IIIII

IIII

XII
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

III

XI
X

I
II

Christian
ook
B
ummaries

XI

II

II

COUNCIL OF REFERENCE
Dr. Richard Averbeck
Dr. Bill Bright
Dr. Paul Cedar
Mr. Dave Coleman
Dr. Larry Crabb
Mr. Roger Cross
Rev. Samuel Farina
Dr. Kenneth O. Gangel
Rev. Lud Golz
Dr. Howard G. Hendricks
Mr. Olan Hendrix
Dr. David Jeremiah
Rev. Knute Larson
Dr. John C. Maxwell
Dr. Bruce McNicol
Mr. Dean Merrill
Mrs. Elisa Morgan
Dr. Ray Ortlund
Dr. Luis Palau
Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson
Rev. Wes Roberts
Mr. Jim Warren
Dr. Rick Warren

Publishers
David A. Martin
John S. Martin, III
Editor
Michael J. Chiapperino

Volume 1 . Issue 25

JESUS AMONG
OTHER GODS
The Absolute Claims
of the Christian Message

A Quick Focus
The Book's Purpose
Prove that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God
Defend the Christian message
by showing how it stands the
test of truth in an age of
pluralism
Analyze Jesus' treatment of
six key questions and compare
His responses with those
espoused by world religions
Demonstrate the importance
of establishing open, friendly
dialogue with those who hold
opposing views

The Book's Message

Tolerance prevails in postmodernism.
You can believe anything as long as you
don't declare it to be the sole truth; and
be sure to leave Jesus out of the picture.
How does the Christian bear witness of
God's truth when the prevailing mood is
pluralistic to a fault?

by Ravi Zacharias
Published by Word Publishing
Nashville
As it is contrasted with the teachings of Islam,
Hinduism, and Buddhism, the Christian message
is, in fact, distinctive. It stands up to historical
and intellectual scrutiny, regardless of the mood
of the day.
Jesus answered the significant questions posed
to him in such a way that no other claimant to
divine or prophetic status would have answered.
Some may resist His answers, but "antagonists
will not be able to challenge his uniqueness."

Seven Main Points

Foundations .............................................. 2
Where Do You Live? .................................. 2
What Sign Will You Show Us? ................... 3
How Can We Accept Such a Hard Saying?.. 4
Is God the Author of Pain and Suffering? .. 5
Arent You Going to Answer? ..................... 6
Who Is It You Are Looking For? ................. 7

VII

The Authors
Faith Story
An unpleasant confrontation with his father one night
led 16-year-old Ravi Zacharias
to an intense soul-searching
that eventually led to Jesus
Christ. The conflict reflected his
inner turmoil of meaninglessness.
Raised in the pantheistic culture of
India, he was taught that all religious
roads lead to the same destination.
Although he possessed great
respect for his family and a deep appreciation for his culture, it was a
combination of these two standards
that created difficulties. At home,
young Zacharias struggled with the
pressures of being an undisciplined
child with a highly successful father
who did not know how to help a
hurting son. In society, he was haunted by his inability to excel in a highly
competitive academic world.
Zacharias longed to find purpose in life. One day he attended
a youth event where the Christian
leader spoke on John 3:16. When
the speaker asked for people to come
to Christ, Ravi found himself walking to the front. He didn't understand
fully what he was doing, but he knew
that his life was empty and he needed help. He left that meeting knowing God was the answer, but not
knowing how to find Him.

Foundational
Observations
Jesus Christ is who He claimed
to be, the Son of God who came
to save the lost.
Truth is the casualty when one
tries to form a hybrid of eastern
and western religions.
All religions are not the same.
All cannot be true. Truth does
matter.
Every claim that Jesus made
presents a challenge to the
religions of the world.
Because Jesus is truly who He
claimed to be, the Chris-tian
faith is exclusive.

One day he cycled past a cremation site and asked the Hindu
priest where the cremated person
was now. The priest responded that
a person would never know the answer to that question. If a priest
didn't know, Zacharias thought, then
what hope could there be for him?

Where Do
You Live?

profound statement, Andrew simply

asked, "Where do you live?"

