[Faith-talk] Aren't We All Just on Different Paths to the Same Place?

Fri May 23 02:52:10 UTC 2014

False dichotomy. There’s a third option: no one is completely right. Very poor logic on the part of this author.

--
Brandon

www.EscapeTheDream.org: Put an End to Suffering and Return to Joy

Latest blog post: Embrace the Darkness

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On May 22, 2014, at 10:23 PM, Linda Mentink via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I got this from another list I'm on, posted by someone on FaceBook. It's rather long, but a good read.
> 
> Aren't We All Just on Different Paths to the Same Place?
> Posted by Chris Hohnholz
> 
> http://slavetotheking.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/arent-we-all-just-on-different-paths-to-the-same-place/
> 
> It is a very common belief these days that people of different faiths
> are really just taking alternate routes to the same destination.
> Often, those who propose this concept cite similarities in the
> teachings of these faiths in the areas of love, charity, good works
> and forgiveness as proof for their argument. After all, the argument
> is made, the different religions really just point out the fact that
> we need to cease from selfish acts and work to love and accept one
> another. That being the case, people need to understand that, no
> matter how different the doctrines appear to be between these
> religions, these differences can just be explained as cultural
> idiosyncrasies. If it is nothing more than our cultural
> understandings that influence our religious beliefs, then there is no
> reason to support the notion that one religion is superior to another.
> And if people stopped trying to one up each other in the area of
> faith, then we can start working together to solve the problems our
> world faces. Sounds simple enough, right?
> The stark truth of the matter is that this line of reasoning, no
> matter how pleasant it sounds, crumbles under the weight of honest
> examination. The only way that this concept works is if one of two
> things are true: first, that religion is an entirely personalized
> experience with no actual eternal consequences; or two, that
> universalism is true and everyone goes to Heaven, despite what they
> have done in this life. Unless either of these points are true, the
> hypothesis above cannot be accurate. If there is an ultimate end to
> our faith, an afterlife that results in heaven or hell, then the
> competing dogmas of the various religious belief systems are
> contradictory and cannot be equally true. Someone is right and
> someone is wrong. Alternately, if universalism is the ultimate end,
> then doctrine and dogma are pointless because we all will enjoy
> eternal life despite what good or evil we do. No forgiveness or
> atonement is necessary. Therefore, by necessity, the thesis is wrong,
> but what is the true answer?
> Jesus Christ taught His disciples saying, "I am the way, and the
> truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,"
> (John 14:6). This is a very dogmatic and exclusivist statement.
> There is no means by which the Christian faith can be opened up to
> include competing faith systems. It is often for this reason that
> Christianity is so hated in our culture today. Post-modern tolerance
> teaches that all competing views must be given equal weight and
> acceptance. Any worldview which is exclusive cannot be tolerated
> because it wars against this core belief and must be, by consequence,
> excluded (which is in itself exclusivist, but that discussion is for
> another time). Christianity, because of its exclusivist claims, is in
> direct conflict with post-modern tolerance. Therefore, it is often
> seen as the perfect example of conflict in our world and is attacked
> virulently by those promoting tolerance.
> It is worth noting that, despite post-modern thinking, all existing
> world religions are exclusivist in nature. Islam teaches one must
> submit to the teachings of Mohammed and practice the Five Pillars of
> Islam. Buddhism teaches that all pain and suffering comes from the
> sinful desires of man, thus man must go through repeated
> reincarnations until he is able to empty himself of all desires. Once
> this has been achieved, the cycle of reincarnation can end and one can
> reach Nirvana. Hinduism teaches that man's ignorance that he is part
> of the divine Brahman leads to a never ending cycle of bad karma,
> which causes pain and suffering. Through adhering to Hindu teaching,
> one can eventually escape the cycle of reincarnation and be absorbed
> back into Brahman.
> These are just three of the world's leading religions, albeit the
> largest ones following Christianity, yet they all have exclusive
> teachings and doctrines. None are consistent with each other and all
> claim they have the one true path. It would be illogical to claim
> that all are correct as their beliefs and doctrines are vastly
> different. One cannot claim that Buddhism is consistent with Islam,
> for example. One teaches reincarnation until you have achieved
> Nirvana and cease existing, while the other teaches that there is a
> god who judges all that you do and either rewards or punishes you
> eternally based on your actions. Both have completely different
