Sunday Quote: Ravi Zacharias on Evidence

"Ultimately, the problem with man is not the absence of evidence, it is the suppression of it."

- Ravi Zacharias

How do you know that Christianity is the one true worldview? by Ravi Zacharias

Enjoy this video by Ravi Zacharias (RZIM) on the question: How do you know that Christianity is the one true worldview? Exclusivity is one of the most popular charges leveled against the Christian faith. Here, author and apologist Ravi Zacharias and RZIM speaker John Njoroge challenge the assumption that Christianity is alone in making exclusive claims.

Ravi Zacharias Interview Transcript

The following transcript is from an Apologetics 315 interview with Ravi Zacharias. Original audio here. Transcript index here. If you enjoy transcripts, please consider supporting, which makes this possible.

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BA: Hello, this is Brian Auten of Apologetics315. Today’s interview is with Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is perhaps one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time, and is a notable author, speaker, and communicator. He has spoken all over the world, and numerous universities, to heads of state, and to government officials around the globe. He is the author of over twenty books, including Can Man live Without God?, The Real Face of Atheism, Has Christianity Failed You?, and his most recent, which we’ll be talking a bit about today, Why Jesus?: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality. The purpose of today’s interview is to learn a bit more from Ravi’s experience as an apologist, discuss his most recent book, and get his advice for being a better apologist. Dr. Zacharias, thank you so much for joining me today.

RZ: Happy to be with you Brian, thank you for having me on.

Ravi Zacharias on the Problem of Evil

"When you say there's too much evil in this world you assume there's good. When you assume there's good, you assume there's such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. But if you assume a moral law, you must posit a moral Law Giver, but that's Who you're trying to disprove and not prove. Because if there's no moral Law Giver, there's no moral law. If there's no moral law, there's no good. If there's no good, there's no evil. What is your question?"

—Ravi Zacharias

In response to the objection, "There cannot be a God, because there is too much evil in this world."
Can Man Live Without God?, p. 182 [HT]

Book Review: The Grand Weaver by Ravi Zacharias

Zacharias introduces The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives (Paperback, Kindle, Audio CD) by preparing an analogy. He takes the reader on a descriptive journey to a place in India where saris are made. These large masterpieces are woven thread-by-thread, line-by-line in a painstaking process. These can take weeks and even months to complete. The entire time, the weaver has a single design in his mind that he wishes to create. Every weave that he does, though individually they may seem insignificant, contribute to the whole. Over time, the design takes shape and becomes more evident. As the title of the book indicates, Zacharias wishes to use the weaving of a magnificent sari to illustrate God's design and purposes for what He has chosen to and allows to take place in our lives.

Chapter 1: Your DNA Matter
In the first chapter, Zacharias focuses on the physical attributes that God has chosen for each person. He explains how our DNA allows for each person to be physically unique. He explains that even certain outcomes that we believe to be crippling (physically or mentally) are not flaws in the design, but are set for a reason—all part of God's design for the individual's life. As an example he points to a young man who is a weaver yet seems to have mental challenges. Not everyone's purpose is the same, so God is not going to give every person the same tools. We shouldn't complain about what God has given us, but use what He has given us.

Critical Thinking: A Christian Essential by Ravi Zacharias

In order to properly address questions about life, meaning, and faith, Christians need be critical thinkers. But what does that look like? On the Just Thinking radio broadcast and podcast, Ravi Zacharias discusses the importance of critical thinking. Listen to it in three parts, linked below.

Critical Thinking: A Christian Essential
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

Enjoy.

Ravi Zacharias on Tolerance

"The truth is that all religions are not the same. All religions do not point to God. All religions do not say that all religions are the same. In fact, some religions do not even believe in God. At the heart of every religion is an uncompromising commitment to a particular way of defining who God is or is not. Buddhism, for example, was based on Buddha's rejection of two of Hinduism's fundamental doctrines. Islam rejects both Buddhism and Hinduism. So it does no good to put a halo on the notion of tolerance and act as if everything is equally true. In fact, even all-inclusive religions such as Bahaism end up being exclusivistic by excluding the exclusivists!"

