Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received these ebooks, free of charge, from masterbooks for blog review purposes, on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own.
Volume 1: Religions in today’s culture seem to be multiplying. Have you ever wondered why certain religions believe and practice what they do? Or how they view the Bible? This volume delves into these and other engaging questions, such as:
- How can a Christian witness to people in these religions?
- Do these other religions believe in creation and a Creator?
- How do we deal with these religions from a biblical authority perspective?
Many religions and cults discussed in this first volume openly affirm that the Bible is true, but then something gets in their way. And there is a common factor every time—man’s fallible opinions. In one way or another the Bible gets demoted, reinterpreted, or completely ignored. Man’s ideas are used to throw the Bible’s clear teaching out the window while false teachings are promoted. When you understand a religion’s origins and teachings, you are in a better position to know how to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as you take the good news to those in false religions.
Volume 2: Religions of the Far East like Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age have been gaining a foothold in the Western world. We even see witchcraft on the rise and paganism infiltrating the minds of the next generation–even in Christian homes! Why is that? How can a Christian respond? We already know how the one true God has responded, and in this title you will learn:
- How a Christian can effectively witness for Christ
- How to refute these false religions
- What it truly is that these religions teach and why
This volume dives into these styles of religions and looks at their origins and their basic tenets as well as why they fall so short. Understanding the basic tenets of these religions helps the Christian see the flaws in these philosophies. In this way one can better discern how to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ while standing on the authority of the Bible.
Volume 3: This final book in the series focuses on the atheistic or humanistic type of religions. It would be one of the most valuable for the church in the Western World where anti-god and pro-evolution religions are beginning to explode, for it was written to refute those religions and show how they fail.
Unlike most books on world religions, this title dives into the secular humanistic religions. The book starts with God’s Word as the absolute authority. In doing so, God becomes our guide to refute false religions.
Humanistic religions are all around us and we need to be able to spot their tenets and oppose them instead of allowing them to subtly infiltrate our Christianity and undermine us from within. And as such, we need to know how to effectively present the gospel to people who have been deceived by humanistic religions
For most of you, Summer is winding down, and school is on the horizon.
For those of us already starting our year round homeschool, we may already be thinking about NEXT school year! When you homeschool, you tend to be working at different grade levels, and your curriculum can be more responsive, so you start planning from day 1 of the current school year, for the following one!
So as I was starting Miss Grace on Apologetics, she started asking some very valid questions about otehr religions and how each one claims to be the true religion. So I decided it was time to start looking around for a world religions curriculum, that would be all encompassing and answer all her questions, BUT be taught form a Christian perspective. And then while checking out the World History text for Masterbooks recently, I stumbled upon the Wordl Religions and Cults book, and thought AHA. And then recently I discovered it was actually a 3 part series, and knew I had found the answer to my prayers!
- How can a Christian witness to people in these religions?
- Do these other religions believe in creation and a Creator?
- How do we deal with these religions from a biblical authority perspective?
Many religions and cults discussed in this first volume openly affirm that the Bible is true, but then something gets in their way. And there is a common factor every time—man’s fallible opinions. In one way or another the Bible gets demoted, reinterpreted, or completely ignored. Man’s ideas are used to throw the Bible’s clear teaching out the window while false teachings are promoted. When you understand a religion’s origins and teachings, you are in a better position to know how to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as you take the good news to those in false religions.
I really loved how there is not one set 'author' for this text. Rather, there are a series of authors, taking on each religlion and offshoot. This allows for different opinions, but ALL from the Christian viewpoint, so you don't feel like you are getting a lecture from one person, but rather a series of lectures. This book deals with the basics in reference to Christianaity- Apologetics, Biblical Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy, which is generally where most unior High and High School students start having questions. In our area, where there are so many variations of Christianity (Pentecostal, Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian, it's not a surprised that kids are confused about different religions. This book did a great job in sorting it out, and explaining how the different religions came from the same base tree of faith, but how mans interpretation, led them into religious differences.
The book also deals with the Counterfeits of Christianity- also know as fallen faiths- those who acknowledge the bible as true to a point, but then let interpretation and modern social norms take over and CHANGE the theology. These include Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Judaism, Mormonism, The Baha’i Faith, Deism, Satanism, Freemasonry, Zoroastrianism, Worldwide Church of the Creator
.(The Creativity Movement) and Moonies/The Unification Church. While Miss Grace and I talked over the differences in Islam, Mormonism, and Judaism, I think this section is better for older kids, perhaps with a bit more experience and exposure to modern history. But overall, is you need just one book, Volume 1 would more than cover a semester, with discussion and additional materials, for a High School elective credit (1/2 credit).
If you want to take that credit and expand it into a full 2 semester course, and earn the full credit, then adding Volumes 2 and 3 would be perfect!
Volume 2: Religions of the Far East like Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age have been gaining a foothold in the Western world. We even see witchcraft on the rise and paganism infiltrating the minds of the next generation–even in Christian homes! Why is that? How can a Christian respond? We already know how the one true God has responded, and in this title you will learn:- How a Christian can effectively witness for Christ
- How to refute these false religions
- What it truly is that these religions teach and why
This volume dives into these styles of religions and looks at their origins and their basic tenets as well as why they fall so short. Understanding the basic tenets of these religions helps the Christian see the flaws in these philosophies. In this way one can better discern how to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ while standing on the authority of the Bible.
