Published by

this central nature, if these six ideas are true (though we have not argued the details in this text),
then Christianity is true. In brief, the Gospel facts indicate that Christianity is true. So we are at
the center of the faith in these areas.
A few additional special beliefs were simply suggested at the end, too. In all cases, the
dates of the actual Christian writings as well as the earliest existing copies are all much closer to
the original teachings than with the other religions. In short, there is simply a wealth of back-up
data to potentially support each of these themes in Jesus’ teachings. Simply, nothing like this
exists elsewhere in the history of religions.
In spite of complimenting Buddha and his appeal, world religions expert Stephen Neill
makes a simply incredible comment concerning the uniqueness of Jesus’ teachings:
For, if we take the Gospels seriously (and at the same time as critically as you will),
Jesus is not the least like anyone else who has ever lived. The things that he says about
God are not the same as the sayings of any other religious teacher. The claims that he
makes for himself are not the same as those that have been made by any other religious
teacher. . . . The demands he makes on men are more searching than those put forward
by any other religious teacher. 98
This summarizes very nicely many of the key features of our study. Critical interaction on these
issues, as well as fair notions of politeness and human kindness, must be offered in the
discussion of such issues.
98 Neill, Christian Faith and Other Faiths (Oxford University Press ed.), 233 (emphasis added). For Neill’s
admiration of Buddha, see pages 99, 113 as well as The Supremacy of Jesus, 12, 52, 165.
49