June 6, 2004

Mural Worthey

Cawson Street Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Introduction

This message is presented as a graduation message for our high school and college graduates. Occasionally, I am asked, "How do we know that Christianity is true?" We say that all other world religions are false and have only a human origin. But how can we be sure that Christianity is true. It did originate in the Middle East where many other religions were born.

This is a challenging question and one that is not easily answered. It is comprehensive and demands much of us. We should not discourage such questions. We should want to know the truthfulness of what we believe. I do not want to be misled or mislead others in matters of faith. Jesus encouraged people to ask, seek, and knock. (Matt. 7:7.) He said that we could know the truth and the truth would make us free. (John 8:32.)

Children born into families in the USA are likely to grow up and become Protestant or Catholic. Children born in the Middle East are likely to be Muslim. Children born in France are likely to become atheists. These are true statements because we are affected so much by our families and the culture around us. Yet, each of these from various religious backgrounds will believe that his worldview and religious views are right. Suppose for a moment that the Buddhist is right and that we should worship Buddha. How will the rest of the world, including us, discover that truth since they are born in countries where other world religions are respected? The only way to find truth is to think objectively and critically. Otherwise, one will never be able to overcome family and national traditions. We should genuinely and sincerely ask, Is Christianity true? Are the major tenets of my faith true? Is Islam, etc, true? It is wholesome and healthy to ask such questions.

Some weak and faulty replies. I have read and heard several answers to this question. Here are some replies that I would not give as proof that the Bible or Christianity is true.

1. Because I want to believe it. (Questions and Answers, Vol. 1, 174.) But so does a Muslim; he wants to believe that the Koran is true. That does not make it so. As I said earlier, I do not want to believe something that is false, that makes claims that are not true.
2. Because of others who have believed it. There are many good people in all world religions. We should not want to follow others, no matter how well-known or virtuous, if what they believe is false.
3. Because my family believed it. Most people are emotionally close to their families. This makes it difficult to think objectively and carefully. We are all born with a built-in bias for our own culture and religion. Perhaps, the majority will never be able to overcome that bias.
4. Because one world-religion is just as good as another. Many well-meaning people believe that. But if it is true, then the truth-claims of those religions are false. Jesus cannot be the only way to the Father, and at the same time men can be saved by following someone else, like Muhammad or Hare Krishna or Joseph Smith. All world religions cannot be equally true. If they are all equal (in that, they originated from man and his culture), then they are all equally false! But they cannot all be equally true in their truth claims. Christianity teaches us to love our enemies; Islam teaches that they should kill those who do not submit.
5. Because it is compatible with my lifestyle. Many people look for a religion that they like, that does not condemn things that they are doing, or that they intellectually can agree with. Homosexuals want a church that will accept them as they are. Jesus said, "This is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19.) We should look for a church that teaches truth, not just what matches our lifestyles.

It is not possible to cover this adequately in just a few moments of time, but here are some reasons why I believe that Christianity is true. These concepts and considerations have proven helpful to me.

If world religions claim to be the answer to man’s problems, one way to test the truthfulness of those claims is to study the problems we face and the solutions offered.

What are the needs of man that religion should meet? I will address three: 1) We need to know our origin as human beings. A child who does not know his parents is discontent until he finds out something about them. How did we get here? Did we evolve or were we created? How should we live our lives? What is our destiny, the end result of life? There are many questions which man needs some answers. 2) What can wash away our sins? What can satisfy the pains of a guilty conscience? 3) What about death? If a man dies, shall he live again, or is death the end for man?

There are other secondary needs of man as well. These are important to name because these can be met by non-Christian religious bodies. Some of the other needs that we have are: fellowship with others of like faith; social contact for emotional support in life; ceremonies for birth, coming of age, marriage and death; opportunities for service to your fellowman; physical needs met by a community of believers, etc. Any fraternal group, like an Elk Lodge, Moose Lodge, Woodmen of the World Lodge or Masonic Lodge can meet these needs. But they cannot meet the needs of redemption and eternal salvation. According to the words of Paul, "If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Cor. 15:19—in the chapter about the resurrection of the dead.)

It is interesting and necessary to compare world religions, asking each the same penetrating and important questions raised above.

Islam: "God created you from dust, then from a little germ." (35:11; Sura 35, ayat 11.) "In the creation of the heavens and earth. . . ." (3:190) Allah or God created the world and man, but Jesus is not acknowledged as Creator. (See Colossians 1:16, John 1:3.)

Judaism: Jews believe in a Creator, but they do not acknowledge Jesus as the One who created all things. They do not view him as possessing Deity.

Hinduism & Buddhism: (Hinduism is a family of religions, not just one.) Hinduism teaches: "The world has neither beginning nor end, but is part of an evolutionary cyclic process, [bold added] recreating itself from all eternity and dissolving back into the unmanifest condition. These periods of evolution called the days and nights of Brahman. Each day and each night of Braham lasts 1000 years of the gods and each year of the gods corresponds with 12,000 years of men." (The World’s Religions, Anderson, 142.)

"At the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893, Buddhist delegates tried to explain to their Christian hosts that theirs was a tradition in which the language of God as creator of the universe was not relevant; [emphasis added] the Buddha did not create the universe, with its intricate interdependence and its laws of cause and effect, but he discovered the true nature of the universe through the insight of his enlightenment. The Buddha was, in the view of some, the pioneer, the human being who became truly enlightened and found a path to freedom." (A New Religious America, Diana Eck, 152.)

