Sebastien Braxton

InVerse 1st Quarter 2026: Apologetics

Joe Reeves

Paul Samuel

Jonathan Walter

Hope Channel

06 Jesus and Buddhism

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Joe Reeves, with Inverse.

Hello, my name is Joe and welcome to Inverse.

Glad to be here together to discuss some things.

We've been looking at apologetics this quarter.

You can find all of our Bible study written out.

You can go deeper than what we have time to on the program if you go to inversebible.org.

There's past studies there, but our current 1 is apologetics.

And we are looking at the reasons for Christianity, the reasons to believe.

And you can see all of our programs at hopetv.org forward slash inverse.

So we're glad to continue our discussion of world religions, of Christianity and why I should believe, what are the reasons?

We're looking at another story of Jesus, but we will begin with prayer as always.

We want the Holy spirit to guide us today.

Heavenly father, we thank you that you are the God who created the universe and yet cares about us individually everyone, and that you are willing to reveal yourself to us as we step into faith.

And so I pray that you will increase and strengthen our faith, that you will open our hearts and minds to understand your word, and you will speak to us, not just here, but those listening and watching wherever they are.

We have considered during this season of Inverse as we've studied apologetics, that all the different religions of the world wrestle with the same or similar questions, questions about suffering, about destiny, about origin, and there's different answers offered by different teachers.

Today's episode is Jesus and Buddhism, and we are looking at a story of Jesus from the Gospel of John, Chapter 9, where these questions are addressed about suffering, about origin, many of the same questions that Buddha wrestled with some centuries before.

Maybe before you read the passage, Sebastian.

You can tell us about Buddha and his palace and his struggles.

So Siddhartha Buddha, or Guatemala was actually his name.

But Siddhartha Guatemala was basically living in a palace.

He was a prince, he was very comfortable.

And there was a sort of, not like a prophecy, but basically saying you have to keep him from anything outside the palace.

So life, pleasure, money, comfort, food, he had everything.

And 1 day he ends up actually going out into the world and he encounters suffering.

And from that moment in time, he basically saw no meaning in his palace life.

And he essentially went on a journey to figure out how to end suffering.

And through that process, he came up with things of self-discipline, of compassion, et cetera, et cetera, which became like the dharma, the way that it goes.

And essentially, to summarize there at the end, he gets the title Buddha, which means the awakened 1.

So there's a problem, the problem is suffering.

He's on a journey, he's searching for enlightenment.

Well, how to figure out how to get rid of suffering and his solution without letting too much out of the bag is That you need to detach from caring about the things of this world So meanwhile Jesus enters this world.

There's the same problems there's problems of suffering and pain and other teachers Buddha was before Jesus some centuries before, and attempting to offer certain answers.

Jesus is here on earth in John chapter 9.

And let's see what we discover in this story from John chapter 9.

Now, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth.

And his disciples asked him saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

When he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva.

And he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.

And he said to him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is translated, scent.

So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Now we need to know that the worldview of these people in this story, these Jewish people, is very similar to some of the Hindu thinking.

They also thought that if a man is born blind, that it must be because Either he sinned or his parents sinned.

And so he is suffering maybe a karma, so to speak.

And they want Jesus to affirm this worldview.

Jesus is not ascribing guilt to any previous birth, to any previous existence.

For instance, I'll read to you from Hindu scriptures, which the Buddha used.

It says, accordingly, those who are of pleasant conduct here the prospect is indeed that they will enter a pleasant womb, either the womb of a Brahman, the priestly class, or the womb of a Kshatriya, the warrior class or the royal class, or the womb of a Vaisya, which is a professional business class person.

But those who are of stinking conduct here, the prospect is indeed that they will enter a stinking womb of a dog or the womb of a swine or a womb of an outcast.

And when The way Jesus responds to the question, did this man sin, did his parents sin?

Jesus refuses to ascribe any inherited guilt.

Jesus says, this is so that God will be glorified in this person.

Diametrically different from either the Jewish worldview or the prevailing Buddhist or Hindu worldview at the time.

Where does this man's blindness come from?

05 Jesus and Hinduism

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, Welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

My name is Joe and we at Inverse study the Bible with friends at a table and with you.

And we're so excited that you've joined us today.

We're very glad to have you here, Felicia.

And we've been studying apologetics this season.

We've been learning as we've prepared for this, and these programs aren't scripted, but we do study and prepare, and then we have a great conversation and so apologetics what we've done for this is episode number 5 what what have you learned so far.

1 that apologetics does not mean you're apologizing for anything, but it means making a defense, giving answers as to why you believe what you believe, but knowing how to communicate in such a way with other people who have never heard the gospel, have never heard the name of Jesus, and knowing how to share that in a way that resonates with them, that is not in a dogmatic kind of way, but an attractive thing.

