Muhammad, Old Testament prophets, and Krishna…deity? Stay tuned — that’s today’s apologetics segment.
Bible segment: Reading along with The Bible Project
Our reading: Isaiah 31-35
This weeks’s translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Apologetics segment: Gary Habermas and Jesus’ uniqueness among world religions
I’m wondering if it’d be interesting to call this a “news you can use” or “words you can use” section. Hmmm…what do you think? Shoot me a note: hello@forthehope.com.
Summary to date
In modernity, a common objection is “science is real” and “religion is opinion.”
While we should test everything, including miracles, there are six places to test to see if Jesus’ claims were unmatched by founders of other major religions (it’s a beautiful thing about Christianity – it’s testable).
#1: Jesus claimed to be deity.
Buddha didn’t, and whatever spiritism or divinity is part of some Buddhist practices in China didn’t really develop until 700 years later.
Like Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism began more reservedly, and they later evolved into “more phenomenal, mystical, and occultic versions.” (p16) Some historians speculate that this happened, in part, due to competition for followers – they got more sensationalistic to attract attention.
Conclusion – in terms of self-claim to deity, these “naturalistic ethical, social, and political thinkers” (p16) are not rivals to Jesus.
What about other “prophets?”
Zoroaster, chief prophet of the Persian religion never claimed to be deity.
Today, we see that Muhammad is certainly not elevated to deity – in fact, a core tenet of Islam is that a human elevating themselves to equality with God is unforgivable blasphemy (you can see why they then have to purport a historically-distorted Jesus!). And the Old Testament prophets of Judaism? Their prophets certainly are not deified either.
Take action
Today’s personal prayer reading: Psalm 116
I love you! Catch you tomorrow!
Roger
Sources and resources
Gary Habermas, “The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ Among the Major World Religions” (Lynchburg, VA: GaryHabermas.com, 2016). http://www.garyhabermas.com/Evidence2/Habermas-Uniqueness-of-Jesus-Christ-2016.pdf. Accessed April 17, 2019.
Today’s keywords
The Bible Project; Gary Habermas; world religions; daily audio bible; Isaiah; Muhammad; Islam;