Christianity Explored is an informal

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

evangelistic In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...

teaching course developed by

Rico Tice Richard Ian "Rico" Tice (born 3 June 1966) is an Anglican clergyman and writer, co-author of '' Christianity Explored.'' He is currently associate minister at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, and is well known in the UK as a speaker at ...

and Barry Cooper at

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As it is direc ...

, a leading Anglican church, and published by

The Good Book Company The Good Book Company (TGBC) is an evangelical Christian publisher, located in Epsom, Surrey, England. They are structured as a large unquoted, private company, limited by share capital. Their practices include publishing, mission outreach and t ...

. The course is considered to stand within the

conservative evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual expe ...

tradition. Christianity Explored Ministries has also developed a second evangelistic course in 2016

Life Explored Life Explored is an informal Christianity, Christian evangelism, evangelistic teaching course developed by Christianity Explored Ministries and created by Barry Cooper (author), Barry Cooper and Nate Morgan-Locke and is presented by those two al ...

Course outline and versions

The third edition of the course was published on 10 May 2011. The sessions are: # Good News # Identity # Sin # The Cross # Resurrection # Grace # Come and Die There is also a day away that features three bonus sessions: The Sower, James and John and Herod. Spin-offs include a youth version, revised in 2010 for two age groups: 11 to 14 years ("CY Nano") and 15 plus ("CY"). The seven session "Soul" DVD is designed to work with CY, and can also be used as a stand-alone resource. There is a follow-on course entitled "Discipleship Explored", written and presented by Barry Cooper, and "English Made Easy" editions of both Christianity Explored and Discipleship Explored. Christianity Explored publications are also available in Bulgarian, Dutch, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Luganda, Polish, Spanish, Swahili and Welsh. Translations in progress include French, Mandarin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian and Swedish. In 2011 the course, already being used in over 50 countries, was rolled out in the United States: it was endorsed by John Piper and

Tim Keller Timothy Keller may refer to: * Tim Keller (pastor) (1950–2023), American Christian pastor, author and speaker * Tim Keller (politician) (born 1977), American politician and mayor of Albuquerque See also *Keller (surname) Keller is a surname ...

Use

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

generally (e.g. in the 2003 publication "Evangelism - Which Way Now?") considers it, along with Alpha and the

Emmaus Discipleship Course Emmaus (; Greek: Ἐμμαούς, ''Emmaous''; la, Emmaus; , ''Emmaom''; ar, عمواس, ''ʻImwas'') is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before tw ...

, as one of a "trinity" of courses covering all wings of the church. Other churches have also used the course: in 2006-7 the

Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ga, Eaglais Phreispitéireach in Éirinn; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Prote ...

’s board of youth and children's ministry used the youth version CY extensively with the Boys Brigades. It has also been used in Asia, with leader training run by the

Methodist Church in Singapore The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) is the church that Methodists in Singapore belong to. The Church has 46 churches island-wide with around 42,000 members, and is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in Singapore. Its current bishop a ...

. The course is popular with

churches.

Comparison with other evangelistic courses

Christianity Explored is distinguished from the Alpha Course by shorter videos in less formal settings, less charismatic emphasis on the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts ...

and by an expositional study of

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pract ...

– in this case Mark’s Gospel. '' 9 Marks'' comments that Christianity Explored is "plainly an answer to the Alpha course". It says that the course does a "fairly good job of explaining the gospel clearly" but finds it over-full of material, and holds the view that "the use of the

sinners' prayer The Sinner's prayer (also called the Consecration prayer and Salvation prayer) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian term referring to any prayer of repentance, prayed by individuals who feel convinced of the presence of sin in their liv ...

and immediate assurance is ... troubling." It credits Christianity Explored with "the best treatment of sin, giving it a whole session", along with a good treatment of grace and the atonement. This is in agreement with (or perhaps derivative from) a 2001 article in the British Evangelical Council magazine which commended Christianity Explored, in direct contrast to Alpha, for its teaching on grace,

penal substitution Penal substitution (sometimes, esp. in older writings, called forensic theory)D. Smith, The atonement in the light of history and the modern spirit' (London: Hodder and Stoughton), p. 96-7: 'THE FORENSIC THEORY...each successive period of history ...

and the Holy Spirit. The course has been described as a

alternative to the

charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

leanings of the Alpha Course. The 2003 book 'Evangelism: Which Way Now?' offers a detailed examination of the benefits and drawbacks of Christianity Explored amongst other evangelistic courses and approaches to evangelism.

References

External links

Christianity Explored official websiteChristianity Explored Ministries official websiteChristianity Explored's "One Life" iOS appChristianity Explored's "One Life" Android app
Anglican education Church of England missions Evangelicalism in the Church of England