But Aren’t all Religions Basically the Same?

This question is an Eiffel Tower sized problem for many people who are contemplating faith in Christ. They see Christians holding to an exclusive view, namely that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and to heaven. This becomes an offense because, hey, what makes a Christian any better than a Muslim or a Jew or a Hindu? Furthermore, what if the Muslim is right and the Christian is wrong? If it is a possibility that any of the world’s hundreds of religions could be right or that they all are right, then no wise person would adopt only one of them.

What are Christians to make of this objection to the Christian faith, or more directly the exclusive nature of it? Let me make some suggestions that I have used and found effective.

Go over the most basic law of logic with people, the law of non-contradiction. The formula looks like this: A cannot = non-A. This means that 2 opposing beliefs cannot both be true. Note carefully, they both can be false, but they cannot both be true. To take a stark example, if an atheist disbelieves in God and a Christian does believe in God, they cannot, by irresistible logic, both be right. One or both of them is wrong, incorrect, and in error. So if Muslims believe a certain thing about God and salvation and Christians believe another, they cannot both be right. When explained this way, people truly find it tough to avoid the logic. Consider what a Bishop, Phillip Jenson said a few years when he was installed as the Anglican Dean of Sydney.

"There are many lovely, wonderful Hindus, Muslims, Jews and atheists in our city. Good citizens who have every right to expect to have all the same rights and responsibilities as citizens as anybody else...But their different religions cannot all be right. Some, or all of them, are wrong, and if wrong are the monstrous lies and deceits of Satan, devised to destroy the life of the believers, to capture them into the cosmic rebellion against God and to destroy the freedom they should have in Christ. Christians in Sydney are being pressured to preach at best a muted message of Christianity. Certainly not one that will ever deny falsehood." Read the Article Here.

Be sure you know what other religions teach so that you can show clearly that it is different than orthodox Christianity. Do your research. The Apologetics Resource Center offers many free information packets on world religions and cults. Just go to our website and click on the “information packets” link. Only when you know the contradictions between Christianity and other faiths can you show another person how the law of non-contradiction applies.

Once the person realizes that all versions of faith cannot all be right, then it is time to push the comparison. Show the superiority of Christianity by showing how God has been working through history with His people, preparing the Bible as His communication, and most of all sending Christ to die. The person of Christ is impressive beyond imagination and as He is lifted up, He draws people to Himself. Be sure to share the basic gospel, that Christ died and rose again in order to redeem fallen humanity, and those who trust in Him by faith are saved.

It is usually wise to note that another person can be wrong and still be respected and tolerated. This culture’s buzz word is tolerance, and though it is immensely overused it is seldom understood. It is not arrogant to be right from a Christian perspective. After all, we believe that we are guilty sinners deserving of unquenchable and eternal damnation in hell. That is who we are – all of us. How can we be arrogant about anything? We know we are correct because God has spoken to us through His Word and given us the answers. We do not hold them arrogantly, nose in the air, but rather with great humility. Thus, we show others the utmost amount of respect and kindness, even while maintaining that their views are in error.