Question: I have a friend who was raised in a Christian home, who recently became entrapped by the Buddhist lifestyle and refers to himself as a Christian Buddhist are there any resources that you could recommend for me to reach him. I’m trying to gather as much info as I can before I talk with him about his claims and his beliefs. He’s really into it, he teaches meditation classes at a local martial arts club and I’m all for the martial arts but not the new age mixing of Buddhism w/ Christianity. Please help. Thanks, Gary

Answer: Two of the best resources that make a clear distinction between Christianity and world religions such as Buddhism are “Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message,” written by Ravi Zacharias, and “The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog,” by James Sire. Zacharias examines the truth claims of Jesus Christ and the exclusivity of the Christian message against the messages of other faiths, while Sire lays the philosophical foundations that undergird every worldview and then analyses the major religions and the solutions they offer to each worldview category/question.

Ray Yungen, author of “A Time of Departing,” and “For Many Shall Come in My Name,” and Warren Smith, author of “The Light That Was Dark,” and “A Wonderful Deception,” demonstrate that eastern meditative practices are not harmless as many Christians insist but are instead dangerous dabbling with occultism. You also may try such online resources as Probe Ministries, which has several informative pieces on the subject, as well as Leadership U which also has many good articles on Buddhism.