Numerous religions vs one God

[kellybella]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord; he has a question that I am unable to answer, and am wondering if anyone may be able to help me? His question is relating to the amount of different religions there are, e.g. muslims and hindus and buddists.. He would like to know how we can say there is only one God, when all around the world and in different cultures there are many others, and they have been around for hundreds or thousands of years? :confused: I am really usure how to answer this :prayer:

[1saint]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord; he has a question that I am unable to answer, and am wondering if anyone may be able to help me? His question is relating to the amount of different religions there are, e.g. muslims and hindus and buddists.. He would like to know how we can say there is only one God, when all around the world and in different cultures there are many others, and they have been around for hundreds or thousands of years? :confused: I am really usure how to answer this :prayer:
Hello Kelly,

Yes there are many different religions in this world. I will do my best to help you with this question. It is a myth and illogical to think that all religions have the truth. The reason is that all religions are exclusive of each other. For instance, all other religions reject Jesus as lord. So, not only do Christians reject Buddhism, but Buddhism rejects Christianity. This is the same for every religion. It is improper then to blame Chrisianity alone for excluding all other religions, as all other religions exclude Christianity (and all others) as well.

There are only then two available choices when it comes to evaluating which teaching has the truth. Because they are all mutually exclusive in their beliefs, they can not all be correct because they ALL are in contradiction to one another. So choice one is to say that NONE of them are correct, Choice two is that one of them are correct. There is no other choice because the moment you put most any two together, you get directly opposing truths that can not BOTH be right. It can not be that Jesus, Buddha and Allah are all in the same camp, they all exclude each other it their beliefs.

Knowing this, it is easy to see that not all religions are created equal. Christianity stands alone, unique in many ways. “Religion” is mans attempt to reach god. Christianity is a relationship, and is about God reaching down to man. Christianity is a person, not a religion. If you remove Jesus, you have no Christianity, But if you remove the leaders of all other religions, you still have the religion.

We are saved by grace, not by works. What must we do to be saved? If you confess Jesus as lord you will be saved! Now, If you were to go and ask any other religion what you must do to be saved, you will get a laundry list, and then, you will never know if you have made it or not. We are told that “these things are written that we might KNOW that we are saved”. If you can’t know for sure, you are on “PROBATION”, not salvation, and probation is no resting place sole the soul to rest.


In addition there are many more things, but I will only mention a few. The most important thing is that we have the Bible, the most unique book ever written. No other book can make the same claims. It is the most historically accurate book of antiquity in existence. Archeology is the bibles best friend, and nothing has ever been dug up that contradicts it. This can not be said about any other ancient book. It was written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years from all walks of life on 3 different continents. But it reads as if it were written by one author of one mind. It is filled with controversial issues, yet speaks in unity on every issue. What is more, it can be proven to be prophetic, telling the future more accurately than anything else ever written. It is am amazing book, it is the word of God. Soon, you will come to know this in a very real way!

Last but not least is the historical proof of the resurrection. Jesus WAS a man of history, that’s a fact. He was crucified, dead and buried this we know to be true in history outside the bible. It is also possible to prove historically, logically and by way of documentary evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. It is the year 2006 for a reason! And 11 disciples died a martyrs death because they knew the resurrection to be true and wrote their testimonies as eyewitnesses! If Jesus was never raised, they would know it, for they saw Him crucified and dead. They would never die a martyrs death for something they KNEW TO BE FALSE, and they would know it was false if it was.

Ok, that is all I have time for, I hope this helps. A great book that you should get is the new Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. It touches on most all of these topics and is a great reference book. Have a good one…Bob

[ephraimanesti]

Ok, that is all I have time for, I hope this helps. A great book that you should get is the new Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. It touches on most all of these topics and is a great reference book. Have a good one…Bob

MY DEAR BROTHER,

AMEN! to your excellent response.

DEAR KELLYBELLA,

Two other books which are excellent in this regard are "THE CASE FOR CHRIST" and "THE CASE FOR FAITH", both by Lee Strobel. Copies are available at any Christian Bookstore or through Amazon.com, etc. If you would get a copy of "THE CASE FOR CHRIST" and let your boyfriend read it, i think his question would be answered to his complete satisfaction.

MAY YOU BOTH BE BLESSED,
ephraim

[twistedsketch]

He's committing the good ol' bandwagon fallacy. Just because many people have believed in other religions and they have been around for thousands of years doesn't mean they are right. After all, slavery was also practiced all over the world for thousands of years. Does that make it right? (BTW, it was the Christians who led to its abolition).

[anonymousAdviser]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord; he has a question that I am unable to answer, and am wondering if anyone may be able to help me? His question is relating to the amount of different religions there are, e.g. muslims and hindus and buddists.. He would like to know how we can say there is only one God, when all around the world and in different cultures there are many others, and they have been around for hundreds or thousands of years? :confused: I am really usure how to answer this :prayer:

First of all, not all of these religions - by any means - say there are more then one God. Islam, which you mention, is an offshoot of Christianity and Judaism, for instance, and claims to believe there is only one God (though in actuality, they do not, but that is another matter().

