The Exclusivity of Christianity

[dybmh]

Doesn't it ever occur to anyone that those Bible verses do not apply for all of eternity?
The Bible was written for a specific age, not for all of time. It is a warning not to preach any other gospel during the Christian Dispensation.

What Baha'u'llah wrote only applies to the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. Let''s say that Baha'u'llah wrote something in 1870 AD and then another Messenger of God comes in 2870 AD and wrote something new and different. What Baha'u'llah wrote would be superseded by what the new Messenger wrote.

I completely understand your position. The only answer I can give is that Paul and others didn't want others coming and changing their scripture, changing their message. And can you blame them? For Paul, didn't he believe that Christ's return was imminent? If so, he wouldn't be thinking 1000+ years into the future.

But, I have another question, if you don't mind. You mentioned the next dispensation after Bahaullah. So, hypothethically, in 2870 what happens if there's 2 or more candidates for the next messenger. Let's say that there is significant differences between them. How do the Baha'i ( the UHJ? ) determine which one is the leader at that time?

 

[Truthseeker]

Sixty-six percent of American Christians say many religions lead to eternal life—that’s two out of three. Fifty-two percent of evangelicals say many religions can lead to eternal life. Forty-eight percent of evangelicals said that God accepts the worship of all religious people.

There's progress for you.

Now, let me correct that. One hundred percent of true Christians say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of true evangelicals say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of evangelicals say God rejects all worship other than that which is consistent with His divine revelation in Christ.

Oh, really? Says who?

How do we get to a place where people declare they are Christians and evangelicals, and basically don’t even understand the most foundational reality of what is true religion? How does this happen? On the face, you might say they lack instruction, and you would probably be right. But even deeper than that, I think they lack courage, because the reason people cave in to say that other religions can give eternal life is so that they don’t wind up offending other people—because that’s hard to deal with.

Sounds almost reasonable. Except it's wrong.

But on the face of it, it’s impossible that Christianity is true and other religions are true. This is the basic law of reason called the law of noncontradiction. Just from a rational standpoint, the law of noncontradiction is, “A cannot be non-A at the same time in the same way.” Let me spread that out over Christian theology: If Yahweh is the one and only living and true God, there is no other god. If the Bible is the one true revealed revelation of God, there is no other revelation. If the Son of God is Jesus, who is alone Lord and alone King, there is no other lord. If Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin and eternal judgment, there is no other savior. If sinners can be saved only by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then they can’t be saved by any other means. If people can only escape hell by trusting in the person and work of Christ, they cannot escape hell by any other avenue. If sinners will be in hell forever if they reject Christ, there is no other way for them to escape. If the sole work that saves sinners is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then no other work can save sinners. If the gospel is the only saving truth and all other claims are lies, if there is only one true religion, then all others are false. If there is only one true God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit—then there is no other God. So you get the idea.

That's the way to convince them all right, scare them about hell. Hopefully, the listeners to this sermon will think for themslves and realize there can more than one revelation from God.

All of those things that I postulated for you are Bible claims. I was just giving you what the Bible says: one God, one divine revelation, one Lord, one Savior, one gospel, one means of escaping hell. That’s what the Bible claims, and it is essentially that that is its greatest offense. And because it is such an offense, people cave in, and rather than be faithful to that gospel, they come up with ridiculous things like, “You can get to heaven by any religion.” A lie from the devil. Deuteronomy 4:35 says, “The Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” That’s the exclusivity of the true God. Deuteronomy 4:39, “The Lord, He is God in heaven [alone] and on the earth below; there is no other.” First Kings 8, verse 60, “The Lord is God; there is no one else.”

No, that what this person says. Scare people using the Devil, very good. Yes, there is one God, but many religions.

 

[Windwalker]

Perhaps you misunderstood. You are quoting the man who wrote the article, not quoting me.
Obviously, he is a fundamentalist Christian, but he does not represent all Christians.

LOL! Sorry about that. I was wondering what was up with all that.

 

[Trailblazer]

Awwww... you cuddle-y Abrahamic religions, I just want to give you all a big hug, you're so happy!

They are anything but cuddly.

 

[PearlSeeker]

Let me read Ephesians 4:4, 5, and 6. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Here is the singularity of Christianity. Seven times, you have the word “one” repeated. This is a declaration of the exclusivity of the true faith, the true religion.

