So What's the Difference , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Fritz Ridenour

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141 pages

English

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Completely revised and updated for the postmodern age, So What's the Difference? gives you easy-to-understand, nonjudgmental answers to the question, "How does orthodox biblical Christianity differ from other faiths?" Here Fritz Ridenour explains the basic tenets of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, New Age, Mormonism, and other religions and belief systems of the world.You will also learn why relative thinking--the idea that there is no objective, absolute truth--has become the predominant mindset in our culture, and how you can respond.This bestselling guide will help you recognize the real differences between the Christian faith and other viewpoints and make it easier for you to explain and share your faith with others.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Comparative religion

Christianity

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	02 mars 2001
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441266996
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0432€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 1967, 1979, 2001 Fritz Ridenour
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6699-6
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Other versions used are:
KJV — King James Version. Authorized King James Version.
NASB —Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible , © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
NLT —Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Phillips — The New Testament in Modern English , Revised Edition, J. B. Phillips, Translator. © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022.
Cover and Interior Design by Robert Williams Edited by Kathi Macias, Bayard Taylor, David Webb, Deena Davis
CONTENTS
Introduction
Today the Difference Matters More Than Ever
Part One The Importance of a Biblical Worldview
Chapter 1
Biblical Christianity
A Plumb Line for Comparing Faiths
Part Two Other Trunks of the Christian Tree
Chapter 2
Roman Catholicism
The One True Church?
Chapter 3
Eastern Orthodoxy
Just Like the Catholics Except for the Pope?
Part Three Major Religions of the World
Chapter 4
Judaism
Foundation for the Christian Faith, but Still Looking for the Messiah
Chapter 5
Islam
Allah Is One, and Christ Was Just a Prophet
Chapter 6
Hinduism
We Are All Divine
Chapter 7
Buddhism
You Yourself Must Make the Effort
Part Four Cults, New Religions and the Occult
Chapter 8
Where Did the Cults Come From?
Chapter 9
Jehovah’s Witnesses
There Is No Hell … Hard Work Earns “Paradise”
Chapter 10
Mormonism
As God Is, Man Can Become
Chapter 11
New Age
The Serpent’s Old Lie in an Updated Package
Chapter 12
Nothing New Under the Sun
Eleven More Viewpoints That Undermine, Challenge or Attack Biblical Christianity:
• Baha’i • Christian Science • Evolutionism • Freemasonry • Hare Krishna
• The International Churches of Christ • Secular Humanism • Postmodernism
• Unification Church (The Moonies) • Unitarianism • Wicca (Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism)
Appendix A
Resources for Further Study
Appendix B
Ministries for Information on Cults
Endnotes
I NTRODUCTION
T ODAY THE D IFFERENCE M ATTERS M ORE THAN E VER

