"The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17, NIV). "What can be known about God is plain to them [people] because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse" (Romans 1:19-20, ESV).
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C. S. Lewis)
Baha'i teaches that all religion's teachings are basically equal, and, as a symbol of their faith, they have a nine-sided temple and on the walls which says, "All religions teach the same thing about God." We will see that all roads may have led to Rome, but not all religions lead to God, one can be sincerely wrong. Even Secular Humanists believe in being good, but good without God--that is the evil. Yes, some people do have a reductionist philosophy of religion thinking that all that matters is that we are good because in the end result all that matters is that our good deeds outweigh our bad ones. Some people who actually regard themselves or fashion themselves as Christians embrace the notion of the Sermon on the Mount, or even say their religion is the Golden Rule--they assume this type of ethic or philosophy is the essence of the faith.
This is a simplistic approach, although good deeds are vital to prove our faith and "faith without works is dead" and cannot save, and Paul said that all that counts is faith expressing itself through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). God doesn't save us by our works, but for our works. We are not saved by good works, but not without them either; we are saved by faith, but the kind of faith that produces works--for we are a "people zealous of good works" (cf. Titus 2:14). Superficial people do not see faith in action but only the works not realizing that the motive (cf. Prov. 16:2; 21:2) is what God sees, whether it's done for the applause of man or selfish reason. Paul says, "I'll show you my works by my faith;" James says, "I'll show you my faith by my good works!" They go hand in hand.
All religions have a grain of truth and this is what's so evil; Satan mixes truth and error and there is enough error to fool and make it evil and dangerous. There is just enough truth to lure and tempt you, and enough falsehood to fool you that it's all true. There is an element of truth in all faiths, but this doesn't preclude the proposition that one faith is absolutely right without any error. There is just enough truth to inoculate from the real thing and make one immune to the truth.
George Lucas has come to the conclusion that all religions are true! (It is possible that all religions could be wrong, but not all be right!) This is a violation of the law of noncontradiction, for example, Islam teaches that Christ did not die on the cross and didn't physically rise from the dead for our sins, and Christianity does--there are many points of conflict in the religions, but in today's pluralistic thinking one accepts the fact of apparent contradiction because no one can claim to be right and tolerance is the biggest virtue. In our Postmodern era contradiction is acceptable, since we cannot know the truth anyway and all beliefs are equally valid and worthy. Pluralism is the present-day, accepted, religious way of thinking, which means we must be tolerant of each other and get along despite others being wrong; however, some go so far as to say that no religion can be universally true and therefore we ought to be tolerant, all religions being equal. In short, we agree to disagree and refuse to privatize our religion, making it unobjectionable to others.
Finding God is not an experiment, but a revelation leading to an encounter--He found us and holds us all accountable for that knowledge. Man is without excuse: His problem is not that he doesn't know God exists, but that he's a sinner and separated from God and needs reconciliation--first, get right with God and man will know what God is like--we will know God. We are responsible for the light given us and that's the problem--neglecting it: we don't obey that! It's not that man just knows part of the truth and that is sufficient, but that he is the problem himself and needs intervention from God--we are lost without God and alienated from Him. The problem with man is that he's unwilling and disobedient; it's a moral, not an intellectual problem: any man who chooses God's will shall know whether Jesus is the Truth (cf. John 7:17). Jesus often complained that people were hardened and wouldn't believe despite his miracles (cf. John 12:37).
The Hindus have a parable of six blind men touching an elephant, and each coming up with different interpretations of what God must be like because they feel a different part of the elephant. This parable assumes two falsehoods: man is searching for God, and man has found God in the process--both are contrary to Scripture. (It's vitally important to know God: One Greek philosopher of antiquity said, that if he wanted to know how to live, he must know what God is like.) The caveat is that it's not what they think! They must realize their knowledge is limited and inadequate. And I wonder if the men knew they were feeling an elephant or God, and who informed them and why they accepted this as fact!
Man is not physically blind and our interpretations of God in various religions contradict each other and don't show that each only is part of the story. The blind men don't know there are other blind men who see differently and come to different conclusions. We didn't find the truth, it was revealed to us supernaturally by revelation! In this scheme no one is right and no one is wrong relatively speaking and each knows only a portion of truth or nature of the elephant--how do we know no one, in reality, can feel the whole elephant? But we do know that no one is right in this parable! Why do they all have to be blind? How do we know they are?
The two self-contradictions in the parable is that we are blind men (and don't know it!), and at the same time we possess knowledge about God (that it's a real elephant and the men are blind)--you can't have it both ways! If there were no God we would never know it, but since there is a God we naturally search for Him and want to know Him because we just know instinctively that we need Him and something is wrong with us--there is an invisible tug towards God that draws us to Him. Noteworthy is the fact that you cannot describe God, but you can make Him known, which negates the parable--can you know a tusk, a trunk, a leg, an ear, or what have you? Were these men so naive as to think God wasn't invisible and couldn't be felt, comprehended, or put in a box as one-dimensional?