Confucianism: Confucius, or Kung the Sang, was born 551 BC, a contemporary to the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha. He emphasized this present life with little concern about the next life. One wrote, "Had Confucius lived in the 20^th century, he would surely have been the patron saint of humanists." (Anderson, 219.)

Islam: Muhammad taught that Jesus was not crucified, but rather Judas or Simon the Cyrene was crucified in his place. (4:157) Muhammad admitted that he was a sinner; therefore, Islam has a law but it does not have a Savior. It is significant in studying world religions to note that this is their number one problem; that is, they have laws or rules to obey without a Savior. They are similar to legalists among Christians who make the New Covenant another Law with a cross added incidentally. Islam has man lost in sin standing before a holy God without a Meditator between man and God.

Buddhists & Hindus say, What sins? They have no concept of sin and see no need for a Savior. Salvation to them is the rescue of the soul from the body—the immortality of the soul. A religious teacher among the Hindus, Swami Vivekananda, said, "It is a sin to call a man a sinner." (Anderson, 144.)

Yet, Hindus do refer to the sins of mankind. Mahatma Gandhi called cow protection "the central fact of Hinduism." Every part of a cow is believed to be sacred. In times past, those guilty of killing cows in India have been executed. In some parts of India, when a man is dying, he will grasp the tail of a cow believing it will assure him a safe passage into the next life. In addition, the Ganges River is a sacred river; bathing in its waters washes one’s sins away! (Survery of World Religions, Rod Rutherford, 25.)

Buddhism is not a system of faith and worship. He inculcated neither prayer nor praise; he offered neither redemption, nor forgiveness, nor heaven; he warned of no judgement and no final hell. He refused to speculate on ultimate reality or the First Cause, which originated the long chain of cause and effect. (Anderson, 177.)

Judaism: They teach salvation by keeping the Law of Moses. They do not have a Savior. Yet, the Bible says that is it evident that no one was ever justified by the law because the just shall live by faith. (Gal. 3:11.)

Christianity: Of all the world religions, Christianity has the clearest statement concerning redemption. It is based upon the subsitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is what makes Christianity exclusive and unique. The Gospel of Christ is not right because our book is better than their books and laws. It is higher, better and right because of who Jesus is. (See Hebrews in the New Testament.) They have no one that can stand besides Jesus the Savior, the Son of God. If Islam, Buddhism or any other world religion can be accepted as being as valid as Christianity, then Jesus is not the Savior of the world as he claimed. Then, the truth-claims of Christianity are false and ought to be rejected.

"Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12.)

"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 3:11.) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2.) "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14.) "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6.)

Islam: The Koran has a short Sura of 40 ayats (verses to us) on the resurrection. (pages 40-41.) It teaches a coming Day of Resurrection. But it does not teach that Jesus arose from the dead.

Judaism believes in the resurrection of the dead, but it does not have a Savior who conquered death.

Buddhists & Hindus believe in reincarnation, not in death and resurrection to a new life in a better world. Buddha is said to have lived 530 lives; 42 times as a god; 85 times as a king; 24 times as a prince; 22 times as a scholar; twice as a thief; once as a slave and gambler; many times as a lion; once each as a horse, eagle, bull, snake, and frog.

Christianity: "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Tim. 1:10.) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (1 Cor. 15:50.) "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (15:44.) "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Phil. 3:20-21.)

• There are more than 100,000 people in the USA, mostly women, who worship "Mother Earth" as Gaia, an ancient pagan goddess. New Agers pray to the earth as a "mother goddess." (TIME magazine, May 6, 1991, "When God Was a Woman," dealing with Earth Day observances.
• Shirley MacLaine teaches that "the Self is the ultimate reality." Guru Swami Muktananda suggested: "Kneel to your own self; honor and worship your own being. God dwells in you as you."
• Shintoism is the national religion of Japan. They believe that Japan is alone a special creation of the gods and is therefore superior to all other nations. Until 1945, the Japanese believed that their land could never be conquered. They believe that their culture and country are superior to all others.
• There are millions of Hindu gods, but Brahman is the supreme god who is the ultimate reality.
• Ancestor worship is the real religion of China. Ceremonies for the departed constitute one of the most outstanding characteristics of Chinese culture. It is taught that children should spend three years mourning for their departed parents.

There are many divisions within the major world religions, but there are only a few, five or six, major religions that are distinct and unique. Rod Rutherford, Survey of World Religions, page 26, wrote that there are only three religions that are truly worldwide: Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Others are confined to individual nations or regions of the world.

Here are some reasons why I believe Christianity is true, or why I reject the other world-religions:

Judaism: Judaism is the forerunner of Christianity. It is a part of our history and heritage. We have nothing against the Old Testament Scriptures. Judaism alone, however, is incomplete. Modern Judaism rejects Jesus as the Messiah. It has no Savior; prophecies that are unfulfilled; types and shadows without a matching reality; carnal ordinances without spirituality; an earthly kingdom without a divine king.

Islam: Muslims claim to be descendants of Ishmael, the fleshly son of Abraham and Hagar! What an admission! They are not the children of promise, but children of the flesh, which corresponds to the law. Muslims reject Jesus as the Son of God and honor a sinful man, Muhammad, who was a polygamist. Their "scriptures" were written by one man. They provide no plan of redemption from sin and no basis for belief in the resurrection of the dead.

Buddhism: It is an outgrowth of Hinduism. It has no Savior and no concept of sin. It emphasizes meditation rather than salvation. It teaches a pessimistic view of human life and the worth of the body.