New Series: Christianity and World Religions

Christians (and all people really) have a tendency to be so enthusiastic about our beliefs that we might be quick immediately dismiss the beliefs and practices of other religions simply because they are not overtly label as "Christian". While we certainly have an obligation to test the spirits (1 John 4:1), might we be able to learn something about God through other religions? What is to say that God might not use anything, even the practices and beliefs of non-Christians, to teach us something about God, ourselves, or even our beliefs? Additionally, it stands to reason that in order to evangelize and spread the Good News to non-Christians, it is important for us to have a basic understand of the other religions vying for the attention and spiritual lives of non-believers.

"Christianity and World Religions" is a 6-week study by Adam Hamilton that attempts to give Christians a healthy understanding of world religions and what they believe. It aims to help us better understand the issues and obstacles we may encounter when attempting to spread the Word of Jesus Christ to people of other faiths. We must be sensitive to those issues, even when we disagree, if we want to even have an audience with those people. It also gives us some insight into the values of others, perhaps lending some understanding into how we can value ourselves and our relationship with God. The Covenant class is currently spending 6 weeks learning about some of those issues. Through this study, we hope to gain an understanding about what other religions value and hold to be self-evident. We believe that this will better equip us as Christians to bring others to Christ, while acknowledging that God may use other religions to teach us about him.

This Sunday will be our third week on the study. Having already had an introductory session and a session on Hinduism, we will learn about the history and beliefs Buddhism, paying specific attention to the significant similarities and differences with Christianity. Afterwards, we will discuss Islam on August 31, Judaism on September 7, and Christianity itself on September 14. We hope you will join us!