What About All The Other Religions?
What about all the other religions?
"I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence."
Doug McLeod
A student asked at an open air dialogue one day, “Phil, how can you be so arrogant and narrow minded to say that Jesus is the only way? How can you be so sure with over 5,000 different religions out there?”
I replied, “That is a great question. There are thousands of belief systems out there and how in the world can I know which one is the right one?”
For our study in this chapter we can say that of the thousands of religions, all fit within one of seven or eight major groups: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Atheism, Pantheism, and Christianity.
Of all the world’s religions, how many of their founders made such claims as: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; I forgive your sins; I will be killed and on the third day I will rise from the dead”; “If you have seen me you have seen God!”
Buddha never claimed to be God, Confucius never claimed to be God, Mohammed never made such claims. Of all the religious leaders, only one made such incredible claims and that person is Jesus.
Simply making such claims does not prove He was God and the only way to heaven. He could make these claims and be completely insane or deluded. What we have to do is examine not just his claims, but also look at what he did to see if his actions gave credible support to what he said. Since the others in no way made such claims, we should not consider them as God based on their own testimonies. If they did not claim to be God, then why should we follow them as such?
There are many places in the New Testament where Jesus makes very specific claims about his being equal with God. Among them are the following: Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 2:1-9; John 1:1-17; John 8:44-58; John 10:1-30; John 14:1-23. In these passages he says things such as: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father”; “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven”; “No one takes my life from me I lay it down of my own accord”; “If anyone believes in me I will give him eternal life and no one shall be able to take them out of my hands.”
These are all statements that are absolutely ludicrous if the one who made them is not God. C.S. Lewis says in his book Mere Christianity that of all the world’s most respected wise men only one claimed to be God: Jesus Christ. If a great body of evidence supports his claims, then his claims should be counted as dependable.
Jesus told the disciples in the Upper Room just before his crucifixion, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6) If his claims are supported by a good deal of evidence, then it only makes sense to believe him when he says this. Some would say that Jesus did not mean that he was the only way forever but for his time only. Let’s look at what the Scripture teaches.
10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD,
"and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.
12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed--
I, and not some foreign god among you. Isaiah 43:10-12 (NIV)
Even in the Old Testament God declared that there was only one God and there were no others, period.
Let’s review this issue. How many of the world’s religious leaders claimed to be God? Only one. How many of the world’s religious leaders ever claimed to have the power to forgive sin? Only one! How many claimed to have power over death? Only one! How many demonstrated their omniscience by accurately predicting future events even down to the details of what the names of kings would be and what they would do? Only one! How many have a written historical record of their miracles that were observed by thousands of people of every ethnic and political and economic background? Only one!
So how many ways are there to find God and eternal life? Only one! Get the picture?
Small Group Discussion Questions:
How certain are you that Jesus is the only way?
What questions do you still have concerning the exclusive claims of Christ?
Do you have a friend who is committed to another religion whom you need to share Christ with? Take a moment and pray that God will give you an opportunity to share with them this coming week.
Resources for further study:
True for You but Not For Me
Why One Way? MP3 from Southern Baptist Seminary Collegiate Conference February 2003.