St Paul's Castle Hill recently completed a sermon series exploring the four truths of the reformation: "Grace Alone", "Faith Alone", "Bible Alone" and "Christ Alone". Small groups reinforced Sunday's sermon using study material written by Dominic Steele entitled Ideas that changed the world.

This four part series comprises a DVD with short interviews of people who have moved out of Roman Catholicism and a sermon given by the author, and a booklet with sermon outlines, short historical notes on reformers, testimonies and a bible study for each reformation idea.

Ideas that changed the world worked well alongside our sermon series but could have served us equally well on their own or just with the DVD. Both the book and DVD are presented professionally with helpful photos, maps, and diagrams. The short interviews on the DVD were a particularly helpful introduction to the small group study or sermon, highlighting the issues facing members of the Roman Catholic church.

We didn't base our sermons on Dominic's outline, which meant that not all aspects of our series connected with this resource as neatly as they might have. To get the most out of the presentation outline in the book, for example, the sermon should be based on Dominic's outline or small groups should prepare by watching the DVD. Some groups watched the DVD (around 30 mins each presentation), and appreciated Dominic's clarity in both the principle involved and the Catholic church's position both in the 1500's and today.

The Bible study is made up of a basic Bible comprehension and a section for further thought and personal application. The simple comprehension style serves those new to the faith or enquiring about Protestantism but was not as provocative or challenging as it may need to be for those who are already familiar with these doctrines. 

Ideas that changed the world explains the basis for our Christian beliefs very clearly, but not in a dry and academic way. It also demonstrates the fundamental differences between the Catholic and reformed churches even today. Working through the series will ensure a much better appreciation of the biblical truths of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone known through the Bible alone.

Reviewed by Jen Clark, Sue Wells, Margaret Powell