Other Religions Point to Jesus

as I investigated Jesus's influence on the Fallout of the Common Era I began to notice the impact Jesus had not just on education Art and Science but also on other religions even those who rejected the claims of Christianity consider for a moment the appearance of Jesus in history his explosive entry on our timeline was preceded by the fuse we've already discussed after Jesus inaugurated Christianity several other world religions and spiritual World Views also appeared on the timeline in the Fallout including Islam Baha'i and New Age spirituality would it surprise you to discover that the religions that followed Jesus in history modified themselves in response to him mentioned his life in Ministry or even merged him into their worldview probably not we should expect Jesus to appear in other theistic systems based on his Global influence but what about the religious systems that preceded Jesus in history it would be even more surprising to discover these ancient religions also modified mentioned or merged Jesus into their worldviews as it turns out that's exactly what they did you'd be justified in asking how could these earlier religions acknowledge or include Jesus if he hadn't yet been born while it's true the earliest worshipers of these deities knew nothing about Jesus by the time these Faith systems progressed into the Common Era they found themselves accommodating Jesus in one manner or another some responded by modifying their practices and beliefs to mimic Christianity some simply mentioned Jesus and others found a way to merge him into their worldview let's begin by examining the response of religions that precede in Jesus in history Hinduism traces its roots back to the Iron Age of India from the 12th to 6th centuries BCE modern Hindus acknowledge Jesus and have merged him into their worldview Hindus considered Jesus asadu and acharya believing him to be a holy man and a teacher often calling him an Ishu or Hindu saint by acknowledging him in this way 1.16 billion Hindus throughout the globe have had the opportunity to hear about Jesus even if just within the context of Hinduism let's turn now to Buddhism most Buddhists acknowledge and respect Jesus's self-sacrificial life for this reason many refer to Jesus as an enlightened man and wise teacher even more significant the current Dalai Lama tenzine gyotso has described Jesus as a bodhisattva a term used to describe someone who is on the journey toward buddhahood but has delayed his journey to Nirvana out of compassion for others who are suffering Buddhist leaders have also written publicly about biblical accounts of the life of Jesus 506 million Buddhists knows something about Jesus of their leaders but there's more while it's true that many of the religious systems preceding Christianity modified mentioned or emerged Jesus into their worldview the religions that follow Jesus also Incorporated Jesus in one way or another the Islamic faith was founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the early 7th Century Muhammad claimed that while Jewish prophets in Jesus were true prophets of God monotheism had been corrupted by Judaism and Christianity he intended to restore it as a result Muslims acknowledge much about Jesus even though they reinterpret the New Testament to suit their purposes Muslims believe Jesus is a prophet worthy of reverence is a messenger of God is the Messiah will sit beside God during final judgment and will return again in the future 1.9 billion Muslims know something about Jesus based on how he is described in the Quran bahala the founder of the Baha'i faith claimed to be a messenger in manifestation of God because of his perspective about religious history baha'u'llah accepted many of the claims of Christianity and also affirmed and mentioned many characteristics about Jesus but even though baha'u'llah reinterprets all of these things in his own way it's clear that Jesus matters deeply to the 5 million Baha'i throughout the globe and that isn't all other Faith systems like the Hare Krishna movement and the New Age movement seek to integrate Jesus in some way the impact of Jesus on global Faith systems cannot be overestimated if every new testament manuscript were destroyed we would still be able to reconstruct the essential truths of Jesus from the common acknowledgments of competing religious systems if you wanted to remove any trace of Jesus from human history you'd also have to scrub the scriptures and statements of religious people all over the world Jesus deeply matters to religious people everywhere even if they do not claim a Christian identity consider for a moment the impact Jesus had on the world even in regions dominated by non-Christian worldviews roughly 5.89 billion non-christians today know something about Jesus even if they've never read a page in the New Testament virtually every corner of the known world has heard about Jesus in one way or another from non-Christian scriptures for people who are interested in God spirituality or religion Jesus is a great place to start you'll find him on more than the pages of the New Testament I thought about the way in which other religions have recognized Jesus when I was reading one of Jesus's most significant claims in John 14 6 Jesus said no one comes to the father except through me Jesus didn't make room for other religions other gods or paths to Salvation he didn't accommodate them in any way he never even referred to them while the person of Jesus infiltrated other religious worldviews none of the Gods prophets Mystics or leaders of these other systems managed to penetrate the worldview taught by Jesus the religions of the world made room for Jesus but Jesus never budged maybe this was because all the other religions aren't true I found myself back at the beginning wondering how that Pastor could be so confident that Jesus mattered maybe it was because the pastor knew something about the fuse in the Fallout of the Common Era maybe he knew Christianity was true [Music] the more I studied this evidence the more I began to question all my presuppositions about Jesus in the New Testament the things I valued most as an atheist and as a creative you know literature arts music education science had been forever changed by the explosive impact of Jesus there is simply no denying this truth Jesus and his followers transformed the development of these disciplines take a look at all the historical figures from the first century Nero Josephus Heron Virgil dionysius or other significant national leaders from all of history like Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan or Julius Caesar or Charlemagne or other myths deities or religious leaders from history like Osiris or Zeus or Buddha or Gandhi why was it that Jesus had more impact on human history than anyone else think about it Jesus was born in a tiny irrelevant town in the Roman Empire he had to walk from one place to the next and never travel more than 200 miles from the town where he grew up he had none of the resources people used today to make an impact no social media no podcast audience no website he didn't even have the resources people used in the first century to make an impact he never held a political office never ruled a nation never LED an army or never penned a book his family was insignificant the local suspected he was an illegitimate son his mother was a poor peasant woman and his father couldn't afford much Jesus didn't receive an expensive education never married and never had shelter and never owned a home and didn't possess much more than the clothes on his back as an adult his ministry lasted just three short years public opinion turned against him most of his followers abandoned him one betrayed him another denied him he was rejected by the religious hunted by the powerful mocked and persecuted by his enemies he suffered an unfair trial was publicly humiliated was brutally beaten and unduly executed in the most horrific way and then the few followers who remained had to borrow a grave to bury him yet this was the man who changed history inaugurated the Common Era and forever transformed human culture how is it possible that a single man a man like Jesus could have this kind of impact

Channel: Cold-Case Christianity - J. Warner & Jimmy Wallace

Views: 186,360

Keywords: evidence god, proof for god, apologetics god, proof of god, god's existence, is god real, does god exist, willian lane craig, christian apologetics, science points to god, math points to god, science and the bible agree, Proof of God, do all religions lead to god, what if all religions lead to god, do all religions believe in the same god, do all religions lead to the same god, do all religions believe in jesus, what if jesus was in all religions, Is Jesus Real?, Jesus life

Id: XUOM42eUwIs

Length: 9min 32sec (572 seconds)

Published: Wed May 17 2023