Customer Reviews

Jesus Among Other Gods The Absolute Claims Of The Christian Message

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I write this mainly in response to the first review of this book. The person's first critique of the book was that Ravi had treated Buddha as a god, whereas he was not nor did he claim to be. Two quotes from the book I think will suffice to show how this misrepresents the ideas expressed in the book, and begs the question, has this person read this book, and if so, how carefully did they read it?

On page 5, Ravi refers to Buddhism as a "non theistic, if not atheistic religion." Again on page 90 in reference to Buddha's stance on allowing women as disciples, Ravi says, "Whatever one may make of all this, we must be clear that in a non-theistic system, which Buddhism is...."

Implicit in both of these statements is the realization that Buddha did not claim divine status, rendering the argument made by the first reviewer inaccurate.

I found the book to be compelling, and the information presented, clearly demonstrated the uniqueness of the message of Christ when contrasted against other prevailing worldviews.

In reference to the comment about Ravi's hypocrisy, I would merely point out the lack of differentiation between an argument and a person. If indeed one man fails to live up to the claims of Christ, which the bible clearly states is impossible for man without divine intervention, the message itself is not compromised. Especially when the inability of man to do so is implicit in the message. The message of Christ stands on its own even in light of the attacks of its critics from all sides, and in light of the failure of His followers. (It should be noted that I am not at all implying that Ravi is a failure.)

First, the first reviewer is basing his/her claim of Dr. Zacharias' hypocrisy on a request in a review that he may never see, responding to a person who included no address to which to mail a check.

Second, The argument is based on a person's obedience to a command; not the validity of the one who gave the command, therefore, the criticism fails to disprove the christian message.

Third, the argument seems to be a verbal smokescreen composed of second-hand doubt to hide behind in order to justify the refusal to come to terms with the personal implications of the christian message being true. I mean this in no way to offend the reviewer.

The book, which I think was excellent, discussed how Jesus' claims are unique, and would not have been made by the founders of any other religion. My personal favorite chapter was entitled "a taste for the soul." In this chapter, Ravi points out how Jesus constantly pointed people to a need that was deeper than their physical hunger, to a spiritual hunger that everyone has. He goes on to say that when Jesus says he is the bread of life he is establishing himself as the source of satisfaction, and is actually positing himself as his message. In other words Jesus doesn't point us to satisfaction; he is our satisfaction. As Ravi points out, other founders of religions offer ways to peace or satisfaction, etc., whereas Jesus says," I am the way."

I have consistently found Ravi's writings to be stimulating reading, engaging both the heart and the mind. I would heartily recommend this book to both Christians who are looking for help in learning to defend their faith, and to nonchristians who may be trying to see if the Christian worldview is indeed an intellectually coherent one. As Ravi points out doubt is often a product of ones background every bit as much as faith often is. So the automatic dismissal of anything supernatural often carries with it as many prejudices and presuppositions as faith is accused of carrying. So to anyone who will come and read objectively, I believe you will find a compelling case that the claims of Christ are intellectually tenable, and healing to the soul.

Jesus is Someone who is referenced somehow by every religion in the world. From Hindus to Muslims and the cults based in America, there is no doubt that having Jesus as part of one's theology is vital. In this book Ravi Zacharias explains whether or not there is any valid claim to truth and Christ in any other religion but Christianity. Ravi has good stories to tell, writing like an expository preacher with clear, easy-to-understand points. His illustrations are vivid. I guess my only complaint is that he could have tackled the "absolute claims of the Christian message" via a more systematic breakdown with each particular religion. He was continually referring to the Buddhist, Hindu, and others (especially with pantheist ideas), but unless you had previous knowledge of these religions and what they taught, it would seem that the typical layperson would have had trouble keeping up. Still, while it does not get too deep, there is plenty of meat here, and I think the book is very much worth a read. Ravi is a clear evangelical voice in the wilderness, and I appreciate his logic and stand for truth.

Ravi Zacharias is probably the most concise and succinct Christian apologist of our day, and this book is classic Zacharias!

He gives us a clear defense of the Christian message as he tackles some difficult areas of Christian apologetics, such as the problem of suffering in the face of a loving God. His viewpoint is one of a man who is well versed in the ever popular eastern philosophy of his childhood.

A wonderful, wonderful book! Highly recommended!!!

I beg to differ with most of the reviews. I was enchanted with this book, and found Dr. Zacharias' insights into the eastern mind to be scintillating. Of course, hailing from India, he has a special insight and affinity with many of these foreign religions. I am in awe with India's religiousheterogeny!

I think practice of actually quoting from the Koran, as opposed to alluding to, paraphrasing from, or imagining what the book says, which is what so many people do nowadays.

Dr. Zacharias doesn't spend a lot of time outlining Christianity, since he presupposes a Christian reader. Moreover, he covered much of the uniqueness of Christ among false ideologies in "Can Man Live Without God," and "A Shattered Visage." This book, therefore, should be read in context with his larger opus.

I think Dr. Zacharias has a very gentle voice and a steel mind, and that is what makes his books so enchanting.

While the organization of Jesus Among Other Gods calls for more note taking than usual for a book of this type in order to link concepts, the defense Dr. Zacharias presents for the orthodox view of Christ is a solid one.

The easiest thing for a proponent of a divergent world view is to claim that the critic of that world view has quoted sources out of context. This has been the major critique on this book by the one star folks. To those adherents of the world views being critiqued by Zacharais, his argument, complete with quotes, would read as if out of context to them because the adherent's context is rooted in belief of the system and its doctrine while the critic has another context due to a conflicting world view. To merely say that something is "out of context" is not enough to defeat an argument.

