The author has written a controversial book on religion that is designed to awaken, not merely to inform. The thesis of his book challenges the Traditional and Orthodox interpretation of Christianity, charging that since the Third Century, Christianity has become a new religion. The religion that was created at the Council of Nicaea (C.E. 325) deviated from the original teachings of Jesus, since those teachings were thought to be "too difficult" for the masses to emulate. This substitute Christianity, which he calls "Christianism" has failed to change the world, since it is a religion of accommodation. It is a religion of "Cheap Grace," which he defines as repudiation of universal grace that portrays God as Unconditional Love. The author believes that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which the proponents of "Christianism" have failed to deliver. The claim of "Christianism" for uniqueness and originality tends to rely on internal evidence that exists only in a vacuum, and totally ignores the evidence of history and external sources. The author seeks to show that these extraordinary claims cannot be substantiated by close examination of the external evidence. He calls for a return to the Teachings of Jesus and the embrace of innate divinity, which he calls the "Indwelling Christ." The author employs a unique writing style by quoting Thomas Jefferson at the beginning of each chapter, pointing out that Jefferson supports his conclusions.
About the Author: Biography of Donald Luther Jackson Donald Jackson was born in the middle of the depression to a struggling mechanic and his wife in a small town in central Alabama. He is the fourth of five children. He grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home, where the emphasis was on rules and obeying them. He graduated from Howard College, now Samford University, in 1956. That same year he married Virginian, Dorothy Ann Carwile. They have three children, Kevin, Evan and Karen. He attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, North Carolina and graduated with a M.Div. in 1961. While pastoring two rural Baptist churches in Virginia, he continued his education by attending the Bowman Gray School of Medicine's program in pastoral counseling. In 1966, he resigned his pastorate in the Richmond, Virginia area to become professor of psychology and guidance/counseling at Ramey College, an extension of Inter American University of Puerto Rico. For several summers, he worked on his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina. He also has a M.Ed. from Inter American University. When the Pentagon closed Ramey Air Force Base, he returned to the mainland for a venture in business. He was a divisional manager of two major national firms, during this period. In 1985, he moved with his wife to Florida, where he became the minister of Unity Church of Sarasota, serving for 21 years before his retirement in 2007. In 2009, He moved to Mountain Home, Arkansas, where the culture was conducive for reflective time and creativity that resulted in the writing of his book.