The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evangelical Christianity [Paperback]

D, Min., David Cobia (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Cobia is the lead pastor at BayMarin Community Church and has been a Christian Evangelical minister for nearly 20 years. He has earned a Master’s degree in Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592575862
• ISBN-13: 978-1592575862
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clearing away the fog, August 14, 2007

By 

Dieter Zander (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evangelical Christianity (Paperback)

With so much misunderstanding and angst swirling around the term "evangelical" Mr. Cobia takes on a huge challenge - to define and illustrate evangelicalism's roots, beliefs, and practices. This is a most helpful manual for those don't know, and perhaps even more helpful for those who think they know, what an evangelical is.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good content, but abysmal editing., September 11, 2009

By 

Clubbeaux (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evangelical Christianity (Paperback)

I'm up to page 35 so far and while the writing is good, the content very good, the copy editing is sabotaging much of the book's credibility.

I'm not just griping about the normal typos. The text consistently writes "tenets," meaning points of belief, as "tenants." As bad as that is it isn't the worst, though: The name of the highly historically significant Harry Emerson Fosdick is given as "Henry Emerson Fodsick," the intellectual equivalent of a New York sportswriter referring to Giants quarterback "Ernie Menning."

This is extremely shoddy work, and unfortunately wondering what the next howler's going to be is impairing my receptivity to what the book has to teach. I mean you start wondering what else is wrong that you're not catching.

(Added later) More than halfway through and while it continues to be a good, worthwhile read, sorry to say the copy-editing continues to stink. Megaselling author Jerry Jenkins becomes "Larry Jenkins," the confrontation between Charles Darrow and William Jennings Bryan at the Scopes Monkey Trial is depicted as "the confrontation between Jennings and Bryan," etc.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well informed, thoughtful, and inspiring!, July 18, 2007

By 

Ivy Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evangelical Christianity (Paperback)

An excellent resource for skeptic and non-skeptic alike. Well researched and very readable, a one-volume primer on this vast subject. In addition to a plethora of information, the book is full of real life stories and anecdotes that illustrate the point of view of both believers and non-believers with regard to various issues related to evangelicalism today. Don't let the title fool you -- this is a very substantive read. Bonus: the author has a great sense of humor.