Satan has "blinded the minds of them that believe not" (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus is in the business of opening our eyes and we can see the proof in tasting the pudding: "Taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Cf. Psalm 34:8). With the limited knowledge of man, we need supernatural communication to us or revelation. But how we do know for sure they are all touching the same elephant, or even an elephant at all, without supernatural revelation from God, unless they have faith?
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C. S. Lewis)
Baha'i teaches that all religion's teachings are basically equal, and, as a symbol of their faith, they have a nine-sided temple and on the walls which says, "All religions teach the same thing about God." We will see that all roads may have led to Rome, but not all religions lead to God, one can be sincerely wrong. Even Secular Humanists believe in being good, but good without God--that is the evil. Yes, some people do have a reductionist philosophy of religion thinking that all that matters is that we are good because in the end result all that matters is that our good deeds outweigh our bad ones. Some people who actually regard themselves or fashion themselves as Christians embrace the notion of the Sermon on the Mount, or even say their religion is the Golden Rule--they assume this type of ethic or philosophy is the essence of the faith.
This is a simplistic approach, although good deeds are vital to prove our faith and "faith without works is dead" and cannot save, and Paul said that all that counts is faith expressing itself through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). God doesn't save us by our works, but for our works. We are not saved by good works, but not without them either; we are saved by faith, but the kind of faith that produces works--for we are a "people zealous of good works" (cf. Titus 2:14). Superficial people do not see faith in action but only the works not realizing that the motive (cf. Prov. 16:2; 21:2) is what God sees, whether it's done for the applause of man or selfish reason. Paul says, "I'll show you my works by my faith;" James says, "I'll show you my faith by my good works!" They go hand in hand.
All religions have a grain of truth and this is what's so evil; Satan mixes truth and error and there is enough error to fool and make it evil and dangerous. There is just enough truth to lure and tempt you, and enough falsehood to fool you that it's all true. There is an element of truth in all faiths, but this doesn't preclude the proposition that one faith is absolutely right without any error. There is just enough truth to inoculate from the real thing and make one immune to the truth.
George Lucas has come to the conclusion that all religions are true! (It is possible that all religions could be wrong, but not all be right!) This is a violation of the law of noncontradiction, for example, Islam teaches that Christ did not die on the cross and didn't physically rise from the dead for our sins, and Christianity does--there are many points of conflict in the religions, but in today's pluralistic thinking one accepts the fact of apparent contradiction because no one can claim to be right and tolerance is the biggest virtue. In our Postmodern era contradiction is acceptable, since we cannot know the truth anyway and all beliefs are equally valid and worthy. Pluralism is the present-day, accepted, religious way of thinking, which means we must be tolerant of each other and get along despite others being wrong; however, some go so far as to say that no religion can be universally true and therefore we ought to be tolerant, all religions being equal. In short, we agree to disagree and refuse to privatize our religion, making it unobjectionable to others.
Finding God is not an experiment, but a revelation leading to an encounter--He found us and holds us all accountable for that knowledge. Man is without excuse: His problem is not that he doesn't know God exists, but that he's a sinner and separated from God and needs reconciliation--first, get right with God and man will know what God is like--we will know God. We are responsible for the light given us and that's the problem--neglecting it: we don't obey that! It's not that man just knows part of the truth and that is sufficient, but that he is the problem himself and needs intervention from God--we are lost without God and alienated from Him. The problem with man is that he's unwilling and disobedient; it's a moral, not an intellectual problem: any man who chooses God's will shall know whether Jesus is the Truth (cf. John 7:17). Jesus often complained that people were hardened and wouldn't believe despite his miracles (cf. John 12:37).
The Hindus have a parable of six blind men touching an elephant, and each coming up with different interpretations of what God must be like because they feel a different part of the elephant. This parable assumes two falsehoods: man is searching for God, and man has found God in the process--both are contrary to Scripture. (It's vitally important to know God: One Greek philosopher of antiquity said, that if he wanted to know how to live, he must know what God is like.) The caveat is that it's not what they think! They must realize their knowledge is limited and inadequate. And I wonder if the men knew they were feeling an elephant or God, and who informed them and why they accepted this as fact!
Man is not physically blind and our interpretations of God in various religions contradict each other and don't show that each only is part of the story. The blind men don't know there are other blind men who see differently and come to different conclusions. We didn't find the truth, it was revealed to us supernaturally by revelation! In this scheme no one is right and no one is wrong relatively speaking and each knows only a portion of truth or nature of the elephant--how do we know no one, in reality, can feel the whole elephant? But we do know that no one is right in this parable! Why do they all have to be blind? How do we know they are?
