Concise, Accurate, Overview of Numerous Religions

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	• So What's the Difference? Fritz Ridenour Gospel Light Publications, 2001 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
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Of course it's biased! What do you expect

A very good book if you're looking for an introduction to religions with a basic comparison to the teachings found in the Bible.

I'm always amused by comments on Christian books written by Christian authors. Non-Christians complain that the book is biased and the author actually had the nerve to believe that his faith is correct. What did you expect? Should this Christian author have to change his beliefs and tell the reader that the Bible's claim that no one can come to the father but through Jesus Christ is a lie, even though he believes that? Muslims believe you only get to heaven by being Muslim, Catholics believe you need the Cahtolic sacraments, and hundreds of other religions believe they are correct in their beliefs. It seems only Christian claims to exclusive knowledge are unacceptable to these people though.

My favorite was the person who whined that the book was filled with the author's opinions. Don't most non-fiction books contain the author's opinions? I'm guessing, if the book had been written by someone he agreed with, it would have been fine for the author to include his opinions. The problem is not the book in these cases. The problem is that many readers believe any book that does not present the world view they prefer is poorly written and the writer should have consulted them before writing his ideas on paper. These commenters are the ones who are narrow minded. Unless people believe that all paths lead to God, and humanism is the correct world view, they don't believe you should be allowed to express your opinons and beliefs.

Then there are those who claim the book is intolerant. Intolerance is believing that is someone doesn't agree with you they shouldn't be allowed to express their views and opinions. Intolerance is demanding that Christian beliefs not be written about because non-Christians don't like their beliefs. Nowhere in the book does the author preach intolerance of other religions. He simply states what he believes and presents the evidence for those beliefs in comparison to other religions. If you don't like reading that Christians believe their religion is actually true and the Bible is right about the way to salvation, read a book about humanism. Practice what you preach. Tolerance is a two way street.

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Now we know why liberals are evil.

This book paints in broad strokes, characterizing religions quickly and melodramatically for the short-attention-span reader who wants to make a judgement call without excessive strain. For Ridenhour, there's Orthodox Christianity, followed by 4 major religions, followed by 4 major cults, with Unitarianism foremost among them. The reader who accepts the premise that Unitarianism is a cult may have greater difficulty swallowing the author's claim that "those who remain in Christian churches while holding [Unitarian] views are called 'Liberals'." Moreover, liberals "do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God" and also "deny the Christian doctrines."

So now we understand why the "L" word ranks only with the "N" word as a known but unmentionable word in the English language (though Ridenour's characterization of godless "humanists" may create a third taboo: the "H" word). If the author were less zealous about covertly judging other religions, he might be in a position to make a compelling case for the "invisible" church founded on a God whose power and grace are made manifest in a lowly manger.

The most engaging aspect of this "obvious," biased book is trying to determine the author's personal religious agenda. No major Protestant religions are discussed, but Luther comes off so well as a reformer and a man of integrity and faith that I'm going to guess the author is Lutheran (Mo. Synod or further to the right). It becomes clear that he's no fan of all of the sacraments, creeds, and dogma of Roman Catholicism, yet he comes down strong on the side of one true catholic (the small "c" version of many Lutheran creeds) Christian faith.

Three stars is overly generous, but my middle name is Luther.

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Very informative

If you want to understand the differences between Christianity and most other religions you must read this book. I wish in some chapters it gave more detail but it provides references for more information.

Concise, Accurate, Overview of Numerous Religions

I teach a course on world religions and cults at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, CA. SO WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE is a great introductory book for the person who wants to learn about the origin and teachings of religions like:

-Islam
-Mormonism
-Jehovah's Witnesses
-Hinduism
-Buddhism
-Roman Catholicism
-New Age Movement

The author is a Christian and does not hide that fact. Chapter after chapter, he clearly lays out what the differences are between each religion and Biblical Christianity. This book will be very helpful to you, especially if you are a Christian, wanting to lovingly share with people with other religions. I highly recommend it.

