Ravi Zacharias (1946–2020)
Author of The Kingdom of the Cults
About the Author
Ravi Zacharias was born on March 26, 1946 in India. He is a Christian apologist and author of several Christian books. He won the Gold Medallion Book Award for his title Can Man Live Without God? His works include: A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism, Deliver Us from Evil, Cries of the show more Heart, The Broken Promise, Recapture the Wonder, Has Christianity Failed You? and The Prince and the Prophet: Jesus Talks with Mohammed. He is the founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, host of the radio programs Let My People Think and Just Thinking, and has been a visiting scholar at Ridley Hall, where he studied moralist philosophers and literature of the Romantic era. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Ravi Zacharias
Why Jesus?: Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality (2012) 377 copies, 4 reviews
Why Suffering?: Finding Meaning and Comfort When Life Doesn't Make Sense (2014) 224 copies, 2 reviews
Seeing Jesus from the East: A Fresh Look at History’s Most Influential Figure (2020) 126 copies, 2 reviews
Hugs for the Heart: A Story Collection That Touches the Heart as Only a Hug Can Do (Hugs Series) (2007) 18 copies
Yes, Your Question - 6 DVD Set / Ravi Zacharias / A Collection of the Best Questions From Top Universities (2012) 10 copies
Quem É Jesus ? 3 copies
Die Meesterwewer: Hoe God Die Gebeure in Ons Lewe Gebruik Om Ons Te Vorm (Afrikaans Edition) (2008) 2 copies
Quem é Jesus?: Contrapondo sua Verdade à Falsa Espiritualidade dos Dias Atuais (Portuguese Edition) (2015) 2 copies
Absolute Truth in Relative Terms 2 copies
Pleasure 2 copies
Is Faith Delusional? 2 copies
The Heart of a Holy God 2 copies
Four Gardens (Easter) 1 copy
Mielul și Fuhrerul 1 copy
Woodman Valley Chapel 1 copy
GRAND WEAVER 2 1 copy
GRAND WEAVER 1 1 copy
Seeing Jesus from the East Study Guide: A Fresh Look at History’s Most Influential Figure (2021) 1 copy
A Meeting of the Minds 1 copy
Ravi Zacharias Q & A (Volume Two) [Answers Questions Including Islam and Its Beliefs and the Importance of a Godly Worldview) (2003) 1 copy
Question & Answer # 5 1 copy
Question # Answer # 4 1 copy
Questions Answers # 3 1 copy
The Kingdom of the Cults 1 copy
Who Are You God (DVD) 1 copy
Kingdom of the Cults, The 1 copy
Sense ans Sensuality 1 copy
The Top 5 Questions 1 copy
La lógica de Dios: 52 fundamentos cristianos para el corazón y la mente (Spanish Edition) (2020) 1 copy
Heavenly Man, The 1 copy
Faith Under Fire 1 copy
Shack, The 1 copy
Who is Jesus? 1 copy
Defending the Faith We Live 1 copy
Iran 30 1 copy
Everyday Questions 1 copy
Este Biserica ta pregătită? 1 copy
Dezamăgit de creștinism? 1 copy
O GRANDE TECELÃO 1 copy
lotusul și Crucea 1 copy
Rațiune și senzualitate 1 copy
Why Trust the Bible? 1 copy
The Uniqueness of the Cross 1 copy
The Veritas Forum Sampler 1 copy
Questions & Answers # 1 1 copy
Just Thinking 1 copy
God and Government 1 copy
Temptation 1 copy
Worship & Heaven (audio) 1 copy
RZIM 1 copy
Nort Worthy of the World 1 copy
Ravi Zacharias 1 copy
The Media Game 1 copy
Secularism 1 copy
The War Within: How a Godless Culture Threatens America: Ravi at the United States Naval Academy (2013) 1 copy
Wer schuf den Schöpfer?: Antworten auf unbequeme Fragen über Gott und den christlichen Glauben (2005) 1 copy
Conversations that Count 1 copy
Eternity in Their Hearts 1 copy
God and Remembrance 1 copy
The Loss of Truth 1 copy
Navigating a World View 1 copy
Associated Works
To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview (2004) — Contributor — 393 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Zacharias, Ravi
- Legal name
- Zacharias, Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar (birth name)
- Other names
- 拉維·撒迦利亞
- Birthdate
- 1946-03-26
- Date of death
- 2020-05-19
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Ontario Bible College (BA|1972)
Trinity International University (M.Div|1976) - Occupations
- evangelist
Christian apologist - Organizations
- Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
Christian and Missionary Alliance - Relationships
- Reynolds, Lindsay (father-in-law)
- Short biography
- Ravi Zacharias (26 March 1946 – 19 May 2020) was an Indian-born Canadian-American Christian apologist. Zacharias was the author of more than 30 books on Christianity, including the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's Gold Medallion Book Award winner Can Man Live Without God? in the category "theology and doctrine" as well as Christian bestsellers Light in the Shadow of Jihad and The Grand Weaver. Zacharias was the founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) and host of the radio programs Let My People Think and Just Thinking.