Andrew, who would become

a disciple, asked Jesus this question.
His question took place in John 1,
where Jesus came to the Jordan River
to be baptized. John the Baptist announced that He was the Lamb of
God who would take away the sins
of the world. Instead of probing this

Nathaniels
Encounter

The Setting for

the Question

In the East, a person's place

of residence is a defining indicator.
Everything that determines a person's
identity and future is tied to his heritage. How did Jesus answer Andrew's
question? He didn't give a street name~
He built intrigue by responding,
"Come and see."

Jesus' task was to move the disciples and us to think outside our
earthly boundaries; Nathaniel was
brought into the picture to clarify
this truth. Jesus' complete knowledge

His search for meaning led to despair,

and this troubled 17-year-old concluded that death was the best solution.
In the hospital room, following
his attempted suicide, someone sat
at the teenager's bed and read from
John 14. The words, "Because I live,
you shall live also," captured his attention. On his hospital bed, this
young man committed his life to
Jesus Christ; he left the hospital a
transformed man.

From then on, my

longings, my hopes,
my dreams, my every effort
has been to live for
Him who rescued me,
to study for Him who gave
me this mind, to serve
Him who fashioned my
will, and to speak for Him
who gave me a voice.

of him, including his innermost

thoughts, caused Nathaniel to proclaim, "Rabbi, you are the Son of
God; You are the King of Israel."
Jesus indicated that he would see
greater things and reminded them
of the story of Jacob.
Jacob learned that God could turn
any location into His house; Jesus
taught the disciples this same lesson.
They judged Him based on His parentage and His hometown
"He opened up to them the truth
that any earthly setting at which
He is present becomes the gateway
to heaven."
continued on page 3

Significant Truths
The real issue behind Andrew's
question is the realm of Jesus' existence. To ask where He was born is
to ask the when of His existence; God
transcends such categories. He had
no beginning, and He does not need
a place to live. No others who claim
divinity can make such an assertion~
they had a point of origin and a physical location where they lived.
Jesus did not introduce a religion.
He introduced the truth about reality
from God's point of view, challenging every culture on earth so that
we might gain this eternal perspective. When we come to Him, we can
do and be what we cannot do and
be on our own.

Contrast with
Other Religions
What are the evidences to support Jesus' claim of origin?
1. The Virgin Birth
Talk show host Larry King once
remarked that if he could choose
one person across history to interview, it would be Jesus. He would
ask Him one question: "Are you
indeed virgin born?" Jesus' answer
would explain human history for him.
Credibility is given to the truthfulness of the virgin birth in that it
was accurately prophesied hundreds
of years previous to the event. The
testimonies of Joseph and Mary and
Zacharias and Elizabeth also lend
credence. Perhaps the most astounding affirmation, however, came centuries later from those who adamantly opposed the Christian faith, Islam.
The Koran, written 600 years after
Jesus, states that Jesus was born of
a virgin.
Jesus' birth did not come by natural means. Can the same be said
of Mohammed, Buddha or Krishna?
No. It is an ironic contradiction that
Islam accepts the virgin birth, but
denies that Jesus is the Son of God.
Islam teaches that sexual union is
essential to give birth, and such a
union would demean God. Yet Islam
also teaches that its founding prophet had many sexual unions, all instigated by God.

2.

His Sinless Life

People from all faiths acknowledge that Jesus' life was the purest
ever lived. Mohammed had 11 wives,
and the Koran describes heaven as
"wine and women." Krishna's exploits with the milkmaids serve as
an embarrassment to Hindu scholars.
In the case of Buddha, his multiple
rebirths are an admission of previous
impure lives. Only Jesus emerges as
the perfectly sinless One.

authority to do all this?" He knew

they were not interested in the truth.
Jesus responded, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up again in
three days."

The Pretext

The pretext the skeptic brought

with his question reveals the conflict
of faith and reason. The absence of
signs was not what bothered the religious authorities~it was the message
behind the signs. For
Jesus to prove He was
For the disciples,
who He claimed to be
would eliminate their
Jesus answer to their simple
[the religious leaders']
question~Where do you
authority.

live?~was to lift them

beyond race and culture,
beyond wealth and power,
beyond time and distance
to make them true citizens
of the world, informed by
the world to come.

