This is an age of all kinds of “spirituality”: New Age, mysticism, Eastern religions, and on and on. In his typical in-depth style, Ravi Zacharias points out why Jesus trumps them all in his newest book Why Jesus?
The subtitle is “Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality,” and that seems to really hit the mark. Ravi Zacharias takes on some of the biggest mass marketers of spirituality — like Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra — and points out how their mass marketing is really just repackaging of some old, tired religious beliefs. Here’s one passage where Ravi really nails the mass marketers —
The tragedy of a worldview that is based on a blend of metaphysics, physics, spirituality, and medicine is that in the end, it violates those very disciplines to justify self-deification, which is the bottom line.
This is becoming the Absolute rather than communing with the Absolute. When you read Chopra and others of his stripe, you are told that God has a great plan for you. But the more you read Chopra, you realize that God is not visible in anything he has written. Chopra’s conclusion is that you are He… the divine is in you. Ah! But here’s the catch. To convince you of that, he has had to mutilate every other theory that holds to the contrary. How does he do that without seeming disrespectful of others? The bigger trick lies here. First, he takes their texts and strips them of their contexts. Next, he heavily quotes their own “authorities,” as long as they don’t actually believe their own texts. And finally, he dedicates his theory to all who claim to a different belief. This magical formula makes him look irenic and congenial, and then he can grace the talk shows as the ultimate glue that brings all religions together. He has provided spirituality without any absolutes and debunked any contrary claims at the same time. Anyone else may follow his lead and quote other texts out of context, but they dare not quote him out of context, unless they wish to meet him in a court of law. (emphasis mine)
There is something powerful about Jesus. Even the religious leadership immediately following Christ’s ascension told His followers to stop teaching people “in that Name.” There can be lots of gods, but there is only one Jesus.
Why Jesus? Ravi Zacharias points out that He is the One Who singlehandedly debunks every mass marketed “spirituality” being peddled today.
This is a challenging and deeply thought-provoking book, but it is well worth your time.
I am a FaithWords book reviewer.
Craig T. Owens 