—Ravi Zacharias

“Why I Believe Jesus Christ Is the Ultimate Source for Meaning,” in Why I Am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe, ed. Norman L. Geisler and Paul K. Hoffman (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 268.

Book Review: Why Jesus? by Ravi Zacharias

A new spirituality has crept into our culture, and spiritual truth, specifically the truth about Christ is often its target. In today’s culture, young and old alike are bombarded from many directions by false teachings about spiritual matters. Many in the Western society are departing from traditional beliefs to embrace a New Spirituality rooted in Eastern mysticism as our culture seeks to be less “religious” and more “spiritual.”

In his latest book, Why Jesus?: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality, Dr. Ravi Zacharias shows why Jesus alone is the Truth in a world of spiritual relativism. Having been born and raised in India, Ravi Zacharias provides a unique perspective as he defines what the New Spirituality is, how it came to have such an influence in Western society, and examines the teachings of its primary advocates.

Apologist Interview: Ravi Zacharias

Today's interview is with Ravi Zacharias, perhaps one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time. (Bio here.) He is author of over twenty books, and his most recent is Why Jesus: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality. In this interview he talks his new book, the "new spirituality," secularism and spiritual hunger, how the media can make a lie seem like the truth, how we arrived at the new spirituality, Deepak Chopra and Oprah, avoiding the dangers of the new spirituality, reasons for hostility against Christianity, how people "reshape" Jesus, the most frequent misconceptions about Jesus, advice for Christian apologists, the hardest lesson to learn when defending the faith, planning devotions, pitfalls to guard against, the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and more.

Full Interview MP3 Audio here (30 min)

Books by Ravi Zacharias include:
• Why Jesus: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality
• Can Man Live Without God?
• The Real Face of Atheism
• Has Christianity Failed You?
• Jesus Among Other Gods
Enjoy.
Subscribe to the Apologetics 315 Interviews podcast here or in iTunes.

Free Book Drawing: Why Jesus by Ravi Zacharias

Today Apologetics 315 will be giving away a copy of Ravi Zacharias' new book: Why Jesus?: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality. From the press release: "Zacharias examines the impact of cultural figures such as Shirley Maclaine, authors James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy), Rhonda Byrne (The Secret), Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), books by Eckart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, the Dali Lama and Marianne Williamson, among others. Paying particular attention to the influence of Oprah Winfrey, Why Jesus? equips readers with facts dispelling New Age teachings and instead outlines why Christianity is the only true path."
Sound like something you want to read or give to a friend or family member?

Joel Won the Drawing! Congrats.

Book Review: Can Man Live Without God? by Ravi Zacharias

Can Man Live Without God (Kindle Edition) is a treatment by Ravi Zacharias of the philosophical issue of meaning and the psychological issue of despair. The book is separated into three parts and spans 179 pages. This review is intended to give a chapter-by-chapter summary of the contents of the book, but the review only scratches the surface of Zacharias' intent of the book.

Part 1: Antitheism Is Alive And Deadly
Chapter 1: Anguish in Affluence
Zacharias begins the book by setting a foundation for the reason behind the book and his philosophical method. He shows how a person's view of God influences that person's entire life- from what they believe about everything else to how they act. If they get their understanding of God incorrect, then their beliefs and actions will be antithetical to reality. He also shows that he believes philosophy takes place on three levels: through logic- and reason- based arm-chair theory, through the emotional artistic productions, and through everyday, practical, "dinner table" application. He appeals to each by using the first for raw argumentation, the second for illustration and examples, and the third for relevance to our lives. His goal is to appeal to all three levels throughout the book, so that the reader may be able to understand his argument at all the levels and be able to communicate it likewise to others at all three levels.

