GOD

AMONG

SAGES

WHY JESUS IS NOT JUST

ANOTHER RELIGIOUS LEADER

KENNETH RICHARD SAMPLES

© 2017 by Reasons to Believe

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-0607-4

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Some material in chapters 1, 3, 4, 9, and 10 was adapted from Kenneth Richard Samples, Without a Doubt: Answering the 20 Toughest Faith Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2004). Some material in chapter 8 was adapted from Kenneth Richard Samples, A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007). Some material in chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 appeared in a preliminary form on the Reasons to Believe Reflections blog.

“Samples’s book is a fair-minded, systematic comparison of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth with the life and teachings of other key leaders of world religions—and the comparison is revealing! The author presents a stark and powerful contrast between the historically well-grounded, textually reliable, and lofty identity claims of Jesus and the credentials of other sages, and Jesus towers above them all. Well informed, wise, and sympathetic, this is a readable volume for those interested in exploring world religions and what makes Jesus so unique.”

Paul Copan, Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University; author of A Little Book for New Philosophers

“This is not the typical world religions volume that simply provides an information-filled survey of major faith options. Rather, Ken Samples emphasizes an interactive approach, done in a comparative fashion that contrasts strengths, weaknesses, philosophical implications, and historical foundations of the relevant religious documents. More than fifty tables and charts provide many such contrasts ...