Why did HE come?
HINDU “...Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and a rise of unrighteousness ... then I send forth Myself, for the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establishment of righteousness. I come into being from age to age...”

ISLAM “Verily We have sent Thee with the truth. A comforter and a warner, and there is not a people but a warner hath not passed among them.”

CHRISTIAN: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Who ‘saves’?
BUDDHISM: “I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation of the world.”
JUDAISM:  “The Lord has made known His salvation ... all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our Lord.”
BAHA’I:  “We, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation.”
CHRISTIAN: “The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation ... for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.”
HINDU:  “Leave all things behind, and come to Me for thy salvation. I will make thee free from the bondage of sin. Fear no more.”
ZOROASTRIAN: “Those who for Me shall give heed and obedience to Him, shall attain integrity and immortality ... O Wise Lord ... Your kingdom of salvation let him who prays attain.”
ISLAM:  “To those who believe and work righteousness ... for them will be gardens of eternity.”

Does God speak only once?
BUDDHIST:“I am not the first Buddha who came upon the earth nor shall I be the last ... in due time another Buddha will arise.”

CHRISTIAN:"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.…”

What about other ‘ways’?
BUDDHISM: “This is the path. There is no other that leads to vision.”
ISLAM: “Whoso seeks guidance elsewhere, God will lead him astray.”
BAHA’I: “He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me.”
HINDU: “Abandoning all duties, come to Me alone for shelter.”
BUDDHISM: “There is only one religious way. This one way is that of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, the way of heaven, of light and of purity, of the infinite Creator.”
CHRISTIAN:“I am the way, the truth and the life. None comes to the Father except through Me.” 
“My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”
“Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.”

Can every teacher in the same school say they THEY are teaching their students the truth?
“Everything I needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten.” (Robert Fulgrum)

What does ‘saved’ mean?
Salve: anything that soothes, mollifies, or relieves.
Salvation: Theology. deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption.

What does HE say is important?
 CHRISTIAN: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to me ….. as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”  

 What comes after HIM?
HINDU “...I come into being from age to age...”
BUDDHIST:“... in due time another Buddha will arise.”
JUDAISM: “But thou, O Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, and from everlasting.”
CHRISTIAN: “…when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
"What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

 

Is ‘getting into heaven’ our goal?

The nature of God
The nature of Him

Forgiveness of Sins
 1. “I will make thee free from the bondage of sins. Fear no more.”
2. “Return ye to God and repent, that He, through His grace, may have mercy upon you, may wash away your sins, and forgive your trespasses.”
3. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
4. “Despair not of God’s mercy, for all sins doth God forgive. Gracious, merciful is He. And return ye to your Lord, and to Him resign yourselves...”
5. “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men...”

 
 
Everlasting Life
 
1.       “Witness the reddening sunset, witness the chariot of night as it drives on, witness the moon as it waxes, verily, ye too shall pass from stage to stage.”
2. “To one that is born death is certain, and birth is certain for one that has died.”
3. “The day of death is better than the day of birth.”
4. “Your gift is the life never-dying and continuous health your possession.”
5. “All the favors of God have been sent down, as a token of His grace. The waters of everlasting life have, in their fullness, been proffered untomen.”
6. “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die ... I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

 
The Unity of God
1. “The Lord our God is one Lord.”
2. “But just how many Gods are there? One.”
3. “He is God alone: God the eternal ...and there is none like unto Him.”
4. “Bear thou witness that verily He is God and there is no God but Him, the King, the Protector, the Incomparable, the Omnipotent.”
5. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”
 
Everlasting Life
 
1. “Witness the reddening sunset, witness the chariot of night as it drives on, witness the moon as it waxes, verily, ye too shall pass from stage to stage.”
2. “To one that is born death is certain, and birth is certain for one that has died.”
3. “The day of death is better than the day of birth.”
4. “Your gift is the life never-dying and continuous health your possession.”
5. “All the favors of God have been sent down, as a token of His grace. The waters of everlasting life have, in their fullness, been proffered untomen.”
6. “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die ... I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

The Unity of God
1.       “The Lord our God is one Lord.”
2. “But just how many Gods are there?One.”
3. “He is God alone: God the eternal ...and there is none like unto Him.”
4. “Bear thou witness that verily He isGod and there is no God but Him, the King, the Protector, the Incomparable, the Omnipotent.”
5. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me.”
 6. "There is one Reality, the Unmanifest Manifested; Ever-existent, He is Naam (Conscious Spirit); The Creator pervading all..."
 
