Ravi Zacharias, who passed away a few months ago, is famous for his contribution on analysing worldviews. A worldview, according to Zacharias, is a set of assumptions a person has made, through which all decisions in life are made. Since our worldview has so much riding on it, it MUST be tested to determine whether it is true or false. Zacharias proposed 3 tests to see if one’s worldview is sustainable or not:
- Logical Consistency – does my worldview contradict itself at points?
- Empirical adequacy – can it be verified through history, archaeology, etc.?
- Experiential Relevance – does it add to my life, or is it simply an abstract theory?
The beauty of the Christian religion is it meets all 3 criteria:
- Even though it is the most studied book in history, no one has been able to prove the Bible contradicts itself; otherwise its adherents would have abandoned it. Buddhism on the other hand teaches a rejection of all desire (for without desire there is no suffering). Yet the Dalai Lama DESIRES the liberation of Tibet. There is a logical inconsistency in Buddhism.
- The gospel of Jesus Christ is historically verifiable, including the resurrection. The body was never produced, even though the Jewish and Roman authorities had reason to find it. We have no records of anyone questioning the 500 people who witnessed the resurrected Jesus.
- The Bible brings relevance to life in all the most vital pursuits that humans engage in. In contrast, Hinduism holds to a cast system, in which if you’re born into the wrong family lineage, you will never be able to better yourself.
As someone who has spent decades studying the Christian religion, can I recommend giving it a deeper look. No one has ever regretted asking a few more questions about Jesus.