The two self-contradictions in the parable is that we are blind men (and don't know it!), and at the same time we possess knowledge about God (that it's a real elephant and the men are blind)--you can't have it both ways! If there were no God we would never know it, but since there is a God we naturally search for Him and want to know Him because we just know instinctively that we need Him and something is wrong with us--there is an invisible tug towards God that draws us to Him. Noteworthy is the fact that you cannot describe God, but you can make Him known, which negates the parable--can you know a tusk, a trunk, a leg, an ear, or what have you? Were these men so naive as to think God wasn't invisible and couldn't be felt, comprehended, or put in a box as one-dimensional?
Satan has "blinded the minds of them that believe not" (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus is in the business of opening our eyes and we can see the proof in tasting the pudding: "Taste and see that the LORD is good!" (Cf. Psalm 34:8). With the limited knowledge of man, we need supernatural communication to us or revelation. But how we do know for sure they are all touching the same elephant, or even an elephant at all, without supernatural revelation from God, unless they have faith?
We are assuming that each man only discerns a part of the truth of the elephant's nature with no collusion, and we know something they don't--it's a real elephant! How do we know the blind men didn't coordinate and communicate with each other to come to a consensus or that there was a third party intervening? The analogy is so weak only the naive would believe it. It would seem the only way to arrive at truth is to learn to study with all the blind men!
We are not relying on some one's experience but on divine revelation! One notable contrast from reality is that we are not trying to find God and cannot know God apart from revelation; God found us and revealed Himself. It is true that there is truth in each religion, but this parable assumes no one has full knowledge or that God hasn't revealed it (would a loving God let us be totally deceived?). Are we all blind men? But the Bible posits inspiration with internal attestation. Jesus came to show the way and open our eyes. We would realize that we are in the image of God who is no elephant, but someone we relate to and communicate with.
This is not the right way to fathom God--by trusting blind men or being blind! Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch! Men are limited and cannot ultimately be trusted to convey truth--we need revelation from God not inspiration or experience of man. Without any objective source and ultimate truth, how do we know any of the blind men (as founders of faiths) know anything or are credible, reliable, and honest in their discoveries--we have the word of Christ the incarnation of God as one who does know the truth and is a credible source of revelation.
To know the truth we need the objective analysis and observation of someone who knows it and can reveal it to us faithfully--i.e., Christ, who is the Way, and this is not "imperialism." The parable assumes we know something the blind men don't, and that no one knows the full story or can discover the truth. In short, the parable only shows that we are justified in relying on the revelation of Truth with a capital T itself, Jesus Christ.
Some say that it is arrogant to proclaim Christ as the only way and all other ways to God are wrong. A. W. Tozer said that Christ is "not one of many ways to God, nor the best way, but the only way!" It would be egotistical for us to think we are right and everyone else wrong about God and there is only one way if it was because we said so, but Christ is the one who said this and He has the credentials. Truth is by definition absolute and intolerant of error. Christians believe in absolute truth, not truth being relative or changing to a given situation. We believe we can know for sure, and there is certainty.
Jesus said that who is of the truth will listen to Him, for He is the personification of truth and came to bear witness of the truth (cf. John 18:37). His personal claim in John 14:6 says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," is one of absolute value and implies the existence of absolute truth and one way to know it. The converse of absolute truth is not valid however: There exists a grain of truth in every belief system, including all secular worldviews, and that is the danger; there is no such thing as pure evil, because evil is a distortion and perversion or lack of good and is dependent on it and wouldn't exist apart from it.
There is a uniqueness to Christianity in that it is a faith of grace and that heaven is not earned nor deserved, but a free gift. We don't lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps and Christianity is not a do-it-yourself proposition. We are not self-made men who give ourselves the credit for the change that takes place in our lives. Christ changes lives, but it's not just about turning over a new leaf but getting a new life with Christ in charge. Christ is still in the resurrection business and no one is too much of a challenge or problem for him as a work-in-progress.
Only in Christianity can we know for sure that we will go to heaven--all other religions leave you in doubt as you wonder if your good deeds will outweigh your bad ones. In religion, the theme says, "Do!" In Christianity, the theme says, "Done." We both believe in works, but religion says work "in order that," while Christianity says work "therefore." We do good works out of gratitude because we want to, not because we have to.
There are so many ways that Christianity is unique in that one can see that it's not a typical religion with a solution to man's problem. We are not reaching out to God or up to God, but He is condescending and reaching out to us in grace and mercy. In Christianity we have a relationship with God and know Him, we don't just believe He exists. Only in our faith can one communicate with God and know Him on a personal basis. Any religion will change you or reform you, but only Christianity can renew you from the inside out, and give you a new start. Many religions teach a God, but none but Christianity posits a personal God that we can know individually one-on-one. Christianity is not a credo to adhere to, an ethic to live by, nor a philosophy to embrace, but a person to know and love; we aren't satisfied just knowing God exists!
