“Wise men learn more from fools, than fools from the wise.”
????- got it in a fortune cookie.

When I read this, it reminded me how much we can learn from the non believers. Sometimes, we as Christians, do not want to take in consideration what others have to say, thinking that what comes out of their mouth is irrelevant, for they do not know the Lord.
We have to listen in order to be listened…

When going to this exhibit, the first thing that struck me was that the art exposed there, was actually borrowed from places like the Louvre and the Vatican. Places were I have always wanted to visit.
It was interesting how the artists showed, through their works, what was happening during that era. different aspects and opinions on biblical subjects were very well expressed. The material used to make the sculptores were amazing, such as marble and gold.
When seeing these pieces of art, the thing that came to my mind was how important it is to somehow record what is happening around us. Rather it being in a journal, painting, sculptures, etc. Something that we and others can go back and see what God has done in our lives or how we have changed.

Grace is what seperates us, and makes us unique, when compared to any other religion.

When dealing with the main religions in the world, Christianity is the only one who deals with the concept of grace, making it incredibly different from any other religion in the world. Religions like: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and even Judaism have no understanding of what grace is. It would never fit in to their beliefs. These religions have all a sense of standards and laws that one has to believe and follow in order to accomplish whatever one wants or wants to achieve in that religion. Christianity, in contrast, has a sense of grace which overcomes all rules, deities, laws that other religions require.
In Christianity, one believes that it is not through works, laws, rituals, etc., that he may “get” to God but rather by grace. This is a very intriguing concept when comparing to other world religions.

GRACE AND CHRISTIANITY
When reading Biblical scripture there is a concept introduced in the New Testament called “Grace”, which is one of the foundations in understanding who God is. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines grace as: unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification. It is difficult to understand how the God of creation would have grace upon a world where humanity is full of greed, pride, violence, among many other things. In a human perspective it makes more sense that someone would have to be worthy of that position where their god would even consider in having a relationship with him.
In today’s main religions there are certain rules and processes that one has to go through to get to that “level”, whereas in the Bible, God even though knowing that humans are sinful and evil, still longs for a unique relationship with every individual. In Christianity, salvation or afterlife also comes from God’s grace. In the book of Ephesians 2:6-9, it states: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Christians also need grace not just for salvation but for their daily walk. Other religions have a legalistic approach when it comes to their “path” here on earth that they need to follow, but for Christians, they rely on grace for they know they are weak and easy to go astray. In general, the response to evil in humans or “sin” for many religions is to “make up” for it. But the response to sin in Christianity is grace. A man has to first realize sin to then know what grace is. “If sin is of little import, redeeming Grace will be of little importance: a superficial wound needs no very serious remedy; hence the meaning of our Lord’s remark that He came not to call the righteous but sinners, for sinners respond, knowing the profundity of their need.”[1]
Another aspect to take in consideration is that the God of the Bible even though is worthy of praise, like most gods in various religions, still demonstrates love towards man. A very nebulous issue to spot in any other religion. So, what are God’s motives for grace in humanity? There are at least two motives that Paul describes and discusses in his letters. Sin, he states, says to bring death, enslavement, selfish action, and wrath. The grace of God is what brings a believer into a unique relationship with Him because of His love. Great love is always followed by unmerited favor, and the love of God for a sinful world made Him send His son to pay the penalty for sin. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” “God’s love for man is the first motive for His acting in grace on behalf of man.”[2] Another reason for God’s motive for grace in humanity is that by Him acting in Grace towards man, man would then produce good works. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10)