What Sign
Will You
Show Us?
One should not

categorically accept the claims of

Jesus without thoroughly testing
them. Many reject His claims due
to scarcity of evidence; actually, their
problem is suppression of evidence.

The Setting for

the Question

The second question is recorded

in John 2:12-22, the account where
Jesus drove the moneychangers from
the temple. The religious leaders demanded that Jesus produce a sign to
justify His action: "What miraculous
sign can you show us to prove your

"Sometimes, religion
can be the greatest roadblock to true spirituality."

The faith the Bible

speaks of is not antithetical to reason. It is "a
confidence in the person
of Jesus Christ and in His
power, so that even when
His power does not serve my end,
my confidence in Him remains because of who He is." For the Christian, faith is accepting the claims of
Christ, resulting in a commitment
of love to Him.
Naturalists like David Hume
contend that anything meaningful
must stand the test of mathematics
or science. From the naturalist's perspective, religion does not pass the
test, so it has no usefulness. The problem with this line of thinking is that
the test itself does not pass the test.
The world is full of skeptics who
attempt to rid the planet of everything related to religious faith. They
cling so hard to their skepticism that
they, ignoring the Bible's verifiable
claims, live in the darkness of unreason.

The Christians faith is

not a leap into the dark,
it is a well-placed trust
in the light~the Light of
the world, who is Jesus.
continued on page 4

WHAT SIGN WILL YOU SHOW US?

continued from page 3

The Text

Jesus responded to the demand

for a sign by saying, "Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise
it up." To rise from the dead would
be the greatest sign and ultimate
proof of His claim.

How Can We Accept

Such A Hard Saying?

Je
Among
Go

Jesus gave precise predictions

of the timing of His death and resurrection; and He pointed to a physical
resurrection, not just a spiritual one.
All the authorities had to do was produce the body, and His claims would
have been refuted.

The Context

Jesus' response took their

thoughts to a higher level than the
mere stones and mortar of the temple structure. He was talking about
the temple of the body, the place
where God seeks to dwell. We learn
more in this context what it means
to be human; the body is to be treated with respect and reverence.
All pantheistic religions, including New Age thinking, see the body
as an extension of the universe. Deepak Chopra is a good example. He
teaches a material commonality with
the universe and that in this cosmic
oneness we find our being and spiritual goals. His thinking defies logic
and violates the disciplines of science
and religion.
The bodily resurrection of Jesus
teaches us the value of every human
life, born and unborn. When this
value is lost, the result is society's
free fall into the degradation of pornography, abortion and violence. The
resurrection reminds us that the body
matters in the eternal realm, as well
as the temporal.
This context also reminds us that
worship rises above physical location.
No other religion makes this connection between the body and the temple.
We are God's temples. We do not go
to the temple to worship; we take
the temple with us. No higher compliment can be paid to the human
body than that it is the dwelling
place of God.

Too often the masses

left Jesus embracing the insignificant

but completely missing the real treasure. One obvious example lies in
Jesus' words: "This is my body...Take
eat." "This is my blood...Drink all
of it." His utterance, once understood,
stands in unique contrast to all other
religions.

The Setting for

the Question

The crowds challenged Jesus to

match the feat of Moses who fed the
people manna from heaven. His response amazed them. They asked,
"How can we accept such a hard
saying?" Jesus' words are repeated
in virtually every language; yet the
teaching is still difficult for many to
accept. His response was intended
to lift them to a higher understanding
about a deeper hunger-filled by different bread.

What prompted this crowd to

demand that Jesus call down food
from heaven (John had already recorded several miracles)? After the
miracle with the bread and fish, the
multitudes followed Him in hopes
of attaining the same power. Their
longing for this power prevented
them from seeing the need for soul
nourishment.

Two Previous
Accounts of Bread

In the wilderness Satan tempted

Jesus to turn the stones into bread.
The ability to provide food certainly
would be a relevant power. What
good was religion if it didn't feed
the hungry? Satan stalked Jesus with
this temptation throughout His ministry. It's called the politics of power
through abundance.

