A Brief Preface

In the Biblical book of John chapter 10: 3-18, Jesus makes reference to sheep and the gate in which sheep reside. Speaking to the religious leaders of the day, Christ, in metaphorical terms, explains that any who enter the gate of the sheep are nothing more than robbers and thieves. "I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (The Bible: NKJV, verse 1) He goes on to say, "But he who enters by the door is the Shepard of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (The Bible: NKJV, verses 3 and 5)

In this story, Christ is both the gate and the Shepard, while mankind are the sheep. Sheep are safe in the gatehouse so long as the Shepard is nearby to ward off any and all dangers, and upon calling, the sheep will then move when directed for any purpose deemed necessary by the Shepard. Similarly, Christians are safe from eternal damnation , so long as they reside in Him, and are knowledgeable enough of his word to respond when they hear the good Shepard's voice when he calls.

The applicability of this story is immense to the lives of Christians generally speaking, but its relation to this current project reveals just how important and necessary the project actually is. You see, if we are sheep as Christ states, then it is only by his voice that we can truly know what to do; even if we do not understand why we are called to do it. Unlike sheep, however, God has created mankind with a free will, a will which drives many to reject Him; as it concerns these people, the voice they listen to is not of God, and they seek, with great rigor, to espouse their doctrine to those who are willing to listen. Here lies the danger! As aforementioned, many Christians, though they might know the what of their faith, do not understand the why of their faith, and are thus greatly susceptible to the "other voice"; they are not able to distinguish the voice of Christ from that of any other.

Christ's relation of mankind to sheep has within it a duality, a polarized component which might seem strange. On one hand, sheep will follow even unto death, simply because they follow. From this perspective, mankind is described as nothing more then mindless followers, who sway as the wind changes. On the other hand, however, sheep will only respond to the voice of the Shepard, and in this way, become immovable in their positions. It is this aspect of sheep that I seek to harness in Christians, and as a result, write this book. I want Christians to be like the sheep who only move when they hear the voice of their Shepard, in our case, Jesus Christ.

A short note: This blog will not incorporate the history of the religions I discuss; I do hope to publish and sell this book, and such an endeavor would be made moot if one could read the entire content online. Therefore, this blog will set forth only my theological understanding of stated religions, and a brief, but by no means exhaustive, apologetic overview. I will try and update this blog once every week or two, or as often as my reserach and analysis is completed.

A Time for Explanation

Why? Why is the question that I ask! I ask it not for the mere sake of creating or maintaining conversation, but rather, because it is the quintessential question one must answer if they are to truly grasp anything. A terrifying question, for within it dwells the possibility of exposing mankind to things previously unknown. More terrifying still, however, is that it is the one question which can destroy the dearly held truths to which one holds to. Why?

This question I have asked a number of students over my years of teaching, a question I apply to a number of variant topics, topics including history, politics, and literature, but none so vital as religion, and more specifically, Christianity. As a World History teacher at a private orthodox Protestant Christian school, I have the privilege of sharing my values and beliefs with students from many different socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, many of whom come from predominantly Christian homes, and as a result, claim the faith as their own. What is remarkable about many of these students, however, is not so much their ignorance of the Christian faith, but rather their inability to articulate the why. Consequently, the effect is a generation of mindless “Christians” who, for the most part, could provide the basics of the gospels, but who upon questioning, would be unable to describe and explain how and why the faith they claim is real. This is a reality among many young Christians today, and I can only assume that such is true for Christians across all generations.

The cause of this phenomenon I cannot say, but what I fear is that a future generation of Christian leaders and believers will develop without understanding why they believe what they claim to believe, and as a result, will be more apt to fall victim to any number of thoughts and ideas which might crawl across their consciousness. There is a war of ideas, and as Christians we must be armed to defend ourselves, we must be prepared to give an apology of our faith.
It is to the accomplishment of this that I set forth to write an apologetic history of world religions. My goal is to develop a historical and theological breakdown of those religions which vie for attention in this day, while simultaneously developing an apologetic viewpoint as it pertains to each one. The end result will be a full length and documented text, but here I create a forum where I will lay out my theological understanding of today’s religions, and do so both for my own clarification, but beyond that, to obtain further insight from those who might read my notes.

Thus, I ask that from time to time you, who read this now, might return and provide comment upon the work I currently do. Thank you, and may God bless you