GRACE AND HINDUISM
Hindus believe that the true nature of humans (Atman) or external soul is trapped in a cycle of rebirth (samsara) because of the law of karma. The law of karma states that the Hindus are inevitably determined in their future actions by the effects of past actions. Until the exhausting and enchainment of karma is broken, the atman’s journey through unending rounds of rebirth will still continue. The level in which the atman lives is based on what he accomplished in the past life. In Hinduism, if someone is born as a human being, his or her “caste” (social level), is based on their past karma. In the original Hindu tradition there are four social levels: the Brahmins, which include priests and sages, Kshatriys, which are the warriors, Vaisyas, the merchants and farmers, and the Sudras, which are the servants.
Over time, however, a system of several thousand “functional castes” called the jati, was developed because of similar occupations in the same area. Overtime, divisions of race, sect, and immigration created new jati groups. The lowest of the jati groups were the “outcasts” or “untouchables”, this was because their occupations involved them in traditionally ritually impure activities such as: contact with dead bodies, whether animal or human. There was discrimination when it came to the “untouchables” and they tried to reform the jati system because of this but this complex caste system still dominates life in India, especially in the rural areas. There are some traditional Hindus that believe that only the male Brahmins may escape the rebirth. The only solution for the women is to hope to be born as a male in this case.
Other Hindus that are influenced by the Bhagavad-Gita, believe that it does not matter whether you are male or female. There might be many opinions when it comes to the caste system but in conclusion all Hindu schools teach that the main purpose for humans is to get out of the cycle, escaping this so called “entrapment”.[3]
In an interview with Professor Satya Pal Sharma (Former Hindi Officer in the Ministry of Education in India), a question was raised: “But, do you not have forgiveness and grace in Hinduism?” and the professor answered: Grace is there, but grace doesn’t mean forgiveness,” Professor Sharma explained. “Grace doesn’t forgive. But, how does the grace work? Suppose a son, a small child, goes against the orders of the father. The father beats the child. That is the natural way the father should prevent the child from doing that bad thing again. But, at the same time, the father loves the child. He tells the child, ‘I told you not to do that act, but you have done it.’ He makes it clear why he has punished the child. The father then says, ‘Don’t worry,’ and the father gives love to his child. That love makes the child forget all the punishment.”[4] It is interesting that this person may have a concept of what grace is here on earth but when it comes to the “ultimate grace” which gives eternal life; it would make no sense because in order to have true grace, there has to be forgiveness. Now, when introducing grace into the afterlife, there would be a radical change when it came to the “cycle of rebirth”. As it states, their rebirth is based on their actions in their past and if there was a s
ense of grace, they would be able to not be affected by their past. When comparing the Hindus with Christians, the Hindu god Brahma, is a very impersonal god. He is described as “The unseen Seer, the unheard Hearer, the unthought Thinker, the ununderstood Understander”[5]. Christians on the other hand, have a very personal God and they can relate to Him because of His grace towards them. God at one point in the Bible calls Abraham his friend. 2 Chronicles 20:7 – “Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?”

GRACE AND BUDDHISM
When looking at Theravada Buddhism one will see that, like in Hinduism, the goal of man is to be free from the cycle of rebirth. A good way of understanding the view of Buddhists when it comes to humanity is the famous parable of the mustard seed. The parable basically tells a story of woman called Kisa Gotami who had an only son but her only son died. She was in great despair so she went around the village asking her neighbors if they could help with some kind of medicine or if they knew of a doctor who could help her in that situation. The people thought she had lost her senses and that she was crazy because they knew the boy was dead. But there was this one man who told Gotami that he knew a man who could help her. He told her to go see Sakyamuni, the Buddha.” She took into consideration what the man had told her and went to see this man. When she got there she cried out to him asking him for medicine that would cure her dead child. The Buddha answered by telling her to go and find a handful of mustard seeds. But he was very specific in saying that the mustard seeds had to be from a house where no one had lost a child, husband, parent, or friend. Kisa went from house to house looking for the seeds and people gladly replied that they had it but when she asked if there was anyone in that family had died, they responded that there was such. She finally discovered that there was not such a house where there was a beloved who had not passed away. She then realized that death was common to all and that she was selfish in her grief. She then put away her selfishness and her affection for her child and buried him in the forest. She returned to the Buddha finding comfort in the dharma (conformity to one’s duty and nature). There is a spiritual truth found here which is the renunciation of worldly values in exchange for wisdom and spiritual perception. The other truth is that one should accept what the world brings and not grieve over it.[6]
Let one take Kisa Gotami as an example and try to explain grace to her. There are many admirable truths in the parable such as the acceptance of death and dealing with it but if she had known grace, which was discussed earlier, she would have had not just accepted the death of her son but would have found comfort in her God and believed in an afterlife and the hope of maybe seeing her son again. Gotami sees no grace in the cycle of rebirth. There are rules to every rebirth. Grace would of made an exception for her situation.

