The Basics of Christianity

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Why do people get baptised?

What is the point of church?

Pastor John-William Noble answers these and other common questions about the Christian faith in this helpful interactive guide, useful for small groups or for individual study.

I wholeheartedly recommend John-William’s book for new Christians and people seeking to understand the basics of the Christian faith. John-William uses helpful illustrations and discusses key arguments to encourage the reader to learn for themselves about salvation, water baptism, the Church, Bible, prayer, evangelism and other hot topics such as suffering and heaven. Simply put, I would have benefited greatly if someone would have handed me a copy of this book as a young man seeking to grapple with the truths of the Christian faith. It is my intention to purchase a few of these books and distribute them amongst our residents in Sunnybrae, our men’s recovery centre, and Benaiah, our women and mothers with children recovery centre, who are seeking to overcome substance misuse issues in their lives.

Pastor Gordon Cruden
Director of Teen Challenge North East Scotland

This book is an excellent tool to help you lay a good foundation in a new Christian’s life. John-William simply explains the basics of what it means to become a follower of Jesus Christ, while giving the person being discipled responsibility for discovering God’s truth for themselves.

Pastor Mark Fleming
Director for Scottish Football at Sports Chaplaincy

The Basics of Christianity is a very attractive, lucid and evangelical introduction to the Christian faith. It is solid in its content as well as systematic in its presentation. In spite of its brevity, it is rich in nourishment and thoughtful in the treatment of Bible passages. With its apt illustrations and practical life examples, it should make a step-by-step guide into the heart of Christianity. Seekers and new believers would find it a well-informed companion; teachers and pastors would find it a very useful tool.

Maureen Yeung Marshall, PhD (Aberdeen) & Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies
Evangel Seminary
Hong Kong

This book is an excellent overview of what Christians believe and how to live as a follower of Jesus. Noble’s ability to paint with broad strokes a vivid landscape of Christian doctrine is impressive. His coverage ranges in topic from baptism and church leadership to suffering and the sovereignty of God.

Fred Mok
Pastor of Chinese Church of Christ
South Valley, USA

One of the challenges of modern day Christianity is the growing epidemic of easy believe-ism and cheap grace. Some churches are notorious for making decisions and not making disciples. The church’s mandate in Matthew 28:18-20 is to make disciples. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Christianity without discipleship is Christianity without Christ. A church that does not disciple its members is a barrier to the work of God. The prosperity gospel has turned vice into virtue. It promotes selfishness, pride and materialism. They have replaced Christlikeness with carnality. Churches are filled with people who become Christians so that they can indulge in their self-centred lifestyles. John-William Noble’s book is a breath of fresh air. The Basics of Christianity cuts to the core of what it means to be a disciple, calling us to live for the Glory of God. This book is convicting, challenging and instructive. Discipleship is a process. The Basics of Christianity paves the way for a new believer to become a reproducing Christ follower. It reveals fundamentals of Christian living. It is a gospel centred, grace filled and practical book that is a gem for new believers. I highly recommend new believers to use this book if they want to grow in maturity and experience long obedience in the same direction.

Rev. Anthony Naidoo
Author, Pastor, Missionary and team leader for XiXiZhiLu, China
MA in Intercultural Studies, Wheaton College, USA

John-William is a man of vision and mission for perishing souls. He came to Orissa, India twice to comfort the persecuted church by his teachings and messages.Today, Christians desperately need to know and learn how to build their Christian faith, especially emerging leaders in church. This book is the backbone of the Christian faith and also good for every Christian servant considering the basics of Christianity; it is a master class in communicating the gospel. This book is a must-read for those who are seeking God or wishing to refresh their own faith.

Divakar Undurthi
Senior Pastor
Thonangi, India

John-William was brought up in Peterhead, Scotland by his parents, John and Elizabeth Noble. He was raised in an environment to know and see the love of Jesus in the hearts of fallen people restored by grace. He and his younger brother Graeme regularly attended church with their parents and John-William responded to God’s call and asked Jesus into his heart at the age of twelve years old. He also had four loving grandparents, including his ‘Grandpa’, Rev. William Brown, who served as Minister of St Andrew’s Church in Peterhead for many years before retiring.

John-William began studying theology at the age of fifteen in Secondary School, with his father being his Higher RMPS teacher guiding him through course material on Systematic Theology. This was a good foundation for him going on to study Theology at the University of Aberdeen. At the age of twenty, he felt called to serve in fulltime ministry, preaching, teaching and guiding people in God’s Word.