Book Review: Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias

Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias addresses the uniqueness of Jesus Christ among the world religions. Its subtitle: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message. Zacharias gives the reader a complete picture of what his goal is in the introduction, namely, the testing of the truth claims of Christianity over and against world religions: “The reality is that if religion is to be treated with intellectual respect, then it must stand the test of truth, regardless of the mood of the day. This book is a defense of the uniqueness of the Christian message.” (Intro) The author’s goal is clear, as is his approach: “The route I have followed is to present a clear difference between Jesus and any other claimant to divinity or prophetic status. I have taken six questions that Jesus answered in a way that none other would have answered.” (Intro)

Sunday Quote: Ravi Zacharias on World Religions

"Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones. Every religion at its core is exclusive."

- Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods, p. 7

Sunday Quote: Ravi Zacharias on Jesus

"The character of Jesus has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the strongest incentive in its practice, and has exerted so deep an influence, that it may be truly said that the simple record of three years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers and all the exhortations of moralists."

- Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods, p. 4

Ravi Zacharias and John Lennox Discuss Stephen Hawking's Ideas in the Grand Design

In his recent Just Thinking Podcast, Ravi Zacharias and John Lennox discussed Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's book The Grand Design. Entitled God and Science: Stephen Hawking's False Choice, the consider some of the ideas and issued raised by Hawking. Intro pages for each audio come in four parts: 1, 2, 3, 4. Or get the straight audio:

• Part 1 MP3 • Part 2 MP3 • Part 3 MP3 • Part 4 MP3

Enjoy

Featured Videos by Ravi Zacharias

Today's featured videos come from Ravi Zacharias. His podcasts and other resources can be found here. His youtube channel can be found here.

• Why the Bible? Ravi at the University of Illinois
• Politics and religion - where should the two intersect?
• The Law of Non-Contradiction and the Trinity
• What are the boundaries of beauty?
• Is Western culture deteriorating?
• Compulsion in religion and the freedom to disbelieve
• Postmodernism: is it a new idea?
• Maintaining a Godly Perspective in the Classroom
• Atheism, Feminism, and the Bible
• How to approach people in non-adversarial ways with the Gospel

More youtube videos of Ravi Zacharias can be found here.
Enjoy.

Book Review: The Real Face of Atheism by Ravi Zacharias

The Real Face of Atheism by Ravi Zacharias is a book written with the familiar signature style of the author: profound in depth, focused on the ultimate issues of life, engaging and immersive with illustrations, and challenging to the heart. Anyone who has heard Zacharias speak can appreciate the flowing gracefulness of his words and the clarity of his thought. In this book, the author engages the subject of atheism in a similar fashion – although, for this reviewer, it lacks the same impact on the written page. This will be a very brief reflection on the general content.

Sunday Quote: Ravi Zacharias on Implications of Belief and Disbelief

"Nothing, absolutely nothing, has a more direct bearing on the moral choices made by individuals or the purposes pursued by society than belief or disbelief in God."1

- Ravi Zacharias

1 Ravi Zacharias, The Real Face of Atheism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004), p. 21.

What was last year's post? See here.

Is Atheism Dead, Is God Alive? MP3 Audio by Ravi Zacharias

sIn this talk at Harvard University, Ravi Zacharias digs into the philosophy of atheism and addresses the question, "Is atheism dead, is God alive?" This four part series on MP3s is from Ravi's Just Thinking Podcast. Find a lengthier talk here at Veritas, as well as an audio Q&A here. This has also been added to the Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio Page. For more on atheism from Ravi, check out his book The Real Face of Atheism.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Enjoy.

What was last year's post? See here.

Theism & Atheism: Points of Tension

Ravi Zacharias points out that the most important question shared by theists and atheists is the one of how we should live. Zacharias presents a case for why atheists have no acceptable answer for this question, while arguing that Christianity presents a satisfying answer. Found at Veritas.

Full MP3 Audio here. (77 minutes)

Enjoy.