Transforming Church

Jesus Among Other Gods

I've read several of Ravi Zacharias' books, the most pivotal of which, to me, is Jesus Among Other Gods. Ravi had been a regular customer of mine for awhile before I read any of his books, and he had a good measure of credibility with me because of his genuineness- as a regular guy with whom I had a very secular business relationship. (In other words, he witnesses very strongly, even when he's not "witnessing".) Here is a link to Ravi Zacharias' website.

As late-'60's, early-'70's "hippies", we were certainly very spiritual young people, and definitely on a quest for enlightenment, even though that quest took us down some very perilous paths.

Many of us (myself included) took all of the religious doctrines of the day and spread them out to form a "buffet" from which we could choose the principles that suited us the best at the time, while sparing us the necessity of adhering to any one faith so strongly that we would become subject to a set of laws greater than ourselves.

Today's "New Age spirituality" seems to be the obvious outcome of that way of thinking. I floated in a netherworld for decades because, as I said in my baptismal testimony a few years ago, I was afraid that if I did commit my life to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, "...I wouldn't have any fun anymore, and I wouldn't be any fun anymore".

In Jesus Among Other Gods, Zacharias, born in India and raised among the followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, makes a clear argument that one really needs to make a choice among beliefs, since each religion claims to be The Truth. He then lays out a very compelling case for the essential validity of Christianity. Known and respected in the field of Christian Apologetics, Ravi's points tend to be of a more intellectual than emotional nature, and thus hit home with me, as I was trying to reason my way out of believing in anything too seriously. Jesus Among Other Gods was one of a number of influences and events which, by God's grace, converged on me and pushed me off the fence and into a new life of commitment. I keep an extra copy on hand now, to give away when I find myself in a conversation with someone who sees a lot of good in the Christian message, but has a lot of "yes, but..." reservations.

There is also a teen-directed version, which I'll be picking up for the kids in my youth group as soon as we get it reorganized.

This review submitted by Mike Keiley.