Praise His Holy Name!b'shem Y'shuaThe Name above all other names.
YHvH has become my Salvation (Psalm 118-14)
Posted on 04/25/2006 8:04:00 AM PDT by churchillbuff
From time to time, some people will suggest that all the world’s religions are of equal value and accomplish the same end. “All roads lead to God,” these folks say. “Whatever name you call him (or her), it’s still the same God,” others proclaim.
I am not among these people. I do not believe that all religions are of equal value, though there is value in most forms of religion, and I do not believe they accomplish the same end. Neither do I believe that, whatever name is used, all names for God refer to the same God.
As an historic, orthodox Christian, I believe that Jesus Christ was telling the truth when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).
This, of course, is a scandalous statement. Either Jesus was deluded and should be denounced as a madman or he was speaking the truth.
If he was deluded, then Christianity is a farce and 1.5 billion people are ensnared in false hope.
If he spoke the truth, however, then all religions are not of equal value.
Religious pluralism says that “there are many, many ways to God and all of these ways are good.”
But Jesus claimed that he was the way. Not just that his teachings were the way but that he himself was the way to the Father. Not only that, he claimed that, outside of him, there was no other way.
Further, he claimed not only that he taught truth but that he was the truth.
Certainly, all religious faiths contain truth, but Jesus claimed that all truth regarding spiritual matters was found in his own person. If he is the repository of truth and if truth cannot be found outside him, then other religions contain error. And, if one is seeking God, then error can lead one away from, rather than toward, God.
Jesus also declared that he was the life. Much of religion is a search for fullness of life on the earth and a quest for any life that may exist beyond this temporal plane.
In addressing this first consideration, Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 KJV). The reason he came at all was to bring a quality of life never before known or experienced. He also came to insure eternal life for those who would believe and put their trust in him.
As John 3:16-17 states: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (NKJV).
But the claim to exclusivity is found in his words, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” That means that the way, the only way, to God is in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
That is offensive and repugnant to some, but it is still what he claimed. If there is a “Plan B,” it is not found in the scriptures.
Christianity makes for itself the claim that the only true path to finding one’s destiny, one’s ultimate plan, in fact the only path to God the Father, is found in Christ.
“So,” someone will ask, “are you saying that Christianity is the only true faith and that all others are wrong?”
That is, in fact, the claim of historic, orthodox Christianity. Christians believe that all that God began in the Book of Genesis and continued in the books of the Old Testament was brought to consummation in the person of Jesus Christ.
Scandalous? Yes. Absurd? So it may seem. Outrageous? Many think so.
A number of years ago, I was looking for a small town in Colorado and became lost. I stopped and asked directions of a man who owned a filling station. The directions he gave described a curvy and treacherous trek over some mountains. I asked if there was a shorter or safer way to get there. “Nope,” he said, “there’s only one way to get there from here.”
The New Living Translation puts it this way: “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10).
It’s the only way to get there from here.
Praise His Holy Name!b'shem Y'shuaThe Name above all other names.
YHvH has become my Salvation (Psalm 118-14)
The Catholic doctrine of "Baptism of desire" covers this. It holds that if someone wants to lead a good life and would have received Baptism had they known about it, they can be saved.
The saying "Outside the Church there is no salvation" has to be interpreted as the Church interprets it. Father Feeney was excommunicated for teaching that non-Catholics couldn't be saved. What the saying means is that the only route to salvation is that preached by the Church: repentance for sin and reform of your life. The reason for being in the Church is that the Sacraments help you to repent and reform.
But not all these people that knew could ever have been contacted through the work of an evangelist. Some had been living in remote areas of the world for far longer than Christianity. But they too believed in Jesus and God (obviously, they didn't call him Jesus, but they knew who he was). It is proof of the power of God to transcend time and space. God spoke directly to these people. It is the only way they could have known what they did.
No, Fr. Feeney was actually excommunicated for disobedience. He was summoned to Rome to meet with Pope Pius XII, and he continually refused, so he was excommunicated for disobedience, not the things he taught.
Amen to that! What do you make of islam and the followers of islam? It's foundational text, the Koran, explicitly states that Jesus Christ did not die on the cros, did not rise from the dead and is not the Son of God.
Buddhism?
Absolutely, Jesus is no normal "man".
The Lord created each one of us with a hunger for Him. Whether we know who "He" is or not. It's how we respond to that hunger. We who have been told about Jesus Christ have a much higher burden than those in the remote mountains of South America or the deserts of Africa who've never heard the name yet long just the same. D'you know what I mean?
It can be argued hun calling himself a prophet and the son of man isn't necessarily claiming to be God. You should also know I don't believe NT texts to be inspired. I believe the guy was an observant Jew and later writers, redactors and interpolaters made him into the man-god figure. So its not him that's necessarily the madman. Its the pointy hats that came after him.
Luke 12:48.
But he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required: and to whom they have committed much, of him they will demand the more.
Your question is a good one.
We aren't in a position to know the answer, except that God always gets it right. However, we are certainly in a position to GUESS.
C.S. Lewis took a stab at answering this question in several ways and places. One of the most interesting was in the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia. In this book a good person who nevertheless worshiped the wrong god died. He was met by Aslan (the Narnia version of Jesus) and saw the truth. He immediately repented and asked for forgiveness, which he received.
I believe you to be insane if you can discern someone speaking metaphorically. :-)
I don't think an observant Jew would say the following:
John 8:58. Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM.
I believe the guy was an observant Jew and later writers, redactors and interpolaters made him into the man-god figure. So its not him that's necessarily the madman. Its the pointy hats that came after him.
Based on what evidence.?
As I heard once, even the people in the deepest, darkest, jungles who have never seen a preacher, know that there is a higher being than them that makes the sun rise and set. That makes the clouds and the rain,... etc.
Why would the apostles (the people who really should have known the truth, whatever it was) die martyrs deaths (all, or at least a majority of them) if He didn't say those things? When I was searching for the truth, that was the clincher for me. These people were willing to die for this. They were there when it all took place. They would have known if it was not true.
However, nothing anyone says will convince you of anything. It's really between you and God. God Bless and good luck.
susie
"The New Living Translation puts it this way: “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10)."
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Amen!
That is a good question. What does Scripture teach?
Romans 3:10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Exactly. And so few people ever ask that question.
But your question implies that you get to say who is God and how he should act. If you are God, then he is not.
Yep. Life is as God directs it to be. No one will be in heaven who deserves to be there, but only by the grace of God. We're told to preach the Gospel to every nation so that everyone who has been given ears to hear will do so and rejoice.
"Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." -- Psalms 119:104-105
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God...Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." -- 1 John 4:1-3;10 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
"And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, sought out, A city not forsaken." -- Isaiah 62:12
As God wills.
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