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| All Religions Are True -- Modern Make Believe #5 |
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14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
Modern Make Believe #5 is the belief that all religions are true. MTV and The Associated Press asked young people between the ages of 13 and 24 to choose between two statements about their views of religious faiths other than their own.
68% agreed with this statement: “I follow my own religious and spiritual beliefs, but I think other religious beliefs could be true as well.” 31% picked this one: “I strongly believe that my religious beliefs are true and universal and that other religious beliefs are not right.”
Now the problem with the first statement is that religions contradict each other. Take monotheism (the belief in only one God as in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) and polytheism (the belief in many gods as in Hinduism, Mormonism, and the religions of ancient Rome and Greece). How can the Jewish statement, “There is only one God,” and the Hindu statement, “There are more than a million gods,” both be true? Both statements could be false if atheists are right; but both statements cannot be correct. If one statement is right, logic says the other is wrong.
Personally I choose to believe in monotheism. By making the choice of monotheism, I have rejected polytheism because it is the opposite of monotheism and opposite or contradictory beliefs cannot both be true at the same time. (For example, if I believe I am 6 feet tall, I can’t at the same time logically say that people who believe I am 7 feet tall are also correct.) Thus by choosing monotheism, I have chosen to believe that polytheism is incorrect in its belief in many gods.
Now logic does not imply intolerance. I respect the right of people to believe in and proclaim polytheism even though I believe it is wrong. I also appreciate and agree with many of the ethical teachings of polytheism. They may be wrong about the number of gods, but they are correct in many of their moral ideas. One of my greatest heroes, Mahatma Gandhi, was a Hindu.
So are all religions true? All religions contain some truth, but all religions cannot be correct in their contradictory views about God. God is what He is regardless of what I or anyone else believes about Him. If I want to be right in my religion, I must give up my ideas, beliefs, opinions, and traditions about what God is like, and seek to find out what He is like in reality |
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| To add a comment to "All Religions Are True -- Modern Make Believe #5" |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| Excellent blog. And just to follow up (since Ghandi's name was invoked here), many have misunderstood Ghandi in the past as a purveyor of religious pluralism (that all faiths are equally true/viable) and tolerance. But in his Autobiography there are at least six views he held across the board that he believed were uncompromisingly true while any opposition to them remained false: 1) He did not tolerate atheism. 2) He did not tolerate historic Christian doctrines. 3) He did not tolerate a 12 schilling tax on the family. 4) He did not tolerate Christian missionary schools. 5) He did not tolerate the misuse of sexual relations. 6) He did not tolerate violence against people. (see M. Ghandi, An Autobiography Or The Story of My Experiments With Truth (Ahmedabad, India: Navahvan Publishing House, 1927), pp. 79; 141-143; 180; 227; 233; 319). In fact, regarding point #2 above, he writes a rather decisive and politically incorrect opinion against Christianity: "[T]he arguments in proof of Jesus being the only incarnation of God and the Mediator between God and man left me unmoved. I saw no reason for changing my belief--my religion. It was impossible for me to believe that I could go to heaven or attain salvation only by becoming a Christian . . . My difficulties lay deeper. It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate son of God, and that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life. . . . according to Christianity only human beings had souls, and not other living beings, for whom death meant complete extinction; while I held a contrary belief. . . . [Jesus was] not the most perfect man ever born" (Ibid., pp. 141 & 155). In fact, Hinduism's historical caste system and its intimation of karma entail that levels of "truth" and "good" exist in the lives of people. But if "all roads lead to the same destination" then there should be no judgment about whose views are superior. But, as my former mentor and friend Francis J. Beckwith used to say, "Even the ethical relativist, when his stereo gets stolen, suddenly becomes an objectivist real quickly in decrying the wrong bestowed on him!" |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| Great comment, S L. If truth exists, then untruth also exists. If all opinions are equal, then there is no truth at all, and all opinions are equally meaningless. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| Great comment, S L. If truth exists, then untruth also exists. If all opinions are equal, then there is no truth at all, and all opinions are equally meaningless. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| Is unintended repetition a good thing? |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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ONE GOD....ONE TRUTH...Everything else is A LIE!
God has always put before man life and death....even from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden....Adam and Eve could have partook of the TREE of LIFE and lived forever.....instead they chose the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and died. Same thing today....Many have chose to follow MANS Way....MANS Denominations.....MANS Traditions, etc. etc. etc...and when it's all been said and done...if they don't turn to THE TRUTH....because there is but ONE.....Then they all shall die.....It's that simple....Even burn in the Lake of Fire.... It's all about choices.... God is the Same God...Yesterday....Today...and shall be the same God forevermore....When JESUS returns there shall be ONE KINGDOM set up...That's HIS KINGDOM and everything will come in line.....Again....there is ONLY ONE WAY...ONE TRUTH..and ONE LIFE..and that is through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD according to HIS WORD..and not the Traditions of Man!
I guess you see where I stand......... |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Let's see, Mar Jay. You stand for Jesus Christ and Him crucified! Amen and Amen.
The thing about the truth is that the Holy Spirit will confirm it in your heart. No one has to believe blindly. God will reveal His truth to our heart if we seek Him. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Well, you know what? I know exactly how one religion can claim one God and another claim millions of gods--if you don't believe the other true, then yours is right. Another way to put it: "I believe you're 7 foot tall because I don't believe your tape measure, mine is much more accurate".
Well, that's all moot of course, because religion is irrelevant. To me "religion" is a verb (adverb?), as in "he does his homework religiously". I was told one day that religion is man made, Christianity is Christ made. So, I guess you could say I am religious about my Christianity! |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Very good, I was always baffled by people who could claim total tolerance of every kind of religion. It never made any kind of sense.
It reminds me of the people who say there is no absolute truth...I mean, are they absolutely sure about that?
The thing is, people whose worldviews and beliefs that arent governed by God just dont make sense. They cannot live consistenly with their beliefs.
This is very good blog, keep it up! |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Ed: God's tape measure never fails.
GrAvity g0: Thanks. All tolerance leaves us believing nothing. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| I saw this funny comic strip once, and it said that tolerance is like a garbage can, it accepts everything lol. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Steve,
I totally agree with your post.
I'm with the 31%, how can I be firm in my beliefs and accept that other religions may be true as well. That sounds like some fluffy, feel-good thing we are conditioned to say so as not to step on anothers toes. Sorry if I sound critical but I get tired of people saying that I am intolerant simply cause I won't accept the truth of another religion. I do think as well, that other religions hold some truth, but not what I believe to be the TRUTH.
In Christ,
Donna |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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I don't know what all religions believe but I find that most have their roots in believing that man can save and change himself.
Seems to be the same story since the garden of eden with a different twist. It all appears to lead to life apart from the giver of life which is no life at all.
Man does need a Savior to redeem Him from his fallen nature and that Savior is Jesus Christ. |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| ASk me about this. When I was a rotten teenager I strayed from my roots. I was once a Bhai because I liked a fireman in the group. The fire side chats were odd, to say the least.! |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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Tolerance of other religions-can anyone show me where Jesus taught tolerance? If I love my children, I will not tolerate behavior that puts them at risk. I will protect them at all costs.
Tolerance is the way an indifferent (read selfish and carnal) secular world ignores the sinful behavior of individuals by "taking the high road" of tolerance. Jesus commands us to love. Love does not tolerate-love encourages, counsels, helps, holds accountable, and makes a life better.
We dare not tolerate false religions-nor do we condemn. Our task is to set an example of love that leaves no one doubting the power of Adonai, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and father of Jesus. Our light should shine in such a way that we cannot be mistaken for "religious" in the world religion mold. I do not have religion, I have a covenantal relationship.
Another great post. May I start using some of these for my home group? |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| I glad we're instructed to give no place to the devil. This lie that many believe that there are many roads leading to heaven is a popular one. God is a God of love therefore he would not allow anyone to go to Hell. TBN christian television thinks that muslims and the holy catholic church will lead one to heaven also, we know that we're saved by the blood of Jesus. Don't we? |
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| September 03, 2008 |
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| Thanks for all the comments. Jesus saves! |
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