Man's dilemma is the problem of sin, not that he denies God or needs enlightenment--he needs salvation and deliverance from the power of sin over his life, not education or to be informed, but transformation. In the final analysis, all religions see man as having a problem and needing "salvation," but only Christianity adequately and satisfactorily, categorically, and unequivocally answers that dilemma once and for all without a doubt and no guesswork or conjecture, but with certainty and assurance. The Truth is knowable if one diligently seeks (cf. John 8:32) for it, but the problem is that man has rebelled against what he does know and he has no cop-out or excuse! Soli Deo Gloria!
We are not relying on some one's experience but on divine revelation! One notable contrast from reality is that we are not trying to find God and cannot know God apart from revelation; God found us and revealed Himself. It is true that there is truth in each religion, but this parable assumes no one has full knowledge or that God hasn't revealed it (would a loving God let us be totally deceived?). Are we all blind men? But the Bible posits inspiration with internal attestation. Jesus came to show the way and open our eyes. We would realize that we are in the image of God who is no elephant, but someone we relate to and communicate with.
This is not the right way to fathom God--by trusting blind men or being blind! Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch! Men are limited and cannot ultimately be trusted to convey truth--we need revelation from God not inspiration or experience of man. Without any objective source and ultimate truth, how do we know any of the blind men (as founders of faiths) know anything or are credible, reliable, and honest in their discoveries--we have the word of Christ the incarnation of God as one who does know the truth and is a credible source of revelation.
To know the truth we need the objective analysis and observation of someone who knows it and can reveal it to us faithfully--i.e., Christ, who is the Way, and this is not "imperialism." The parable assumes we know something the blind men don't, and that no one knows the full story or can discover the truth. In short, the parable only shows that we are justified in relying on the revelation of Truth with a capital T itself, Jesus Christ.
Some say that it is arrogant to proclaim Christ as the only way and all other ways to God are wrong. A. W. Tozer said that Christ is "not one of many ways to God, nor the best way, but the only way!" It would be egotistical for us to think we are right and everyone else wrong about God and there is only one way if it was because we said so, but Christ is the one who said this and He has the credentials. Truth is by definition absolute and intolerant of error. Christians believe in absolute truth, not truth being relative or changing to a given situation. We believe we can know for sure, and there is certainty.
Jesus said that who is of the truth will listen to Him, for He is the personification of truth and came to bear witness of the truth (cf. John 18:37). His personal claim in John 14:6 says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," is one of absolute value and implies the existence of absolute truth and one way to know it. The converse of absolute truth is not valid however: There exists a grain of truth in every belief system, including all secular worldviews, and that is the danger; there is no such thing as pure evil, because evil is a distortion and perversion or lack of good and is dependent on it and wouldn't exist apart from it.
There is a uniqueness to Christianity in that it is a faith of grace and that heaven is not earned nor deserved, but a free gift. We don't lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps and Christianity is not a do-it-yourself proposition. We are not self-made men who give ourselves the credit for the change that takes place in our lives. Christ changes lives, but it's not just about turning over a new leaf but getting a new life with Christ in charge. Christ is still in the resurrection business and no one is too much of a challenge or problem for him as a work-in-progress.
Only in Christianity can we know for sure that we will go to heaven--all other religions leave you in doubt as you wonder if your good deeds will outweigh your bad ones. In religion, the theme says, "Do!" In Christianity, the theme says, "Done." We both believe in works, but religion says work "in order that," while Christianity says work "therefore." We do good works out of gratitude because we want to, not because we have to.
There are so many ways that Christianity is unique in that one can see that it's not a typical religion with a solution to man's problem. We are not reaching out to God or up to God, but He is condescending and reaching out to us in grace and mercy. In Christianity we have a relationship with God and know Him, we don't just believe He exists. Only in our faith can one communicate with God and know Him on a personal basis. Any religion will change you or reform you, but only Christianity can renew you from the inside out, and give you a new start. Many religions teach a God, but none but Christianity posits a personal God that we can know individually one-on-one. Christianity is not a credo to adhere to, an ethic to live by, nor a philosophy to embrace, but a person to know and love; we aren't satisfied just knowing God exists!
Man's dilemma is the problem of sin, not that he denies God or needs enlightenment--he needs salvation and deliverance from the power of sin over his life, not education or to be informed, but transformation. In the final analysis, all religions see man as having a problem and needing "salvation," but only Christianity adequately and satisfactorily, categorically, and unequivocally answers that dilemma once and for all without a doubt and no guesswork or conjecture, but with certainty and assurance. The Truth is knowable if one diligently seeks (cf. John 8:32) for it, but the problem is that man has rebelled against what he does know and he has no cop-out or excuse! Soli Deo Gloria!