When talking about a world view or belief system, using one illustration or one slice of doctrine to indentify that world view is simply inadequte. Zacharais does not do this in his book, and his critics should not do this in their reviews. In fact, Zacharias is careful not to use this formula. He shares his experience of growing up in a pluralistic society and how that society affected his early world view versus his current Christian world view which is antithetical to a pluralistic view.

Jesus Among Other Gods should not be an introduction to apologetics for the casual reader or searcher. I would recommend Josh McDowell's More Than A Carpenter or the youth edition of Jesus Among Other Gods for that. Jesus Among Other Gods is a great book for those that are more advanced in their search for Truth and seek to reconcile the mind with the heart.

I've read many previous reviews that object to the fact that this is "not a true comparative study" or that it is "not objective and biased". Please remember that the title is "Jesus Among Other Gods" not "A bunch of Other Gods"--it was Ravi's intention to place Jesus as the centerpoint of the conversation, and this fact was even disclosed in the opening chapter. There are many great books out there that are created to objectively contrast the world religions, but this is not one of those books. I would especially recommend this book to an analytical Christian who may have been brought up as a Christian and who is searching for answers to the question "Why do I believe what I believe?". In America, this is a widely prolific problem, from my perspective. Again, if this book is read and evaluated in its proper context, it is a wonderful work that will offer insight after insight.

I first heard Ravi Zacharias at Moody Bible Institute's Founder's Week a few years back. I became more aquainted with his work through several of my local Asian friends who are also Christian. In short, I'm glad I found out about him.
In this book, he first covers his own story on how he came to Christ while a teenager in India. That part of the story alone is very moving itself. Getting saved and becoming a Christian in India is indeed a feat, mainly because India is the Pantheistic capital of the world. Again, his conversion is very dramatic and powerful. I'm praying that he will one day write his autobiography.
Throughout the rest of the book, he touches base on some of the other world's religions. Mind you, he doesn't delve into them heavily. What he does is that he gives a foundation for why Christianity is what it says it is and how this shatters some of the other beliefs that are floating around. His starting point is John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me." Jesus is saying that he is the only way to God. Ravi not only agrees with this but also gives a decent beginning on how Christians can prove this, too.
I must warn you-if you're one of those left-wing Christains who believe that Jesus isn't the only way to Heaven, watch out! You will have some trouble with this book. I guarantee it! But to the rest of you who want a nice book on how to defend your Christian faith against other religions, this book will give you a good start. I highly recommend it!

I have just completed reading this book, i think ravi has done a good job.
I myself an indian can tell in pluralistic society you find nothing but confution because truth by nature is exclusive & so the exclusiveness of jesus should by taken not by our subjective preference but by carefull verfication.
Book deals with the truth claim of christianity and does a good job.
Book deals with teoritical part but if any one wants to know the experiencial relevence should see the nation which has lived to the extrem of pluralistic (india)has gone no were & has degraded to the great extent with the philosophy of all worldview being equally true.

As I read this book I was reminded of an old Indian proverb Zacherias himself quoted in his interview in the Case for Faith. The are two ways to touch your noes, one way is to take your finger and just touch it, while the other is to reach all the way around your head and touch it from the other side. This proverb illustrates Zacherias's fondness for taking the long way around, and take the long way around he does. While the book is rather short, somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred pages, it is often sporadic and undirected. This is not to say that the book is not intresting, in fact I think it is littered with insights so brilliant that they can only be found in this particular work. But brilliant though they may be they are like flashes in what at times appears to be a chaotic mess, or more appropriatley they are like a masterpiece of art surrounded in a distractingly ornamented frame of unnessecasary information. While these insights he adds may remind the reader of C.S. Lewis he lacks Lewis's unique style for making everything he talks about come to life. Instead veins of his prose come to life while the rest remains simply mediocre.
As far as work on comparative religion goes it falls short of expectations, but I wonder if it was Zacherias's goal to compare religions in the first place. I wonder if his goal was not instead to point out the uniqueness of Jesus. To illuminate Christ's character in way that makes you revere Him. The difference between the two may be subtle, but it is real, because you can in fact illuminate Jesus from other gods while keeping the comparisons between the gods to a minimum. I think at times Zacherias ability to point out the uniqueness of Christ is absolutely wonderful. Ulitimately the book is not about Islam, Buddishm, Hinduism, or even Christianity, it is about Jesus. The book is worth the read, and despite it's distracting "frame" is full of beauty that you will find in no other resource. Original. Spit out the bones and eat the meat.

Zacharias' goal is not an exhaustive, thorough comparison (which could easily take volumes) but rather a lucid comparison of the core beliefs of the religions discussed. Herein lies its inestimable value. The style is more devotional than a writer like Francis Schaeffer, but the book still provides an effective apologetic.

Nor is his goal a cheery "conversation between religions"--which usually implies an agreement to accept all belief systems as tentative--but the application of his conviction in the uniuqueness of the Bible as God's only authoritative self-revelation and how that works out in contrast with the claims of other religions and their limited ability to live up to their own claims.

The most poignant insight I found was how Zacharias focuses on the DIFFERENCES between Christ and Buddhism, et. al., and demonstrates how the differences are more profound and important than the IMAGINED similarities. A good follow up is his shorter book, "The Lotus and the Cross," which works out that dynamic in a fictitious conversation between Jesus and Buddha.

I have found this book to be as much of an eye-opener in helping me understand "comparative religions" from a distinctly Christian perspective as Francis Schaeffer's work has been regarding a Christian response to both Secular Existentialism (Postmodernism, etc.) and Religious Existentialism (Neo-Orthodoxy).

This is a must-read for Christians eager to challenge the prevailing relativism toward religion in our culture, as well a for non-Christians who seem mystified by the exclusive-truth claims of Christians they know.