No. This interpretation is out of context. Just one verse before (Ephesians 4:3) we can read that Paul is beseeching this community to endeavour "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It's about the unity of the Christians. Like Jesus prayed for disciples and all believers in the Gospel of John that they may all be one (John 17:11-25).

 

[Trailblazer]

But, I have another question, if you don't mind. You mentioned the next dispensation after Bahaullah. So, hypothethically, in 2870 what happens if there's 2 or more candidates for the next messenger. Let's say that there is significant differences between them. How do the Baha'i ( the UHJ? ) determine which one is the leader at that time?

I am guessing it will be similar to when all the other times a Messenger showed up. There will only be one Messenger and we will have to identify Him as a Messenger.... ye shall know them by their fruits.

On the other hand, since that is so far in the future, maybe by then God will change His modus operandi and make it easier to identify the Messenger. That way God could grab up all the atheists.

 

[dybmh]

As if the evidence for any gods is strong, right?

No, no, you knew what I meant. The canaanite connection is weak, and the idea that Yahweh had a wife is weak also.

This is well known history. Is there a problem?

Canaanite religion - Wikipedia

Well, sure, there's several problems.

The first issue is, Yahweh is not really the name of God in the Hebrew bible. I think you know this. In Judaism we don't claim to know its name at all, but know that it has 4 letters. Generally speaking, Jehovah is a better appoximation than Yahweh. So, really, it should be 4 letters and 3 syllables.

The next issue is no one currently practices the canaanite religion. So the only way we kknow about them is through a grouping of tablets written in a language called ugaritic. Ugaritic has no vowels, and, the god that is typically believed to be Yahweh is designated with 2 letters and 2 letters only, YW. It really could be all sorts of combinations of vowel sounds, but regadless of what they are, it's still only 2 syllables not three.

The next issue is, there is no Asherah in the canaanite religion either. If you scroll down in the wikipedia page, you can see that the name of the female goddess they claim to be Asherah is actually beleived to be named Athirat. It's kind of similar, but, as I said, the vowels are a guess.

Next on the list is the canaanite god "El", again, could be anything, could also be "Allah". Not sure why no one makes that comparrison, but, anyway.

Besides there being no vowels, the ugaritic language was completely unknown before the tablets were discovered at Ras Shamra. In order to decipher them, guess what? They used the Hebrew bible. That means that these similar names were determined from borrowing from Judaism. Now, almost 100 years later, people look back on these similar names and think Judaism borrowed from the canaanites, but the names were infact borrowed from Judaism.

Even with that, if you look at the wikipedia page, you'll see that the name of the chief god is actually considered to be "Il" not "El", and honestly, "El" is not the name of God in Hebrew either, it's "Ail". So even with this simple name, there's still ambiguity about the name.

So, in order to get Yahweh from the canaanite tablets one has to:

1. Ignore the actual name of Yahweh in Hebrew
2. Assume that the vowels match
3. Ignore that the ugaritic language was deciphered using the Hebrew bible

That's 3 pretty major leaps of faith. The same is true, to a lesser extent with Asherah and Ail. So these similarities of names is a very weak reason to claim Yahweh is borrowed from Canaanite religion.

Then there's this idea that El became Yahweh in the Hebrew bible mentioned in the wiki page. If we look into the reasons for that claim, it has multitudes of problems. Mistranslations mostly.

And the wiki really didnt mention anything about Yahweh having a wife. I have plenty of data on that as well having very recently been debating that one too. At best there was a fringe element that may have believed Yahweh had a female partner. Wife is stretch beyond that. All of that is based on a couple of inscriptions which appear to be forgeries. The claim has it's issues just like all of these other things I've mentioned.

Honestly, there's so much more I could say about this, but I'll stop here and allow you to comment, question, or object.

 

[Trailblazer]

No. This interpretation is out of context. Just one verse before (Ephesians 4:3) we can read that Paul is beseeching this community to endeavour "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It's about the unity of the Christians. Like Jesus prayed for disciples and all believers in the Gospel of John that they may all be one (John 17:11-25).

In his effort to promote Christianity as the one true faith, he totally missed the point didn't he?

