People were created to be worshippers. That’s one way of defining the image of God in human beings. Humans are also fallen worshippers. Thus, our religious-based tendency to worship has expressed itself in distorted ways in human history. Recently I was asked a question about how to understand the pagan gods of the Old and New Testaments and human idolatry. Here’s the question: I’ve always dismissed other “gods” in the Bible as nothing…
According to Pew Research, if current trends continue then by 2050 there will be nine billion people living on the planet. Approximately three billion will be Christians, three billion will be Muslims, and three billion others will represent various beliefs (both religious and secular).1 Since Christianity and Islam are the two largest (comprising about 55% of the world’s population2) religions in the world people…
A couple of years ago I visited Canada to record television interviews about my book Christian Endgame. Prior to the recording, some of the Christians in the green room told me to be cautious about saying that Christianity is the exclusively true religion. When I inquired why, I was told that it is considered intolerant in Canadian society to claim…
Imagination and storytelling are very powerful ways of drawing attention to important ideas and questions. A good book or movie provokes people to think in a way unlike hearing a lecture. This is one reason why Jesus spoke in parables. With a much-anticipated new chapter of the generation-spanning Star Wars saga about to unfold in theaters, RTB editor Maureen Moser…
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve reposted several archived articles that compare Jesus Christ to other major religious leaders, specifically Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha), Krishna, Confucius, and Muhammad. My recently completed book manuscript fleshes out and expands on what these articles started. The book (working title Jesus Alongside the Spiritual Sages) still has a long way to go—through peer…
Among the world’s great religious leaders, only two had such a profound impact that contemporaries inquired as to the very nature of their being.1 People wondered whether Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ) were more than mere human beings. While both are known as great teachers and profound souls, the identity, mission, and message of these…
Originally published in Reasons to Believe’s ezine, New Reasons to Believe, vol. 2, no. 1 (2010) Great evil has been done in the name of Christ. This charge, a frequent objection to historic Christianity raised especially by the new atheist authors,1 typifies discussions of such historical events as the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Salem witch trials. While characterizing…
Among the world’s great religious leaders, two became far-reaching moral instructors of humanity. Confucius (the sage) laid down the ethical foundation for much of Asian civilization. Jesus of Nazareth (the Savior) taught moral lessons that distinctly shaped the ethical nature of Western civilization. Yet while both became great moral teachers, the identity, mission, and message of these two influential men…
Among the world’s great religious leaders, two came to be viewed as representing almighty God in human form. In traditional Hinduism, the god Vishnu appeared or descended into human form as Krishna. In historic Christianity, Jesus Christ entered human history as God Incarnate (the God-man: a single person with both a divine and human nature). Yet while both are recognized…
It’s one of the fastest growing religions in the world, it’s been around since the seventh century, and it is regularly in the news—often associated with atrocities committed by its most militant members (the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the Boko Haram kidnapping of 300 girls come to mind). How can we understand Islam in the twenty-first century? I appreciate that…
