Two Ways to Live (tract)

The strength of Two Ways to Live as a gospel outline is that it explains the gospel of Jesus Christ in the context of the overarching story of the Bible, giving the non-Christian hearer or reader all the presuppositions and assumptions they need to grasp the real significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. In other words, whilst it is a brief and logical presentation, it provides all the foundations a non-Christian needs to know in order to become a Christian.

This is the 2021 edition with new graphics, adjusted wording that takes into account changing culture, a tightening of the presentation, and using the 2011 NIV translation. If you'd like more information, please read Tony Payne's explanation of what changed and why.

The matching free online version is also available. If you'd like to spread the word at your church or organisation about Two Ways to Live, you can download free posters and graphics to use.

You may be interested in a memory aid to stick on your fridge to help you remember the Bible verses included.

It's also available in the previous edition in:

• Large print
• Chinese (simplified)
• Chinese (traditional)
• French
• Japanese
• Spanish

The first thing you’ll notice is the new look and feel. This printed tract is ever so slightly bigger than the previous pocket edition, with a much more modern colour scheme. You’ll also notice the style of the illustrations has changed, although the essence of the way they represent the gospel is pretty much the same. Of course, there are still six boxes or illustrations in the presentation.

Next you might notice that we’ve moved the summary and linking statements so that they come after the main text, rather than being with the illustration and Bible verse on the left hand page.

Speaking of Bible verses, you’ll see that two of the Bible verses have changed. We’ve also switched to using the latest New International Version instead of the old 1984 NIV.

There have been some changes to both the main text and the summary statements. We would use the word ‘tweaks’; they definitely aren’t wholesale changes.

The aim of this revision was to sharpen and improve Two Ways to Live wherever possible, while resisting the urge to add more and more good ideas in—since the overall goal is to have a simple, memorable summary, not a complete systematic theology.

The changes to the text certainly don’t represent any change in theology. But we do believe they make the message easier to understand for a non-Christian reader.