Religions on Trial: A Lawyer Examines Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and More

Written by W. Mark Lanier

Narrated by Jim Denison

People today encounter a dizzying array of religious options. We might consider mystical faiths like Buddhism and Hinduism, historical religions like Islam and Mormonism, or more nebulous modern expressions of being spiritual but not religious or religious but not spiritual. How do we know what is true? Is one faith just as good as another?

Trial lawyer Mark Lanier presents the claims made by the world's great religions, discusses their histories, and cross-examines their witnesses (their scriptures and traditions) to determine whether their claims are worthy of belief. With his keen legal mind and methodical style, he provides a careful comparative study, highlighting key truths he finds in each religion even as he offers critiques. Treating each perspective on its own terms and weighing the worldviews for consistency and livability, Lanier assesses evidence for and against belief systems with criteria for what constitutes sufficient proof.

Believers and unbelievers alike will find here perceptive insights into how we can make sense of competing religious claims and what difference it makes for our own lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ChristianAudio.com
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781545922552

W. Mark Lanier

W. Mark Lanier (JD, Texas Tech University) is a trial lawyer and founder of the Lanier Law Firm. His work for clients across the country is supported by firm offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles. U.S. News and World Report?s Best Lawyers named him to its Best Lawyers in America list for nine consecutive years and most recently as the 2013 Top Class Action Attorney in America. Mark?s courtroom work has resulted in feature articles in The Wall Street Journal,The New York Times and The American Lawyer. He is also a frequent guest on news shows on CNBC, Fox Business News, ABC and other networks. Mark is the founder of the Lanier Theological Library, one of the nation?s largest private theological collections. He also teaches a weekly, 750-plus-member Sunday school class focusing on biblical literacy at Champion Forest Baptist Church. Mark is the founder of the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, a non-profit organization whose goal is to create a network of principled attorneys to minister to others through civic-minded endeavours. He is the father of five children and lives in Houston with his wife, Becky.

Reviews for Religions on Trial

[vpfluke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book represents a point of view that requires judgment. Im somewhat uncomfortable with judgments as I like books with more of a clear slate and don't have either to navigate proof or non-proof to grab my attention. That being said, it was clear from the beginning the focus was on the touchstone of Christianity. The first part of the book lays out the author's legalistic approach. Then there the "mystical" religions are covered: Hinduism and Buddhism; next are the "historical" rekigions:Judaism, Christianity and Mormonism religions; followed by "Modern Religious Expressions: Secular Spiritualism and secular Christianity. A sort of a rise and fall. As I was reading the book I began to wonder how the author might address atonement. But no this would clutter the field.It needs to be said that Lanier has written books on Christianity and atheism in the same vein.

[vangogan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First of all, as this is an "uncorrected proof" that I received, I hope the corrections are made, as there were several grammatical mistakes. The beginning was slow going as the author set up his criteria for "judging" religions but of course it was necessary to set these up in order to proceed with the rest of the book. The book became more valuable and accessible once he went through the various "religions" and put them on trial. For lack of space, the religions were treated somewhat briefly, but, as the author mentioned, he didn't need to go into detail to determine his judgment of them based on the criteria he had set up. I think his treatment of Hinduism and Islam were done the best. It was a good read, but I felt more detail could have been offered. As someone said in an Amazon review, I'm not sure this book would persuade anyone to change his or her worldview, but I hope it would at least get him or her thinking.

[bricker-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

*I received this book as part of the early reviewers program*The format of this book is interesting in that it's set up as to ask 6 questions to a imaginary jury and exam the ideas and facts answering those questions. Unfortunately the author has a strong Christian view point that permeates the entire book and, I feel, skews otherwise well done research and discussion of important ideas. I think the author does a disservice to their original plan, but this book does stand as a good place to start if you're interested in having true discussions on religion.