Is Christianity the One True Religion?
by Hank Hanegraaff

Why are Christians so arrogant in claiming that they alone possess the truth? Don't all religions lead to God?

A number of people equate religious tolerance with religious truth. Many assume that all religions are basically the same and that all beliefs are equally valid. They picture each religion as having identical faces hidden behind different masks.

However, sound reasoning tells us that all religions are not essentially the same merely because they contain some similarities. A brief survey of a few religions quickly reveals that each has competing, mutually exclusive claims. How, for example, can someone logically square the Hindu teaching that the universe is God with the Muslim belief that Allah, the God of Islam, is distinct from the universe? Thus, religions harbor irreconcilable differences, demonstrating that they cannot all possibly lead to the same God. Logically speaking, they can all be wrong, but they cannot all be right.

We, therefore, need to ask which religion points to the right God and consider how certain its claims really are. Regarding these questions, Christianity towers above the other religions of the world. For instance, while every other religion would have humanity try to reach up to God, Christianity says God reaches down to humanity. In other words, God's favor was obtained for humankind by Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and not by our own human merit (Eph. 2:8-9).

Furthermore, the Lord Jesus, who is God Himself cloaked in human flesh (John 1:1; 14), always backed His pronouncements with His own miracles (John 10:38), the culmination of which was His bodily resurrection from the dead (Matt. 28:6). None of the other religious figures throughout history have ever justified their respective claims with such power and authority. All people, regardless of their religious circumstances, need to hear and heed Christ's message because Jesus pointed to Himself as the only way to God (John 14:6).

Monday, December 15, 2008