- Cause of death
- cancer
- Nationality
- India
Canada
USA - Birthplace
- Madras, British India
- Places of residence
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Place of death
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Members
Reviews
What would Hitler say to Jesus—and Jesus to Hitler? In The Lamb and the Führer, Ravi Zacharias imagines their conversation a few minutes after Hitler's suicide. A bit further on, another famous man joins the dialogue, the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed for a failed assassination attempt. In the interchange of ideas and arguments, each defends his point of view and explains his philosophy.
Zacharias doesn't really need to prove that Jesus's message is a better one than show more Hitler's; who's going to argue with that? Hitler is viewed by the majority of the world today as the embodiment of human evil. But what he does expose is that Hitler's actions are the natural result of a naturalistic (evolutionary) worldview. Darwin and Nietzche are mentioned as contributors to this worldview (interestingly, Hitler presented Nietzche's works to Mussolini with pride). Nazism is based on naturalism, while Christianity teaches that each human being is created in the image of God and is therefore valuable. If human life is created by a Person, it is sacred; if it is a grand biological accident, it isn't. Simple as that.
Though the atrocity of Hitler's actions is exposed in this conversation, I was also struck by his constant logical fallacies. For example, Hitler blames all the Jews for crucifying Christ but disclaims responsibility for murders carried out under his own regime, even going so far as to say he never personally walked into a concentration camp; he calls the Jews genetically inferior but claims they were able to plunder and profit from a superior race; and the list goes on and on.
Hitler's tone in the dialogue is predictably abrupt, angry, and dogmatic. It's frustrating to read his part of the conversation and observe his utter self-absorption and heartless cruelty. He simply can't and won't understand. Zacharias includes Hitler's final statement made before he committed suicide, and words can't even describe the man's depravity. And yet at the heart of the book is the point that while we aren't Hitlers, we have the same potential for darkness in our hearts and need a Savior just as much as any cruel dictator.
The exchanges between Hitler and Bonhoeffer aren't as clear-cut as those between Hitler and Christ. Zacharias handles them well, but I think there are still some open questions about the biblical justification for Bonhoeffer's actions. In the conversation, Hitler condemns Bonhoeffer's assassination attempt as immoral, but this is entirely illogical given the fact that Hitler believed human life originated through natural causes and was not sacred. To even claim that human life is sacred is to borrow from the Judeo-Christian worldview.
I've actually read this slim little volume twice, not because it's a hard read but because I really wanted to grasp the implications of the conversation. I also recently finished that wildly popular fictional story set during the Third Reich, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, and reading these two very different books close together enriched my perception of both.
The Lamb and the Führer is a readable and intelligent discussion of the moral issues surrounding this ugly part of our history, and I recommend it. No one dissects issues of worldview like Zacharias. show less
Zacharias doesn't really need to prove that Jesus's message is a better one than show more Hitler's; who's going to argue with that? Hitler is viewed by the majority of the world today as the embodiment of human evil. But what he does expose is that Hitler's actions are the natural result of a naturalistic (evolutionary) worldview. Darwin and Nietzche are mentioned as contributors to this worldview (interestingly, Hitler presented Nietzche's works to Mussolini with pride). Nazism is based on naturalism, while Christianity teaches that each human being is created in the image of God and is therefore valuable. If human life is created by a Person, it is sacred; if it is a grand biological accident, it isn't. Simple as that.
Though the atrocity of Hitler's actions is exposed in this conversation, I was also struck by his constant logical fallacies. For example, Hitler blames all the Jews for crucifying Christ but disclaims responsibility for murders carried out under his own regime, even going so far as to say he never personally walked into a concentration camp; he calls the Jews genetically inferior but claims they were able to plunder and profit from a superior race; and the list goes on and on.
Hitler's tone in the dialogue is predictably abrupt, angry, and dogmatic. It's frustrating to read his part of the conversation and observe his utter self-absorption and heartless cruelty. He simply can't and won't understand. Zacharias includes Hitler's final statement made before he committed suicide, and words can't even describe the man's depravity. And yet at the heart of the book is the point that while we aren't Hitlers, we have the same potential for darkness in our hearts and need a Savior just as much as any cruel dictator.
The exchanges between Hitler and Bonhoeffer aren't as clear-cut as those between Hitler and Christ. Zacharias handles them well, but I think there are still some open questions about the biblical justification for Bonhoeffer's actions. In the conversation, Hitler condemns Bonhoeffer's assassination attempt as immoral, but this is entirely illogical given the fact that Hitler believed human life originated through natural causes and was not sacred. To even claim that human life is sacred is to borrow from the Judeo-Christian worldview.
