The statement of the true proverb has happened to them,
« A dog returns to its own vomit, » and « A sow, after washing herself, returns to wallowing in the mud. »
2Pe 2:22
The following article was written by Emi Nedelcu (our correspondent in Romania) several months before the death of the well known « servant of God » Ravi Zacharias, and before his double life (lies, pride, adultery, money, corruption) was unveiled.
This article was prophetic, because Ravi Z. apparently lived … without God.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who is committing sin, is a servant of sin, … Joh 8:34
Can man live without God?
Or
can Ravi Zacharias answer this question, … without God?
I started reading this book by Ravi Zacharias (Can Man Live Without God?), A book that is said to be :
composed of a series of remarkable messages, through which the author provides us with a brilliant and convincing apology of the Christian faith
The book begins with
- a quote from a Scottish political thinker,
- continues with a worldly song that the author listened to in India during adolescence,
- ….. then the movie « Mother India »
- … the lyrics of another non-Christian band
- … and the author continues in this way quoting magazines, philosophers, psychologists, actors, writers, movies, cartoons etc, …
trying to show the suffering, wandering and madness of the man who lives without God and then how to find out the truth .
But I have some questions:
- Can the world, philosophy, psychology or anything other than God really show us what it means to live without God?
- Is there anything outside of God that can prove to us that we cannot live without Him?
- Can anyone but Him show us our state of sin?
- If only Jesus is the Truth, can we find out the truth elsewhere?
It is disappointing that Ravi Zacharias disregards the Word of God and tries to bring people’s answers to this problem instead of bringing God’s answer (which proves that he thinks that the solution is man-made to go to God, and not the other way around), I stopped reading still trying to see if he later gives a price on the Word.
I browsed through the book, looking for the first verse quoted from the Bible … I was glad to find it, but you know where? … on page 59 … almost 60 pages of human, philosophical arguments, psychological, logical …. and just a verse from the Bible … just a verse from the Truth (John 17:17) and the remaining 59 pages of people’s words …. how painful !….
What kind of « bright and convincing apology of the Christian faith » is this if it is not based on Scripture?
Let us not forget that
« Thus faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. » Romans 10:17
By the end of the book, I had found only 24 Bible references, but what are these 228 pages? Why does Ravi Zacharias bring as arguments, on average, ten pages, only one argument from the Bible and the rest from other sources? … isn’t the Word enough, important, strong for him …?
Jesus says, « If ye abide in my word, ye are my disciples indeed. » John 8:31.
No wonder (if the evidence is not of the Word but of man) that I have found in this book, things that are only good to be thrown away, along with the book, so as not to defile the weak.
I would like to give just one example:
Page 84 …… In « Beauty and the Beast » the moral is that you must love people even before they can be loved; in the moral « Cinderella » is the exaltation of the humble and the salvation of the obedient; in « Sleeping Beauty » the moral is that you can be blessed with all that life can offer you and still have the reality of death.
SERIOUSLY ???
We need cartoons to understand that we are subjected to death, or that there is salvation through the Lord Jesus …. and then the first moral so cunning is wrongly said … It is not that man loves another man, but God is the One who loved us when we did not deserve it (Romans 5: 8).
Jeremiah 8: 7-9 Even the rooster crows in the heavens; the turtledove, the swallow, and the rooster guard their time of arrival; but my people know not the law of the LORD. How can you say, « We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? » « Truly, it was in vain that the scribes’ lies were put to work. The wise are ashamed, they are astonished, they are caught; for they have despised the word of the Lord, and what wisdom have they?
I warmly recommend you not to waste your time
reading such books and please do not learn from such people.
I will boast of God, of His Word. Ps 56: 4
Emi Nedelcu