Religion is basically man's search for God (like in Christianity or Islam), or for a higher purpose or meaning in life (like in Buddhism). Many people believe that truth is subjective, and that it is narrow-minded to think that only one religion that can be right. I wonder if there are even Christians who think so. There can only be one truth, one belief that is right. Clearly so, because all the religions in the world contradict each other very fundamentally. There can only be one that is right.
Conversely, we also have philosophy, which is basically man's search for meaning APART from God. But religion and philosophy have this one thing in common- that they are both based upon man's search for something. Man is the one who is looking; man is the one who is trying to attain something.
I don't know if you get the sense that there is something very innately wrong with the human race. Yes over the centuries we have made life better and more comfortable for ourselves, but still something is missing. We can search and search for all eternity, but we will never get anywhere because there is something very fundamentally wrong with us, and that is sin. Just look at the world today. We still suffer from the same diseases that have plagued us for ages- and they have perhaps gotten even worse- greed, lust, hatred, selfishness, thirst for money. People squabble and fight for riches and power while billions are suffering and thousands dying from hunger and poverty each day. Nations care only about themselves. People bustle around and work endlessly with no idea what they are working for. Many kill themselves from disillusionment and disappointment. It is a perverse generation that we live in (which the Bible did predict). WE are the root of the very problems that we face.
For that very reason, sin, man's search will never get anywhere. I am making a very general statement, but Islam is based on strong devotion to Allah, basically man's deeds earning him the knowledge of God. Muslims who break the laws of Islam in some countries, in other words fail to do those deeds, are punished very severely (I'm sure you've heard examples of how.) But that is fundamentally wrong because humans are innately sinful. We can try and try but we will never be perfect. We can never earn our salvation. Islam punishes men for their sins, but there is really so little that man can do because man is innately sinful.
Many people ask the question- what about those who have done good all their lives, whether in the name of religion or not? Who have sought to live good lives and do good deeds? Don’t they deserve a place in heaven? A few problems with that. Firstly, who is to judge whether what someone has done in his life is good or not? We all know that there are people who genuinely believe they are doing good, but are severely deluded. Of course there is clearly a moral code that exists in this world by which we judge whether people have done good. Values like love, compassion, purity are common benchmarks. But if we are talking about heaven here, then there must be a God that has set and given us the moral rules, and thus judges whether man has “made it”. And then we can ask- where does God draw the line? By thinking that man can earn his way to heaven by doing good in his life we are making the assumption that man decides; that man draws the line and if he thinks he has done enough, he can go. But that is not the case. The God who set the rules has all right to decide, and this is what He says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:20, 23. He makes it clear- no matter how good you have tried to be, you have fallen short, whether by a millimeter, or by a thousand miles. And in this case, a miss is as good as a mile.
Christianity is fundamentally different from all the religions and philosophies of the world, because it talks about God's search for man. God recognises that the problem of man is not that he cannot find; it is that man is innately sinful and can never find his way back to Him. And that is why He sent His Son to die for us. Jesus gave up everything and endured an excruciating death for us and took the punishment for our sins, so that our fundamental problem, our fundamental curse, sin, can be removed forever. And when it is finally removed, then we can find our way back to Him, and be with Him, through Jesus. Think of humans as being in a deep well. Religion is man trying to get out of the well by himself; Christianity is God reaching down to pull him up. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was eventually murdered by the Nazis for standing up for Christ, wrote this,
"...what are we to think of other religions? Are they as nothing compared to Christianity? We answer that the Christian religion as religion is not of God. It is rather another example of a human way to God, like the Buddhist and others, too, though of course, these are of a different nature. Christ is not the bringer of a new religion, but rather the one who brings God. Therefore, as an impossible way from the human to God, the Christian religion stands with other religions. The Christian can never pride himself on his Christianity, for it remains too human, all too human. He lives, however, by the grace of God, which comes to people and comes to every person who opens his or her heart to it and learns to understand it in the cross of Christ. And therefore, the gift of Christ is not the Christian religion, but the grace and love of God which culminate in the cross."
Pretty much sums up what I wanted to say. I don't like to call Christianity a religion, because it is not about what we do, but a faith, because we believe in what God has done. And we believe that that is the only way by which we can ever come back to God- God Himself, perfect as a man, taking our punishments for us. If there were other ways to God Jesus would not have needed to come down, humble Himself and suffer and die so horribly. Why would God have done this if there was another, easier way that we could find for ourselves?
And here is where logic and reason pretty much ends, and continues on into the arena of faith. I have tried to reason about Christianity and I am sure you have heard many others do as well, but ultimately reason alone is insufficient, because we need to believe in Christ and what He has done, because that is the centre of our salvation.
