What's the Big Deal About Other Religions?: Answering ...

Absolute Junk!:
This book is despicable. It is the worst and most tainted horrible non-fiction book written for Christians that I have ever endured the pain of reading. I do not recommend this book for anyone. It's not even worth the paper it is printed on. When I first found the book, I was so excited and thinking that this would be along the lines of something that would have been of great benefit to me during my schooling where I received my BA in Religious Studies. Boy was I ever wrong! This book is one of ...more This book is despicable. It is the worst and most tainted horrible non-fiction book written for Christians that I have ever endured the pain of reading. I do not recommend this book for anyone. It's not even worth the paper it is printed on. When I first found the book, I was so excited and thinking that this would be along the lines of something that would have been of great benefit to me during my schooling where I received my BA in Religious Studies. Boy was I ever wrong! This book is one of those that twists scriptures and peoples quotes to make it fit whatever point they are trying to make. I am thoroughly disgusted and severely angry at the waste of time and effort that was put into something that could have provided such a blessing. Don't waste your time on the junk that is referred to as a book.

Chapter on Roman Catholicism - Work of Fiction:
I am a devout Roman Catholic and was deeply saddened when I read the chapter on Roman Catholicism. The author has obviously not researched the actual teachings of the Catholic church. He misrepresents Catholic teaching on a number of issues including the worship of Mary, purgatory, indulgences, salvation by works, and the list goes on. I found errors in every single one of his arguments. If you want to understand the beliefs of the Catholic Church, go straight to a trusted Catholic source written by a Catholic in conformity with Catholic teaching. The best way to know you have a trusted source is to look for the "Nihil Obstat" and "Imprimatur" which is usually on the first page of the book. There are other books that may not have the "Nihil Obstat" and "Imprimatur" that are in line with Catholic teaching, but if you aren't sure, don't take the risk. There are many false works out there that distort the teaching of the Catholic church leading many astray. It would be like having a member of an anti-American group telling people what the United States stands for - not exactly unbiased. I've included a product link to a great book that uses scripture to defend and explain Catholic teaching A Biblical Defense of Catholicism Given that I know that his explanation of the Catholic faith is false, I know I can't trust his treatment of the other faiths presented either. Thank you and God Bless You

Marketing misleading, great resource for Christians:
What's the Big Deal About Other Religions provides an introduction to the study of comparative religions through an evangelical Christian lens. Examining Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Wicca, Buddhism, Taosim, Agnosticism, Atheism and other faiths, the authors contrast them with the core doctrines of faith that is based upon the Bible alone, sola scriptura. Not an ecumenical title by any stretch of the imagination, the authors contrast not only widely divergent belief systems such as Shinto and Hinduism with Christianity, but also other Christian-like faiths such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Roman Catholicism. Indeed, the authors coming from a seemingly Calvinistic perspective nearly decry any with Armenian beliefs as following a false gospel. Each chapter outlines a general overview of the religion being discussed and a comparison chart that clearly condenses the explanation the chapter contained. The chart compares belief in: God, Holy Book, Sin, Jesus Christ and Salvation between the specific religion and the biblical perspective. While this is a very clear-cut way to illustrate differences, I did find the biblical perspective side of the chart repetitive. The answers on that side were the same nearly every time, with some slight changes if specific differences in that area needed to be focused upon. Due to the wide array of religions explored, each chapter covers only the major points and differences. A scholarly examination of each faith cannot be provided in a work of this scope, but the amount of detail provided is at times surprising. I have counted myself as an atheist for several years before coming to Christ, but I was never aware of the five major types that atheists fall into. Who would have known there was such rich variety within atheism? I found What's the Big Deal About Other Religions the most accessible introductory work on comparative religions written for an evangelical audience that I've ever read. I've never read a work on apologetics as rapidly as I did this title. The easy to read writing style allows any reader interested in exploring religious differences to get their toes wet in a short period of time. I can see this book being used widely in Christian churches as the foundation for group studies and to equip evangelists. The average believer would also do well to take the time to read this work to acquire the basic beliefs of a variety of religions. Since becoming a Christian I've been surprised with the insularity of our faith, how little we know about the world around us. It is vitally important for Christians to know what those unfamiliar with Jesus believe. How difficult it is to reach the world for Christ if we won't come out of our shells. Let me allay your fears - the authors do not make other religions seem appealing, learning about them should not lead a believer to stumble in their walk. Perhaps readers of this book will feel the Lord leading them to pursue further studies in apolgetics, focusing on a specific religious group; enabling them to effectively reach it's adherents with the message of hope to be found in Jesus.

Essential tool for understanding the major religions:
Ankerberg and Burroughs have developed a wonderful writing relationship with their series What's the Big Deal About... In this book they tackle the major world religions discussing the origins, tenets, and holy books, as well as how they view Jesus. This book is a direct rebuttal to the idea that all religions are the same and all will take you to God. Without attacking these beliefs, they explain how they are different from Christianity and how the beliefs are not compatible. Buddhism, Hinduism, Wicca, New Age, Islam, Judaism, and more are all handled. I've read other books in this genre, but this one truly stands out, especially in their description of agnostics and atheists. I had no idea that there were 9 different types of the first and 5 different of the latter. This book is an essential reference guide for churches.

Biased and not completely accurate:
If you're looking for a book that explains why Christianity (but not Catholicism) is not just better, but the only path to God, then you'll like this book. But if you're like I was, looking for an unbiased explaination of the world's religions, then don't get this book (the title is misleading). The goal of the book is to compare and contrast Christianity with other religions to prove that Christianity is the only way. It does provide some historical information about the different religions, but the bias is such that you can't completely be sure you're getting the whole picture. It criticizes Islam for leaving portions of the Qur'an out of the current text when several gospels were left out of the Bible (it doesn't mention that). The authors also say that doing yoga may compromise your relationship with God even if you do it only for the health benefits. It offers many problems with other religions but fails to point out those in Christianity (such as many Bible stories are contradictory). Finally, when it talks about having dialogues with people from other religions, its not really promoting a dialogue but instead provided methods to have conversations to covert others. I can see that many people would like this book particularly if they want "confirmation" about Christianity. But it wasn't what I expected based on the title and back cover information. I am a Christian but I found this book to be too biased to be fully trusted not just on the information it gave about the other religions but in the information it provided about Christianity as well.