> understandings of the end of man and how we get there. It would not
> be possible for both to be true at the same time. Therefore, it is
> inconceivable for both beliefs to be separate paths to the same
> destination. What must be determined is not how to reconcile different
> religions together, but of all the competing faiths, which is one that
> is correct?
> As we read above, Jesus Christ made an exclusive claim to be the only
> path to the Father. In Matthew 7: 13-14, He also stated, "Enter by
> the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads
> to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is
> narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it
> are few." Jesus taught there were only two paths, one which leads to
> eternal life, the other to eternal punishment. When looked at in
> light of the passage in John, it is evident that He was teaching that
> all paths which do not lead to Him are by nature paths that lead to
> eternal damnation. So to put it another way, there are really two
> religions, the religion of Christ and the religion of man. All
> systems that attempt to solve the dilemma of man's sin apart from
> Jesus Christ are systems that require man to do something of his own
> ability to atone for his wrongful deeds. Only in Christianity is the
> work of atonement accomplished by God Himself in the form of Jesus
> Christ. Therefore, all religions that rely upon the work of man are
> paths that lead to damnation because man cannot do anything to erase
> the evil of his sin.
> How can such a claim be made? In our world, the idea that we can
> achieve forgiveness by our works is a common one. As children, we are
> taught to say we are sorry when we hurt the feelings of others. As we
> grow up, we are taught mistakes are simply a means to learning the
> wrong way of doing things. Once we learn the wrong way, we can
> correct our error and start doing them right. As adults, if we damage
> someone's property, we can pay restitution. Broken hearts can be
> healed by the purchase of flowers and a promise of changed behavior.
> And, at least on the surface, we claim that crimes can be atoned for
> by our imprisonment for a specified amount of time. So it is not
> unreasonable to believe that by our own actions, we can achieve
> forgiveness and make our way out of eternal punishment. After all, by
> nature we believe we are all really good people who occasionally make
> bad choices. Since we are good at heart, we can make up for any bad
> we have done. But in the eyes of God, nothing could be further from
> the truth.
> When God set Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them one
> command, not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
> and Evil. Eve was tricked by Satan and believed that it was good for
> her to eat of the fruit. However, in direct rebellion against God,
> Adam chose to eat of the forbidden fruit. In doing so, Adam brought
> sin into the world for the first time. His actions tainted the rest
> of mankind so that his descendants would be born sinners. From that
> day forward every person born into this world would have a sinful
> nature, inclined to serve self rather than obey the Lord. Mankind
> would forever be bound by sin, every action, thought and word would
> reflect that nature and man would forever be in rebellion against his
> Creator.
> According to God's Word, "We have all become like one who is unclean,
> and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment," (Isaiah 64:
> 6) and, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
> sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). No matter how we view
> ourselves, we are seen by God as wicked and sinful down to the very
> core. We can verify this when we look at the law of God in Exodus 20.
> Commonly known as the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God handed
> down to the Israelites reflects the perfect nature of God's character.
> When we examine our thoughts, words and deeds against this moral law,
> it reflects the wickedness of our hearts before the Lord. Anytime we
> worship a picture of God we have created in our mind, we worship a
> false idol. When we lie, harbor or express hatred against others,
> when we lust for a person who is not our spouse, covet the belongings
> of others, disobey our parents or steal the property of others, we are
> evidencing that our wicked heart is working against our Lord and
> Creator. When break those laws, we are sinning. We sin because by
> our very nature are sinners. From the day we are born until our last
> breath, we build up a laundry list of crimes against God.
> God is good and righteous. He is holy and perfect. When we choose to
> sin against Him, we bear evidence of the wickedness of our hearts and
> He must judge us and rightly condemn us. We are criminals against a
> perfect Judge. Were He to allow us to enter into eternity without
> bringing judgment against our crimes, He would be capricious and
> untrustworthy. If God permitted a man who had raped, murdered and
> stolen for the majority of his life into Heaven without addressing the
> crimes he committed, He would be unjust, disregarding the harm done
> both to the victims and to His nature. Thus, God must judge sin. To