I've actually read this slim little volume twice, not because it's a hard read but because I really wanted to grasp the implications of the conversation. I also recently finished that wildly popular fictional story set during the Third Reich, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, and reading these two very different books close together enriched my perception of both.
The Lamb and the Führer is a readable and intelligent discussion of the moral issues surrounding this ugly part of our history, and I recommend it. No one dissects issues of worldview like Zacharias. show less
Ever wonder what Buddha would say to Jesus, and vice versa? In this slim little volume, Ravi Zacharias imagines what the founders of two of the world's most powerful religions would say to one another on the pressing problem that every religion seeks to solve: the human condition.
Zacharias starts with a prologue telling the true story of a young woman named Priya who, at 17, was lured to the big city to work as a seamstress. She was raped only hours after her arrival, and within the next show more several years became a prostitute, eventually testing HIV positive. She needed the income from her profession, however, and continued to sell herself though she knew she was infecting each man who used her. Eventually the disease manifested itself and Priya began trying to kill herself. Finally she poisoned herself and set the house on fire. After her death, no one would even come near her remains for fear of infection.
What can Buddha and Jesus say to someone who has suffered so much? What hope can they offer to alleviate such stark misery? The differences between their answers are not theoretical exercises; they could mean life or death, joy or misery to someone like Priya. This is the real question that Zacharias is exploring: how are Buddhism and Christianity different, and which is true?
Zacharias is a well-known Christian apologist and author so it's no surprise that his bias is toward Christianity, but he tries very hard to depict Buddhism accurately and respectfully. He writes that he spent "scores of hours in temples with monks and with instructors of students of Buddhist thought. The discussions I had were always cordial and delightful" (7). The conversational format of the book makes it a particularly absorbing read, and I should add that it isn't just between Buddha and Christ. Priya makes a third in the conversation, and the boatman Wat makes an occasional fourth. Priya's character illustrates why the truth matters: our world is in desperate need of something, and both Buddha and Christ claim to have what we need. There is an immediacy to the narrative that a more traditional comparative survey of the two faiths could not capture.
Buddhism and Christianity could not be more different, and the idea of being a Buddhist Christian or a Christian Buddhist is a laughable one when you really look at the exclusive truth claims each religion makes. Buddhism denies the existence of the self, claiming that it and its desires are illusions that cause all human suffering, while Christianity says that the self exists and it is our selfishness, our sin that causes human suffering. Buddha offers enlightenment and the eradication of self and personal desires; Christ offers salvation and the redemption of self and personal desires. I am painting in broad strokes here, of course, and there are many subtleties of each faith that Zacharias highlights. But the point that Buddhism and Christianity are mutually exclusive faiths — and that it matters — is well made.
This title is part of Zacharias's "Great Conversations" series that includes such provocative titles as The Lamb and the Führer: Jesus Talks with Hitler, Rebirth or New Birth: Jesus Talks with Krishna, and Sense and Sensuality: Jesus Talks with Oscar Wilde — all of which I hope to read soon. I found The Lotus and the Cross a highly readable book, and one that I would recommend to anyone seeking to understand the fundamental differences between the solutions Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ offer to the world. show less
Zacharias starts with a prologue telling the true story of a young woman named Priya who, at 17, was lured to the big city to work as a seamstress. She was raped only hours after her arrival, and within the next show more several years became a prostitute, eventually testing HIV positive. She needed the income from her profession, however, and continued to sell herself though she knew she was infecting each man who used her. Eventually the disease manifested itself and Priya began trying to kill herself. Finally she poisoned herself and set the house on fire. After her death, no one would even come near her remains for fear of infection.
What can Buddha and Jesus say to someone who has suffered so much? What hope can they offer to alleviate such stark misery? The differences between their answers are not theoretical exercises; they could mean life or death, joy or misery to someone like Priya. This is the real question that Zacharias is exploring: how are Buddhism and Christianity different, and which is true?
Zacharias is a well-known Christian apologist and author so it's no surprise that his bias is toward Christianity, but he tries very hard to depict Buddhism accurately and respectfully. He writes that he spent "scores of hours in temples with monks and with instructors of students of Buddhist thought. The discussions I had were always cordial and delightful" (7). The conversational format of the book makes it a particularly absorbing read, and I should add that it isn't just between Buddha and Christ. Priya makes a third in the conversation, and the boatman Wat makes an occasional fourth. Priya's character illustrates why the truth matters: our world is in desperate need of something, and both Buddha and Christ claim to have what we need. There is an immediacy to the narrative that a more traditional comparative survey of the two faiths could not capture.
