Christian doctrine

Hi Everyone, I hope your advent season is going well. I just posted a comment responce to T on my liberalism rant. Today I am writing a bit on Christian doctrine. First in Christian doctrine you need a good Bible translation. There are a few translations that I use. The New American Standard Version is a good translation(NAS). At times it is kinda wooden. The Revised Standard Version(RSV) is also a good translation, we used to call it Grandpa's Bible in Seminary. The Bible our Grandpa's grew up on. The English Standard version of the Bible is my personal favorite(ESV) for preaching and personal study. It is literal, yet easy to read and faithful to the oringinal languages. A great Bible for those who do not have a working knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.
Christans believe that Christ was God's Son. They believe in the incarnation, that God became man. We believe in the virgin birth. We believe that Christ died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. Jesus is coming back some day. We believe that we are lost sinners unable to save ourselves. We believe that we are justified by faith and have the Holy Spirit as our helper. The Holy Spirit will help us grow in holiness and sanctification. God forgives us when we humbly repent. Prayer is a gift of God. The three ecunemical creeds are great ways to confess our faith. I confess the Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Creed of St. Athanasius.
These following books have good info on Christian doctrine.
1. Know the Truth by Bruce Milne
2. Creeds of the churches edited by John H. Leith
3. Institutes of the Christian religion by John Calvin
4. Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards
5. Luther's small catechism
6. On the incarnation by St. Athanasius
7. Theology the basics by Alister E. McGrath
Merry Christmas and keep Christ at the center of your lives.
In Christ,
Pastor Josh Parrish, M.Div