According to a new survey, 57% of people who identified themselves as evangelical Christians agreed with the statement, "Many religions can lead to eternal life." I was absolutely dumbstruck when I heard this. I mean, I know that a lot of people are into the idea of "tolerance" (or at least today's society's definition of that word), but I had no idea that it was so widespread among the Christian community.
If you aren't sure why this is such a big deal, think about it this way. In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." As a teacher I know often points out, Jesus doesn't say he is a way or a truth. He says he is the way and the truth. And if that wasn't enough, the second part of his statement leaves no room for doubt about the exclusivity of Christianity. It is the only way and if you believe that you can be saved by any other means, you are not in the truth and therefore have not received salvation.
So wait a minute. What about all those Christians out there who say that there are other religions that can lead to salvation? It's pretty clear from what the Bible tells us that the issue of whether or not the Biblical Jesus is the only way is not a side issue. It's a core principle essential to salvation. You can't be a true Christian and also believe that Mormons or Buddhists or whoever will also be saved through their religion. Christianity isn't something that works for some people and doesn't work for other people, and everyone just has to find which religion works for them. That is in direct contrast to what Christianity teaches. How many people are there out there who claim to be Christians but really aren't? It's scary to think about.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Mark Twain said, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics." 35000 is enough for some very large cities but until I read the methods of data collection and where the data was collected, I have to conclude that the data is from a very liberal sample. It is concerning though.
Latter-Day Saints (or "Mormons" if you will) tend to refer to themselves as Christians.
The 13th President of the church, Ezra Taft Benson, said:
"The question is sometimes asked, Are Mormons Christians? We declare the divinity of Jesus Christ. We look to Him as the only source of our salvation. We strive to live His teachings, and we look forward to the time when He shall come again on this earth to rule and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
"In the words of a Book of Mormon prophet, we say to men today, 'There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.' (Mosiah 3:17.)"
Of course, I've had the whole "You don't believe in the same Christ as real Christians" slung at me so many times, I'm not sure I want to be lumped in with those mud-slinging "real" Christians. We are talking about the same Christ of the Old and New Testaments, right? The essentials are there.
Thanks for your blogging, Beth. It's refreshing. How are you?
I admit I don't know a whole lot about what LDS believe, but my limited information tells me something like this:
Jesus was the firstborn spirit child of the Heavenly Father. (This seems to imply that Jesus did not exist eternally) Jesus’ incarnation was the result of a physical union between God the Father and Mary. The atoning death of Jesus AND a person's good works are the basis of salvation.
Again, this is just what I've heard and I can't say for sure that I'm getting it all correct, but I think this is probably what most people are referring to when they say that Christians and LDS believe in two different versions of Jesus.
BUT of course that is no excuse for mudslinging, since mudslingers always use malicious attacks against the other person. I wouldn't want to be lumped in with people who do that either! It's definitely not a Christian way to treat people.
Krista! I miss hanging out with you. I'm going to go reply to your blog now.
Post a Comment