In Search Of Eden

It might seem all but impossible for someone to find spiritual truth while growing up where many religions have been spawned. Especially when born into a family with religious roots stretching back for generations.

Such circumstances might lead many people to simply accept the religion of their heritage. However, Ravi Zacharias decided at an early age that the search for spiritual truth would be the primary focus of his life.

Growing up in India, Ravi had an unhappy relationship with his father. “I wished we could be friends but it seemed impossible,” he says.

The wounds from that relationship, as well as Ravi’s burning questions about the meaning of life drove him to seriously seek the truth. Then the sudden death of one of his friends left another scar. Ravi reached a point where he decided life was meaningless and not worth living. So at the age of 17, he attempted to end it.

He awoke in a hospital bed where he was given a Bible placed by a Gideon. He began to read it. And he began to discover the answers he had been seeking all his life.

Ravi came to realize the destructiveness of sin. And as he read about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, he began to comprehend the love of God. It was in that hospital bed that Ravi invited Jesus into his heart as Lord and Savior.

“In Jesus Christ, I found the explanation of the human heart. My heart and my will were like Adam’s,” says Ravi. “I was trying to build an Eden on my terms, not on God’s terms. And the result had been rupture and alienation.”

He discovered that Christ didn’t come to establish just another religion with some kind of political, ceremonial or superstitious power perpetuated by fear. Rather, Jesus came to establish a loving, mercy-filled relationship between God and man.

Defending The Gospel All Around The World

Eventually, Ravi would see his entire family come to receive Christ, including his own father. Today, he is President of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and has offices in many countries.

As one of the world’s foremost Christian apologists, Ravi has spoken worldwide in defense of the Christian faith. He has given public addresses at a number of universities including Harvard, Dartmouth and Oxford. He has authored several books including Why Jesus? He has also appeared on CNN, Fox and other international TV networks. His weekly radio broadcast, “Let My People Think,” can be heard in more than 2,000 outlets worldwide.

The Truth that Ravi first met in that Gideon-placed Bible has used him to touch lives all around the world. Ravi gives all the glory to the Lord saying, “Because of the Gospel message carried forth through the centuries, in Christ, I know God’s love, life’s meaning and my destiny.”