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Gerald R. McDermott\u2019s second book on world religions from an Evangelical perspective was published this year, entitled God\u2019s Rivals<\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n I personally found the first book more helpful, perhaps because I read it at a stage when I was already becoming persuaded that Christians in general can learn from other religious traditions, and that historically they had always done so, irrespective of whether they were always willing to admit it. McDermott admirably acknowledges both that the divine is truly present in the religions, and that the shadow of the demonic is not entirely absent from Christianity. He also makes known to an audience that might not otherwise encounter them key scholarly conclusions regarding the Bible, such as the assumption of most Biblical authors that the \u2018gods\u2019 exist in some sense. McDermott utilizes this theme as a way of approaching the plurality of religions, highlighting those Biblical affirmations that other peoples have been \u201cassigned\u201d to these other deities, and thus their existence and their religions are in a sense divinely ordained. Nevertheless, McDermott allows room for these other religions having some perception of the true God, of the God that Jews and Christians worship, noting such important instances as the story of Abraham and Melchizedek<\/a>, where Abraham recognizes that this Canaanite priest\u2019s \u201cGod Most High\u201d is the same God that he himself worships. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0830822747\")
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