Christian ReligionAll About Christianity

“All religions are basically the same. Every religion has something like the golden rule and stresses loving your neighbor. Let’s celebrate all spiritual beliefs!”

This is a very, very common way of thinking. People of all stripes and occupations hold to it.

Before we throw our lot in with the pluralist crowd, though, we should pause and think. Is it really true that all religions are fundamentally the same?

If you actually study the main tenets of the world’s major faiths, you’ll find out that they are quite different.

Christians believe Jesus was crucified on a cross. There is no Christianity without that belief! Muslims, however, reject that; what’s more, to Muslims, holding to the crucifixion of Jesus is no small thing–it’s a big no-no! Jehovah’s Witnesses believe Jesus was the archangel Michael, and Christians reject such a thing. God is a personal creator who is separate from His creation in Christianity, whereas all is one in Hinduism. All these beliefs are main pillars of each faith. Even each faith’s beliefs in the afterlife are worlds apart–heaven, reincarnation, nothing, etc.

In no way, shape, or form can all these beliefs be true! Take yet another example: beliefs about the afterlife. Some religions claim you go to heaven or hell, while others claim you are annihilated. Still others claim you are reincarnated. These are not personal taste claims; these are claims about reality, and therefore the laws of logic apply to them. When you die, you can either go to heaven, rot in the ground, or be reincarnated, but in no circumstance can you do them all (Or they can all be false. That is a possibility)!

Some might object by saying “what’s true for you might not be true for me.” Jesus rose from the dead “for me,” but not for you. What does that even mean? Again, we are not talking about ice cream. With ice cream, preference reigns; personal tastes are subjective. But the resurrection of Christ is a claim not about preference, but about history, and therefore it is either true or false, not true “for me” or false “for you.” Denying this makes about as much sense as saying, “Lincoln was shot for me, but not for you.”

I have heard the rejoinder that “this either/or way of thinking is just a western logical system. In the east, people are perfectly comfortable embracing contradictory views.” In the east, the argument goes, a both/and system of thinking is popular, over against the western either/or way. Therefore, they reject the belief that God can’t be both personal and impersonal.

Is this correct? No. It might seem on the surface that the “both/and” reigns supreme in the east when it comes to contradictory beliefs, but nothing could be further from the truth. Notice that you can run, but you can’t hide from the either/or: the easterners who tout the “both/and” logic choose that way of thinking *over and against* the so-called western view. The either/or pops up in pesky ways, doesn’t it?

Be skeptical of the grand claims of pluralism. Sure, Gatorade and anti-freeze might both be green liquids, but it’s the differences that matter when choosing which to drink!

Related posts:

1. Why does God allow Bad things to Happen to Good People?
2. Trust God — He Will Lift You Up
3. How To Overcome Anxiety
4. Trust in God
5. Tend Your Garden Well