The Christian Handbook: An Indispensable Guide to All Things Christian
Wit and wisdom with a distinctly Lutheran flavor mark this "guide to all things Christian." Much like a Complete Idiot's Guide or a Dummies book about Christianity, this book—put together by the Congregational Life and Learning Unit of Augsburg Fortress (a Lutheran publishing house)—aims to inform the post-Christendom world about how to approach the Bible, church and prayer. The humor is dry and the cartoon illustrations hokey, but the goal is serious—to get the reader to consider becoming a Christian, going to church on a regular basis and living a holy and just life. It is mostly mainstream Christian theology, although there's a lot of emphasis on "the devil," some of it an excuse to poke fun at the concept, as in "commit a minor sin to throw the devil off." Interestingly, though, even as this book promotes church attendance, much of its humor is pointed at boring worship services and the reluctance many people feel toward walking into a church. In a section on how to stay alert during worship, the advice is, "if all else fails, consider pinching yourself." Despite such shenanigans, this handbook is clever and informative.(Nov.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.