User:Graham grove/About WikiChristian
This wiki site was set up by a man by the name of Prab Tumpati in late 2004. I set up a wiki site on wikibooks.org in January 2005, and upon looking for it in some search engines I discovered this site, as well as an even older Christian wiki site set up by a friendly English minister, Richard Hall. It seems to me that there was no point in having lots of separate wiki sites for Christianity - so I'm making this site the one I contribute to. It would be wonderful if you contribute to this site as well. Below is the original "About" note I placed on the wikibooks.org
Introduction
2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ came to earth to save each person from his rebellion against God. He was crucified, sufferring the punishment that was meant to be for me and you. Yet Jesus lives today, and millions of people around the world know him as their personal saviour and Lord. It seems to me that the essence of Christianity is so simple that even a child can in some ways understand it, yet start to explore it in more depth, and you'll soon realise that even a life-time isn't enough to really grasp it. In fact, human endeavour alone cannot even begin to grasp it. In truth, Christianity cannot be learnt - instead it must be experienced and lived. Christianity is about being in a personal relationship with our creator, and no relationship is something that can be learnt or studied - it is something real and living. Of course, Christians desire a closer walk with God - and part of that will involve personal study and evaluation of their faith.
For a while now I've dreamt of creating an online encyclopedia to be a reference of some of the finer details of Christianity, church history and contemporary issues. Of course, this is something I could never accomplish - my faith is weak, and I certainly cannot claim to have a good understanding of most of the issues and history of the church. There are thousands of Christian websites on the internet already, many of them very good and worthwhile. This is perhaps just another one of those websites. However, the whole point of this website is to allow anyone at all to add to, and to alter the website. Every Christian has something of value to offer other Christians, regardless of age, race, education and gender. My hope is that Christians everywhere decide to add their own articles to this site so that it becomes a useful reference. If you are not a Christian and you want to submit an article, that's fine too - we can all learn from everybody's understanding, even if we don't agree with their perspective.
Please create any new links for sub-topics where-ever you believe they are needed, trying to keep the directory structure logical and clear. If you submit any articles, keep them as short as possible, and please do not break any copyright laws. When you create a link for your article, place your name or initials in brackets after the title - this way, if you submit multiple articles and people like or dislike your style or perspective, they can easily decide to view or skip your article. Also, at the end of an article you submit, could you please put your name and if your article voices your opinions please also write a brief note describing your Christian background under your name at the end of the article, so that the reader understands your perspective better (for example, if you write an article on purgatory, let the reader know if you consider yourself Roman Catholic or not). Finally, please don't alter anyone else's articles (unless you know that the work has been plagiarised or is incorrect) - if you do have something you want to write, just add a new link to a new page on the same topic. (For example, if you want to write about baptism, don't submit your work directly into the baptism page - instead make a new page titled "Baptism (by your initials)" and link to it from the baptism page)
Thanks.
Your brother in Christ,
January 2005
