What if you were to read the New Testament - really read it without denominational filters - read it over and over again. And then what if you were to organize your attempts at such unfiltered reading by subject matter? Well that is what happened to me over a period of almost fifty years, and this is what I have worked to do in these two volumes of Blueprint for a Revolution: Building Upon ALL of The New Testament!
What follows is a catechism of my understanding of apostolic Christianity. It is a body of teaching that flows out of taking all of the New Testament texts in a grammatically natural and literal sense: the way we instinctively read all serious literature. Testimony from the earliest Christians is also presented, demonstrating that what those earliest churches taught and lived out was typically identical to what you conclude when you take the New Testament doctrines, commands and promises naturally, literally and consistently.
These two volumes are not written with professional Biblical scholars in mind, but rather pastors, seminarians, congregational leaders and other serious students of the Scriptures. I have taught from them for years in parish ministry.
The importance of this book does not lie mainly in the specific conclusions of any individual chapter, and certainly not in any of my literally skills at presenting those conclusions. It lies mostly in the juxtaposition of chapters that are often thought to be in conflict with each other only because the traditions that hold to the beliefs in those chapters have been considered to be in conflict with each other. Its importance also lies in the conviction that any congregation that builds upon those chapters will be making a quantum leap in the direction of that sacred and revolutionary movement, that "Kingdom of God," that Jesus brought to the earth!