Buddhism and Christianity could not be more different, and the idea of being a Buddhist Christian or a Christian Buddhist is a laughable one when you really look at the exclusive truth claims each religion makes. Buddhism denies the existence of the self, claiming that it and its desires are illusions that cause all human suffering, while Christianity says that the self exists and it is our selfishness, our sin that causes human suffering. Buddha offers enlightenment and the eradication of self and personal desires; Christ offers salvation and the redemption of self and personal desires. I am painting in broad strokes here, of course, and there are many subtleties of each faith that Zacharias highlights. But the point that Buddhism and Christianity are mutually exclusive faiths — and that it matters — is well made.
This title is part of Zacharias's "Great Conversations" series that includes such provocative titles as The Lamb and the Führer: Jesus Talks with Hitler, Rebirth or New Birth: Jesus Talks with Krishna, and Sense and Sensuality: Jesus Talks with Oscar Wilde — all of which I hope to read soon. I found The Lotus and the Cross a highly readable book, and one that I would recommend to anyone seeking to understand the fundamental differences between the solutions Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ offer to the world. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.This was an interesting compare and contrast between the fundamental tenets of Christianity and Buddhism, delivered in the form of a conversation between Jesus and Buddha, as each attempt to offer solace to a recently deceased prostitute.
As someone who was raised as a Christian but, as an adult, between to understand and accept some of the teachings of the Eastern religions, I found the exchange between Jesus and Buddha stimulating and rewarding. However, there was clearly a bias in favor of show more Christianity. I have long felt that no single religion has gotten it all right. As such, I would have preferred mode of a balanced debate of the validity of the teachings of each religious tradition. show less
As someone who was raised as a Christian but, as an adult, between to understand and accept some of the teachings of the Eastern religions, I found the exchange between Jesus and Buddha stimulating and rewarding. However, there was clearly a bias in favor of show more Christianity. I have long felt that no single religion has gotten it all right. As such, I would have preferred mode of a balanced debate of the validity of the teachings of each religious tradition. show less
Over a period of many years I have become a fan of Ravi Zacharias, and yet this is the first (but certainly not the last) book of his I have ever read! Before reading this book, my exposure to his teaching ministry has been in the form of watching his debates on YouTube and listening to his sermons online.
In "The Lotus and the Cross," Zacharias presents a conversation between Jesus and Gautama Buddha. Many people are fond of pointing out how similar both these teachers were, they quote both show more side by side and and declare that they taught the same things. When I hear such things I am tempted to dismiss such people as poor thinkers or deceivers. But, hey, that's just me. Zacharias, however, enters into the arena of apologetics and does the work of the evangelist here. In this very short book (pamphlet even!), Zacharias presents the differences between the two men and their teachings. The big difference, of course, is the fact of Jesus' claim to be God!
Ravi begins his book with a Prologue that briefly relates the culture of north-western India and the terrible devastation that Aids has wreaked upon this area. He tells us about the terrible tragedy of a young lady sold into sexual slavery at the young age of 17. We are told of her getting the Aids virus, and of her self-immolation while in her twenties, when she could no longer bear the fate that was hers. It is this poor lady whom Ravi uses as a character in his book, to look into what kind of answers are available to her from Jesus and from Buddha.
And guess what? The answers each gives are very different. Anyone who takes a more than cursory look at both directions knows this, and as Zacharias says, "Jesus and Buddha cannot both be right."
Do I recommend this book? VERY much so! show less
In "The Lotus and the Cross," Zacharias presents a conversation between Jesus and Gautama Buddha. Many people are fond of pointing out how similar both these teachers were, they quote both show more side by side and and declare that they taught the same things. When I hear such things I am tempted to dismiss such people as poor thinkers or deceivers. But, hey, that's just me. Zacharias, however, enters into the arena of apologetics and does the work of the evangelist here. In this very short book (pamphlet even!), Zacharias presents the differences between the two men and their teachings. The big difference, of course, is the fact of Jesus' claim to be God!
Ravi begins his book with a Prologue that briefly relates the culture of north-western India and the terrible devastation that Aids has wreaked upon this area. He tells us about the terrible tragedy of a young lady sold into sexual slavery at the young age of 17. We are told of her getting the Aids virus, and of her self-immolation while in her twenties, when she could no longer bear the fate that was hers. It is this poor lady whom Ravi uses as a character in his book, to look into what kind of answers are available to her from Jesus and from Buddha.
And guess what? The answers each gives are very different. Anyone who takes a more than cursory look at both directions knows this, and as Zacharias says, "Jesus and Buddha cannot both be right."
Do I recommend this book? VERY much so! show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 194
- Also by
- 2
- Members
- 17,417
- Popularity
- #1,268
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 110
- ISBNs
- 279
- Languages
- 11
- Favorited
- 21