God, the Unknowable Essence
 1. “Glory be to Him! And high let Him be exalted above that which they attribute toHim!”
2. “Far, far from Thy glory be what mortal man can affirm of Thee, or attribute untoThee.”
3. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
4. “There is no likeness of Him Whose glory isinfinite.”
5. “No one has seen God at any time ... You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.”
6. “There is, O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed.”

 
 
The Quest for Peace
 
1. “... they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
2. “Let us now abstain from taking life. That is a good thing that we may take up and do. And they will abstain from slaughter, and will continue in this good way.”
3. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
4. “The believers are but a single Brotherhood: so make peace and reconciliation between your two [contending]brothers; and fear God, that ye may receive mercy.”
5. “O God, Holy Spirit, before all I pray to you in all humility with hands uplifted, for abiding peace, that all my deeds be inspired by righteousness; and for the wisdom of a good mind, so that I may bring peace to the soul of existence.”
6. “These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the “Most Great Peace” shall come.”

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS TO COMPARATIVE RELIGION QUIZ
 
1. PROGRESSIVE REVELATION:
1. Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita (4:7-8);2. Buddhism, Mahaparinibbana Sutta; 3. Christianity, (Matt 5:17);4. Islám, Qurán (35:22) 5. Bahá’í, (SWB, p 159); 6. Judaism, (Mic 5:2)
2. THE ONLY WAY:
1. Christianity, (John 14:6); 2. Buddhism, (Dhammapada20:274); 3. Islám, Imam ‘Ali Hadith; 4. Bahá’í, (TAB, p 169); 5. Hinduism,Bhagavad Gita (18:66); 6. Zoroastrianism, the Teachings of the Magi, p 222)
3. SALVATION:
1. Buddhism, Digha-Nikaya (1:46); 2. Judaism, (Ps 98:2-3);3. Bahá’í, (TAB, p 10); 4. Christianity, (2 Peter 3:15) and (Titus2:11);5. Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita (18:66); 6. Zoroastrianism, Gathas, Yasna(45:5 and 51:2); 7. Islám, Qurán (18:30-31)
4. FORGIVENESS OF SINS:
1. Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita (18:66);2. Bahá’í, (Gl, p 130); 3. Judaism, (Isa 55:7); 4. Islám, Qurán (34:54-55);5. Christianity, (Mk 3:28)
5. EVERLASTING LIFE:
1. Islám, Qurán (84:16-19); 2. Hinduism, BhagavadGita (2:27); 3. Judaism, (Eccl 7:1); 4. Zoroastrianism, Gathas, Yasna (33:8);5. Bahá’í, (Gl, p 34); 6. Christianity, (John 11:26,10:28).
6. UNITY OF GOD:
1. Christianity, (Mk 12:29); 2. Hinduism, Upanishads;3. Islám, Qurán (112: 1-2,4); 4. Bahá’í, Tablet of Ahmad; 5. Judaism, (Isa 45:5). 6. Jap Ji Sikh scriptures 
7. GOD, THE UNKNOWABLE:
1. Islám, Qurán (6:100); 2. Bahá’í, (Gl, p 4);3. Judaism, (Isa 55:9); 4. Hinduism, Upanishads; 5. Christianity, (John 1:18 and5:37); 6. Buddhism, Udana.
8. QUEST FOR PEACE:
1. Judaism, (Isa 2:4); 2 Buddhism, Dialogues of Buddha;3. Christianity, (Matt 5:9); 4. Islám, Qurán (49:10); 5. Zoroastrianism, 1992Multi-Faith Calendar; 6. Bahá’í, (PDC, p 116).
(Adapted from a presentation by Dann May, unpublished)