This presentation concludes the study of our “Person of Interest” with a look at the exaltation fallout that includes the fact that all of the other religions and faith systems acknowledge Jesus in some way or another, by merging, modifying or mentioning him in their teachings! This Jesus influence is embedded in other faiths, and come to find out, Jesus can be known by anyone in the world today!

Watch the class presentation on this topic:

Overview Notes from the Presentation

PERSON OF INTEREST
The Exaltation Fallout

Objection:

–All religions lead to the same place, and worship the same god

Quick answer to the objection:

There are unreconcilable differences between the historic views of God and Heaven – they can all be wrong, or one can be right, but they cannot all be right at the same time, for example:

–Christians believe that Jesus is God, and is the only way to Heaven; Jews do not.

-Buddhists don’t even believe in a heaven (just a nirvana = non-existence); same with Hindus (Brahman = melt into one with everything)

-Jews and Christians have the same history (OT) but Muslims change this history to suit their theology; and, these three are all monotheistic in agreement of one God, but Christians believe God is a Trinity and most of the other faiths have multiple individual gods.

Why would anyone believe that all religions lead to God and Heaven when none of them agree on essential claims?

PERSON OF INTEREST
The Exaltation Fallout: Mentioned/Merged/Modified

Because of the impact Jesus had, and still has, most of the other major religions have incorporated Jesus in some way:

–Religions that existed before the time of Jesus (first century AD/CE) have now added Jesus into their writings by modifying their teaching to incorporate him at some level

–Religions that came after the time of Jesus have included Jesus in their writings by merging him into their teachings

–Most religions at least mention Jesus in some form with high regard and much respect as a teacher, prophet or guru

Jesus in Hinduism:

• Jesus is considered to be a Sadhu and an Acharya

–Sadhu is a holy man that possesses characteristics such as tolerance, love, nonviolence, self-sacrifice and humility

–They call Jesus – “Ishu” – a Hindu saint because of his life and teaching, and they believe he spent time in India as a young man

–Acharya means “one who teaches by example”

• Jesus is considered Divine

–Some Hindus acknowledge Jesus as divine, including him in their list of deities

–He is considered to be a perfect example of “self-realization

• Jesus is considered a wise teacher and model of morality

–Most Hindus respect Jesus’ teachings

–Gandhi greatly admired the moral philosophy of Jesus, and considered him a superior source of moral truth

• Hindus acknowledge many details of Jesus’ life:

–Born in a stable

–Visited by wise men

–Worked miracles

–Preached sermons

• Jesus matters to Hindus who have merged Jesus into their system, and they continue to mention and acknowledge key episodes of the Gospels.

1.16 billion Hindus have had the opportunity to hear about Jesus, even within the context of Hinduism!

Jesus in Greek Mythology:

• These figures are examples of gods that were worshipped prior to Jesus, yet after Jesus their followers modified them to reflect attributes of Jesus:

–Attis:

Body “did not see decay”

Attis died and was resurrected

–Heracles:

They removed his morally questionable behavior to reflect the following:

–Paragon of virtue

–The Logos

–Walked on water

–A member of a trinity

–Ascended into Heaven

Jesus in Krishna:

• Krishna is a Hindu deity that took hold in its own movement (the Hare Krishna movement) well after the appearance of Jesus, and modified the ancient description of Krishna to reflect the following attributes:

–Sole Deity

–Born of a Virgin

–Tyrant ordered the killing of innocent infants

–Birthday is celebrated with Christian imagery

–Was a shepherd or “herdsman”

–Defeated a demon similar to Satan

–Raised a dead son to life

• Krishna followers acknowledge Jesus
• Today’s Hare Krishna movement merges Jesus into their religious system in several ways:

–Jesus is the perfect Guru

–Jesus was sent by God

–Jesus is the Son of God and Lord

• The Hare Krishna movement also mentions episodes and claims from the New Testament about Jesus:

–Sermons

–Parables

–Miracles

–Interactions

–Travels

–Crucifixion

The Modification of Mithras:

• Mithraism changed from its Persian form of worship established before the time of Jesus, to a Roman form that modified Mithra to reflect Christianity’s influence in two main ways:

–They taught that believers achieved eternal life through a blood sacrifice

–Mithraic believers began observing a communion ceremony with bread and wine

Jesus in Buddhism:

• Like Hinduism, Buddhism provides no singular, unified view of Jesus, although. many Buddhists have merged and included him in their worldview:

–Jesus is an “Enlightened Man”

–Jesus is a Bodhisattva (on a journey toward Buddhahood, or someone who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion for others who are suffering)

–Jesus is a wise teacher

• The Dalai Lama has acknowledged the following Biblical episodes in written and public statements:

–The Sermon on the Mount

–The interaction between Jesus and his mother, brothers, and sisters

–The parable of the growing seed

–The transfiguration

–Jesus’ claim that he spoke with God’s authority

–Mary’s observation of the risen Christ in the garden

Over 506 million Buddhists know something about Jesus from the teaching of their leaders!

