Ravi Zacharias: Encyclopedia II - Ravi Zacharias - Short Biography

Ravi Zacharias - Short Biography

Zacharias descended from a line of Hindu priests (of the Nambudiri Brahmin caste). In one of his lectures, he explained that a German priest spoke to one of his ancestors about Christianity and thereafter the family was converted and the family name was changed from Nambudiri to Zacharias. Zacharias grew up in a nominal Anglican household, and he himself was an atheist until the age of 17, when he unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide by swallowing poison. According to one of his books (Cries of the Heart), someone instructed his mother to read out the Gospel of John to him as he lay on a hospital bed in Delhi. Following that, he made the decision to become a Christian. He started a preaching ministry while still in his teens, and in 1974, shortly before the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, he was sent there to minister to the people in the country. He was also sent to Vietnam during the Vietnam War to minister to U.S. soldiers.

While pursuing a career in business management, his interest in theology grew; subsequently, he pursued this study during his undergraduate education. He received his Masters of Divinity from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. Versed in the disciplines of comparative religion, cults, and philosophy, he held the chair of Evangelism and Contemporary Thought at Alliance Theological Seminary for three and a half years. Mr. Zacharias has been honored by the conferring of a Doctor of Divinity degree both from Houghton College, NY, and from Tyndale College and Seminary, Toronto, and a Doctor of Laws degree from Asbury College in Kentucky. He is presently a Visiting Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University in Oxford, England. He is an ordained minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Short Biography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki