A concise yet thorough illumination of the essential fundamentals of "practical," not doctrinal, Christianity. This skillful blending of The Four Spiritual Laws and Lewis's Mere Christianity is a new "must read" for Christians, as well as those desiring to know just what Christianity is...and what it isn't.

In what he considers one of his most significant contributions to the legacy of George MacDonald, Michael Phillips here presents the complete panorama of George MacDonald’s four books of sermons in a single volume. Climaxing a forty-year career making the writings of MacDonald accessible and understandable to the full spectrum of the Christian public—resulting in the publication of over 80 new editions of MacDonald’s books—Phillips sets this volume apart from all others, not only as his most ambitious, but perhaps his most important. Presenting 20 of MacDonald’s most influential sermons in their full original format, accompanied by his own edited and more understandable copy, Phillips highlights each entry with a concise "Central Thesis," then adds an insightful introduction that illuminates the significant theological ground plowed by MacDonald’s pen that, Phillips believes, is destined in time to change how Christendom perceives the underpinings of its faith. What emerges is not only MacDonald’s wisdom, but Phillips’ own as he shrewdly and perceptively distills what he calls MacDonald’s "transformational theology of the Christian faith." Added to the 20 complete sermons are condensed versions of the remaining 29—each again with a helpful "Central Thesis"—enabling the reader to mine the ore without laboring through dozens of pages of dense and incomprehensibly obscure word-thickets. The result is a massive tome of over 300,000 words comprising all 49 of George MacDonald’s sermons. It is a volume of incomparable value in understanding the Scotsman’s theological foundations.