Sri Lanka massacre | Isaiah 28-30:26 | Jesus among other religions, part 7 |

First order of business: cultural apologetics. May I have permission to make a non-political point by using someone else’s political statement?

[In this post on Twitter, Obianuju Ekeocha demonstrates clearly that many political heavyweights are spinning the tragedy in Sri Lanka](http://). I want you to look at this and ask yourself one question: why do they not want to say this terrorism was targeting Christians? Why does one famous, famous lady feed you a line of crap that Easter is a special day for many religions? Sometimes I think that’s all we have to do as Christian casemakers – ask a question of someone. The ones who will “get it” will get it, and others will be willfully blind no matter what your argument. And it will become clear that their agenda is not even neutral…that it is anti-Christian.

And we should not be surprised. Aware, but not surprised.

Bible segment: Reading along with The Bible Project

Today’s personal prayer reading: Psalm 115

Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)

Our reading: Isaiah 28-30:26

Apologetics segment: Gary Habermas and Jesus’ uniqueness

I’m wondering if it’d be interesting to call this a “news you can use” or “words you can use” section.

• In modernity, a common objection is “science is real” and “religion is opinion.”

• While we should test everything, including miracles, there are six places to test to see if Jesus’ claims were unmatched by founders of other major religions (it’s a beautiful thing about Christianity – it’s testable).

• #1: Jesus claimed to be deity.

o Buddha didn’t, and whatever spiritism or divinity is part of some Buddhist practices in China didn’t really develop until 700 years later.

o Like Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism began more reservedly, and they later evolved into “more phenomenal, mystical, and occultic versions.” (p16) Some historians speculate that this happened, in part, due to competition for followers – they got more sensationalistic to attract attention.

o Conclusion – in terms of self-claim to deity, these “naturalistic ethical, social, and political thinkers” (p16) are not rivals to Jesus.

Today: what about other “prophets?” Let’s look at Zoroaster, chief prophet of the Persian religion.

Gary Habermas, “The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ Among the Major World Religions” (Lynchburg, VA: GaryHabermas.com, 2016). http://www.garyhabermas.com/Evidence2/Habermas-Uniqueness-of-Jesus-Christ-2016.pdf. Accessed April 17, 2019.