Christ’s Exclusive Truth-Claims Make Believing “All Religions Are Basically the Same” Impossible

Last updated on: June 12, 2017 at 8:30 am by Randy Alcorn

Christ’s Exclusive Truth-Claims Make Believing “All Religions Are Basically the Same” Impossible 2017-06-09T14:26:37-08:00 Randy Alcorn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

road-sun-large

A Barna survey found that 59% of American adults believe that “Christians and Muslims worship the same God even though they have different names and beliefs regarding God.” And it’s not just secular people who believe that “all religions are basically the same”:

One-quarter of born again Christians said that all people are eventually saved or accepted by God (25%) and that it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons (26%). An even larger percentage of born again Christians (40%) indicated that they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

A 2017 Barna Poll found that “almost three in 10 (28%) practicing Christians strongly agree that ‘all people pray to the same god or spirit, no matter what name they use for that spiritual being.’” (I’ve written more about the question “Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” in an earlier blog post.)

But truth-claims in all religions—including Christianity—are by nature exclusive. Jesus didn’t say, “I am a way and a truth and a life; I’m one way to come to the Father.” He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, emphasis added). If someone says Jesus isn’t the primary truth, then either he’s wrong or Jesus is.

How many routes can take us to the Father in Heaven? Peter preached, “Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Yet many continue to insist that Christ was merely a good teacher, and just one of many ways to God—perhaps because if the Bible is true and we’ll be held accountable to God, then we realize we’re in trouble. Many people don’t want to hear there’s a God who created us, says we are sinners, makes demands on our lives, and claims to be our Judge that we must answer to. (The flip side of that bad news about our sin and accountability is the very Good News that Jesus, God’s own Son, came to earth as a man, suffered and died in our place, rose again, and freely offers us forgiveness and eternal life!)

In his book Encounters with Jesus, Tim Keller writes:

Some years ago I was on a panel with a Muslim cleric, talking about our differences in front of a group of college students. And one college student kept insisting, “Well, I listened to you both for twenty minutes, and I want you to know that I just don’t see any real difference between you. I just don’t see any difference between the religions. It seems like you’re basically saying God is love and we should love God and love one another.” In our responses to the student the cleric and I were in complete agreement. At first glance it looks tolerant to say “you are both alike,” but each of us argued gently that the student was not showing enough respect to listen to each religion’s distinctive voice. Each faith had made unique claims that contradicted the deepest teachings of other faiths. And so, we concluded, while each faith could certainly appreciate wisdom in the other, we couldn’t both be right at the deepest level. The student maintained his position, saying that all religions are fundamentally alike.

Ironically, the young man was being every bit as dogmatic, superior, and ideological as any traditional religion adherent can be. He was saying, in essence, “I have the true view of religion, and you don’t. I can see that you are alike, but you can’t. I am spiritually enlightened, and you aren’t.” But as I spoke to him a bit afterward I concluded that he was motivated by an underlying fear. If he granted that any religion made unique claims, then he would have to decide whether or not those claims were true. He did not want the responsibility of having to ponder, weigh it all, and choose. Among young secular adults it is common to adopt this belief that all religions are roughly the same. Dare I say this is a form of emotional immaturity? Life is filled with hard choices, and it is childish to think you can avoid them. It may seem to get you out of a lot of hard work, but the idea of the equivalence of religions is simply a falsehood. Every religion, even those that appear more inclusive, makes its own unique claim. But Jesus’ claims are particularly unnerving, because if they are true, there is no alternative but to bow the knee to him.

Tim Keller, Encounters with Jesus: Unexpected Answers to Life’s Biggest Questions, (New York: Penguin Books, 2013), 195–196.

Christianity rises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If this event is historically true, it makes all other religions false, because Jesus Christ claimed to be the one and only way to God the Father. To prove this, He predicted He would come out of the grave alive three days after He was executed. And He did.

The resurrection of Christ is provable by overwhelming evidence (read Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell or The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel). What does the resurrection mean? It means Christ is God and since He said He is the only way to forgiveness of sins and the only way to Heaven—all other religions are false.

Jesus asked His disciples the most important question: “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:16). If we get it right about Jesus, we can afford to get some minor things wrong. But if we get it wrong about Jesus, it won’t matter in the end what else we get right.

For more on the topic of truth, see Randy’s devotional Truth: A Bigger View of God’s Word.

Photos: Unsplash

Previous Post

June 8, 2017

Ellery’s Prayer, Childlike Faith, and Hobbies on the New Earth

Next Post

June 15, 2017 Six Eternal Truths to Remember Each Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Me Animals Books Books and Resources Christ Christian Life Christians Past and Present Church Creation Culture and Worldview Doctrine and Theology Eternal Perspective Ministries Fun Grace and Truth Grief Happiness Heaven Marriage and Family Missions Money and Giving Persecuted Church Politics Prayer Prolife Salvation Sexual Purity Sovereignty and Free Will Suffering and Evil Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz