For the most part, people in modern Western society don’t take
kindly to the claims of Christians that there is only one true faith. They typically
see it as arrogant and narrow-minded when we say that all religions other than
the Christian one are basically mistaken.
Is it not the case, mainstream Westerners ask, that most religions
encourage people to live morally upright lives? How can Christians be so
arrogant as to think that theirs is the one true religion and all other religions
are wrong? Instead, shouldn’t we be pleased when people practice a religion
that teaches human beings to be good to each other? And, as far as relating to
God is concerned, shouldn’t each person worship in the way that seems best for
them personally?
When Christians are confronted with arguments like these, they are
often at a loss as to how to respond. There is, however, no need for us to be
troubled by them.
What Christians
believe
Think for a moment about what we hold to be true. We believe that the
one almighty God, in the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, became
incarnate. This means that He joined Himself to a human nature to become the
God-Man, Jesus Christ. We believe that this God-Man then lived on the earth
among us, teaching and healing people. What an astounding thing! The infinite
God became a human being and lived among us!
But it gets much, much more astonishing. We believe that this
God-Man then sacrificed His life on the cross to rescue sinful people, and
capped it all by rising from the dead! How totally and utterly amazing!
Non-Christian
religions completely miss the point
Given the enormity of these things, it should be obvious that any
religion which does not acknowledge them has completely missed the point of God’s
dealings with our world. The God-Man died on a cross for human beings! If a
religion misses that, it has failed spectacularly to understand who God is and what
He has done.
That is not to say that everything in every non-Christian religion
is false. It is true that various religions hold some correct beliefs about God
and that they encourage good moral behavior in different ways. But in such
cases, all we can really say is that these religions have some truth around the
edges. The core is still fundamentally wrong. It cannot be otherwise if the
death and resurrection of the God-Man are not recognized.
Unembarrassed to
insist there is one true faith
When we are accused of arrogance and narrow-mindedness, then, let
us not be embarrassed to insist that there is only one true faith. Jesus Christ
is God incarnate who died and rose for the sins of the world, and any religion
that denies this is hopelessly wide of the mark. We should be open and unashamed
about taking our stand on this.
It makes no sense to
accuse us of arrogance
Even if, for the sake of argument, we were to look at things from
the perspective of someone who is not convinced of the truth of the Christian
faith, charges of arrogance or narrow-mindedness against us still make no
sense. It should be clear that for people who believe in the incarnation,
crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, any religion that denies these things
would be regarded as fundamentally mistaken. This has nothing at all to do with
arrogance. It is just a logical inference from what we believe. And
non-Christians should understand this.
In fact, it is actually quite ironic when we are accused of
arrogance for our beliefs. In reality, believing that Jesus died on the cross
for us is a humbling experience. We acknowledge that our guilt led to His
crucifixion and that we are the recipients of an enormous favor He has done for
us. This encourages humility rather than arrogance.
Even when we look at things from the perspective of a
non-Christian, then, accusations of arrogance make no sense.
God’s command
As it happens, however, the Christian faith really is true. Jesus
Christ really was and is God incarnate. He really did die on the cross for our
sins. And He really did rise victoriously from the dead.
In 1 John 3:23 we are told:
“This is [God’s] commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ . . .” (English Standard Version)
The “we” here refers to all human beings. And the “name” is a
Semitic way of referring to the very identity of a person.
This verse is therefore telling us that God commands all people to
believe in Jesus Christ. Given who Christ is and what He has done, this is
exactly what we would expect.
See also:
