May 19, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Colorado Springs, Colo.—Renowned Christian author, lecturer, and apologist Ravi Zacharias passed into the presence of Jesus on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, after a courageous battle with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. His family remained by his side during his final days.
At age 17, Zacharias heard the words of Jesus in John 14:19, “Because I live, you also will live,” the trajectory of his life changed forever. In a time of helplessness and unbelief—when he was on a bed of suicide—the truth of Scripture brought hope to Zacharias, and he committed his life to Christ, promising, “I will leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of truth.” Earlier in John 14, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” This verse became the cornerstone of Zacharias’s ultimate mission as a Christian apologist and evangelist: to present and defend the truth of Jesus Christ that others may find life in Him.
In 1983, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association invited Zacharias to be a plenary speaker at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists (“Amsterdam ‘83”), addressing a gathering of 4,000 other speakers. It would be a turning point for Ravi, as he began to seriously consider the critical need of apologetics to remove the intellectual and existential barriers that kept many skeptics from considering the truth claims of Christ. A year later, in 1984, he founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM).
Until his passing at age 74, Zacharias remained committed to his calling to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ through historical, philosophical, and moral foundations and to defend it against objectors with grace, clarity, and coherency. He laid the framework of the truth of the gospel to millions of people in more than 70 countries, including on the campuses of some of the world’s leading universities.
Zacharias has spent the past 48 years commending the Christian faith and addressing life’s great existential questions of origin, meaning, morality, and destiny with eloquence and grace. He fully believed the truth of Jesus Christ can endure the toughest critiques and philosophical attacks. He authored or edited over 25 books in the fields of theology, apologetics, comparative religion, and philosophy.
Zacharias was ordained by The Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada in 1972 and retained his Alliance credentials (most recently with the U.S. Alliance), throughout his decades of ministry. He leaves behind Margie, his wife of 48 years, and three adult children.
Editor’s note: Much of the information above was excerpted, with gratitude, from www.rzim.org.
CONTACT: Peter Burgo at communications@cmalliance.org