Worship in Truth: Eastern Religions

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 Our Theme Verse 2/15

Our Outline The Father is Seeking Me He seeks my heart and soul He seeks my strength and mind Do I worship Him? Praise Prostrate Perform Do I worship Him in truth? Why am I Theist? The Problems with Atheism, Agnosticism, and Evolution Why am I Christian? The Problems with Eastern Religions, Islam, Judaism Why am I Orthodox? The Problems with Catholicism, Protestantism, JW, Mormonism What I Believe: The Creed Do I worship Him in spirit? Surprise!! You’ll see 3/15

Review  We established that theism is the more likely world view over atheism or agnosticism. Why?  The universe exists (and began!)  The universe is finely tuned  There are objective moral values  Jesus rose from the dead  We know him  It’s hard to balance an egg  Theism makes sense. Theism says there is a God. Who’s to say it’s our God? Couldn’t it be the God of Hindus or Buddhists or Muslims?  Let’s look at each of these religions and investigate: is Christianity the most probable world view? 4/15

Hinduism  Has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings or creed.  It’s a diverse system of thought where people can believe in one god, many gods, or no god. 5/15

Some Main Hindu Beliefs  Two foundational concepts:  Karma- the belief that every action has an equal REaction, now or in the future  Reincarnation- the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives, governed by Karma  Na3am?  Brahman is the Supreme Reality for Hindus.  So who do they worship?  Brahma- creator  Vishnu- sustainer  Shiva- destroyer  Many other smaller gods 6/15

Could they be the truth?  The belief in an impersonal supreme being/god  The universe began to exist.  The universe is fine-tuned.  Objective moral values exist.  We believe in a personal God that does and feels and thinks.  The belief in many gods  The universe is fine-tuned  points to one designer.  Many gods means many sets of morals.  We believe in one God. Half way there, relax

Could they be the truth?  Reincarnation  First incarnation  They believe in an impersonal god  We believe YOLO and YODO.  “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” Hebrews 9:27  We believe in resurrection  “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:28-29  Karma  They believe in an impersonal god  We believe that our God is personal so He can have compassion and can forgive us our sins. 8/15

Hinduism  The Universe  It’s beginningless and endless.  The universe is recurrently being destroyed and recreated over periods lasting about 4 billion years.  The Big Bang Theory  The Second Law of Thermodynamics  We believe that God created the universe. 9/15

Buddhism  Buddhism arose out of atheistic strands of Hinduism.  Siddhartha Gautama  Doctrine  The Four Noble Truths  Suffering is universal.  The cause of suffering is craving.  The cure for suffering is to overcome ignorance and eliminate craving.  The way to cease craving and so attain escape from continual rebirth is by following the Middle Way, known as the Noble Eightfold Path. 10/15

Buddhism  The Eightfold Path  Right viewpoint  Right aspiration  Right speech  Right behavior  Right occupation  Right effort  Right mindfulness  Right meditation 11/15

Some Main Buddhist Beliefs  God  There is no absolute god.  The question of His existence “tends not to edification.”  If there’s no god, why should I listen to this man? He’s just a man, not divine.  If there’s no god, then what dictates what’s right speech or right behavior?  We believe in the teachings of Jesus because He is begotten of God.  We believe not only is it edifying to know if there’s a god, but that there is no edification outside of Him. 12/15

Some Main Buddhist Beliefs  Man and the Universe  The universe’s beginning is unexplained by Buddha.  If I don’t know how or why I am here, then I don’t know my purpose and how I should live.  They believe in the reincarnation of man, like in Hinduism.  There’s no god, so who dictates how one will be reincarnated?  Buddha added the idea that all creatures, including man, are fictions– there is no soul or “self”.  How can there be both the idea of reincarnation and striving for salvation without a self or soul to be saved?  We believe there’s an explanation for the beginning of the universe, we only live and die once, and we all have souls. 13/15

Some Main Buddhist Beliefs  Salvation and the Afterlife  The roadblock to salvation is ignorance, not sin.  Ignorance is believing the soul exists.  If there’s no soul, then what is being saved?  We believe the roadblock to salvation is not ignorance, but sin because sin is separation from God and salvation is being united with God. 14/15

Recap!  Why can’t you have an impersonal god?  Why can’t you have many gods?  Why is karma not logical?  Why is reincarnation not logical?  Why isn’t it logical to believe the universe is eternal?  Why isn’t it logical to believe the universe is continually being destroyed and recreated?  What is strange about saying that questioning God’s existence does not edify?  Why is the belief of no soul in Buddhism not logical? 15/15