Posted on 03/05/2016 1:33:18 PM PST by truthfinder9
A couple of years ago I visited Canada to record television interviews about my book Christian Endgame.
Prior to the recording, some of the Christians in the green room told me to be cautious about saying that Christianity is the exclusively true religion. When I inquired why, I was told that it is considered intolerant in Canadian society to claim Christianity is the only way to God. The Christian program executives were concerned about receiving legal reprisals from the Canadian government for broadcasting “intolerant” religious statements.
I don’t know exactly what Canada’s laws are concerning alleged statements of religious intolerance, but it appears the Western world (including America) has allowed political correctness to run amuck.
So, how should Christians respond to the challenge that their belief of exclusivity reflects intolerance? Here are five ways to handle this increasingly tricky topic.
1. We can point out that truth exists and that it really matters. Respect and tolerance should never be divorced from truth, especially the concept of ultimate truth. All denials of objective truth are ultimately self-defeating.1 For example, to claim there is no objective truth would itself constitute an objective truth.
2. We can point out that cold, hard logic requires that contradictory religious truth-claims cannot be simultaneously true. For example, Christianity affirms that Jesus Christ is God incarnate (God in human flesh); but traditional Judaism and Islam both assert that Jesus was not God incarnate. The law of noncontradiction states: A cannot equal A and equal non-A at the same time and in the same way.2 Based on this law, Jesus Christ cannot be both God incarnate (Christianity) and not God incarnate (Judaism, Islam) at the same time and in the same respect. Affirming the dictates of reason does not violate any acceptable standard of tolerance.
3. We can make an apologetic case for the truthfulness of Christianity. Believers can present persuasive arguments for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3) and point out difficulties in alternative, non-Christian belief systems (2 Corinthians 10:5). For example, the Apostle Paul made an affirmative case for Jesus’ resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–8) and the Apostle John criticized the Docetist heresy that claimed Jesus hadn’t come in the flesh (1 John 4:1–3).
4. We should admit that societies significantly influenced by Christianity have at times promoted or permitted genuine intolerance (e.g., anti-Semitism in twentieth-century Europe). Christians are forgiven sinners and they should personally and corporately admit their constant struggle against sin. They can, however, point out that Christianity itself affirms genuine tolerance as a virtue via the biblical view that all people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) and are thus deserving of respectful and dignified treatment. Jesus himself set a moral example of treating people with respect and tolerance when he initiated a conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7–26). Usually rabbis didn’t speak to women in public and Jews avoided interacting with Samaritan people (see John 4:9).
5. Christians are called to witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with both their words (preaching) and their lives (ethical conduct). The world needs to see the power of lived truth. These two things can be accomplished when believers are personally and socially tolerant of people while simultaneously intellectually intolerant of conflicting truth-claims.
At the heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Mark 12:35–37; John 20:28; Romans 10:9–13; 1 Corinthians 8:5–6; 12:3; Philippians 2:11). Remember, the exclusive claims of Christ’s Lordship are no more politically correct today in Canada (or anywhere) than they were 2,000 years ago in the ancient Roman Empire.
Endnotes
1. For a discussion of why denials of truth are self-defeating, see Ronald Nash, Faith and Reason: Searching for a Rational Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 161–67. 2. See Kenneth Richard Samples, A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 42–44.
It is perfectly fine to say Christ is the only way to God.
If y’all are s’posed tuh be fools for christ, ain’t d’at w’ut yo’ s’posed tuh be a-doin’?
Yes it is. so what?
Jesus said it first; I AM THE WAY, THE LIFE AND THE TRUTH.
HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NOT PERISH BUT SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
Works for me.
I would ask the Canadian Government to also state that Islam is NOT the only way to the True God, and see what hits the fan, or blows up the radio station or government office. You see, one teaches love, and the other....doesn’t.
Just sayin...
Well, the first people to say it were thrown to lions, so I guess a little Canadian disapproval shouldn’t bother us much.
Jesus said it and that’s good enough for me.
“No one comes to the Father but by me.”
What the political Left fails to understand is that God doesn’t care about your widdle feewings if they stand opposed to His truth.
It’s like I tell the gays when I quote scripture. Your problem isn’t with me. I’m just reporting what my God says. Your problem is with Him. Are you going to tell Him that He’s wrong?
The only true religion is mine.
The rest of you better get in line real quick or I’m going to be up there alone.
The problem is that the left has redefined “tolerance” to mean “celebratory acceptance of radical fascist affronts to conscience.” So there’s a problem right there.
For those that believe, it does not matter. For others that require repeatable scientific evidence it still does not matter.
Only if you behead people who don’t convert.
Are we lopping off heads to win favor with God?
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” -- John 14:6-7, NIV
It is perfectly ‘tolerant’, as long as you don’t have as a goal suppressing other people’s beliefs. It is perfectly fine for Muslims to think that Islam is superior to other religions, but it is not acceptable for them to impose (or even think about imposing) their belief on others in any way.
Only if you want to consider Jesus to be intolerant for claiming that no man comes to the Father but through Him.
Tolerance and acceptance are very different I am tolerant of diverse religious beliefs. I accept only one faith as true. I share my faith with any who are interested in discussing faith.
Speaking of intolerance, Jesus will not allowing those who do not put their faith into Him to enter his Father’s kingdom.
The Bible never charges Christians with being tolerant. It does charge Christians with spreading the gospel.
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