All of these other religions, are just that -- religions.

Christianity is the way to God, and who is God, but the Truth? What is the Truth but Life? What is there to seek in life beyond these things?

Christianity alone calls for salvation by faith, not by works. This means your only requirement is to believe Jesus. Believe the words of Jesus and you have eternal life. All of the other religions say you have to do things to be saved -- and even those that do not use the terminology "saved"... they all mean the same thing. They all claim to give ultimate salvation, righteousness, life, and truth.

So, why is it man can not believe the truth? The truth is from God and only God can believe the truth. The lies, out there, are things man is left with. But those who have the Spirit of God in them, they are alone able to believe -- they are true children of God born anew, as God intended, and they are able to believe what is impossible for man.

As for there being only one God, how can any man know this, but that God testifies of it to Him? We say there is one God and they do not believe us, what then?

Man listens to mans word and is impressed by man's wisdom, those of God listen to God's word and know He is true.

Yet, all men know, in their hearts, that there is but one God, 'in whom we move and live and have our being' and we are all made in the image of this one God. If he wishes to pretend he does not understand this, then there are many other things he is lying about, too.

[kamloon]

read the bible and u would know the truth

[salida]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord; he has a question that I am unable to answer, and am wondering if anyone may be able to help me? His question is relating to the amount of different religions there are, e.g. muslims and hindus and buddists.. He would like to know how we can say there is only one God, when all around the world and in different cultures there are many others, and they have been around for hundreds or thousands of years? :confused: I am really usure how to answer this :prayer:
Kelly....

When you examine world religions like judaism, hunduism, buddhism, you will recognize that they directly contradict one another. For example, Moses taught that there was only one God; Krishna believed in many gods, and Buddha was agnostic. Logically, they can all be wrong but they all can't be right.

Religion in general is fallen mans attempt to reach up and become acceptable to God through what "we do". Christianity, is a divine gift based on what Christ has done.

How do we know if christianity is true? If people where to chose a religion by intellect alone - it would be christianity because the Bible is the most true book in the world. It has overwhelming evidence to support it. And its the only religious book that has hundreds of detailed prophesies in it that have come true and that are coming true; and is a wisdom, legal, poem, song, prophesic book all rolled into one. Read Examine the Evidence by Muncaster who was an athiest but now a christian. There are many more books as authors have done the research for us.

Since its a spiritual decision the world isn't running to it and its the Holy Spirit that gives man the relevation by his human spirit that Jesus is the Son of God.

Christianity corresponds to the reality of our present condition.

[JPPT1974]

Those religions have "gods" but they aren't
The living and eternal and most of all
ALIVE God that we worship!

[LionandLambMinistry]

We believe that the Bible is inspired by God in its entirety, and is without error in the original autographs, a complete and final written revelation from God.
We believe that there is only one God, who is eternal and immutable, and manifests Himself in three distinct Persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, totally without sin, God in human flesh, the One Who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, where He now intercedes for us who believe in Him.
We believe that Jesus Christ is going to return in the clouds for His church before the tribulation that is coming on the whole earth, and that He will return with His saints and all His holy angels to the earth at the end of the tribulation, and set up His kingdom on earth, ruling and reigning forever and ever.
We believe that all humanity is lost and born with a sinful nature, and can only be saved by a personal faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not by any human merit or performance.
We believe in a personal devil, called Satan, who, along with all his angels, called demons or evil spirits, are destined to spend eternity in hell, and now seek to deceive the world, defeat the believers, and destroy the work of God, but can be resisted by believers, who are protected by God and the intercession of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We believe that heaven is a real place where the saved will dwell forever, and that hell is a literal place of torment where unbelievers will suffer forever.
We believe that genuine believers are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and are indwelt, baptized into the body of Christ, the true church, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, and thus, unable to be separated from the love of Jesus Christ.
We believe that all believers need to be filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a godly life and to be bold in our witness for the Lord.
We believe in the spiritual unity of all genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that the nation of Israel has a special place in God's plan, and that all of the promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled.

[Radagast]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord...
Hmmm. You realise that may be a problem, don't you?

[Roo3]

Indeed, that could be a huge stumbling block. Is there any chance your Boyfriend will follow the Lord? It really is not a heavy load to carry!

[Tim1926OS]

During the christian summer camp i worked at last summer,one of the messages that was taught to all the teens was examining christianity,budhaism(sorry for spelling) and islam,and the one comment that i think cleared it up for who is the true god,is that the speaker said that only God claimed to be God,and Allah claimed to be a profit,and i just cant remember what Budda claimed to be,but that comment of God being the only one claiming to be God was what really hit me on realising wich religion was true :)

[twistedsketch]

During the christian summer camp i worked at last summer,one of the messages that was taught to all the teens was examining christianity,budhaism(sorry for spelling) and islam,and the one comment that i think cleared it up for who is the true god,is that the speaker said that only God claimed to be God,and Allah claimed to be a profit,and i just cant remember what Budda claimed to be,but that comment of God being the only one claiming to be God was what really hit me on realising wich religion was true :)

David Koresh also claimed to be God, but that didn't make him God. Jesus fulfilled prophesies, did miracles, was verbally confirmed by the Father twice before many witnesses, and was raised from the dead. That's part of why He was and is the real deal.

