Tract Comparison/Contrast: The Doctrine of God
[In this post, I begin a comparison/contrast between "Experiencing God's Grace," which I believe is the best gospel tract available at this time, and "Eternal Life," which is a tract I have found useful in the past.]
After some introductory questions and comments, the "Eternal Life" tract begins with "God's purpose," stating that "God's purpose is that we have eternal life." After this statement, the tract continues by teaching about eternal life: "We receive eternal life as a free gift" (Romans 6:23b is quoted); "We can live a full and meaningful life right now" (John 10:10 is quoted); "We will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven" (John 14:3 is quoted).
Defining God's purpose in terms of giving us eternal life is somewhat problematic. What if the person to whom we present this tract does not come to believe in Jesus and thus does not receive eternal life? Is God's purpose then eternally frustrated?
Also, notice that the "Eternal Life" tract is concerned with defining what "eternal life" is, but no space is given to describing who God is. I think that this is a mistake in a culture that has lost a basic knowledge of what the Bible teaches concerning God.
In contrast, the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract begins where the Bible begins [literally] with Genesis 1:1, and then explores what it means that God is the Creator of all things through a presentation of Bible passages such as Psalm 19:1, Revelation 4:11, and others. The person presenting the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract should certainly be ready to define terms that may be unusual to the unbeliever ["Sustainer," for example], but overall this presentation of God as the Sovereign Creator is, I think, necessary for a right understanding of the gospel. The first section of the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract ends with a presentation of God's creation of humans in His image (Genesis 1:27 is quoted) and our subsequent obligation to worship Him.
After some introductory questions and comments, the "Eternal Life" tract begins with "God's purpose," stating that "God's purpose is that we have eternal life." After this statement, the tract continues by teaching about eternal life: "We receive eternal life as a free gift" (Romans 6:23b is quoted); "We can live a full and meaningful life right now" (John 10:10 is quoted); "We will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven" (John 14:3 is quoted).
Defining God's purpose in terms of giving us eternal life is somewhat problematic. What if the person to whom we present this tract does not come to believe in Jesus and thus does not receive eternal life? Is God's purpose then eternally frustrated?
Also, notice that the "Eternal Life" tract is concerned with defining what "eternal life" is, but no space is given to describing who God is. I think that this is a mistake in a culture that has lost a basic knowledge of what the Bible teaches concerning God.
In contrast, the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract begins where the Bible begins [literally] with Genesis 1:1, and then explores what it means that God is the Creator of all things through a presentation of Bible passages such as Psalm 19:1, Revelation 4:11, and others. The person presenting the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract should certainly be ready to define terms that may be unusual to the unbeliever ["Sustainer," for example], but overall this presentation of God as the Sovereign Creator is, I think, necessary for a right understanding of the gospel. The first section of the "Experiencing God's Grace" tract ends with a presentation of God's creation of humans in His image (Genesis 1:27 is quoted) and our subsequent obligation to worship Him.
Labels: evangelism
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 6:41 AM
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