GRACE AND ISLAM
In Islam, when people die, who believe in Allah, will be judged according to whether they lived according to Allah’s standards. The Qur’an talks about a heavenly book in which the deeds, large and small, of each human are recorded. Those who are judged to have been “good enough” go to heaven, which is described as a place where there is an oasis with cool, flowing water. Hell is described as a desert storm, where there is heat, and lack of water.
Without grace it is impossible for the deeds of anyone to be erased from this so called heavenly book. Everything a man has done is recorded in that book. The Bible states that for a believer, God casts out all their sins and transgressions. Psalm 103:8-12 “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” In Islam, there is one God and believing in someone else like Jesus being God is disrespect. They believe that Jesus was only human and do not understand his death and the reason why he died. By not knowing the reason for Christ’s death, it would be very difficult for a Muslim to understand grace.[7]

GRACE AND JUDAISM
When it comes to Judaism, tradition and the following of the Torah is very important. When it comes to God and grace there is nothing that links them together as Jesus Christ does in Christianity. Some Jews believe that God torments the wicked souls, and others even believe that He annihilates them.[8] Jews do believe in a redeemer but never goes into this matter discussing how grace would relate to this redeemer. They state: “The promised Redeemer would bring the existing world order to an end and inaugurate the timeless sphere in which the righteous would lead a purely spiritual existence freed from the trammels of the flesh.”[9] It is true that the Jews believe in God and therefore one would think that they would have an idea of what “true grace” is. But one has to recognize that the grace that God Himself expressed in the New Testament is by far superior to the concept of grace in the Old Testament. The Grace in the New Testament brings salvation. He sent His son to die on the cross. Jews never recognized Jesus as God’s son, therefore never being able to know what “true grace” was.
If one was to take grace into consideration in the Jewish point of view, he or she would have a different approach to the death of Christ. Yes, they do believe that Jesus existed but if they believed that the reason for Christ’s death was because of God’s grace towards man, it would change their whole perspective of beliefs.

CONCLUSION
When studying other religions and how grace would relate to their beliefs one has to take in consideration that the main difference is how their “god’s” do not show by any means the concept of grace. There is a sense of a “stage” or “works” that one has to obtain to be in a relationship with their god or even, in some religions, have life after death.
There are some aspects that one should analyze in grace itself to better understand what God did for humanity. Some scholars would disagree putting the word “favor” into grace, which is still debated. But this does have in influence on the idea that it does not matter what one does after they have accepted Christ as their personal savior. Christians do know that it does matter what they do, for the Bible instructs them to keep the Ten Commandments. Acts 5:29-32 “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Another interesting aspect is that God did not offer salvation and grace to the angels that had sin. He showed favor to men because we were made in his image. Acts 17:26-29 states: “From one man he made every
nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.” Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.”
Judaism states or believes that a person is going to be judged by how he or she followed God’s commandments. Muslims also have the idea of a person obtaining salvation by doing and following certain beliefs and “rules”. The Buddhists and Hindus ultimate goal is to get off the cycle of life by going into a stage of Enlightment. In other words, they have to do “good” for them to have a better life after they die.
When trying to share the gospel with these main religions, what makes the difference is grace. Grace is what attracts people to Christianity. It is also through grace that one can be obedient to God. Christians know that they are not perfect and they can not achieve that stage of “righteousness” but it is by grace that they can have hope in salvation. It is not saying that because of grace one does not have to follow the law. Paul states: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” (Acts 7:6-7).

GRACE
Grace is a source of power that is sufficient for the need of progression. It is divine, a gift from the God above in helping with the development, character, and improvement of mankind. If man did not have grace, it would be impossible for him to overcome weakness, impurities, flaws, etc. The human being depends on grace for him to be able to grow and have hope. Humankind cannot be saved without grace. Man can not exchange their own good doings in order to obtain salvation. It is a free gift from the Lord Jesus Christ. If mankind could obtain salvation through their deeds, then they would boast in pride.
It is amazing how there is a God, who is the creator of all things, would be willing to step into history and take part in having a relationship with man. And in addition, He sent his son to die on the cross so that we may have eternal life. It gives us peace to know that we do not have to live up to a standard in order to associate ourselves with God. It gives us comfort to know that He is a personal God, and that He is interested in even the smallest details in our life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abraham Cohem. Every Man’s Talmud. New York: , 1995.
H. Wayne House. World Religions. : Zondervan, 2006.
Satya Pal Sharma. .
John Bowker. What Muslims Believe. Oxford: Oneworld, 2000.
Wilfred Cantwell Smith. Patterns of Faith Around the World. Oxford: Oneworld, 1998.
Charles C. Ryrie. The Grace of God. Chicago: Moody Press, 1963.
Rev. Walter J. Carey. The Life in Grace. New York: Logmans, 1914.
Alban G. Widgery. Living Religions and Modern Thought. New York: Round Table Press, 1936.
William A. Young. The World’s Religions. Englewood: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1995.

