I receive emails not only
from those asking about the JW's but people asking questions about religion in
general. Recently I received this general question. Are all religions just a different path to the
same God?
Here is my response:
If all religions point to the same God, one would imagine that they would say basically the same things about Him, at least in their essential teachings. But if we examine various religions, we find that they in fact disagree over fundamental points. The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and other holy books of Eastern mysticism teach that God is one. Everything is god. You are god. I am god. The tree is god. The dirt is god. The insect is god. Good is god. Evil is god. They also teach that God is impersonal, that God is an 'it.'
Judaism, Christianity, Mormanism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Islam on the other hand teach that God is the Creator and that we are not part of Him. Rather we were made by Him. They also teach that God is holy and just. He has defined the difference between good and evil. God is seen as a personal being who has a special relationship to humanity.
But there is a sense in which Christianity is different from Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Islam AND every other religion. All the other major world religions teach that you must please God by observing a list of do’s and don’t. (The JW's fall into this category. Go here to see what one needs to do as a JW to be saved.) In works centered religions, you must do one or more of the following: pray five times a day, give alms, fast, take a pilgrimage, use a Tibetan prayer wheel, not eat certain foods, observe the sabbath, go to church, live a decent life or one of innumerable other possibilities. If you do these things, then maybe you will work your way to Nirvana or heaven or God.
Christianity is different. God tells us we will never earn heaven or deserve a right relationship with Him. We simply cannot live up to God's standards. Instead, God has taken the initiative. Because of His great love for us, He came to earth as a man to rescue us from the penalty of death that our wrong doing deserves. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to take the punishment you and I have earned.
He did something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He lived a perfect life. He did not deserve to die. He died as a sacrifice for you and me. He rose from the dead, is alive today and is offering us a gift of forgiveness and eternal life. No other religion can point to a moment in history and say, this is what God has done for you. No other religion tells how God has taken the initiative to save us. Religion is our attempt at finding God. Christianity is God's attempt at finding us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be save. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
Here is my response:
If all religions point to the same God, one would imagine that they would say basically the same things about Him, at least in their essential teachings. But if we examine various religions, we find that they in fact disagree over fundamental points. The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and other holy books of Eastern mysticism teach that God is one. Everything is god. You are god. I am god. The tree is god. The dirt is god. The insect is god. Good is god. Evil is god. They also teach that God is impersonal, that God is an 'it.'
Judaism, Christianity, Mormanism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Islam on the other hand teach that God is the Creator and that we are not part of Him. Rather we were made by Him. They also teach that God is holy and just. He has defined the difference between good and evil. God is seen as a personal being who has a special relationship to humanity.
But there is a sense in which Christianity is different from Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Islam AND every other religion. All the other major world religions teach that you must please God by observing a list of do’s and don’t. (The JW's fall into this category. Go here to see what one needs to do as a JW to be saved.) In works centered religions, you must do one or more of the following: pray five times a day, give alms, fast, take a pilgrimage, use a Tibetan prayer wheel, not eat certain foods, observe the sabbath, go to church, live a decent life or one of innumerable other possibilities. If you do these things, then maybe you will work your way to Nirvana or heaven or God.
Christianity is different. God tells us we will never earn heaven or deserve a right relationship with Him. We simply cannot live up to God's standards. Instead, God has taken the initiative. Because of His great love for us, He came to earth as a man to rescue us from the penalty of death that our wrong doing deserves. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to take the punishment you and I have earned.
He did something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He lived a perfect life. He did not deserve to die. He died as a sacrifice for you and me. He rose from the dead, is alive today and is offering us a gift of forgiveness and eternal life. No other religion can point to a moment in history and say, this is what God has done for you. No other religion tells how God has taken the initiative to save us. Religion is our attempt at finding God. Christianity is God's attempt at finding us.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be save. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
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