A Ready Defense The Best Of Josh Mcdowell Quotes

“There are five precepts taught by Buddhism that all Buddhists should follow: 1. Kill no living thing (including insects). 2. Do not steal. 3. Do not commit adultery. 4. Tell no lies. 5. Do not drink intoxicants or take drugs. There are other precepts that apply only to monks and nuns. These include: 6. Eat moderately and only at the appointed time. 7. Avoid that which excites the senses. 8. Do not wear adornments (including perfume). 9. Do not sleep in luxurious beds. 10. Accept no silver or gold.”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“Buddhism began in India about five hundred years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow. Moreover, the Hindu belief of an endless cycle of births, deaths and rebirths was viewed with dread. Consequently, the people turned to a variety of beliefs, including the worship of animals, to satisfy this spiritual vacuum. Many different sects of Hinduism arose, the most successful being that of Buddhism, which denies the authority of the vedas.”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“The Law of Karma, that from good must come good, and from evil must come evil; Reincarnation, as a chain of rebirths in which each soul, through virtuous living, can rise to a higher state; Nirvana, the final stage reached upon the emancipation of the soul from the chain of rebirths; Yogas, the disciplines which enable the individual to control the body and the emotions; and Dharma, the Law of Moral Order, which each individual must find and follow to reach nirvana. 10/35 John Baker observes: It is the essence of Hinduism that there are many different ways of looking at a single object, none of which will give the view of the whole, but each of which is entirely valid in its own right. 5/193”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“To know Jesus from history is to know Him from afar. It is only to know about Him rather than to actually know Him. Yet the historical record of His life reveals that He intensely desired that “all mankind” might know Him personally. On the eve of His crucifixion, when He knew death was imminent and the most important thoughts filled His mind, we find Him praying before His disciples: Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent (John 17:1-3). Either Jesus was supremely egotistical or He was revealing the whole purpose of His life within human history: that anyone from all mankind might come to know Him. Not just know about Him, but actually know Him in a personal way.”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“In Zechariah 12:10, God says, “They will look on Me whom they have pierced.” How can one pierce God unless He manifests Himself in the flesh? Of the ten other places where “pierce” is used, at least nine times a person is either thrust through or pierced to death; the remaining occurrence refers to wounded soldiers. In Daniel 7:14, the Messiah is given an everlasting kingdom, “that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him.” But if everyone is serving the Messiah, then no one would be left to serve the Lord unless the Lord and the Messiah are somehow united. We can say then that the Old Testament in some places at least allowed for and in other places required that the Messiah to come should be identified as God eternal. Thus, if Jesus was Messiah, and if Messiah was God, then Jesus had to be God.”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“Psalm 2:12 commands that the Messiah should be worshipped: Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“In all, Jesus uses the term I am (Gr. Ego eimi) more than nineteen times in reference to Himself in the Gospel according to John. Often it is used to make claims about Himself that normally would be thought appropriate only for God. For example, I am the bread of life, he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst (6:35); I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life (8:12); Unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins (8:24); I am the good shepherd (10:11-14) [cf. Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is my shepherd”]; I am the resurrection, and the life; He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies (11:25). Other Scriptures on this subject include John 4:26; 6:41, 48, 51; 8:18, 28, 58; 10:7, 9; 13:19; 14:6; and 15:1.)”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“(Isaiah 52:13-53:12, NIV, written ca 700 B.C.). For more than 1700 years, the Jewish rabbis interpreted this passage almost unanimously as referring to the Messiah. This fact is thoroughly documented in S. R. Driver and Adolf Neubauer’s The Fifty-Third Chapter of Isaiah According to the Jewish Interpreters. 19/37-39 They quote numerous rabbis during this period who equated the servant of Isaiah 53 with the Messiah. Not until the twelfth century A.D., no doubt under the suffering of the Jews at the hand of the Crusaders, did any Jewish interpreter say that Isaiah 52:13-53:12 refers to the whole nation of Israel, the most common interpretation today among Jewish scholars. Even after Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Yazchaki) first proposed this interpretation, however, many other Jewish interpreters have held, even to the present, the traditional Talmudic view that Isaiah 53 speaks of the Messiah. One of the most respected Jewish intellectuals of all history, Moses Maimonides (A.D. 1135-1204) rejected Rashi’s interpretation, and he taught that the passage was messianic. 59/364-”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell

“In the Hebrew text of Genesis, God is designated by two different names. The first is Elohim, for, while this name has other meanings in Hebrew, it is especially applied to the Supreme Being. The other is Jehovah [YHWH], the great name of God, expressing His essence. Now one might suppose that the two names were used indiscriminately as synonymous terms, merely to lend variety to the style. This, however, would be an error. The names are never intermixed; there are whole chapters, or large parts of chapters, in which God is always called Elohim, and others, at least as numerous, in which He is always named Jehovah.”
― Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense: The Best of Josh McDowell