The Lamb and the Fuhrer

In sticking with the Great Conversations series and my new found interest in Ravi Zacharias, I just finished reading The Lamb and the Fuhrer. In this book, Ravi portrays what a conversation between Jesus and Adolf Hitler might be like. Although there is much in this work that I would like to comment on, I would like to focus on one idea presented. A third character, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is involved in much of the conversation. The scene occurs shortly after Hitler took his own life and he is now in a courtroom of sorts listening to the accusations brought against him. Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who plotted an attempt to assassinate Hitler. The attempt was unsuccessful, and Hitler had Dietrich killed. A question that Ravi presents before the dialogue even begins is, "What would Jesus have said when ethics comes into conflict with an ethic that chose to kill to stop the killing?" A professor of OT survey my freshman year proposed almost the same question. I did not have a sufficient answer. I still don't know if I do. Here is what the book proposes... Hitler turns to Dietrich and says, "So you accuse me of killing, but you yourself had no hesitancy to kill. Jesus, how can he be one of Yours if he too violated the image of God by attempting to kill me?" I will sum up Dietrich's answer in the words Ravi speaks for him... "The masquerade of evil was being played out. I had to chose whether to stand by or stand my ground...The person who stands his or her ground is not the one whose untimate criterion is his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue. The only person who stands his ground is the one who is ready to sacrifice all things when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and exclusive allegiance to God...My decision to eliminate you was born not for any personal reasons...When you silenced those who spoke out for the preservation of life, you crossed a line. That is not God's way; that is not the way of allowing us to be truly human...First you took sole and complete authority over law. Then [...] for the extermination of life. Then you silenced anyone who questioned your authority." "Any direction I looked for a solution, the answer became the taking of a life-either yours or standing back and letting the innocent continue to be killed. It was not so much that the choice was evil but that to leave the situation unchecked was evil...In the complexities of life you start with the sacredness of life, and as evil invades and powers seduce, there emerges a hierarchy of choices. I rested in God's power to raise the dead and on my willingness to protect human life as not merely a political ideology." Jesus says to Hitler, "Your first question should have been, 'How does one difine life?' How one defines ethics is based on how one defines life itself...I am life. I created life in humanity. You are made in the image of God, made to conform to Me, the image of His Son. I am ultimate reality and everything contrary is spurious." It is the hierarchy of choices that always troubled me. I have my own questions and opinions....what are yours????

The Lotus and the Cross

Ravi Zacharias has written a book entitled The Lotus and the Cross. This book involved a hypothetical situation where Jesus carries on a converstaing with Buddha. The story centers on a girl named Priya who has prostituted herself and whose life is in shambles. Priya is searching for meaning in life and a remedy for her pain when she encounters Jesus and Buddha on a private boat ride. The purpose of the book is to highlight the differences between Buddhism and Christianity without bringing offense. One of the main ideas that Ravi tries to get across is that Gautama teaches that there is no such thing as the "self". The "person" is just an illusion that we need to see beyond and realize that there is no real self. But Jesus points out that love is particular. God gave His son that WHOSOEVER believes in Him will have eternal life. Gautama also states that "Everything is impermanent" to which Jesus asks, "Even that statement?" Ravi exposes that Buddhism has no final word to rely on since it holds everything as impermanent. At the end of this dialogue, Jesus asks Gautama what he can offer to Priya. Gautama answers by saying that he offers the Tripple Gem:

• The Buddha - Enlightenment
• The Dhamma - the Teaching
• The Sangha - the Community

Then Jesus asks Gautama to look at them one at a time.

• The Buddha - Buddha no longer exists, neither does Priya. Therefore, the first gem is nonexistance.
• The Dhamma - There is no eternal word to preserve, no absolute to be guided by.
• The Sangha - A community consisting of those who believe that no self exists and who strive toward not desiring anything, including friendships and family, which make up their community.

Then Jesus tells Pryia what He offers her, The Pearl of Great Price. Christ offers Himself. The illustration at the end of the book(read it to find out!!)sums up the book and truly displays the differences between Buddhism and Christianity. This was a well written book. What I enjoyed most was how Ravi filled Jesus' dialogue with stories from Scripture. When Christ spoke, He would tell stories from His earthly ministry. Christ uses narrative from Scripture in His "apologetic" to illustrate and personalize the message to Pryia. Yes!!!