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Truth Divides

After reading all the reviews (opinions) on this book, it has come to my attention that many of the readers are confused about the author's intent. A clearer title would have been "Biblical Teachings vs. Religious Teachings". It is also apparent that many of the readers are confusing "Christianity" with Catholicism, Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism and the like, which are "false religions" according to the Bible. For all those who resorted to name calling only shows their weakness to discuss the issues at hand with confidence. I found "Dr. Toner" (Catholic) response the most interesting since, Dr. Toner like all Catholic Apologist try to "trap" uneducated Protestants into thinking that their faith is not genuine and that their religion has mislead them. The arguments used by Dr. Toner and other's to discredit this book, engage in broad generalized statements and false comparisons that most people believe to be factual. To illustrate my point and keep this "review" as brief as possible, I would like to break down two common and misrepresented arguments presented by Dr. Toner and the Catholic Church.

The first one is that "20,000 Protestant Churches" exist because of "personal interpretation". Where did such a number come from? This argument is engaging in false comparison. There are as many interpretations of the Roman Catholic's own rule of faith as there are of the Protestant interpretations of the Bible. Many Roman Catholic's do not believe 100% in there own teachings, I know this first hand because my wife's side of the family is Roman Catholic, I am not. A true comparison would be to compare the Roman Catholic rule of faith (CCC) and the Protestant rule of faith (the Bible).

According to David A Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia 1900-2000, there are 8,196 denominations within Protestantism, not 20,000 as Roman Catholic's claim. Also, there are 2,942 distinct denominations within Roman Catholicism, which the Roman Catholic's fail to mention. Also, these numbers are based on jurisdiction rather than differing beliefs and practice. Therefore these numbers do not represent a true denominational distinction. Hence, Barrett's broader category (labeled true denominations) of 21 Protestant and 16 Catholic represents a much more realistic calculation. A far cry from 20,000 Protestant denominations claimed by Dr. Toner and the Catholic Church.

The second one was the reference to "personal interpretation" being forbidden in the Bible. Really? Paul in [Galatians 1:6-9] instructs us to use private judgment. He tells us not to believe "anyone" who comes preaching a gospel that is "different" than the one contained in the original teachings. It is clear that Paul commands us to judge all supposed "religious authorities" by comparing their teachings to the teachings of the Bible. Also, reference [2 Timothy 2:4-16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22] which also instruct us to test all things with Biblical truth. The reference to [2 Peter 1:20] is a misrepresentation of the verse. Paul is not warning of personal interpretation, but instructing us to use Scripture to interpret Scripture. The Bible represents a unified, consistent and coherent Word from God. Any Interpretation of a passage that has a meaning in direct contradiction to another portion of Scripture is disallowed.

We have this ability to know the true gospel from error by God, the illumination of his Holy Spirit, has insured that none of his elect will be deceived by serious error. In [Matthew 24:24], Jesus says: "False prophets will arise to deceive even the elect-If it were possible," indicating that it is not impossible. In [1 John 2:20-27], John writes to ordinary Christians when he says: "you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth...you do not need anyone to teach you."

Also, the Bible makes it clear in [2 Timothy 3:15-16] that mankind is to make sure it conforms to Scripture not Scripture conforming to mankind. Two key words in these verses are "doctrine" and "reproof". The first "doctrine" is defined as "instructs; foundation and divine truth" and the second "reproof" is defined as "correction, to make sure we conform to it not it to us". The Church has not been given the license to spiritualize or allegorize texts against itself. The Bible is not to be reinterpreted to be brought into conformity with contemporary philosophies. The Bible is not to be reinterpreted as we would like it to have been written to the prejudices of our own era.

The Bible is the Christians final, eternal and trustworthy authority for faith and practice and not the teachings of the church or its leaders [Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 48, 2 Timothy 3:15-16, Hebrews 4: 12 and 2 Peter 1:16-21].

I could easily refute the other claims made by all those who oppose this book or the Bible itself, but time and space do not permit.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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