Dear Friends,
I'm finishing up teaching a course on
Understanding Paganism in America to some students at BTS. Paganism as a whole embraces Polytheism( many gods ) and Pantheism( all is God ) in a monistic( all is one ) or non-binary worldview. It did not take the students long to recognize some of its elements fueling a socialistic bent penetrating various contours of our society.
For the Fall semester at BTS I'll be teaching on
World Religions. I'm often asked, "Why are there so many
different religions"? The answer can be quite simple: "Because religions are
different!" Religions differ in how they define God or ultimate authority, reality, sin or the human problem and its solution or salvation. Although there are similarities in many, the differences in religions often are the reasons why people choose one religion over another.
We live in a day and age of many instead of one. This is what we call religious pluralism- a concept that basically believes all people are children of God and all religious paths ultimately lead to the same God no matter what religion it may be. In other words, no one way is better than the other, which assumes that we can approach God in any way we want. For more on Religious Pluralism see
A Little Knowledge, A Dangerous Thing?
This begs the question. What is the purpose of religion. Supposedly, religions are there to help answer life's questions: Who am I? How did I get here? Why am I here? When this life is over, then what? These bring us to another question. Which religion does the best job answering such questions? It is the one which best corresponds to truth and reality. And, you guessed it! Truth and reality are defined differently by different religions. However, for the Christian, the confirmation of truth and reality has been clearly met in the historical bodily resurrection of its savior, Jesus Christ. Only in Christianity do you find the God of its religion dying for His followers and proving that by rising from the dead.
Here are some of the World Religions covered in the course:
Judaism, Islam and its offshoots,
Hinduism and
Buddhism with their Animistic beliefs,
Confucianism &
Chinese Religions,
Shinto and
Japanese Religions,
Janism &
Sikhism, Taoism, and the
New Age Movement. We will take a look at how these answer life's questions contrasted to Biblical Christianity according to beliefs and practices. As a result, the student will be better equipped to give an answer for the hope they have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15).
Birmingham Theological Seminary
( BTS ) has its main campus at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham with several extension campuses throughout the state. It is a great place to get your theological training and is very cost effective. Call them at (205) 776-5650 if you're interested in a great way to study this Fall or anytime.
In Christ,
Clete
Rev. Clete Hux, Director
Apologetics Resource Center