> do otherwise would make Him not be God.
> As we have seen from Scripture, man is sinful at his very heart. No
> amount of "good works" can make up for our sin, because our good works
> themselves are tainted by our nature. There is nothing that we do
> that is not influenced by our sin; therefore, we cannot do anything
> that makes up for sin. Additionally, were we to attempt to erase our
> sin by our works, it would be an attempt to influence our good and
> righteous Judge to ignore that which we have done. In other words, we
> would be attempting to bribe God into rendering an unjust verdict.
> Time does not erase our sins and neither will sinful works remove them
> from the eyes of God. All mankind stands guilty before God and will
> be condemned to an eternity in Hell.
> Yet, while God is righteous, holy and just, He is also loving,
> merciful and kind. Therefore, He made a way for sinners where there
> was no way. God sent His Son, eternally God, to take on human flesh,
> born of a virgin (that He might be free from the taint of sin), to
> live a life of complete sinlessness so that He might become the Savior
> of men. Christ was tempted in all the ways that we are, yet lived
> without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He did so in order that He might fulfill
> the moral law of God perfectly, the law we could not keep for even a
> minute of our lives. Then Jesus willingly, intentionally allowed
> Himself to be taken prisoner by wicked men, put on trial in an unjust
> court, and be found guilty of crimes He did not commit. Jesus allowed
> this so that He might be put to death in one of the most horrific
> forms of capital punishment devised by men. His death on the cross
> was for the purposes of receiving the full weight of the righteous
> wrath of God deserved by sinners. In doing so, Jesus became sin in
> the eyes of His Father. He became what we are so that what we deserve
> may be poured out on Him.
> Jesus died that terrible death, was taken from the cross and placed in
> a tomb, yet on the third day, He rose Himself from the grave,
> defeating sin and death. In rising from the grave, Christ
> demonstrated His divine power of all of creation including life and
> death. In defeating the grave, Jesus guaranteed a promise of eternal
> life to all those He would redeem from the righteous wrath of the
> Father. What God commands of sinners is that they repent -
> acknowledge that they have sinned against Him, confess they deserve
> His judgment, and turn away from sin and turn to Christ - and trust,
> in faith, in the completed work of His Son. Whenever sinners do this,
> God has promised He will change their heart of stone to a heart of flesh,
> making them into a new creation. No longer are men bound to their
> sins, rather they are bound to the Savior who has purchased them with
> His blood.
> This is why Christ declared that the broad path, the path which
> contains all the man centered religions which promise atonement
> through human effort, as the road which leads away from the Father.
> No act of human will apart from Christ can satisfy the perfect
> judgment of God. Therefore, all religious systems, be they Islam,
> Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha'i or the multitude of others, are of the
> broad path. Only the narrow path which leads to Jesus Christ and His
> completed work can grant anyone entrance to Heaven.
> There is one respect in which all roads lead to God. The narrow path
> leads to eternity with the Savior, forever enjoying fellowship with He
> who bought us. The broad path leads to the eternal judgment of God.
> He created Hell specifically as the place where sinners would forever
> receive the condemnation they have wrought upon themselves. It is His
> Hell and His judgment. Therefore, sinners will be in the presence of
> God, but it will be in His wrath, not His peace.
> To rightly apply the thinking that all paths lead to God, we must
> suspend logic. The idea that contradictory teachings all have the
> same destination can only be true if ultimately there is no
> destination, thus having only personal, subjective benefit; or, if
> there is an eternal destination that all people will go to, thus
> eliminating the need for any doctrine or dogma, simply because it does
> not change the outcome. In reality, there are two paths and two
> destinations. The path of man made religion teaches that mankind has
> problems, but ultimately can be overcome by one's sheer act of will.
> All religions apart from Christ fall into this path in one way or
> another. However, as man is sinful at heart, he cannot overcome his
> depraved nature and cannot atone for his own sins. Therefore, all
> those on this path are on the road to damnation. The other path is
> that which leads to Christ. It is the path that reveals the truth
> about who we are and that we deserve God's wrath. It is the path that
> calls us to surrender our own works to the One whose perfect work on
> the cross satisfied the legal and righteous judgment of God. It is
> the path which leads to life, because the death and resurrection of
> the Son of God is the only means by which we can be freed from the
> sins to which we are bound. Which path are you on?
> 
> 
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