[Thundercrack]

^ This is very true. The other thing to look at is this. ONLY Christianity presents man unable to help himself OR earn his way into heavy, unlike the other religions:cool:

[Dace]

I am a new christian with a boyfriend that has not yet decided to follow the Lord; he has a question that I am unable to answer, and am wondering if anyone may be able to help me? His question is relating to the amount of different religions there are, e.g. muslims and hindus and buddists.. He would like to know how we can say there is only one God, when all around the world and in different cultures there are many others, and they have been around for hundreds or thousands of years? :confused: I am really usure how to answer this :prayer:

"I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic--there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong; but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others." - C.S.lewis

[Elijah2]

Hi KellyBella,

This comes up most of the time.

Now let's consider one thing?

Who are the most persecuted religion in the world?

Christians!

Now why would all the other religions persecute Christians for?

Because Christianity is a threat to them!

Christianity talks about forgiveness and love, something which other relgions do not want believe in.

All their gods lay in a grave, and their are bones in those graves, which means they were human and self-anointed.

Our Lord Jesus CHrist has no grave, and their are no bones!

Why would all those Christians who died during the Roman Empire die a horrible death FOR A LIE?

Love in Christ

[heymikey80]

"I have been asked to tell you what Christians believe, and I am going to begin by telling you one thing that Christians do not need to believe. If you are a Christian you do not have to believe that all the other religions are simply wrong all through. If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all those religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view. But, of course, being a Christian does mean thinking that where Christianity differs from other religions, Christianity is right and they are wrong. As in arithmetic--there is only one right answer to a sum, and all other answers are wrong; but some of the wrong answers are much nearer being right than others." - C.S.lewis
Great answer. For more from CS Lewis on this subject, his book this came from is "Mere Christianity".

Isn't your boyfriend's complaint against every religion, and even non-religion? How is it any less a criticism of every position out there? A criticism equally leveled at every position is not an argument against any one position.

Is Aristotle's view of physics better than Newton's because it's that much older? Is Newton's better than Einstein's? How about quantum mechanics -- should we dispense with it because it's so new?

The real reason to accept a religion -- a view of God -- is because it represents the facts as reality the best. Because it's the truth, or the nearest to the truth that we can grasp.

[scaryshiksa]

^ This is very true. The other thing to look at is this. ONLY Christianity presents man unable to help himself OR earn his way into heavy, unlike the other religions:cool:


During the christian summer camp i worked at last summer,one of the messages that was taught to all the teens was examining christianity,budhaism(sorry for spelling) and islam,and the one comment that i think cleared it up for who is the true god,is that the speaker said that only God claimed to be God,and Allah claimed to be a profit,and i just cant remember what Budda claimed to be,but that comment of God being the only one claiming to be God was what really hit me on realising wich religion was true

Kind of interesting when we take the same god, known as G-d, God, or Allah, who has different standards for different types of followers - if you got on the bandwagon pre-Jesus, you've got to abide by the 10 commandments and do as much of the applicable of the 613 mitzvot to get into heaven, if you were anyone else you just had to follow the 7 Noachide laws to be a righteous gentile and get in, you didn't even have to believe in any gods as long as you didn't worship a different one. Sounds like a reasonably decent god, regardless of whether you believe or not.

Then we get people into the equation, Jesus came along and offered an easier way to get in by faith, and then Mohammed came along with a different view on what got you in, then in more recent times Joseph Smith, etc...only one of these claiming IIRC to be actually related to the original god and actually being able to perform miracles observed and documented by many people rather than just saying they talked to a god and heard voices back. Which of these guys is the most believable?

[heymikey80]

Kind of interesting when we take the same god, known as G-d, God, or Allah, who has different standards for different types of followers - if you got on the bandwagon pre-Jesus, you've got to abide by the 10 commandments and do as much of the applicable of the 613 mitzvot to get into heaven, if you were anyone else you just had to follow the 7 Noachide laws to be a righteous gentile and get in, you didn't even have to believe in any gods as long as you didn't worship a different one. Sounds like a reasonably decent god, regardless of whether you believe or not.
I'm not quite so sure it's that simple -- Habakkuk did say "my just one shall live by his faith". The Jewish people leaving Egypt didn't enter the Promised Land because ... oddly ... they didn't think God could beat the people in the Land. 10 Commandments, fine. But invade the Land? Tough.

I don't know of anything that said obeying the Noachide laws really got you "in", to whatever you might be getting "in" for.

And Abraham being the one in whom the Gentiles would be blessed -- that's interesting all on it's own, especially considering what a Jewish guy, Saul by name, made it out to mean.

Judaism of the First Century was much more varied than 20th Century traditional Judaism thinks of it (and the same's true of Christianity within a few decades of its development). That we know pretty well. What actually prevailed as what God thought back then could well be very different from what prevails today. Christianity didn't just spring up as a separate religion, either -- Judaism and the Way of Christ were at one point considered the same thing.