The Question of Other Religions

Religions are Not All Equal

    In the United States, one of the most common arguments against Christianity is the following:  All people, all races, and all religion's are equal.  Why should I believe Christianity's claims that it is the one true religion?  This argument is powerful and common because of the culture in the United States.  We enshrine equality above almost any other virtue.  With some probing questions, however, we realize that all people cannot be equal.  A Satanist who ritually murders children is not equal to a saint.  What the founders of the United States actually intended is that everyone is equal under the law.  The founders did not intend that everyone be treated equally regardless of what they did.  Both a Satanist and a saint live under the same law, but while the Satanist is thrown in prison and the saint is honored.  This is how it should be.  Similarly, it is obvious to everyone, except for some professors, that Satanism is not equivalent to Christianity.  They are not both equally true or both equally good for humanity.  Now that we have a more careful understanding of what equality exists and what equality does not exist, we are in a better position to question whether or not Christianity is true.  We must do this by analyzing the truth claims of Christianity and those of other religions to decide which claims are true and which are false.  Of course, it is quite possible that no religion gets it perfect, but it is extremely unlikely that all religions have the exact same amount of truth in them.  To see my claims for Christianity, look here.  In my web page, I am primarily concerned with proving Christianity to be true, and I do not analyze other religions in depth.  The primary point of this section is to remove the problem that many people have with the concept that religions do not each have an equal claim on the truth.

    While on topic, I should mention that it is certain that all religions cannot be 100% true.  Religions contradict each other all the time.  If two propositions contradict, the cannot both be true.  For example, Christians believe that Jesus is God become man, and Muslims believe that he is a great prophet.  These cannot both be true.  A prophet is a great human, and a great human is not God.  The law of contradiction means that when I have proved something about Christianity, I have proved all contradictory views from other religions false.  Alternatively I will often prove a concept that is also in a different religion.  In this case, I will have proved part of a different religion to be true.

Who Then is Saved?

    Christians believe that Christianity is the one true religion.  Many non-Christians believe that most Christians believe that only Christians go to heaven.  Some (bad) Christians also believe that only Christians are saved.  Who do good Christians believe to be saved?  That is, who really makes it to heaven?  Many non-Christians and nearly all Christians know the passage:

Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14,6). 

This states explicitly you are saved by God the Father through Jesus. Many think that this also says that you must have knowingly become a Christian in order to be saved.  That is not what Jesus believes, so it is not what this passage means.  To know this more clearly, we must look at some of the other words of Jesus, which are quoted much less often.

"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.  Whoever hates me also hates my Father.  If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father" (Jn 15,22-24).

If you have never heard of Jesus, you are not, by default, condemned.  It is possible to be saved even if you have no conscious knowledge of Jesus.  What if you live in rural China and your only experience of Jesus is that one missionary handed you a pamphlet?  That person may have externally rejected Jesus externally by throwing the pamphlet away, but accepted Jesus's message of love and service to God and others without realizing it, and hence be saved.  God understands that some have little knowledge of Him, through no fault of their own. He will not hold your non-Christian birth against you.  However, you will still have your chance to choose to follow God.  Just because you cannot point to the specific event or thought where God reached out to you does not mean that it never occurred.  Those who respond and give themselves to God are saved.  Those who reject God condemn themselves by their rejection.  Now, in most cases it is impossible for us to determine who is in which column and it is not particularly healthy for us to be overly concerned with it, except when we are thinking about ourselves.  We should pull people towards Jesus when given the opportunity, but it is not usually proper or possible to state who is condemned and who is saved.

    If it is possible for a non-Christian to be saved, why should you be Christian?  First, you should be Christian because Christianity is true, which I demonstrate elsewhere.  Second, if you strive to be like Jesus, you will find joy.  If you don't believe me, you will just have to try it and see.  Third, you should be Christian because if you have been genuinely offered the truth and you rejected it, you may well be condemned.  We are not all Chinese peasants.  To those whom much is given, much is expected.

How Should a Christian Respond to Other Religions?

    When Christians meet others of different religions, they should defend their faith and help to lead these others to the truth of Christianity.  When debating with non-Christians, it is important to be the correct mixture of humble and bull-headed.  You must be humble in that you do not degrade the person you are debating.  They may not have had the experiences that have helped you find Christ earlier than them.  Remember that your focus must be on helping them, not proving them wrong, even though you may have to prove them wrong to help them.  You must be bull-headed in that you hold your beliefs without flinching, and not be afraid to let people know what they are.  Also, never underestimate the importance of your actions.  If you don't act like a Christian, you won't win many converts.  To some of you, it may not be obvious that you help someone when you convert them to Christianity.  See the last paragraph of the previous section for the reasons.  The reasons you should convert others are the same as the reasons that you should be a Christian.

    You do not need to blind yourself to the truth that exists in other religions.  For example, Islam has much to teach about submission to God, and Buddhists can teach about slowing down and being still.  On the other hand, you should be extremely careful when exploring other religions.  We must make sure to analyze what we find before we incorporate practices and beliefs that pull us from the truth.  If you are not yet Christian, you should be cautious of Christianity as well, of course.  One of the primary purposes of this page is to help the cautious find God.