Revised and updated by Bob Beltz
William Wilberforce was a most remarkable
man, and has been described as the greatest reformer in history. Millions of lives were changed because of
Wilberforce’s determination to change the society of his day, and put an end to the slave trade. Real Christianity gives the reader access into
his theology, his spirituality and his passion.
This book was written 200 years ago and in
his introduction Wilberforce states his purpose is to write about faith and to
point out some of the problems with the beliefs and actions of those who
already claim to be Christians. He states
he is disturbed when
he sees the majority of so-called Christians having such little understanding
of the real nature of the faith they profess.
So starts a book that is as relevant today as it was when it was
written.
He divides Christians into two camps. The cultural Christians who live a surface
type of faith. They are able to talk about
religion in generic terms but rarely use the name of Jesus or speak of His
death on the cross or His resurrection.
They do not recognize their sin and have no understanding of the work of
the Spirit in their lives. Authentic
Christians are those who have a passion for Christ, they live lives of great
excitement, true humility, hatred of sin, humble hope, firm faith, heavenly
joy, ardent love and unceasing gratitude.
Wilberforce goes on to show how belief
influences behavior of the cultural and authentic Christian.
I am not going to go into the book in depth
as I feel you should read the book. Ed, note: It is in our church library. Here
is a 200 year old book that has as much relevance to Christians today as it did
when written. There are parts of the
book that deal with practices that are no longer part of our world but it is
easy for the reader to substitute current practices in today’s society. Beltz has done an excellent job of
modernizing the language but remaining true to the original text.
We often look for "how to" books to point us
in the correct way to do things. I felt
that after reading this book I was given a blueprint of how the Authentic
Christian life should look. I had a
better understanding of what sin looks like, of what the Holy Spirit does in
the life of the Authentic Christian and of how my love of Christ should be influencing
my actions. I will paraphrase one idea
that resonated for me. Wilberforce
stated that if many Christians were on trial for being Christians, their cases
would be dismissed because of lack of evidence.
I do not want to be that Christian.
“Real Christianity is all about living as
Jesus lived and doing what Jesus did. It
is a must read for everyone serious about living all and only for Christ”.
(Walt Kallestad)
Review by Linda Cliff
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