but substantive, questions about Christianity. When it comes to religion, I suspect that many are sure that there are no good answers. Others may be sure they know the answers or at least that there are no answers that would change their minds.

My overwhelming sense of life is that it is a good idea to be careful about what we think we know. But we must make choices, either explicitly or by default. I would rather try to evaluate my options, to stop and ask for directions, so to speak, than just blunder on.

So these pages represent an effort to clarify my thoughts. They are not an attempt to persuade others. But they may be useful to others with similar interests, particularly those who feel at home with questions.

Several questions about life are really big ones for me. Is there a broad, underlying purpose in life, not just for me as an individual but for everyone and for life itself? How does one deal with the evil, cruelty, brutality, and suffering we see, especially when tornados of evil, with all their darkness, duplicity, and terror, suddenly churn our way? Yet what can one say about the profound beauty we sometimes experience? What underlies that, and should we learn something from beauty?

These questions have prompted others, some of which are included below. My responses are those of a layman who has no expertise in any of these topics. There are massive literatures in these and many related areas that I have not tried to review and would not possibly have the time to do so. So should I give up? I refuse to. The basic reason is that many views that I am familiar with simply do not resonate with me, and many do not address the issues I feel are consequential. The one book I have tried to pay special attention to is the Bible. Initially, that is because the Bible is the foundation for the tradition I was raised in. Of course there are other sources, but this one attracted me enough to take seriously. So the following comments reflect vast amounts of ignorance and an unknown quantity of incompetent thinking. But they spring from considerable enthusiasm for the challenge