Series: Apologetics
Category: Core Seminars, Apologetics, Evidence for Faith, False Teaching, World Religions
Detail:
World Religions
I. Intro
Just few minutes from here, in northwest Washington, DC, there is a statue to Mahatmas Gandhi. Gandhi was a man of large ideas who has left a large legacy. He was undoubtedly a great political leader and social philosopher. Gandhi may be most remembered as the teacher of civil disobedience, or for his role in securing the independence of the modern nation of India.
What is the most important thing about Gandhi? What did Gandhi believe about life, humanity, and God?
Today, in our ninth worldview and apologetics core seminar, we will be learning about how to engage with people from some of the world’s largest religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.
If you group together Roman Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox under one umbrella of “Christianity,” the next three largest religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam
CIA, 2007
According to these statistics, protestant Christians compose only about 6 percent of the world population. Is it narrow-minded and bigoted for evangelical Christians to claim Jesus is the only way? Don’t all roads lead up the same mountain?
Back to Gandhi. He was a kind, moral, and very religious man. It has been reported to have said he admired Christ, but did not care much for Christians. Surely Gandhi –a great leader and historic figure – has communed with god, or at least gained his favor. Isn’t the point to religion to be sincere and moral? After all, don’t all religions basically teach the same thing – communion with the divine and loving cooperation on earth?
In our next few minutes together, we will not only explore the teaching of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, but we will also answer three question:
We will find that what is far more important than even the life and legacy of a great man, is what that man believes about, and how he responds to, Jesus.
Obviously, libraries are full of books on the world religions and philosophy we will be discussing in the next few minutes. So today’s material is no where near a comprehensive view; it’s just a brief Executive Summary.
There are three categories for each world religion, and each of ours for today falls into one category.
II. Categories of Religions
(1) Monotheism – Teaches There Is One God. Monothestic religions include Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam share a world view: There is One God, God Reveals Himself, and Man is Sinful. They may reach similar conclusions about morality and ethics.
But they differ dramatically on the Authority of the Bible and the Person of Jesus Christ.
(2) Polytheistic – Teaches There Are Many gods (Hinduism, Eastern Religions, New Age, Greeks & Egyptians, Platonists).
Christians do and polytheists agree there is a God – and we are not him. We would also agree that humankind’s , thoughts and actions affect their standing with god.
But polytheists’ view of authority and history are radically different, morality and ethics are somewhat all over the board, and they certainly do not recognize Jesus and the Bible.
(3) Pantheism – All is god, god is in all (Buddhism, Classical & Zen, Animism).
Christians hold few beliefs in common with pantheistic religions. Even our understanding and conception of God is not even really the same idea as theirs. The idea of Man being close to or reconciled to God is not even a category of their thought, for they effectively believe we are already god. Pantheists do generally have a concept of truth, but it is never finally knowable. They might recognize the Bible and Jesus are guides, but would say only use them if they are of pragmatic help to you.
Let’s unpack one world religion in each a category with examining it from four angles:
**ANY QUESTIONS?**
III. Islam -- Means “Submission to God”, and Followers are “Muslims”
Facts
There are over one billion Muslims globally, largely in the Middle East, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
Mohammad began to teach in Mecca and later settled in Medina. By 632 AD – Mohammad and his followers had taken control of Mecca and most of the Arabian peninsula by jihad – or Holy War – a proselytizing religion from the beginning.
Beliefs
Man is capable of sin, but he is innately capable of pleasing God perfectly – or at least sufficiently.“Salvation” is works-based. The pleasure of Allah – are achieved by religious observance. (Five Pillars):
Converting to Islam requires external actions – specifically, that you repeat the confession, “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” This is to submit to all other teachings in Islam.
Agreements, Disagreements.
Is the Bible God’s Word? The Muslims believe it was necessary for God to give another book, the Koran.
Facts
There are about 1 billion Hindus worldwide, most of whom are in India, UK or the US. Hinduism arose 3500 years ago (1500 B.C.) after the conquering of the Indian subcontinent, but there is no clear specific founder or starting point.
Hinduism does not offer the same insistence on being the only "truth" as other religions do and there is no eternally dominant or "correct" form of Hinduism. Nor do Hindus separate religion from other aspects of life. For Hindus, Hinduism is an inextricable part of their existence, a complete approach to life that involves social class, earning a living, family, politics, diet, etc. The culture of India is largely Hindu because of this.
Hinduism is not a set of static beliefs but it continues to develop. It also explains history in circular, non-linear terms, with no starting and end point.
Beliefs
There is no single Hindu idea of God. There is Brahman: “The Absolute,” the impersonal, all-embracing spirit, many lesser deities. You could say there is “One god, Among Many gods.”
Hinduism is works-based, because behind Hindu practice is the belief all souls are eternal and accountable for their own actions. Karma is the debt of one’s bad actions for which one must atone, so that every soul is trapped in a cycle of birth and then death and then rebirth. Karma is not the same thing as judgment in Christianity. It is automatic and impersonal and reoccurring (gravity).
Every Hindu wants to escape from this cycle. The quality of the next life depends on the soul's Karma-the goodness or badness of their deeds in this life. Hindus aim to live in a way that will cause each of their lives to be better than the life before.
Their ultimate aim is escape from the cycle altogether by attaining Moksha (liberation). So when someone dies, their soul is reborn into a new body (although not necessarily a human body) – this is called Reincarnation
Agreements, Disagreements
• Does History Matter? The Christian view of history is extremely different –linear vs.cycle. For Christians, History has a purpose, because it has a Beginning and End. Hinduism teaches a cycle of meaninglessness.
Questions
Facts
There are about 500 million Buddhists worldwide, predominately in China, Tibet, and East Asia.
It is difficult to talk sensibly about Buddhism because Buddhists are dogmatic that one cannot be linguistically dogmatic about anything. But over the last 30 years Buddhism has seen growth in the West as its non-dogmatic nature, rationality, possibility of a spiritual guide, and opportunity for personal transformation have all made it attractive to post-modern society
Beliefs
As a Pantheistic religion, Buddahism teaches we are all God – God is in all of us. Heard this before in pop culture? Yoda to Luke Skywalker: “Use the Force Luke, the Force is all around you, in the tree, the rock, me, and you.”
Buddhism has no omnipotent, creator God who exists apart from this or any other universe. In fact, belief in a God of that kind is not part of Buddhism.
Buddhists also believe in Karma – the cause and effect that traps souls in a endless cycle of birth and rebirth. But Buddhism teaches that the illusions with which human beings comfort and delude themselves, includes the illusion of material and consistency and the reliability of the senses as a means of apprehending the outside world.
Buddhism teaches “Four Noble Truths”
The eight-fold Path brings us to the state known as nirvana, where all action and interaction ceases. Nirvana is a state of enlightenment and the place where personality is extinguished.
Agreements, Disagreements
• Who is Jesus? Buddhists would say Jesus is another teacher, leading people to Enlightenment – at best another Buddha.
• What is the Problem of Man? Buddhists get the description of the problem half right. Christians agree that in this world there is suffering. We disagree with the second half of their description of the problem. We don't need to eliminate desire, but to desire the right things. The problem is we desire our to rule our own lives, not submit to God’s rule. They say that Desire must be eliminated. Christians say it must be transformed, so that we hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Who Really Is God? We need to speak with Buddhists about the fact that the God of the Bible is all-powerful, immanent and knowable, and wants to be in relationship with His people. He is not a God of only of magical powers but has a personal name and personal powers he uses for our good.
Questions
1. Buddhism is right that there is nothing on earth that permanently exists. But what if I told you there was a world with God that would exist forever?
ANY QUESTIONS?
VI. Don’t All Religions Teach the Same Thing?
After spending a few minutes contrasting Christianity with Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism you may find it hard to believe people still assert the major world religions teach the same thing – yet some do. This is nonsense.
First, as a matter of simple observation, different religions make very different claims, and it is impossible to see how they can all be true. In fact, the nature of a truth-claim is to say one thing is true and real and valid, while another is false. Christianity teaches Jesus is the one way and that no human gets to God but through him. Hindus and Buddhists would say all religions are equal, but deny the exclusivity of Christianity’s most fundamental claim. It’s nonsense to pretend they teach the same thing. There is a world of difference
Second, however, world religions do have some similarities on the level of morality and ethics – what it means to be good and live the good life. Yet even here you can see there is serious variance. Buddhists understand their efforts to be the most “good” when they deny pain exists, because it is a mere illusion. Yet Christians follow Jesus, a real Man, who has borne very real pain and judgment for them. Similarities in morality also dissolve upon examination. Jesus made it clear: he did not come to make bad men good, but to make dead men alive in God.
VII. Is Jesus The Only Way?
VIII. What About Those Who Have Never Heard The Good News of Jesus?
Finally, what about those who have never heard of Jesus? Could they be saved? This is one question that comes up in apologetics, and sometimes is related to the question of whether Jesus really is the only way.
Friends may raise this question as an honest intellectual query, or they may raise it as an evasive maneuver in an attempt to evade the Gospel’s claim on their life. It will be important for you to determine how to respond to them. They are accountable to God in heaven for what they do with Jesus.
The Bible has a lot to say about this.
(1) All humankind is already under God’s judgment because all men and women are sinful, morally accountable to God, and must give an answer to him.
Humankind is condemned to God’s judgment because of 4 C’s:
(2) Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord GOD will be saved
(3) Scripture is full of examples of men and women who trust God in faith with incomplete information, yet are saved
So, what about those who have never heard?
If you are not a Christian, you need to know you stand under God’s judgment. But the good news is that God has made a way – through giving himself – to assuage his wrath against you. What will you do with this good news? What will you do with Jesus? You should not presume God’s forbearance, but ask for his mercy, repent and believe.
If you think it is “not fair” that some will perish under God’s judgment, you need to rethink your definition of “fair.” Friend, we do not need a holy God to be “fair” with us. We need him to be merciful. The only thing we deserve his judgment. But he has been so kind to us in Christ.
Christian, you are responsible for what you do with Jesus. As Romans 10 says, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Are you telling your friends the good news about Jesus? Are you defending the faith and critiquing unbelief?