And so that's 1 thing that we've covered about apologetics.

It's also paying attention to getting an interest in the ideas out there, the beliefs of other people out there, knowing a little bit about the fears and hopes and desires of people, And that helps us respond with the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the medicine where the need is.

Uh-huh, and in episode 2, we looked at a story of Paul doing that when he was in Athens and he perceived their thoughts, their beliefs, and he addressed them.

He even quoted from some of their own authors.

Anything else you're picking up this season?

I think just a reminder that, you know, the word that we said it comes from apologia, obviously in that word is the root word logos, right?

And the idea of Christianity through apologetics shows us that it appeals not just to the heart, but to the mind.

That you don't have to check out your brain to be a Christian.

That you can be a reasonable, rational person and still believe in God, which we brought up that Richard Dawkins quote.

And the reminder of that, that yes, he can be vast and incomprehensible mentally, but still close to the heart.

And I wanna remind you that, that's important for each 1 of us.

So I, at a very young age, I learned the Bible stories.

But as a teenager, I thought, you know, I don't want to be a Christian just because it's my culture or my tradition.

I only want to be a believer if I can defend it and I can give reasons why.

And so that, it's not just about who gets the faith, it's about who keeps the faith.

And every single person, Every single believer needs to understand the reasons for themselves and to be able to explain and share with others.

Grappling with the questions is like developing antibodies within ourselves.

The grappling with the doubts, this is important.

If we do, when tragedy hits, when life's challenges hit us, then we're caught unawares, and our faith falls, and we fall apart.

But as Christians facing the doubts, facing the questions, they grow in us faith that's informed.

And we're looking at the scriptures today and we want to pray and ask God to be with us.

And Felicia, could you pray for us at the beginning?

Father, we thank you so much that we can bring our questions to you.

You don't ask us to follow you blindly, but as we go on our way and we have these different thoughts that come, we know that we can find the answers in the person of Jesus.

So as we study about different religions and different questions, we pray that our faith in Jesus would grow.

We are turning in our Bibles to John chapter 3.

It's a conversation that Jesus has with somebody.

Jesus came into this world in a certain context 2000 years ago.

There were already religions and worldviews that were out there.

Jesus offered something that was different.

So as we think about these words, we've studied John chapter 3 before, but we're listening to this conversation of Jesus and how would this be heard from an Eastern religion or from a worldview to the East.

And this is very important for us to think about in our context today.

I don't know how many of you have neighbors and friends that practice Hinduism or similar religions like that originating out of India and Nepal, but really a global religion now.

We have, Yes, 2 of the world's largest temples by area size are in the US and in Canada, in Europe and so forth.

It is a growing religion, adherents around the world.

They are migrating and building families and forming communities around the world.

So it's likely that you will find them as neighbors, that you'll interact with them in business, in the workplace.

And it's a rich opportunity to encounter their hopes and fears with the gospel.

So let's bring the words of Jesus to the conversation from John chapter 3, and I think verses 1 through 8.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no 1 can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly I say to you, unless 1 is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?

Jesus answered, most assuredly I say to you, unless 1 is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again.

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Okay, so he's speaking to Nicodemus, he's religious, He's a rabbi, he's a teacher of the Jews.

But this was in a broader conversation as well, and the Gospel of John has gone to the whole world.

What if it was a Hindu teacher that was listening to Jesus and that he was conversing?

How do you think he would have heard it, Sebastian?

Well, I think the way that he would have heard it would be in Hinduism, the idea that every birth is a rebirth, right?

So there is this concept of the new birth.

They would have heard that in the context of reincarnation.

So every birth is a rebirth, And your current state and the level of society in which you live is a result of the life that you lived, unbeknownst to you.

Felecia Lee

03 Divine Design

02 Climbing Mars Hill

This is a Bible study with friends where we are studying the Bible, challenging topics, good topics.

You can see all of our past Bible studies at inversebible.org today we are looking at apologetics, episode number 2 of this season.

And you can see all of our past seasons on hopetv.org forward slash inverse.

And we are excited to dive into the Word with you, wherever you are watching from.

And I will ask Jonathan to pray for us as we open the word today.

Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for the opportunity to study together here in the studio, but also with those who are watching and joining us from wherever they are.

We ask that your spirit will speak to our hearts and teach us and guide us and help us as we focus on your word, as we learn what you try to teach us.

So we thank you and we pray all these things in the name of Jesus, amen.

Apologetics, we learned in the last episode, it is not learning how to apologize, but it is learning how to give a defense of one's belief.

