Many people say that all religous paths are equally valid and that there are many roads to God and salvation. A recent survey even revealed that over half of those who profess to be evangelical Christians believe this to be true.
But if you think about it logically, you will understand that this simply cannot be.
Let's pretend for a moment that all religions are equally legitimate and that all religions do lead to God. Now let's pick out Christianity as one of the many different roads, and think about how absurd Christianity is in comparison.
Here you have a God who has his Son killed. He lets Jesus be beaten, bloodied and hung on a cross to die. Now why would a god do that? If there are many different roads that he provided, why would he have one of those roads be through the gruesome death of his Son.
If Christianity is simply "one of many roads" then God is to be considered malicious and cruel for treating his Son this way. All the other roads are very neat and clean, not needing a single drop of blood. But this one has God choosing to viciously torment and kill his Only Begotten when other viable options (supposedly) are available.
In essence, the death of Christ becomes nothing more than a cruel and most unnecessary act.
But it is precisely because of the cross that Christianity is distinguished from all other religions. Christ is the sole means of salvation because his death provides the only way for sinners like us to be justified in the sight of a holy God.
Before any of us can have communion with God blood must be shed. The wrath of God due to us for sin must be appeased. And that is exactly what happens in the cross. On the cross Christ voluntarily stood in the place of sinners and took God's wrath upon himself. Thus he allows all who turn to him in repentance to escape death and inherit eternal life.
Seeing the cross in this light then helps you then to understand that God is not a sadistic monster.
The cross then is the crux of the matter when it comes to religion. Not only because it affirms what Jesus said—that no one comes to the Father but by him (Jn. 14:6). But also because it expels the notion that any other religion poses a viable way to heaven.
3 comments:
Blood must be shed? i think thats the whole problem. Many Native American leaders could not understand why we killed our God. Being part Cherokee I stick with my heritage and their beliefs. After You Christians nearly committed genocide against our people you tried to shove your religion down our throats. we see you as a cancer upon Mother Earth. With all your pollution and weird religion. Its distinct all right. I hope this comment meets your approval. Probably not since you screen out everything you disagree with.
Readers of this blog know that while comments are submitted for aproval, virtually all are posted--no matter how wrong or virulent they may be.
The previous anonymous Native American commentator seems to not quite understand a few matters of history and religion. The Pilgrims came here for freedom, and treated the Indians, or Native Americans well. Later, others came to North America who did not adhere to the Christian faith, and they often mistreated and even killed the Native Americans. Remember, too, that groups of native Americans often fought against other groups of Native Americans, so it is not historically honest to claim that the white Christians killed the Indians. Concerning religion, again, he fails to distinguish between the religious people and the true followers of Jesus. The unsaved religious people killed Jesus--not the true followers of Jesus. He forgets, too, that Jesus came willingly out of love to die for the lost. Death did not come a a surprise to Him, for He knew that it was the only way by which we could find true peace and forgiveness. The previous anonymous author also make a couple more unfair and untrue generalizations. You are used to your religion, and so call the beliefs of others weird, while not realizing that to outsiders, the religion of Native Americans can seem weird. You speak of Mother Earth, while we speak of Father God, who made the earth. Why does he think think that all Christians pollute? That is far from true. One would never see true Christians throwing their empty beer bottles on the side of the road. I do not drink alcohol, and I recycle, too, so I suppose that I should receive an apology from the previous anonymous author claiming that I, a Christian, pollute and killed Native Americans. If one studies the Native American history, one will find much murder and violence other Native Americans, and in all people, one will find the need of the only Saviour, Jesus Christ.
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