God Among Sages

SAGE: a profoundly wise person; a
person famed for wisdom

      When I first got this book, I was afraid I'd have to wade through it, but as I started reading, I really enjoyed it.
      The book is divided into three sections:
The Historic Christian Portrait of Jesus Christ. This section talks about Jesus Christ--His life and ministry, His deity, etc. For instance, five divine prerogatives Jesus invoked are: Forgiving sin, Accepting worship, Answering prayer, Raising the dead, and Judging humanity. These are things only a divine being is able to do, and Jesus did them all--this proves that he was indeed God in human form.
Two statements about Jesus and His ministry that I especially liked are: All things in life should be motivated by a love for God and then, as an extension, a love for one's neighbor. and "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God (C.S.Lewis)". 
Four Major Leaders of World Religions and Jesus. In this section, Jesus is compared with the leaders of the four major religions: Krishna (Hinduism), Gautama (Buddhism), Confucius (Confucianism), and Muhammad (Islam). In each comparison, the life of the world leader is explained, as well as the main points and beliefs of that religion. Then they are compared to Jesus and Christianity. A quote I especially liked from one of the comparisons is: "The Buddha himself is not essential to the core of Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths constitute the heart of the Buddhist philosophy. The Buddha serves in the valuable roles of example, inspirer, and teacher. But the truths of Buddhism stand independent of the pathfinder. On the other hand, historic Christianity is all about Christ--emphasizing His person, nature, life, death, and resurrection. Jesus Christ reconciles God and humanity because He is both God and human. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6) and therefore is the very essence of the faith."  
Christianity and the World's Religions. One of the focuses of this section is the relation of the world's religions to each other. Some say that all religions are the same because we all worship the same God. But Kenneth Samples explains that that is not so--each religion has a different view of God Himself, plus different doctrines, and these views and doctrines contrast with each other.
       A note in conclusion: "It is a prudent thing to place Jesus alongside the spiritual sages, because in doing so, we realize that the most extraordinary people who have ever lived pale in comparison to the Lord, the Christ, the Saviour, the Son of God. Seeing Jesus vis-a-vis the world's religious leaders gives us breathtaking perspective on the greatest person in history."

                     I received this book from BAKER BOOKS in exchange for my honest review.