This Sunday evening I’ll be doing one more seminar in my Basic Apologetics series: How Can We Say That Jesus Is the Only Way to God When There are Other World Religions?
7 PM
Redeemer Fellowship Church, Monroe, MI
734-242-5277
The picture is one I took of the Hagia Sofia when we visited Istanbul a year and a half ago.
5 comments:
Are you going to post your outline/notes from the seminar?
Hi Colson - how are you doing?
Here are the powerpoint notes I'm going to give people on Sunday night.
If you want a tape (remember tapes? of my presentation send me your mailing address.
FYI: See especially Bill Craig's articles on "Christian Particularism," and the Plantinga essay (in Pojman, Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology).
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Apologetics Session #3: Why We Can Believe Jesus Is the Only Way When There Are Other Religions Dr. John Piippo
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“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared *to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”
* This is the Greek word apologian – “to make a defense.”
- 1 Peter 3:15
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Exclusivism
Universalism
Explain
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Jesus is the only way to God
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4.12).
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (John 14.6).
John 3:18 - Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
"He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life" (I John 5.12).
"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but he who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God" (Luke 12.8-9).
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3 Things to Remembr in This Discussion
#1 - All religious beliefs cannot be true. (See, e.g., R. Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods)
#2 - Every Belief Marginalizes Others (See Plantinga's essay, re. "hoisting one's own petard")
#3 - You can’t commit the Genetic Fallacy! (In other words, the sociological observation that if you were born in India you'd be a Hindu is only that, and one cannot logically conclude anything against the truth of Christianity from that, because it will then commit the genetic fallacy).
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THE BASIC WORLDVIEWS
Theism
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Deism
Atheism
Buddhism
Agnosticism
Pantheism
Hinduism
Polytheism
Hinduism
Monism
Buddhism
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What I Believe As a Christian
#1 – The world was created by God, an almighty, all-knowing, and perfectly good personal being.
#2 – Human beings require salvation, and God has provided a unique way of salvation through the incarnation; and can act to accomplish these aims.
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Hinduism
Reincarnation
Karma – based on your actions or deeds
Dharma – religion or duty, acc. to “caste”
Caste
Brahman
330,000,000 “gods”
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Buddhism
The problem is “suffering.”
The cause of all suffering is desire.
Therefore, extinguish desire and you extinguish suffering.
“Nirvana” – to “extinguish,” or to “puff out.”
What gets “extinguished?” The human ego.
With no individual ego, there’s (of course) no desire.
Ultimate reality is monistic (Monism). Everything that is, is One.
The goal – becoming one with the One. No personal identity.
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The Distinctiveness of Christianity among the World Religions
God came to us.
The Incarnation.
Mercy – not getting what we deserve
Grace – getting what we don’t deserve
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What about people in other religions who have never heard about Jesus?
2 responses
#1 – They have general revelation and will be judged according to it.
#2 – God has “middle knowledge”
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#1 – They have general revelation and will be judged according to it.
Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Romans 2:12-16 - All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
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God Has "Middle Knowledge"
“God in his providence has so arranged the world that anyone who would receive Christ has opportunity to do so. Since God loves all persons and desires the salvation of all, He supplies sufficient grace for salvation to every individual, and no body who would receive Christ if he were to hear the gospel will be denied that opportunity. Salvation is in our own hands.” – William Lane Craig
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Hell eternal separation from God)
See posts I have made on hell at this blog.
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A few Resources
Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims Of The Christian Message, by Ravi Zacharias
Reasonablefaith.org – William Lane Craig (Click on “Christian Particularism)
Alvin Plantinga – “A Defense of Religious Exclusivism”
Hi John,
I like the flow of this outline. What I wonder is whether it can be bought by a non believer as it is built entirely on the bible as truth.
That Jesus would be held up as the only way to God based on bible references is a...well...no brainer, isn't it.
What other evidences are there that we can supplement this argument with in order to further substantiate Jesus as Lord?
Hi Will - it's good to hear from you. How are you doing?
You write: "I like the flow of this outline. What I wonder is whether it can be bought by a non believer as it is built entirely on the bible as truth. That Jesus would be held up as the only way to God based on bible references is a...well...no brainer, isn't it.
What other evidences are there that we can supplement this argument with in order to further substantiate Jesus as Lord?"
The Craig essay shows us, without using Bible verses, that the idea that Jesus is the only way is not illogical nor unfair/unjust.
The Plantinga essay on Christian exclusivism shows that the belief that there is only one way to God is not imperialistic etc.
Greg Boyd's new book (The Jesus Legend) shows the reliability of the synoptic tradition as to Jesus.
We can trust what the synoptics say about the real Jesus.
I personally like Ravi Zacharias's Jesus Among the Other Gods as a way of talking about the uniqueness of Jesus among the other religious figures.
I am still reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God - a brilliant book, with a lot in it! An historical argument for the resurrection as given by Wright, Boyd, & Craig can be done without using Bible verses as proof texts, but using the 4 gospels and Paul et. al. as reliable historical documents, explaining the study of history, etc.
Blessings!
John
John,
I am doing very well. Thank you for the response.
As I suspected, I will have to make a significant investment of time if I am going to consider these other sources and build up my theology/philosophy base. Ah, the price of knowledge. Well, I asked for it!
So that you have not responded in vein, I will commit to at least preview these documents and see what I can do to add to the breadth of my evidentiary discourse of Jesus as "the Way."
Thanks again.
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