[1] Rev. Walter J. Carey, The Life in Grace (New York: Logmans, 1914), 17.
[2] Charles C. Ryrie, The Grace of God (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), 89-90.
[3] William A. Young, The World’s Religions (Englewood: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1995), 119-120.
[4] Satya Pal Sharma, .
[5] Alban G. Widgery, Living Religions and Modern Thought (New York: Round Table Press, 1936), 25.
[6] Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Patterns of Faith Around the World (Oxford: Oneworld, 1998), 58.
[7] John Bowker, What Muslims Believe (Oxford: Oneworld, 2000), 88.
[8] H. Wayne House, World Religions (: Zondervan, 2006), 21.
[9] Abraham Cohem, Every Man’s Talmud (New York: , 1995), 364.

Instead of writing the book report on Christian Jihad, I have decided to write on another topic that I find very interesting. Calvin’s influnce on western culture.

John Calvin was a man of great influence during the Reformation, what he once started and his ideas, are still of great influence to this present day. He became the leading theologian of Reformed Protestantism, which if often known as “Calvinism”. Calvin’s book “Institutes”, which was completed by the time he was 26, has had a great influence on the Western culture. His book is read by many to this day for many reasons. It had an amazing influence on European history, both secular and religious. Some may think the “Institutes” as a theological work, but this is not so. The subtitle for the first edition that came out was ‘Embracing almost the whole sum of piety, or godliness’, and for Calvin, a book that has the intention to present the doctrine of salvation must be worthy of being read by all people that are zealous for piety.[1] Calvin’s stern disciplines in Geneva and of the Calvinist-Puritans are similarly intertwined. In fact, a strong case is made for the “law and order” interest in present day Fundamentalism, and of the Moral Majority’s similar interests, as stemming authentically from the Calvinism of puritans of Colonial America.[2]
The roots or foundation of rationalism among Fundamentalists, such as Francis Shaeffer, are in Calvin himself. Before Calvin became a Christian, he was educated as a humanist and even afterwards, he still had a great deal of respect for humanists and for human reason as an important aspect of the Sovereign Creator’s work. Calvin had a tremendous influence on various countries due to his Presbyterian form of church government, which gives the idea that one does not have to waste money on the salaries of archbishops and bishops, among other administrators.[3]
Nowadays, many that call themselves “Christians” are in search of that revelation or ‘high” with God, instead of actually studying the Scriptures. They are also known as the fanatics who, in a way, try to pursue unfamiliar revelations, causing division and questioning among other believer’s. Calvin stated: “…The work of the Spirit promised to us is not to create new unfamiliar revelations, or to coin some novel type of teaching by which we may led away from the received doctrine of the Gospel, but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the Gospel recommends…any spirit which bypasses the truth of God’s word, and suggests any other doctrine, is rightly suspected of pride and deceit. Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority can the Spirit have over us unless he can be recognized by the same infallible sign?[4] Many churches, that one may find, are very much influenced about what Calvin was already talking about at the time in which he lived in. He alerted, through his books and writings, his concern about issues that we only see clearly in our present day. In conclusion, Calvin had a great impact in history and still does to this day.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Karl Barth and Geoffrey W. Bromiley. The Theology of John Calvin. London: , 1995.
Edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne. John Calvin: The Institutes of Christian Religion. London: Baker Book House Company, 1987.
W. Stanford Reid. John Calvin: His Influence in the Western World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982.
Edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne. The Institutes of Christian Religion. London: Baker Book House Company, 1986.
John Calvin, edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne. The Institutes of Christian Religion. London: Baker Book House Company, 1986.

[1] Edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne, The Institutes of Christian Religion (London: Baker Book House Company, 1986), 13-14.
[2] W. Stanford Reid, John Calvin: His Influence in the Western World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982).
[3] Karl Barth and Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The Theology of John Calvin (London: , 1995).
[4] Edited by Tony Lane and Hilary Osborne, John Calvin: The Institutes of Christian Religion (London: Baker Book House Company, 1987), 45.