Published by Christian Book Summaries, Inc., 850 Morrison Road, Gahanna,

Ohio 43230, August 2000. Published monthly. Subscription $59.95 in the
United States; $64.95 in Canada; and, by airmail, $79.95 in all other countries.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Christian Book Summaries,
1550 Lewis Center Rd., Suite G, Lewis Center, OH 43035-9925

In another account, Jesus conversed with a Samaritan woman.

When the disciples invited Him to
eat, He indicated that His food was
to do the will of the Father, a mission
that exceeded appetites of the flesh.
He offered the woman Himself, the
bread of life.
"The transaction was fascinating.
She had come with a bucket. He
sent her back with a spring of
living water. She had come as a
reject. He sent her back being
accepted by God Himself."

The disciples missed the significance.

Lessons
on Hunger

Once again, in John 6, Jesus

dealt with the issue of hunger. People
possess many different hungers: for
truth, to belong, for significance, etc.
No one thing will satisfy all these
appetites; however, feeding on the
bread of life that Jesus offers is the
starting point for true satisfaction.

In every religion, there is a distinction between the teacher and

his teaching. Buddha does not deliver you; his Noble Truths instruct you.
For Mohammed, it is the Koran. For
Zoroaster, it is his ethics. Herein lies
the major difference with Jesus~He
and His message are identical. In
Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead. He doesn't just proclaim the
truth; He is the truth. He doesn't
just offer life's bread; He is the bread.

Our Greatest
Hunger

"Our greatest hunger, as Jesus described it, is for a consummate

relationship that combines the
physical and the spiritual, that
engenders both awe and love, and
that is expressed in celebration
and commitment."

Our greatest hunger is for worship, to love and reverence God. Jesus invited His followers to a communion with Him through the breaking of the bread. Jesus brings the
real answer to all of our brokenness.
After claiming to be the living bread
from heaven, He said, "This bread
is my flesh, which I will give for the
life of this world...I tell you the truth,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink His blood, you
have no life in you" (John 6:51, 53).

Is God the Author of

Pain and Suffering?
Questions about pain

sus
g Other
ods
The broken piece of bread represented His impending death. It
would be in His brokenness that true
mending would be possible; we
would be able to reconnect with God,
with one another, and with ourselves.
It was only after the resurrection
that the significance of the bread
became clear to His followers.
To this very day, believers sit
down with one another to share the
broken bread and cup. All of history
finds its meaning in this simple transaction. Every barrier between God
and man is broken.

Contrast with
Other Religions

"Communion" is the term used

by Christians for the sharing of the
bread and the cup. God comes near.
This act of worship signifies a life
filled with purpose. Comparing this
practice with other faiths, one notices
a diametric contrast.

Hinduism teaches that we are

part of the divine universe; therefore,
we are to seek unity with the divine.
We must discover that unity and
live it out. This system is self-deification at its core. This union with
the impersonal absolute does not
satisfy one's inner longing for communion.
Islam represents the other extreme, a religion that teaches a vast
distance between God and man. It
is a system made up of hundreds of
meticulous rules designed to bring
the worshiper close to God; but even
if the rules are followed, one's destiny in heaven is never certain.

and suffering have been around for

centuries. Although providing an
adequate explanation is a most daunting task, the Christian faith affords
the most comprehensive answer.

The Setting for

the Question

In John 9, Jesus encountered a

blind man. The disciples asked, "Who
sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?" Jesus responded, "Neither," and indicated that the
blindness had a higher purpose that
the work of God could be displayed
in this man's life.

The biblical worldview

is the only one that
accepts the reality of
evil and suffering while
giving both the cause
and the purpose, while
offering God-given
strength and sustenance
in the midst of it.

The Issue in
Perspective

The skeptic usually begins challenging the existence of God by

bringing up the "problem of evil."
The argument goes like this: "evil
exists; therefore, God does not exist."
The Christian sees evil more as a mystery than a problem. A problem seeks
answers, but a mystery strives to find
explanation.

At the heart of the mystery is the

question: How can a good and righteous God allow so much suffering
in the world? Any suitable answer
must deal with the anguish of the
heart and the reasoning of the mind.

