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Do all religions
lead to God?
Many people think
this is the case, because they assume that all religions are essentially
the same when you get right down to it. But this just isn't true. If you
let each religion speak for itself, you find religions around the world
differ greatly on the basic concepts-God, truth, reality, the basic human
dilemma and the solution to that dilemma. They differ so much that many
of their statements contradict one another. For example, God cannot be
both personal, as Christians, Jews and Muslims believe, and impersonal,
as Buddhists and Hindus believe. Those are contradictory statements. According
to the rules of logic, contradictory statements cannot all be true. Therefore,
all religions cannot possibly be true. It is a logical impossibility.
And if they are not all true, then not all of them can lead to God.
Some people might
question this, saying it is intolerant to think only one religion has
things right. But this response shows a misunderstanding of what intolerance
really is. Intolerance comes from the word "tolerate." To tolerate
means to allow something, such as a belief, to exist even though we don't
like it or agree with it. Tolerance does not mean never disagreeing with
anybody. The word implies disagreement. True tolerance means allowing
differing views to coexist without necessarily agreeing with them or claiming
that all views are true. Therefore, we can hold that one view is true
or better than other views without being intolerant. If we were truly
intolerant, we would seek to silence other points of view. But merely
engaging in persuasive conversation with someone you disagree with is
not intolerance. We show more respect for each other when we take our
religious claims seriously than when we clothe them in a patronizing cloak
of relativism.
Another thing that
often gets confused is whether Christians claim that salvation comes only
through adherence to their religion or whether our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
is the only way to salvation. In actuality, what we believe is that no
religion-not even Christianity-can save us; only Christ can do this. Salvation
is not about demographics. Membership in a certain group, such as the
Christian church, does not automatically lead to salvation. Neither does
having the right thoughts or feelings or holding the right theological
beliefs. Christianity's claim to exclusivity is not for the religion but
for Christ. It is a claim that Jesus is the only true Saviour.
On what evidence do
Christians base this claim? Mainly on Jesus' own words. Jesus claimed
to be the only Saviour "I am the way and the truth an dt he life.
No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). From His
own words, both Jesus' followers and his opponents recognized that He
claimed to be God, the only one able to save us from sin and death (see
also John 20:24-29; John 10:31-33).
When someone makes
such claims we can react in one of three ways: we can believe him, disbelieve
him or withhold belief. Withholding belief is a perfectly legitimate position.
But it is only a transitional state. Sooner or later we have to make up
our minds one way or the other. Disbelief is also legitimate, providing
we have examined the evidence and have good arguments for why it is insufficient
as a basis for belief. Finally, we have belief. There are many good reasons
to believe that the claims of Christ are true, such as the reliability
of the Bible; fulfilled prophecies; the teaching, character, and miracles
of Christ; and testimonies from throughout the ages of how Christ has
changed people's lives.
So, Christians believe
that if anyone is saved, it is not by Christianity or any other religion
but by Jesus alone. At the same time, they believe Christianity contains
the clearest presentation of Jesus and His teachings to be found anywhere.
You can read more about Jesus here and decide how you will respond to
his claims and his offer of salvation.
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