When someone Googles 'the world's major religions' the search engine returns a number of websites containing information that is, at the very best, somewhat confusing; and at the very worst, downright misleading. All too often those of us who have claimed to be Christian for many years or who grew up in a Christian home/church environment very well may have forgotten that the most basic questions of faith and religion do not begin with The Bible, King James Version or otherwise, from the Judeo-Christian tradition. And forgetting those most basic questions many times preclude whether our Christian testimony and witness fall on deaf ears or not. Sadly, the vast majority of the members of our Christian churches possess a severe lack of knowledge and understanding not only about these other world religions, but their own faith as well, including a gross ignorance of The Bible they so staunchly defend when it comes under attack from the critics and opponents of our faith. Add to these facts the ever-increasing doubts created over the past 150-200 years by the critics and opponents of the Judeo-Christian faith: doubts about the very existence of God in the first place; doubts about the text of The Bible, especially The King James Version; and doubts about Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ; and it becomes readily apparent why the Christian church has lost much of its power and influence in the world since the First and Second Great Awakenings faded into the sunset! Modern Historical and Literary Criticism applied to The Bible and its contents, not to mention the unscrupulous reporting and discussion of the alleged findings of the same, have also helped to create that doubt in God's Word, and all of these things and more have helped to fulfill the prophecy of Amos that God would bring about a famine of the hearing of the Word of God; a famine that has been prevalent in modern society now for over 100 years, and continues to grow stronger by the day. If there ever was a time when both a knowledge or and an understanding of God's written revelation was needed, it is NOW!
Perhaps one of the best ways to impress upon people, both within the Christian faith and without, that The Bible of the Judeo-Christian tradition remains, even in modern and post-modern times, a trustworthy revelation of the truth that there IS a God and that He, Almighty God, chose to reveal Himself in a number of ways, not the least of which is His written revelation contained in the books of The Bible; one of the best ways to impress this upon people is to challenge them to compare the sacred writings of the major world religions to that of the Judeo-Christian tradition. After all, how many of us in the Judeo-Christian faith have ever opened a copy of any of the four Vedas of Hinduism to catch even a minute glimpse of what is contained therein? Or who among us has read even a page or two of what is contained in The Qur'an of Islam? I guarantee we would be shocked. If the truth be known, the vast majority of the members of our Christian churches are lax, if not outright complacent when it comes to reading their Bible, let alone actually getting serious about in-depth study; yet another result of the prophecy of Amos concerning the famine of the hearing of God's Word. Just a few serious minutes invested in discovering what is contained in the Vedas of Hinduism and the The Qur'an of Islam would surely manifest certain reasons why The Bible of the Judeo-Christian tradition is worthy of some of our time and effort in an attempt to help us understand its place in the greater context of the religions of the world.
One of the most important reasons I can offer to true, born-again Christians for not only reading and studying their Bible, but for broadening their knowledge and understanding of its place in the greater context of the religions of the world, is our children and grandchildren. For ten months out of every calendar year we send our children and grandchildren off to school where they are introduced to the ideas that permeate these other world religions, not to mention the ideas espoused by non-religious groups like agnostics and atheists. And once their elementary and secondary education is completed, we encourage many to further their education at some college or university where the same Liberal Arts Curriculum that formed the foundation for their basic education also forms the basis for the collegiate curriculum general education requirements; a course of study conspicuously devoid of the tenets and doctrines of the Judeo-Christian tradition; and that, by design. Is it any wonder that so many of our children and grandchildren that go off to college return home with their faith scarred if not outright destroyed. And the reason is because we the church and we the family and we the parents did NOT prepare our children and grandchildren for those attacks on their Christian faith; not that we did not prepare them adequately, rather, we did NOT prepare them at all! Yet another result of the prophecy of Amos and the famine of the hearing of the Word of God!
How many of us have watched as the moral fiber of our nation, the USA, has degenerated over the past 50-60 years alone? Many of us complain that we want God back in our country, prayer and Bible reading back in our schools, and just yesterday I saw a picture on Facebook that stated 'Time to put God back in this house' with a picture of the White House. How little we understand of God's plans for the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church, straight from His prophecies of old, and all contained in His written revelation, The Bible! Misguided Christians and others request us to pray for Jerusalem, to pray for things to get better in our nation, for our country to return to God, all the while not realizing (because we have failed to read and study God's Word) that God's plans are unfolding before our very eyes and it is HIS WILL and warning that things will NOT get better once the events of the end of time begin, but rather, they will get progressively worse and worse, and that, very quickly!
