Session 6: What Do Buddhists Believe?
Secret Church 16: A Global Gospel in a World of Religions
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Bible/Theology Church Planting/Church Multiplication Discipleship/Disciple Making Evangelism/Faith Sharing Long-term Missionary Training & Service Ministry Skills Training Short Term & Mission Team Training Unreached People Groups Missions Next Generation TrainingIn this session of Secret Church 16, David Platt encourages Christians to share the gospel with Buddhists by providing them with an overview of Buddhism. In this session, he deals with Buddhism, a religion with over 250 million people from 62 countries. Of the 354 people groups that are Buddhist, 296 of them are labeled as unreached with the gospel. In response to sin and suffering, Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhism’s founder, claimed to find Enlightenment while meditating, and he taught others this path until his death.
The two primary schools of Buddhism are Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, and Buddhists have a variety of sacred texts. In fact, Buddhism is often mixed with atheism or animism. Buddhists believe that suffering is the main problem for man and that it can only be overcome by getting rid of selfish desire through the Eight-Fold Path. Salvation for Buddhists is a matter of self-effort. In this session, David Platt offers suggestions for sharing the gospel with Buddhists, including questions to ask in order to transition into a gospel conversation.