5.0 out of 5 stars TIme tested - Great resource, August 10, 2010
By Paul Dare
This review is from: Christianity, Cults & Religions (Pamphlet)
Let me start right off by saying that the resource I'm about to review is very near and dear to my heart. This is a piece of nostalgia from my very early Christian days. I purchased what was probably the 1st or 2nd edition of Rose's chart of Christianity, cults and religions at a Bible bookstore in Fayetteville, NC as a brand new Christian and absolutely devoured the information in it for years. It has helped me in countless ways both in distinguishing my new found faith from false teachings around the world and also helping to prepare me with good solid answers during discussions on religion with friends, fellow servicemen and family members. I still have the old, tattered and faded copy from all those years ago.

I was blessed by Rose Publishing to be provided the 7th edition of Christianity, Cults and Religions free of charge in exchange for a written review.

Wow, they certainly have come along way in updating this guide. Here are some additions that make this worth every penny you'll pay for one:

* Pictures of group leaders have been added in and around the descriptions of each group. This helps those of us who are more visually oriented.

* Charts of the beliefs and doctrines of different religions. For me, a real chart and map geek, I love this feature. This helps put things in an orderly fashion making it easy to quickly understand how one group is either similar to different from Biblical Christianity.

* Breakdown of the difference between Sunni and Shi'a Islam. This is a much needed feature in today's world. The world, and especially the Christian world, has had to come face to face with the worlds fastest growing religion, Islam. Understanding the very important differences between it's two main sects is critical as we interact with the people of this religion and culture.

* Groups, religions, cults added: Sikhism, Kabbalah Centre, Nation of Islam, Wicca, Seventh-Day Adventism, Soka Gakkai International

* Groups, religions, cults removed (from the 1996 version I have, at least): Armstrongism, Spiritualism(Spiritism), Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism

Overall, a very well laid out pamphlet full of very good basic information. This is the perfect material to tuck inside your Bible or Bible case and review every so often so you are ready to "give a defense for the hope that lies within you" (1 Peter 3:15) when you interact with others who ascribe to some or all of these beliefs. I highly recommend virtually any Rose resource, but I can definitely say that the Christianity, cults and religions booklet is a must have. The apologetics novice to the apologetics expert can benefit from this material and I commend it to you.