"Answering the questions of the

mind while ignoring shredded emotions seems heartless. Binding the
emotional wounds while ignoring
the struggle of the intellect seems
mindless."

The best beginning point of such

a discussion is to determine the very
purpose of life. Until that issue is
resolved, any effort to solve the mystery of evil has no value. Why do we
exist? The skeptic argues that there
is no actual purpose for life.

Two Faulty
Arguments of
Skepticism

First, the skeptic argues that

God cannot exist because there
is too much evil in the world.
However, if evil exists, then
good must exist also; and to
admit that good exists implies
that there is a moral lawgiver
who has created the world as
such. The skeptic's argument
is filled with illogic.

Second, the skeptic asks,

"Why couldn't God have made
us all to choose good?" This
argument exposes a faulty view of
omnipotence. Just as God cannot
make square circles, neither can He
contradict His character. Love compelled is not really love; for love to
be love, it must have the freedom
to choose not to love. To be forced
to choose good leads to a non-human
existence.

Contrast with
Other Religions

Hinduism sees evil as an illusion,

thereby making it impossible to deal
with the problem of evil. Nonetheless, denying evil does not decrease
wickedness' effects. Hindu worship
is steeped in purification rites decontinued on page 6

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.CHRISTIANBOOKSUMMARIES.COM

IS GOD THE AUTHOR OF PAIN AND SUFFERING?

continued from page 5

signed to win God's favor. It seems

contradictory that this passion for
purity is perceived as real. Through
the stages of reincarnation, one attains absoluteness, an existence in
which infractions have been paid
for. The Bible teaches the contrary;
after death, opportunity ends, and
God brings judgment
Reincarnation also dominates
the Buddhist belief system. The Buddhist answer to the question about
the blind man would be that both
the man and his parents sinned. He
suffered because of sin in his past
life; his parents inherited this situation. To abolish evil, one must obliterate desire. Buddha himself claimed
that his life would be his last existence because he had reached complete desirelessness.
"But if desirelessness is the ultimate nirvana, would it then be
safe to say that in that state there
is not even the desire to see evil
come to an end?"

The Christian
Response to Evil:
Six Elements
(1) God is the author of life.
In Him all goodness dwells. He is
not only good; He is holy. The opposite of absolute evil is absolute holiness. All purity finds its reference
in Him. Every life is sacred and is
important, even when pain and suffering are present.

(2) God has a script.

Otherwise, we live in a sea of nothingness. Every event in life must be
interpreted in light of the bigger picture of God's story for our life. Once
the bigger picture is understood, the
smaller subplots make sense.

(3) Love is wedded to the

sacred. Love that is not tied
to the sacred is insufficient to carry
us through life's trials. Goodness and
love alone do not make up life's goal;
the goal is worship even when life
is filled with pain.

Only when
holiness and
worship meet can
evil be conquered.
For that, only the
Christian message
has the answer.

(4) The cross is the centerpiece of the story.

The cross demonstrates evil at its
worst, and the ability to withstand
suffering even when it is undeserved.
It teaches how God changes hearts
from evil to holy. One must see in
the cross and beyond it in order to
put evil in perspective.

"It is only the one who died for

our sin who can explain to us what
evil is, not the skeptics."

(5) Evil is an internal reality.

The skeptic may deliver tirades about
all the evil in the world. Is he just
as concerned about the evil within
his own heart? The problem of evil
begins with the individual.

(6) Blindness to the sacred

is at the root of all evil.
Meaninglessness does not come from
the onslaught of pain. It comes from
futility of pleasure. When one resists
God's holiness, he becomes engulfed
in spiritual blindness. The only solution is the transformation of the human heart~and that begins at the
cross. Often it is through the experience of evil and suffering that God
restores spiritual sight and one is
able to understand the mystery more
clearly.

Arent You Going

to Answer?
The religious leaders were caught between their own laws and the laws
of Rome. In order to accomplish their desired objective~crucifixion~they
would have to convince Pontius Pilate that Jesus represented a serious threat
to Caesar.

