The purpose of this paper is to provide a documented overview of the major "Christian" sects, or what some have called cults. We are using the term sects to avoid the much more complicated concept of cults. Specific attention is given to the essential biblical doctrines which they deny. No information is given on the origin and founders of the sects, since this is of relatively minor importance to the apologetic task. Guidelines are supplied to help the Christian worker in his communication of this information. An extensive bibliography is provided and recommended for further study.

Chronology is the study of the sequence of events in a historical text, and the comparison of those events with other known events from other sources. The Bible is a historical document, and part of assessing the value of any historical narrative is the study of Chronology. When events in the Bible line up with known dates confirmed outside the Bible, it suggests a high level of reliability in the biblical text. Also, some areas of doctrine are based on chronological assertions, as we shall see in the case of Gal. 2. This outline explains (in shortened form) how scholars date the events in the ministry of Paul. A more complete study of this process is available from Jack Finnegan, A Handbook of Biblical Chronology.

A step-by-step process to interpret difficult passages of Scripture.

Our vision for advancing in the cause of Christ today should still, as it has in the past, center around the formation, nature and composition of our work force. Dwell has always been viewed as a church with an extraordinary work force. However, today the values which have brought us this far are not as clear as they should be, and a general sense of confusion has settled over the church. Today, we have to decide whether we want a work force that is divided, demoralized and immature, or a work force whose way of life reflects godly values and the effectiveness that comes with those values. Our future success as a house-church planting movement depends on these values.

Traditionally, fundamentalism has often held that women are not permitted to teach men, or to hold offices of authority over men in the church. This point of view is based on some of Paul's comments on women, which are being misunderstood, as we shall see.

Once we see that the starting point for traditional thinking on this subject is deficient on exegetical grounds we realize the need to find an alternative understanding. No complete attempt will be made here to explore all of the possible resolutions to the problem, but we will survey some solutions sufficient for the lay reader.

Before we can develop a comprehensive approach to apologetics, we should determine how we will respond to the biblical teaching on the noetic effects of sin. To what extent can fallen man use his reason to understand the things of the Spirit? Should we use an approach that employs reason, or simply rely on a declaration of the truth, in the belief that God will quicken those who are "appointed unto eternal life"?

How one interprets the Bible is the critical question in Christian ethics, and it is a question which is not easily resolved. A bewildering array of questions faces the Christian ethicist: How do we go about finding the rules and values of scripture? How do we integrate the unity and the diversity of scripture - specifically, what role does salvation history play in developing our ethics? How do we discern what is cultural and what is trans-cultural? How binding are the applications of scriptural rules? What guidance does the Bible give for new applications of those rules? These questions are profound and can only be touched on in this paper.

If alcoholism is a disease, then it is one of the greatest epidemics of modern times. While no real consensus exists among experts in the field concerning how alcoholism should be defined, recent statistics indicate that 10 million Americans are classified as alcoholics (i.e., those with chronic, problematic drinking patterns). According to a recent Gallup Poll, one out of three persons reported that alcohol abuse had caused trouble in their families. Heavy drinking is involved in 60% of violent crimes, 30% of suicides, and 80% of fire and drowning accidents. Every 22 minutes a drunk driver kills someone. Alcoholism is involved in a quarter of all admissions to general hospitals, and its abuse years estimated to cost our society 50 billion dollars per year.

When helping someone investigate Christianity, there are important things to keep in mind to communicate effectively and lovingly.

When handling Scripture, application must follow interpretation. The following restrictions on applications should prevent "steer-wrestling." Steer-wrestling is when we don't let the passage say what it wants to, but wrestle it over to our intended meaning.