{"id":79,"date":"2018-11-06T16:30:13","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T00:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=79"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:41:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:41:03","slug":"is-buddhism-all-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/is-buddhism-all-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Buddhism All Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Is Buddhism All Bad?<\/span><\/div>\n

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Key Passage:<\/strong>\u00a0John 1<\/p>\n

Key Thought:<\/strong>\u00a0All world religions contain noble elements of truth. We should respect our brothers and sisters from other faith backgrounds. However, only the Christian faith offers the gift of grace and salvation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Introductory Story:<\/strong>\u00a0Philip Yancey tells about a religious conference where great scholars were discussing the comparative difference between the world\u2019s great religions. There\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0a number of similarities: moral codes to follow, legends about life after death, various \u201cincarnation accounts\u201d about how some form of God-in-human-form was suddenly among us here on earth. C. S. Lewis wandered into the room, wondering what the debate was about. \u201cWhat is Christianity\u2019s unique contribution or advantage?\u201d He answered instantaneously. \u201cOh, that\u2019s easy. It\u2019s grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counterpoint:<\/strong>\u00a0Buddhism is\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0all bad, all false. There\u2019s much truth to be found in this Eastern faith embraced by millions. It teaches peace and holy living, respect for one\u2019s neighbour. \u201cTurn the other cheek\u201d is truly as Buddhist as it is Christian. Buddhist writings describe the three poisons of greed, anger, and stupidity\u2014and how to focus one\u2019s mind away from such illnesses, or the workings of \u201cdevils from within.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dilemma:<\/strong>\u00a0When we consider the problem of sin, the need for forgiveness, our yearning for a Savior . . . the philosophies of Buddhism run dry. Except for the endless cycles of karma, a slow balancing of the scales by living through many reincarnated lives of pain and sorrow and lessons learned over and over again, Buddhism has no answer for the sin problem of man.<\/p>\n

Media References:<\/strong>\u00a0The Ten Challenges<\/em>, by Dr. Leonard Felder, explores the Ten Commandments from a common variety of faith perspectives: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, New Age. From his background as a skilled psychiatrist, he shows how the Decalogue is an exceptional blueprint for successful living in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

Dr. Laura Schlessinger co-wrote, with Rabbi Stewart Vogel,\u00a0The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God\u2019s Laws in Everyday Life.<\/em>\u00a0This controversial radio personality, who calls herself \u201cAmerica\u2019s Mommy,\u201d dispenses practical Bible wisdom in these 320 pages. There\u2019s very little a Christian would argue with. Both of these volumes lift up the Sabbath is a healing tool.<\/p>\n

Singular Advantage:<\/strong>\u00a0However, Christianity\u2019s unique plus is eloquently expressed by John the Baptist at the Jordan River. He\u2019s baptizing people who have come to see in themselves a sin problem. They don\u2019t need psychiatry or radio advice. They need release from the guilt of their human depravity. These fishermen, housewives, teenagers and Roman soldiers look into the crude mirrors of Judean life and know they are sinners. They know they need cleansing. John sees his own Cousin approaching. Pointing to the Man they\u2019re already calling the Messiah, he announces:\u00a0Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Crucial Difference:<\/strong>\u00a0The world needs a\u00a0Redeemer.<\/em>\u00a0Christianity offers six billion sinners a release from sin, amazing grace that comes from Jesus the Lamb.<\/p>\n

Not Another Philosophy.<\/strong>\u00a0Even C. S. Lewis once observed that if Christianity was just one more philosophy or sociological theory about how to get along, then it is of no importance. New formulas come along all the time; brilliant new preachers show up constantly. If we want more Beatitudes, we could hire Hallmark\u2019s writers to craft some more. (Theirs would even rhyme!)<\/p>\n

Jesus the Unique:<\/strong>\u00a0John Stott,\u00a0The Contemporary Christian.<\/em>\u00a0He lifts up the one advantage only the Christian faith can offer to a dying world. \u201cOur claim, then, is not just that Jesus was one of the great spiritual leaders of the world. It would be hopelessly incongruous to refer to Him as \u2018Jesus the Great,\u2019 comparable to Alexander the Great, Charles the Great or Napoleon the Great. Jesus is not \u2018the Great\u2019; He is the Only. He has no peers, no rivals and no successors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humble Proclamation:<\/strong>\u00a0We share this news in absolute humility. It\u2019s our lack of goodness that makes the unique role of Jesus the Lamb so needed and gratefully embraced.<\/p>\n

New Testament Illustration:<\/strong>\u00a0In Acts 3, Peter and John go to the temple for the 3:00 p.m. prayer. A crippled man hopes for a coin. But Peter hurts his feelings by saying, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t have any money.\u00a0But what I do have, I\u2019ll give you<\/em>.\u201d He had the healing power of Jesus, the forgiving ability of Jesus, the eternal life only Jesus can offer.<\/p>\n

Closing Song Thought:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThere is a Savior; What joys express.\u00a0 His eyes are mercy, His Word is rest.\u00a0For each tomorrow, For yesterday, There is a Savior, Who lights the way.\u201d
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Submitted by David B. Smith.\u00a0<\/span>Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2007. Click here for\u00a0<\/span>usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Buddhism All Bad? Key Passage:\u00a0John 1 Key Thought:\u00a0All world religions contain noble elements of truth. We should respect our brothers and sisters from other faith backgrounds. However, only the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}