How Can Christians Say Other Religions Are Wrong?
By
Michael Lane, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries
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"So, I cast my lot with Him - not the one claimed wisdom, Confucius; or the one who claimed enlightenment, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Muhammad, but with the one who claimed to be God in the flesh. The one who declared, "Before Abraham was born, I Am" - and proved it" - Norman Geisler
What About All the Other Religions?
There certainly are a lot of other religions out there! In the early 20th century, we could have chosen from many ancient religions besides Christianity including Islam, Judaism, Buddhism or Hinduism. Today, if we include so-called new-age religions, it would be easy to come up with a long list of candidates. With so much choice available, why would anyone choose to follow Christ?
If you want religion to give you comfort, a sense of peace, or just to make you feel good about yourself, one is just as good as another. Christianity does all of this very well for those who practice it faithfully, but if you ask devout Jews, Muslims or Buddhists, they will tell you sincerely and convincingly that their faith provides them with just as much peace and comfort as Christianity affords. Some of the new-age religions will go even further, offering all the emotional comfort without the strict moral code.
The trouble is that its all very subjective. On what basis could you ever say that one religion is right and another is wrong when its the emotional and psychological benefits which are being measured? If that is what you're after, you would do well to try them all and find the one that is the best fit for you. No one could ever tell you their religion is the right one; they could simply tell you that theirs works for them. If it doesn't work for you, you can move onto the next one with ease.
This is how society has come to see religion in the last hundred years. It is now more about how it makes you feel than anything else. Sadly, many Christians have bought into this lie, so much so that when their non-Christian friends ask them why they go to church, they have nothing concrete or objective to offer except that it works for them. In the face of this, why would anyone who is spiritually hungry ever try Christianity? Its not the easiest or most approachable religion, and it often does less than other religions to promote and market itself (though many wonderful new churches and organizations are trying desperately to alter these perceptions).
If we want to say that Christianity is the right faith, there has to be some objective criteria which we can use to measure and compare all the different religions.
Every Religion Claims Some Truth
Every religion has some set of beliefs at its core which unites its followers. Jews, Muslims and Christians have much in common here, believing that the God who created the universe has revealed Himself and acted in history to teach his people how to worship Him and live together in harmony. Many believe in life after death or reincarnation. Some of the fringe religions may believe in aliens, UFOs or other such phenomenon.
Many of these claims are difficult to prove. We can be certain of little, especially when the events which form the foundation of the faith occurred thousands of years ago. Other claims, especially among the fringe religions, are actually constructed to be logically un-provable. The most common examples of this are the claims by religions leaders that they have received a vision or special revelation from God. How could such a claim ever be proven?
Christian apologist John Warwick Montgomery famously and facetiously gave the example of his cheese sandwich deity who lives at the edge of the universe. This deity would not interact with us in any way, and would always place himself ten miles beyond the reach of the most powerful telescope. As we develop more and more powerful telescopes, the cheese sandwich would move out another ten miles. How could you ever prove that he is really there? You can't, but neither can you prove that he does not exist.
Many religious claims are like this, which has led both modern science and the general public to throw up their hands are generalize that all religious claims are unscientific and un-testable. The late anthropologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote about the realms of science (where truth claims are testable and verifiable) and religion (where they are not) which he called non-overlapping magesteria. Gould wrote,
the magisterium of science covers the empirical realm: what the Universe is made of (fact) and why does it work in this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap
Gould's view has become the prevalent opinion of the 21st century. Religious claims cant be proven; therefore one religion's claims are just as valid as any others. This is the attitude which ultimately gave rise to the idea that religions only value lies in what it makes you feel. After all, if they're all the same making claims that cannot be verified - why not make your choice on basis of their emotional and psychological benefits?
Christianity Is Different
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:68-69
All of Christianity rests upon the person of Jesus Christ, and it is a testable, verifiable fact whether or not he actually lived. The most important reason to trust His teaching is that He rose from the dead, and once again, this is a testable, verifiable fact.
Christ's resurrection is not in the same category as a spiritual leader who claims to have a revelation from God. This leader's adherents must decide if they trust his claims and want to place their faith in him, however, they can never be completely certain, since he can offer no evidence. They must take him at his word. Conversely, the disciples of Christ watched Him die on the cross and then appear again before them days later. For those who were witnesses to the event, it required no faith or trust in Jesus to understand the facts which were plainly laid out before them.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an actual event in history and like other events from long ago, we can gather evidence, examine the facts and reach a conclusion. There may be some people who will find the evidence unpersuasive and will decide that Christ did not rise from the grave. However, the very notion that someone has examined the evidence and found it lacking demonstrates that the claim of Christs resurrection is, indeed, verifiable. Were it not, there would be no evidence to examine.
Christ's Resurrection Is Not Subjective
Once we begin talking about facts, evidence and conclusions, we've left the realm of subjectivity. If I say that Christ rose from the dead and you believe that he did not, then one of us is right and the other is wrong. It may be impossible for me to convince you of my position, however the fact remains that it is a completely objective matter. We cannot both be right.
If we expand this thought, then we can say that any religion which does not recognize Christ's resurrection is factually opposed to Christianity. Judaism and Islam do not, and therefore it is proper to say that on the issue of Christ's resurrection, either Christianity is correct or else they are correct. There is no way to say that all three are right, just as it is impossible for two people to arrive at different sums in arithmetic and both be right. It is not intolerant or ignorant to acknowledge that there can only be one correct answer.
Christ's Resurrection is Central to His Credibility
In John 14:6, Jesus proclaimed, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." Now, this is not a provable fact in the same way that His resurrection is provable, but it is nevertheless either true or false. It cannot be true that Jesus is the only way while at the same time it is also true that other religions can also offer salvation. If salvation comes through Jesus then it is because He is the Son of God and it cannot come through any other means. If there are other ways to be saved, then Jesus is a liar and a fraud and He offers no salvation at all.
Each of us has to decide to trust or not trust Jesus on this issue. Why should we believe Jesus above any other religious figure? We can believe Him because He rose from the dead.
As we examined earlier, the resurrection is an event which we can examine and investigate, and about which we can conclude that it either did or did not happen. If it did, then Jesus gains an incredible amount of credibility and we should trust him when He tells us that He is the only way. Otherwise, He is a man of no importance and we can ignore him. Either way it is an objective issue, and those who follow Christ and those who do not simply cannot both be right. Jesus Christ is either the Son of God or He is not. If He is the Son of God, then Christianity is right and all the other faiths are wrong.
Christians do not say this to be intolerant or insensitive, but there is no way to find middle ground on this issue.
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