This second volume comes an overview of Eastern Mysticism Religions, and then starts with The New Age Movement (Pantheism and Monism), Hinduism (with Hare Krishna), Jainism, and Sikhism. Then it looks at the Moralistic and Mythological Religions, like Paganism, Voodooism, Wicca and Witchcraft, Druidism, Animism (Spiritism), Egypt’s Ancient Religion, Norse and Germanic Mythology, Syncretism in Latin American Religions, Greek Mythology, Stoicism (with Notes on Epicureanism), Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism and Unitarianism.
This second volume would perfectly coincide with a High Schooler taking a World History course, or be used with it. As you can see, it takes a valid look at the 'ancient religions' and where they started, and how they evolved. I was happy to see that the authors (again a mixed amount of writers), all udnerstood that most of the 'religions' started from mythology and how what was a way to understand their world around them, quickly became 'man's religion', not God. The book does a wonderful job of sorting the different religions and their history, contrasting to a Biblical worldvew and helping kids understand how to explain that to others.
The last volume in the series, is the newest, and one that is best for high schoolers, as it deals with how modern culture is trying to change God's religions into a pervted man's version, that does its best to bash Christianity, so that the fallacies inherent in their viewpoints are not seen. It's also a good second volume, to use with Volume 1, for a High School credit, if you wish to focus on Christianity and the threats against it.
Volume 3: This final book in the series focuses on the atheistic or humanistic type of religions. It would be one of the most valuable for the church in the Western World where anti-god and pro-evolution religions are beginning to explode, for it was written to refute those religions and show how they fail. Unlike most books on world religions, this title dives into the secular humanistic religions. The book starts with God’s Word as the absolute authority. In doing so, God becomes our guide to refute false religions.
Humanistic religions are all around us and we need to be able to spot their tenets and oppose them instead of allowing them to subtly infiltrate our Christianity and undermine us from within. And as such, we need to know how to effectively present the gospel to people who have been deceived by humanistic religions
This third book in the series cover Secular and Atheistic Religions, and I think kids need a good understanding of Volume 1, in order to be able to understand the differences presented in this book, and the underlying dogma behind them. Religions covered include Atheism, Agnosticism, Secular Humanism, Nazism: A Variant of Secular Humanism, Scientology (Thetanism/Church of
.Scientology/Hubbardism), Communism: The Failed Social Experiment, and Postmodernism. As you can see, there is a lot of historical basis and involvement in those religions, so a good understanding of modern history would also be ideal.
The second part of Volume 3 deals with Epicureanism and Evolutionary Religions, Dualism and the Types of Religions, Christian Syncretism with Evolution and Other Belief Systems (Compromise), The Religion of Naturalism, Materialism, and Empiricism. This part is excellent for class discussion, and for looking at the philosophy and logic behind the different systems. I would also call it a college level area, as it was VERY similar to the Comparative Religion and Ethics class I had in college!
The rest of the Volume helps to answer questions, and tie up the series. This includes Afterlife: “What Must I Do to Be Saved?”, The Bible versus Other Alleged Holy Books, What Makes a Christian Martyr Differ
.from Other Faiths’ “Martyrs”?, Do Secularists Have a Foundation for Morality?, the Intelligent Design Movement, Evolutionary Humanism the Most
.Blood-stained Religion Ever?, Responding to Atheist Propaganda and Skeptics and Evolution (Not Creation) Is a “God
.of the Gaps”. This section REALLY prepares the student for the perils and attacks, on their faith, that they will MOST likely face once the start college, or are already facing. Being able to answer these questions lets your faith attacker know that you have not only done your research, but have thoroughly researched the areas, and more than likely know more than they do, about their point of view!
The vital resource for grading all assignments from the Comparative Religions course, which includes:
- An examination of over 50 world religious views, always with a focus on the Word of God as truth.
- Weekly connections to the World Religions and Cults Generalized Timeline Chart with a church and denominational breakdown.
I would HIGHLY recommend getting the Teacher's Guide if you plan on teaching 2 or 3 volumes in this course. It's VERY helpful to have an idea plan for discussions, papers, and for additional activites. The schedule is doable, and it does have the 3 volumes going over a 2 year span, but you could make it 3 semesters with ease, for a total of 1 1/2 credit of high school electives. With so much going on at that level, having an easy to follow teacher's guide is a HUGE help!
You can get all 3 books in the series in one Volume, for ease in having the print versions always at hand, or you can get the downloadable version of each othe books (and guide). We preferred those, as Miss Grace could load it onto her Kindle app, and get help with sounding out words she didn't know, and we could listen while on the road to dance class as well. This was helpful to have relative discussions, right after finishing each chapter. You can get a matching poster, than can help your kids keep the difference religions and cults seperate.
All in all, this is a VERY thorough course, and one that I would HIGHLY recommend to all homeschoolers, for their kids to read at least Volumes 1 and 3, and for parents to discuss Volume 3 with them. You might also find it helpful for confirmation classes and youth groups. It's a class that will STAY with your students/children, and give them a FIRM foundation in their Christian faith, and be able to intelligently defend it. You never know, they might even be able to convert some non-believers with the logic they learn in this series!
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