The goal of this revised, updated and expanded edition of So What’s the Difference? remains the same as it was when the first copies were printed 30 years ago: to spell out the differences between the historic Christian faith and other views represented in major religions, cults and ideologies that are vying for the hearts and minds of people today. And, to be sure, much in our society has changed since this book first appeared in the late 1960s.
The cultural center of America has shifted away from Christian, or at least Judeo-Christian, morals and attitudes, to post-Christian.
Relative thinking, the idea that there is no objective absolute truth and “what’s true or right for you isn’t necessarily true or right for me,” has captured the imagination of vast numbers of people and has even infiltrated some Christian churches. 1
There is increasing controversy in some denominations because some church leaders have abandoned Christian core teachings, including the incarnation of Christ, His redemptive work on the cross and His resurrection. 2
School boards, other elected officials and the Supreme Court have sought to remove God from the classroom, making it difficult for Christian ministries and other Christian interests, by rulings and decisions of various kinds.
Increasing numbers of people have fled “organized religion” and are seeking “spirituality” in many “nontraditional” forms, particularly the New Age movement. Also, many new cults and ideologies have appeared on the scene, some claiming to be legitimate Christianity with newer and deeper insights. In addition to the “newer” views, the old cults and ideologies have developed more subtle approaches and more convincing arguments.
With a veritable smorgasbord of views and opinions now available, it is more important than ever for biblical Christians to be able to recognize and spell out the basic differences between a Christian worldview and the beliefs held by neighbors, coworkers and schoolmates.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR WORLDVIEW IS?
A common testimony binds all authentic believers in Christ together and distinguishes them from other worldviews. The term “worldview” may sound a bit abstract, but simply put, your worldview is the set of assumptions that make up your personal outlook on the nature of the world and how to live in that world day by day. It is your “set of beliefs about the most important issues in life.” 3
It is important to realize that everyone has a worldview whether or not he or she can recognize or state it. You may not think about your worldview when you make decisions or express opinions, but it influences your thoughts, feelings and actions. Your worldview is based on how you see answers to some rather important questions about life, which include: (1) Who or what is God? (2) Who am I and how do I operate in my world? (3) How can I tell right from wrong? (4) When it’s all over, where do I go? (5) How can I know the truth; for that matter, how can I be sure that I know anything? (6) What does my life mean, and how do I fit into history, if at all? 4
Today Christians face many nonbiblical worldviews, which can be broken down into several categories: naturalism, pantheism, polytheism and a possible fourth category, relativism, which in a characteristically postmodern way wants to avoid the straitjacket of categories.
Naturalism says that God does not exist and that physical matter is all there is. Charles Colson, prolific author and shaper of contemporary Christian thinking, believes that naturalism is by far the dominant worldview today and that it is responsible for creating our post-Christian and postmodern culture. 5 Linked closely to naturalism are other anti-Christian worldviews, such as secular humanism, empiricism and evolutionism.
The second major worldview category comes from the East. It is called pantheistic monism, which says, “All is one, one is all, and all is God.” Hinduism and Buddhism share important elements of this worldview. The New Age movement is, in great part, a Western adaptation of Hindu and Buddhist religious and worldview thinking.
A third worldview that will come up from time to time is polytheism—the idea that there are many gods, goddesses and spirits that we must appease and please to have a reasonably good life. Some polytheists wear loincloths; others are dressed in business suits. Polytheism can be found in Hinduism and branches of the New Age, as well as among Mormons (although they would indignantly deny this—see chapter 10 ).
A fourth category is reserved for those who are reluctant to commit to any particular worldview. They would prefer to pick and choose what they like about different worldviews and aren’t much bothered if the ideas contradict each other. The only thing that counts is “what works for you.” These people will say things like, “I don’t believe any one system contains all truth.” Whatever else this worldview is, it is relativistic, and it is often a big part of the thinking found in secular humanism and postmodernism, as well as the New Age movement.
CAN YOU ARTICULATE YOUR BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW?
As this book presents the difference between Christianity and other worldviews, the goal is to sharpen your perspective on your own biblical worldview. Obviously, the Christian uses the Bible to answer all those worldview questions mentioned above: There is only one God, who is supreme and sovereign. And while He is transcendent—above and beyond us, He is also immanent—right here among us at the same time. He created it all—the universe and the world in which we live. Furthermore, He did it with absolutely nothing . He didn’t rearrange or put together matter of some kind that was as eternal as He is.
His crowning creation was humankind—us. We are made in God’s image; and when we die we will either go to be with Him or be separated from Him forever. There will be no coming back to “try to get it right.” Because sin prevents us from getting it right, God sent His Son—part of Himself—to redeem and justify us (more on this in chapter 1 ).
As for knowledge, the Christian worldview doesn’t agree with skeptics who say knowledge is simply unattainable. (By the way, if you want to ruin a skeptic’s day, ask him how he knows knowledge is unattainable.) Because God is the all-knowing knower of everything, and because we are made in His image (see Gen. 1:27), we can know all we need to know as we work on our own Christian worldview. Obviously, the most important part of a Christian’s worldview is knowing God. We can know God through two forms of revelation: the created orde