The Setting for the Question

The court proceedings for Jesus' trial made a mockery of justice. Flung
from Annas to Caiaphas to Pilate to Herod and back to Pilate, Jesus refused
to speak in His own defense. Pilate marveled at His silence. "So again Pilate
asked Him, 'Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of!' But Jesus made no reply, and Pilate was amazed."
Previous to His silence, Pilate asked if He was really the King of the Jews.
Jesus countered with a question, in essence asking him if he sincerely sought
the truth. Neither the religious leaders nor Pilate were interested in the truth.
Skeptics today reject truth because of their own prejudices. Tens of thousands
of university students have been trained to disbelieve in God without considering the evidences.

Four Occasions of Silence

On the trail to the cross, the Gospels record four distinct instances of
Jesus remaining silent before His accusers; God teaches us wonderful lessons
in them.

(1) The silence of goodness amidst orchestrated evil.

Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin and heard conflicting testimony.

Yet He remained silent.
continued on page 7

ARENT YOU GOING TO ANSWER? continued from page 6

"Anytime evil becomes organized, its ferocity breathes the air of hell...It
cannot be stopped until it has accomplished its purpose."

(2) The silence of perception.

In the presence of Pilate, as the high priests continued their charges of treason, Jesus remained silent. Evil wore the cloak of morality. Nothing that
Jesus could have said would have changed their minds. They were experts
at manipulating the law for their own ends.

(3) The silence of consistency.

Jesus appeared before Herod and a mob of mockers who hoped to see a sideshow. Herod pumped Him with questions, but Jesus remained silent. By His
silence, He demonstrated that the most effective means of combating slander
is to simply refuse to provide answers.
(4) The silence of fulfilled mission.

Pilate was afraid when he heard Jesus claim to be the Son of God. When he
asked where Jesus came from, He remained silent. His silence throughout
the unjust trial fulfilled Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 53:7). He was silent for our sake, and now on our behalf He stands before the Father.

Contrast with Other Religions

Jesus' silence reveals three very significant differences that make the
Christian faith unique.
The first is conversion. The only way a person can know God is by a
personal choice to allow Jesus to rule in his life. In our world of tolerance, many get angry when a believer indicates that people are "lost"
if they are not Christians.

To ask the
The second difference is
compulsion. To compel
Christian not
someone to become a
Christian goes contrary
to reach out ot
to the teaching of Jesus.
anyone else who is
His method was to touch
the heart so that one refrom another faith
sponds out of a willing
love. There are Islamic
is to ask that
countries where it is ilChristian to deny
legal to proclaim Jesus
Christ; one runs the risk
his own faith.
of death if he rejects Islam.
Christianity must not resort
to the sword in order to spread its message. Contrast this with the practice of Mohammed, who promoted the use of warfare as an integral part
of Islamic faith.
The third difference is revelation. Although Jesus was silent, still He
spoke. He has spoken in His Word, the Scriptures. To the Muslim, the
Koran is the perfect revelation of Allah. Yet the many grammatical flaws
and variations have sent even the best of Islamic scholars scrambling.
Hindu revelation also stands on shaky ground.
Many authors wrote the Bible over a period of 1500 years. Their message
pointed to the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God's Son. To
have a unified message over that span of time is miraculous.

Who Is It
You Are
Looking
For?

In this final chapter,

the question is actually posed on behalf of Jesus to His followers.

The Setting for

the Question
When Mary went to the garden
where Jesus' tomb was located, she
encountered someone she thought
was the gardener. He asked, "Why
are you crying? Who is it you are
looking for?"
Through the years, philosophers
have used parables of gardens to discuss the issue of God's existence.
With the garden representing the
universe, the underlying question
is this: Is there a gardener responsible for the garden? The uniqueness
of Jesus can be summarized around
the discussion of four garden scenes.