If you are doubting today, I pray that God, through the Holy Spirit, will guide you to that faith.
Conversely, we also have philosophy, which is basically man's search for meaning APART from God. But religion and philosophy have this one thing in common- that they are both based upon man's search for something. Man is the one who is looking; man is the one who is trying to attain something.
I don't know if you get the sense that there is something very innately wrong with the human race. Yes over the centuries we have made life better and more comfortable for ourselves, but still something is missing. We can search and search for all eternity, but we will never get anywhere because there is something very fundamentally wrong with us, and that is sin. Just look at the world today. We still suffer from the same diseases that have plagued us for ages- and they have perhaps gotten even worse- greed, lust, hatred, selfishness, thirst for money. People squabble and fight for riches and power while billions are suffering and thousands dying from hunger and poverty each day. Nations care only about themselves. People bustle around and work endlessly with no idea what they are working for. Many kill themselves from disillusionment and disappointment. It is a perverse generation that we live in (which the Bible did predict). WE are the root of the very problems that we face.
For that very reason, sin, man's search will never get anywhere. I am making a very general statement, but Islam is based on strong devotion to Allah, basically man's deeds earning him the knowledge of God. Muslims who break the laws of Islam in some countries, in other words fail to do those deeds, are punished very severely (I'm sure you've heard examples of how.) But that is fundamentally wrong because humans are innately sinful. We can try and try but we will never be perfect. We can never earn our salvation. Islam punishes men for their sins, but there is really so little that man can do because man is innately sinful.
Many people ask the question- what about those who have done good all their lives, whether in the name of religion or not? Who have sought to live good lives and do good deeds? Don’t they deserve a place in heaven? A few problems with that. Firstly, who is to judge whether what someone has done in his life is good or not? We all know that there are people who genuinely believe they are doing good, but are severely deluded. Of course there is clearly a moral code that exists in this world by which we judge whether people have done good. Values like love, compassion, purity are common benchmarks. But if we are talking about heaven here, then there must be a God that has set and given us the moral rules, and thus judges whether man has “made it”. And then we can ask- where does God draw the line? By thinking that man can earn his way to heaven by doing good in his life we are making the assumption that man decides; that man draws the line and if he thinks he has done enough, he can go. But that is not the case. The God who set the rules has all right to decide, and this is what He says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:20, 23. He makes it clear- no matter how good you have tried to be, you have fallen short, whether by a millimeter, or by a thousand miles. And in this case, a miss is as good as a mile.
Christianity is fundamentally different from all the religions and philosophies of the world, because it talks about God's search for man. God recognises that the problem of man is not that he cannot find; it is that man is innately sinful and can never find his way back to Him. And that is why He sent His Son to die for us. Jesus gave up everything and endured an excruciating death for us and took the punishment for our sins, so that our fundamental problem, our fundamental curse, sin, can be removed forever. And when it is finally removed, then we can find our way back to Him, and be with Him, through Jesus. Think of humans as being in a deep well. Religion is man trying to get out of the well by himself; Christianity is God reaching down to pull him up. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was eventually murdered by the Nazis for standing up for Christ, wrote this,
"...what are we to think of other religions? Are they as nothing compared to Christianity? We answer that the Christian religion as religion is not of God. It is rather another example of a human way to God, like the Buddhist and others, too, though of course, these are of a different nature. Christ is not the bringer of a new religion, but rather the one who brings God. Therefore, as an impossible way from the human to God, the Christian religion stands with other religions. The Christian can never pride himself on his Christianity, for it remains too human, all too human. He lives, however, by the grace of God, which comes to people and comes to every person who opens his or her heart to it and learns to understand it in the cross of Christ. And therefore, the gift of Christ is not the Christian religion, but the grace and love of God which culminate in the cross."
Pretty much sums up what I wanted to say. I don't like to call Christianity a religion, because it is not about what we do, but a faith, because we believe in what God has done. And we believe that that is the only way by which we can ever come back to God- God Himself, perfect as a man, taking our punishments for us. If there were other ways to God Jesus would not have needed to come down, humble Himself and suffer and die so horribly. Why would God have done this if there was another, easier way that we could find for ourselves?
And here is where logic and reason pretty much ends, and continues on into the arena of faith. I have tried to reason about Christianity and I am sure you have heard many others do as well, but ultimately reason alone is insufficient, because we need to believe in Christ and what He has done, because that is the centre of our salvation.
If you are doubting today, I pray that God, through the Holy Spirit, will guide you to that faith.
