Ravi Zacharias, a leading Christian apologist, talks on religion

Christianity is not a crutch, but a logical belief system and the only way to God.

That's the view of Ravi Zacharias, an internationally known Christian apologist based in Atlanta, who will be in California on Friday for an interactive event, "Need God? What if I don't?"

Zacharias is a native of India whose ancestors were Hindu priests of the highest caste. His maternal and paternal relatives converted to Christianity several generations ago, and he was raised in the Anglican church as a boy. But he viewed church and school as just things he had to put up with, until as a teenager he attempted to kill himself, mostly because of the incredible pressures put on Indian students to be the very best.

In the hospital, Zacharias began a personal relationship with Jesus, and after the Zacharias family moved to Canada when he was 20, he attended seminary. He holds three doctorates and is an expert on world religions and cults.

Zacharias has spoken in more than 50 countries and at Harvard, Princeton and Oxford universities. He addressed writers of the peace accord in South Africa, officers at a Russian military academy and delegates to the first annual prayer breakfast for African leaders held in Mozambique, Nigeria. He also has spoken at the White House and Pentagon and was the 2008 honorary chairman of the U.S. National Day of Prayer.

In addition, he has written or edited 20 books, including two published last year: "The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists" and "New Birth or Rebirth: Jesus Talks to Krishna."

In a telephone interview this week with The Bee, he talked about Christianity, other religions and why he believes England and Western Europe are in danger of losing their Judeo-Christian heritage.

Here are his comments:

Q: Your parents and your brother had arranged marriages, while you decided to find your own wife. How is your marriage doing?

A: Margie and I have been married 37 years. I met her when she was 16 and I was 20; we married a year later. She's from Canada. We have three lovely grown children. The Lord's been very good to us.

Q: In your book"Jesus Among Other Gods," you say, "Sometimes religion can be the greatest roadblock to true spirituality." Can you elaborate on that?

A: I think that's really what we are witnessing in our world today. The barricades of religion, the chains of religion, the rites and rituals and superstition and tradition come into play and become what you hold onto. It becomes bereft of the true nature of personhood and relationship, and that's what true spirituality is all about.

When Jesus was asked what is the greatest law, he reduced the 600-plus laws given by Moses to two — you shall love your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus meant you cannot disconnect these two.

Religion can become such a single-dimension thing that you miss the horizontal. True spirituality is the focus on God and your fellow human being. Religion sometimes reduces spirituality to a moralizing, self-determining and works-oriented expression. In Buddhism, you work your way into Nirvana. In Islam, no matter how hard you work, it's up to the will of Allah. That's why I believe so strongly that the Christian faith is the only faith that bridges what ought to be and what can be by the grace of God.

Q: In your new book, "New Birth or Rebirth? Jesus Talks with Krishna," you talk about Christianity and Hinduism. For years, I've heard about the peacefulness of the Hindu faith. Were you surprised by the recent outbreak of violence in India between Hindus and Christians?