Christian apologetics is the study of answering difficult questions about Christianity, the Christian worldview, and giving a defense for it.

And so we have many opportunities for that in our own world today.

And we hope as we study these stories today and this season, that you are digging down into the foundations of your own faith and thinking about why am I a believer?

We are going into the story from Acts 17.

Today, a story of Paul in Athens, an epic narrative of him engaging with philosophers and foreigners and people from different world views and let's see what lessons we can learn.

Sebastian will read for us from Acts 17 and starting in verse 16.

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.

Therefore, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshippers and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him.

And some said, what does this babbler want to say?

Others said, he seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, may we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?

For you are bringing some strange things to our ears.

Therefore we want to know what these things mean.

For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Okay.

You get the sense here that there's some sort of showdown that's getting ready to take place between these different ideas and they're wanting to hear from Paul and they know that he is a speaker and there's Paul in the Bible and there's Paul at the table.

Can you tell us a little bit about the setting here in Athens and who is he speaking to?

These are people who believe God is way out there.

God's created stuff, but he's unconcerned with creation and God is far away.

The Stoics on the other hand, they see God everywhere.

They believe pleasure is the ultimate reason to live, even in the face of death, even in the face of pain.

They want as much as possible to feel pleasure and reduce pain as much as possible.

The Stoics, on the other hand, they're running the other direction.

They want to be, sort of, you know, grit their teeth through pain and endure it and kind of stick with it.

2 sort of opposite ways of looking at life.

The other God is near and everywhere and in everything.

One's very focused on feelings and pleasure.

One's very focused on discipline and thinking.

So 2 kind of polar ways of relating to life.

Are these philosophies that we have in our world today?

I mean, I think if you if you look on social media right now, you'll see a lot of Stoic post in this philosophy kind of reviving again My daughter my oldest is now a teenager.

And so she's getting into all the lingo of saying, oh yeah, this is so Sigma, whatever, whatever.

Because I had to learn it, right, as a parent.

And what ends up happening is you're talking about the alpha male, the beta male, right?

And then there's the sigma, and it's like, oh, he's not bothered, he stays focused on his task, he goes to work even if the girl's like, oh, you should come over, I really miss you.

No, I gotta stay focused, I gotta finish my job.

And so now something is sigma is kind of like this thing you can't really bother, you can't really disturb.

And it's another way to say like, hey, that's cool, that's really nice, it's attractive, whatever.

And so, you can even see some of this language seeping into just modern lingo and slang, which is all a stoic philosophy is like, oh, the man who is no longer moved by pleasure of a woman or is not moved by the attraction of marriage or a relationship, like, no, he's got goals, he's got determinations, he grits through it, he denies himself comforts of a woman, he denies himself comforts of community.

He must always pursue virtue in all cases and situations.

And you're like, I mean, I kind of agree with what you're saying, but you can obviously see the righteousness by works that comes up in that, and the self-righteousness that can be built on that, and that's anti-Jesus for sure.

This is so fascinating, because of course popular culture has the other side of it as well with the Epicureans.

What have you seen on social media and popular culture?

And so it's the idea, YOLO, go do whatever is fun, make the best of it, You know, like this is your last day.

And it's about the thrill, the extreme, the fun, all of it.

And so that's in contrast to the, you call it sigma?

01 Why Apologetics?

Hello, my name is Joe and I am your host for Inverse.

This is a Bible study and I am here with friends today.

You know, stranger to those that have been with Inverse for a while, Felicia.

Paul, thank you for joining us on this great topic of apologetics and joining the Inverse program.

I had to personally escort him off the premises.

We are recovering from missing him, but I know he is doing great ministry at the Adventist Review, and he has prepared us all, and so we are continuing this great Bible study of Inverse.

We pray, we open our Bibles, we study, we argue, and- We learn together.

So this topic that we are looking at now, beginning with this episode is apologetics and this is inverse.

We go into the Bible and this is our publication is online.

And all of our past programs, our many Bible studies we've done over the years at hopetv.org forward slash inverse.

But we have a new challenge with this episode beginning with apologetics.

Sebastian, Is that a class on teaching me how to apologize?

Which, Joe, I don't know if you would pass, but anyway, let me stop teasing.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Sebastien Braxton

All Recordings

06 Jesus and Buddhism

29m

05 Jesus and Hinduism

29m

03 Divine Design

29m

02 Climbing Mars Hill

29m

01 Why Apologetics?

28m

Speechless

57m

It’s for You

48m

I’m Not Following

53m

14 Dead Man Walking

58m

AFY 2025 - Question & Answer Panel

58m

07 None of These Things Move Me

51m

02 Before and After

48m

Sound Doctrine