Today’s Religions: There is no neutral ground.
Key verse(s)/quote(s):
“There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan” - C.S. Lewis
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” – 1 John 4:9-10
Key takeaway(s):
- With such an array of beliefs how can all religions lead to the same point?
- Objective analysis of a religion is key and sincerity alone has never been and should never be a mark of authenticity
- All religions & cults seem to do one or more of the following…
- Strip the deity of Christ
- Bring God down to our level
- Lift us up to God’s level
- Focus on self and not God
- Negate God’s existence altogether
- Dismiss our sinful nature
Overview:
This topic requires a holistic evaluation of several fundamental questions. The 4 main areas that serve as a starting point for an introductory discussion on comparative world religions begins with:
- Why are there so many religions?
- Don’t all religions point to God?
- What makes Christianity unique from other religions?
- What does all this mean to you?
In order to objectively compare religions and understand what worldviews they present, one must read from their own texts. Each of the facts presented in this presentation will be readily attested to by each faith group as they are taken from their texts and not an opinion of any individual including myself.
It is imperative that we create a lens through which we can assess the various characteristics associated with each belief structure. The post-modern/relativist culture we currently live in presents “sincerity” as paramount and “tolerance” as a virtue that is applied without regard to the Truth. Respect is required and mandated but tolerance can be easily considered a mask for complacency and a de facto carte blanche to allow the individual who bestows it on another to in turn remove themselves from any sort of objective evaluation (e.g. if I say I believe you can have “your truth” then it is a back door way of ensuring you cannot question “my truth”).
In order to objectively assess each of these faiths I will look at the below ultimate questions that religions try to answer:
- What is the nature of the world?
- What is the nature of humanity?
- What is humanity’s primary problem?
- What happens after death?
- What is ultimate reality?
The conclusions of my discussion on this topic are that:
- Clearly all religions are not the same and thus exclusivity requires a decision (either all faiths are wrong or one is right)
- Truth needs to be objective
- Before easy dismissal one must validate the Bible and its claims
- A decision needs to be made… It is a matter of life and death…
4 elementary tests can be used for this purpose:
Religious belief must be rationally consistent
Religious belief must be consistent with known facts
Religious beliefs must be able to explain why reality is the way it is
Religious beliefs should enable us to live in the everyday world
I find it intriguing that humanity cannot get Jesus out of their minds and a testimony to this is the vast array of religions that seem to include Him regardless of the way they taint His true identity. For example, Buddhists view Him as a great teacher/master, Hindus view Him as a guru, Muslims view Him as the sinless prophet and returning messiah - yet they all denounce His true identity as God incarnate.
One of my favourite quotes that addresses this factual and convenient atrocity and substitutes it with a convenient truth that lets people define Jesus as they wish is captured by the wonderful Christian Theologian C.S. Lewis.
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” - C.S. Lewis
Suggested Reading(s): B = Basic, M = Moderate, A = Academic
- When Skeptics Ask, Geisler and Brooks (M)
- The Compact Guide to World Religions, Halverson (B)
- Answering Islam, Geisler & Saleeb (B)
- The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions, McDermott (B)
TiS Media:
- Are Christians Obligated to Observe the Seventh-day Sabbath Today?
- Islam and Christianity - Estranged siblings or polarized worldviews?
3 Responses 
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This is great, Sumair. Keep up the good work that the Lord has you doing.
Thanks Gurmeet
Appreciate the encouragement. Hope to see you commenting more and more and sharing your background if I post specifically on Sikhism at some point 
I’ll be visiting often! Your site is not only informative but unique. You guys do your homework which is pretty refreshing. I’m just half-way through the topics and I already want more! God bless you and your Ministry.