We have been duped! The very people that we sent off to colleges, universities, and seminaries over the past 150-200 years, at the very least; the very people that should have learned and discovered the truths from their extensive studies, reading, and research, all required for the degrees that they sought and earned; those people have returned to our churches in leadership roles and led us astray. But just like the message of the prophets of the Old Testament explain, it was not merely the religious leaders who led both Israel and Judah astray, but the political leaders as well; and the false prophets; and certainly not least, the people themselves.
Perhaps one of the best ways to impress upon people, both within the Christian faith and without, that The Bible of the Judeo-Christian tradition remains, even in modern and post-modern times, a trustworthy revelation of the truth that there IS a God and that He, Almighty God, chose to reveal Himself in a number of ways, not the least of which is His written revelation contained in the books of The Bible; one of the best ways to impress this upon people is to challenge them to compare the sacred writings of the major world religions to that of the Judeo-Christian tradition. After all, how many of us in the Judeo-Christian faith have ever opened a copy of any of the four Vedas of Hinduism to catch even a minute glimpse of what is contained therein? Or who among us has read even a page or two of what is contained in The Qur'an of Islam? I guarantee we would be shocked. If the truth be known, the vast majority of the members of our Christian churches are lax, if not outright complacent when it comes to reading their Bible, let alone actually getting serious about in-depth study; yet another result of the prophecy of Amos concerning the famine of the hearing of God's Word. Just a few serious minutes invested in discovering what is contained in the Vedas of Hinduism and the The Qur'an of Islam would surely manifest certain reasons why The Bible of the Judeo-Christian tradition is worthy of some of our time and effort in an attempt to help us understand its place in the greater context of the religions of the world.
One of the most important reasons I can offer to true, born-again Christians for not only reading and studying their Bible, but for broadening their knowledge and understanding of its place in the greater context of the religions of the world, is our children and grandchildren. For ten months out of every calendar year we send our children and grandchildren off to school where they are introduced to the ideas that permeate these other world religions, not to mention the ideas espoused by non-religious groups like agnostics and atheists. And once their elementary and secondary education is completed, we encourage many to further their education at some college or university where the same Liberal Arts Curriculum that formed the foundation for their basic education also forms the basis for the collegiate curriculum general education requirements; a course of study conspicuously devoid of the tenets and doctrines of the Judeo-Christian tradition; and that, by design. Is it any wonder that so many of our children and grandchildren that go off to college return home with their faith scarred if not outright destroyed. And the reason is because we the church and we the family and we the parents did NOT prepare our children and grandchildren for those attacks on their Christian faith; not that we did not prepare them adequately, rather, we did NOT prepare them at all! Yet another result of the prophecy of Amos and the famine of the hearing of the Word of God!
How many of us have watched as the moral fiber of our nation, the USA, has degenerated over the past 50-60 years alone? Many of us complain that we want God back in our country, prayer and Bible reading back in our schools, and just yesterday I saw a picture on Facebook that stated 'Time to put God back in this house' with a picture of the White House. How little we understand of God's plans for the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church, straight from His prophecies of old, and all contained in His written revelation, The Bible! Misguided Christians and others request us to pray for Jerusalem, to pray for things to get better in our nation, for our country to return to God, all the while not realizing (because we have failed to read and study God's Word) that God's plans are unfolding before our very eyes and it is HIS WILL and warning that things will NOT get better once the events of the end of time begin, but rather, they will get progressively worse and worse, and that, very quickly!
We have been duped! The very people that we sent off to colleges, universities, and seminaries over the past 150-200 years, at the very least; the very people that should have learned and discovered the truths from their extensive studies, reading, and research, all required for the degrees that they sought and earned; those people have returned to our churches in leadership roles and led us astray. But just like the message of the prophets of the Old Testament explain, it was not merely the religious leaders who led both Israel and Judah astray, but the political leaders as well; and the false prophets; and certainly not least, the people themselves.