Jesus in Islam:

• Islam began in the early seventh century AD/CE, by Muhammad, who claimed that though the Jewish and Christian prophets were true prophets of God, these two groups had ultimately corrupted monotheism and he intended to restore it.
• Muhammad had been rejected by both Jews and Christians as a prophet, but Muslims still merged and modified Jesus into their theology.
• Muslims acknowledge the impact of Jesus (“Isa”) and recognize him as a significant person within their own religious system as follows:

–Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary

–Jesus was sinless

–Jesus was a wise teacher

–Jesus was a miracle worker

–Jesus ascended to Heaven

–Jesus is a prophet

–Jesus is to be revered

–Jesus is the Messiah and a messenger of God

–Jesus will sit beside God during the final judgment

–Jesus will come again

As many as 1.9 billion Muslims know something about Jesus because of how he is described in the Qur’an!

20 million Ahmadi Muslims as well!

Jesus in Baha’i:

• Baha’u’llah, a nineteenth-century Persian religious leader, founded the Baha’i faith in 1863. He considered himself to be the last in a series of messengers who held progressive truth to God. He affirmed the following:

-Jesus was born of a Virgin

-A star announced the birth of Jesus

-John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus

-John baptized and set an example for Christians

-Jesus rejected worldly materialism

-Jesus is the Divine “Son of God”

-Jesus worked miracles

-Jesus said “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”

-Jesus promised the counselor (or comforter) would come

-Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane

-Jesus faced a trial

-Jesus died on a cross

-The death of Jesus redeems believers

-Jesus was “resurrected”

-Jesus ascended into Heaven

-Jesus is a “manifestation” of God

-Jesus is a wise teacher who spoke for God

Jesus in New Age:

• Popular in occult and metaphysical religious communities (late twentieth century). This faith looks forward to a “new age” of love, enlightenment, personal transformation, and healing. This movement is incredibly diverse and pluralistic without central leadership or orthodoxy, however, they often acknowledge and merge Jesus into the movement as follows:

–Jesus is an excellent spiritual example

–Jesus is an excellent teacher

Non-religious people, including atheists, will also admit to knowing something about the person, life, ministry, death or resurrection of Jesus through family, friends or these other religions of the world!

Conclusion to the Exaltation Fallout:

There are an estimated 7.7 billion people on our planet today – How many know something about Jesus from their respective religious worldviews?

–1.16 billion Hindus

–1 million Hare Krishnas

–506 million Buddhists

–1.9 billion Muslims

–5 million Baha’is

–20 million Ahmadi Muslims

–2.3 billion Christians

5.89 BILLION PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED TODAY – TO SOME EXTENT – BY THE PERSON AND TEACHING OF JESUS!

Going Deeper:

personofinterestbook.com

Reflection: Memorization Practice

To practice your memorization skills, and to improve your Biblical knowledge, practice memorizing the following things…

1. Review the “Big Picture” of the Bible for both the Old and New Testaments (see notes from session two) Practice memorizing the main topic of each of the 12 points in order to tell the “story” in a couple of minutes.
2. What are the three main fuses we’ve looked at, pointing to our Person of Interest? Pick one or two examples from each fuse.
3. What are the fallout areas (from session six through ten)? Pick one or two examples for each fallout.

Bible Study

(Review answers will be posted during the week so you can have a “leader’s guide” for your own studies)

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

NOTE: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for “Discussion” or “Going Deeper” questions.

Read Acts chapters 25-26 then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

Paul before Festus; Paul before Agrippa

1. Read Chapter 25:1-27 with your table group

In this chapter, Paul appears before Festus in what seems to be a repeat of two years earlier:

a. What happened this time that was different than before, and why? What did Paul have to do in order to save himself from the Jewish leaders and assure that he would get to his desired destination in Rome?

b. What did Festus tell Agrippa concerning Paul’s case, and how did Agrippa reply?

c. Going Deeper: Who are Agrippa and Bernice, and what can we learn about them outside the Biblical account (Review the family of Herods)?

d. Discuss: How did the politics of this day affect Paul, and what did Paul model for us?

2. Read Chapter 26:1-32 with your table group

In this chapter, Paul makes a defense before Agrippa:

a. What did Paul say to Agrippa in the opening of his defense, and why? What are some key points from Paul’s own conversion story he shared with Agrippa?

b. Why did Festus think Paul was “out of his mind,” and how did Agrippa end up responding to Paul’s testimony?

c. Discuss: What key points in Paul’s conversion story would help you in sharing your own testimony with others?

d. Review and discuss: Write down and share two or three things that you think are important to remember about Paul’s story in chapters twenty-three through twenty-six: