Facts on World Religions

John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Burroughs Dillon

Description

The Facts On series has sold more than 1.9 million copies and continues to provide information, facts, and foundational truths to help Christians understand their faith and their world.With their extensive knowledge of comparative religion, the Facts On creators explore and compare the basic teachings and practices of the world's four major belief systems--IslamHinduismBuddhismChristianityThe authors also discuss some less-widespread religions. Readers will discover that Christianity stands alone in the integrity of its divine revelation--the Bible--and in its consistency with history, the natural world, and human experience.Rerelease with new cover and minor updates.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Comparative religion

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736939126
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

®

All Scripture quotations are taken fromthe HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL ® ® VERSION . NIV . Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cover photos © Tom Bonaventure / Digital Vision, Purestock, Stock4BRF / Getty Images; backcover author photo of Dillon Burroughs © Goldberg Photography

THE FACTS ON WORLD RELIGIONS The Facts On Series This book draws from some of the authors’ previous volumes in the form  of brief excerpts or revised and updated excerpts. Copyright © 2004 by John Ankerberg and John Weldon Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data  Ankerberg, John, 1945  The facts on world religions / John Ankerberg and John Weldon.—Updates / by Dillon Burroughs.  p. cm.—(The facts on series)  Includes bibliographical references.  ISBN 9780736924894 (pbk.)  1. Religions. I. Weldon, John. II. Title.  BL80.3.A55 2008  261.2—dc22  2008032120

All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, pho tocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 / VPSK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

 A World of Religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Section One Christianity 1. What are the central beliefs of Christianity? . . . . . . . . 9 2. How did Christianity originate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3. Is the founder of Christianity who he  claimed to be? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 4. Are the Christian scriptures reliable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Section Two Islam 5. What are the central beliefs of Islam? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6. How did Islam originate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 7. Is the founder of Islam who he claimed to be? . . . . . . . 30 8. Are the Muslim scriptures reliable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Section Three Hinduism  9. What are the central beliefs of Hinduism? . . . . . . . . . 41  10. How did Hinduism originate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43  11. Are the “founders” of Hinduism who they  claim to be? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44  12. Are the Hindu scriptures reliable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Section Four Buddhism  13. What are the central beliefs of Buddhism? . . . . . . . . . 55  14. How did Buddhism originate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57  15. Is the founder of Buddhism who he  claimed to be? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58  16. Are the Buddhist scriptures reliable? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Section Five Issues in Comparative Religion  17. Is all religion good? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67  18. Is only one religion fully true? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79  19. Are Christians being intolerant or truthful for  claiming Christ is the only way? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81  20. Conclusion: “Truth or Consequences”? . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A World of Religions

If the world is anything, it is religious. It is no exag geration to say the history of man is the history of religion. Although the modern impact of secularism and related nontheistic faiths, such as Marxism and humanism, is considerable, secular faiths are dwarfed by religion historically and today. In fact, every person on earth is inwardly religious in one way or another. About 98 percent of the world’s religion is found in just 22 separate religions, including the religion of sec 1 ularism. However, four major religions comprise the great majority of that 98 percent and thus of the world’s population. It is estimated that Christianity, Islam, Hin duism, and Buddhism have close to 5 billion members, which explains this book’s focus. But this isn’t just a number; it embodies reallife people who are born, live, and die, day after day, and whose souls are at stake. Religion is part of humanity’s soul because God made it that way. No one can escape his or her need for God or, at the deepest core of his being, the desire for God. Though too many people prefer God on their own terms, not his, the need for God cannot be ignored. Even the great French existentialist and atheist JeanPaul Sartre had to concede he could never finally escape. He often contemplated God, even as a devout atheist, “for want 2 of being able to think otherwise.” And such quotes could be multiplied from those who claim they are not 3 religious and have no interest in God. In part, this bookevaluates the consequences people 5

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THE FACTS ONWORLD RELIGIONS

experience from affirming or denying various gods—or rather,conceptsof god. In general, it presents a critical analysis. We look briefly at the basic beliefs, the origin, the founder, and the scriptures of each religion; the latter two in particular help us determine the relative credibility of the religion itself. For example, if the scriptures of a religion are cor rupted or cannot be trusted on other grounds, or if its founder was not who he claimed, then the authenticity and truth of the religion itself must be gravely ques tioned. If the founder was mistaken as to hisownidentity and purpose, can he be trusted in his other teachings? If a religion’s divine revelations or scriptures are untrust worthy, on what authority can we know 1) what that religion actually teaches or 2) whether it’s really true?

Positive criticism Being critical of other people’s beliefs is necessary for the sake of what is true and what is good. Every idea in the world is not true, regardless of what relativists claim. And some ideas are harmful, including religious ideas. We have also been critical of 4 our own faith when needed, so when we ask adherents of other religions to analyze their own perspectives, we are not requesting that they do something we ourselves have neglected.

Not all religions can simultaneously be true. And while no religion is wholly devoid of all truth, none is wholly devoid of all error. Given that situation, per haps the most important attitude toward religion is the need for a productively critical approach, rather than an unquestioning acceptance of everything. If life’s greatest tragedy for a person is to not know the truth before death, any religion that obstructs this knowledge cannot ultimately be to anyone’s advantage.

Christianity

ONE

SECTION