The First Garden

The Bible begins with "In the
beginning." In God's order, man and
woman lived in a context of beauty,
relationship, and stewardship. To
the atheist, the idea of God's creation
is a mockery because of the absence
of scientific verification.
"On the other extreme is the theist
who tries to make the record of
creation look like a cosmologist's
dissertation and then struggles to
defend it."
No portion of Scripture was ever
designed with the purpose of satisfying the scientific mind.
Genesis was not written to prove
how long it took for God to create
continued on page 8

Whereas in the first garden the

question was whether or not God
had actually spoken, the second garden deals with whether what He said
could be construed to mean something other than what He meant. The
setting is the garden of the wilderness where Satan tempted Jesus.
With each temptation, Satan
challenged Jesus to play God and
do things His own way. Eden gave
birth to humanism; the wilderness
gave birth to religion without truth.
Society cannot exist without moral
law. If God has not spoken, then man
creates his own morality, attainable
by one's own efforts. This is exactly
what the New Age Movement has
done~"a personalized religion with
an impersonal God."

The Third Garden

At a desolate moment in His
mission, Jesus knelt in Gethsemane.
There was no easy way out. His mission would lead to a cross.

After Jesus died, His enemies,

tuned in to His prediction that He
would rise again, placed a 24-hour
sentry around the tomb.
John 19-20 reports how the
disciples discovered the body was
gone. After they left, Mary lingered
and wept. Jesus appeared to her and
called her name, "Mary." What a
moment that must have been; the resurrected Lord of the universe called
Mary by her name. It is understandable why she reached out to touch
Him~God is relational and personal.
Mary thought she had found Jesus. Actually Jesus had come looking
for her. Only those who have experienced the bondage of sin and a life
devoid of meaning can fully comprehend the liberating power of the
cross in the moment when Jesus
finds them.
"Perhaps if our naturalists would
stop looking only for a gardener,
they might be surprised at who
they would find, or should I say,
at who finds them. They might
actually hear Him call them by
name also...."

To Our Subscribers:
Issues 23, 24, and 25 will be the final Christian Book Summaries
published in print form. We are pleased to announce that the
printed version will be replaced by a downloadable e-mail version,
offered free of charge, this fall. Log on to our website at
www.christianbooksummaries.com for more details about this
exciting new development.

XII

IIIIIIII

III

XI

II

II
II

The Second
Garden

The Fourth
Garden

II

In the first garden,

God spoke and
humanity denied
that He had,
Humanism was
born and Man
became the source
of meaning.

He came to lay down

His life so that the very
ones who killed Him,
who represented all of
us, could be forgiven
because of the price
that He paid in the hell
of a world that does not
recognize His voice.

the universe. It was written to show:

God is the Creator; the world was
formed with intelligent, spiritual
human beings in mind; life is designed to be lived through companionship; and man is a moral entity.

He suffered the cruelest death

possible. But Jesus did not die as a
martyr would die for a cause; He died
to forgive.

Christian
Book
ummaries

XI

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

WHAT IS IT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?

continued from page 7

Volume 1, Number 25
Publishers
David A. Martin
John S. Martin, III
Editor
Michael J. Chiapperino
Christian Book Summaries is published
by Christian Book Summaries, Inc., 850
Morrison Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230.
U.S. Copyright C 2000 by Christian
Book Summaries, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any form without the
copyright owner's written permission is
prohibited.
The mission of Christian Book Summaries
is to enhance the ministry of thinking
Christians by providing thorough and
readable summaries of noteworthy books
from Christian publishers.
The opinions expressed are those
of the original writers and are not
necessarily those of Christian Book
Summaries or its Council of Reference.
Customer Service: Annual subscription
rate is $59.95 U.S. for 30 issues. Address
new subscription requests, change of
address notices, questions about billing
or missed issues to:
Christian Book Summaries
Subscription Services
1550 Lewis Center Rd, Suite G
Lewis Center, OH 43035-9925
To order a subscription, call toll-free
1-877-560-9900.
The author: Ravi Zacharias is president
of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
Born in India and educated at Cambridge,
he has lectured in several of the world's
most prominent universities, as well as
in more than 50 countries. He broadcasts
a weekly radio program, "Let My People
Think."
Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias, copyright C 2000 by Ravi Zacharias.
Summarized by permission of the publisher,
Word Publishing, Nashville, TN. ISBN
0-8499-1437-X. $19.99. This book is available at most bookstores, at any online bookseller (such as Amazon.com or Parable.com)
or by calling Word Publishing at 1-800251-4000. You may also visit the Word
website at www.wordpublishing.com.