 

[F1fan]

No, no, you knew what I meant. The canaanite connection is weak, and the idea that Yahweh had a wife is weak also.

Well I will defer to what historians report. The evidence appears fairly solid and consistent.

Well, sure, there's several problems.

The first issue is, Yahweh is not really the name of God in the Hebrew bible. I think you know this. In Judaism we don't claim to know its name at all, but know that it has 4 letters. Generally speaking, Jehovah is a better appoximation than Yahweh. So, really, it should be 4 letters and 3 syllables.

The next issue is no one currently practices the canaanite religion. So the only way we kknow about them is through a grouping of tablets written in a language called ugaritic. Ugaritic has no vowels, and, the god that is typically believed to be Yahweh is designated with 2 letters and 2 letters only, YW. It really could be all sorts of combinations of vowel sounds, but regadless of what they are, it's still only 2 syllables not three.

The next issue is, there is no Asherah in the canaanite religion either. If you scroll down in the wikipedia page, you can see that the name of the female goddess they claim to be Asherah is actually beleived to be named Athirat. It's kind of similar, but, as I said, the vowels are a guess.

Next on the list is the canaanite god "El", again, could be anything, could also be "Allah". Not sure why no one makes that comparrison, but, anyway.

Besides there being no vowels, the ugaritic language was completely unknown before the tablets were discovered at Ras Shamra. In order to decipher them, guess what? They used the Hebrew bible. That means that these similar names were determined from borrowing from Judaism. Now, almost 100 years later, people look back on these similar names and think Judaism borrowed from the canaanites, but the names were infact borrowed from Judaism.

Even with that, if you look at the wikipedia page, you'll see that the name of the chief god is actually considered to be "Il" not "El", and honestly, "El" is not the name of God in Hebrew either, it's "Ail". So even with this simple name, there's still ambiguity about the name.

So, in order to get Yahweh from the canaanite tablets one has to:

1. Ignore the actual name of Yahweh in Hebrew
2. Assume that the vowels match
3. Ignore that the ugaritic language was deciphered using the Hebrew bible

That's 3 pretty major leaps of faith. The same is true, to a lesser extent with Asherah and Ail. So these similarities of names is a very weak reason to claim Yahweh is borrowed from Canaanite religion.

Then there's this idea that El became Yahweh in the Hebrew bible mentioned in the wiki page. If we look into the reasons for that claim, it has multitudes of problems. Mistranslations mostly.

And the wiki really didnt mention anything about Yahweh having a wife. I have plenty of data on that as well having very recently been debating that one too. At best there was a fringe element that may have believed Yahweh had a female partner. Wife is stretch beyond that. All of that is based on a couple of inscriptions which appear to be forgeries. The claim has it's issues just like all of these other things I've mentioned.

Honestly, there's so much more I could say about this, but I'll stop here and allow you to comment, question, or object.

A lot of well written words that don't dispute a polytheistic system of Gods from which the single "Yahweh" version of God emerged for Jews, Christians, Muslims, and numerous other religions.

 

[Truthseeker]

Baha'u'llah was a very vocal messenger, so many of the things that have changed since his time has not changed in the religion just yet.

Did you know that Baha'u'llah only gave a skeleton of laws that would last over the term of at least one thousand years? The Universal House of Justice is empowered to provide flexibility by revealing new laws as the times change. They can also change the laws they enacted in the first place.

Furthermore, in some ways the world's ethics have deteriorated since then.

Well, over two-hundred years have past, and since then there's eight million Baha'is, over two billion Christians, and all of Baha'u'llah descendants abandoned the religion. So how does that make Baha'u'llah correct when even his next of kinship stopped believing in him?

It is very dangerous to be close to such a person as Baha'u'llah. The slightest bit of ego in His presence can undo you because of being close to the center of power over other Baha'is. Most of the family of Baha'u'llah failed the test of wanting to seize that power. Same goes with Abdu'l-Baha's family, who failed that test.Think of King Henry II's family as protrayed in The Lion in Winter. They were all scheming for power. There are fictional elements in that movie, but the basic outline is true. They were my ancestors, at least King Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitane, and King John I.

Baha'u'llah told others that all major religions are compatible with each other, but he still said that his way of thinking was the only acceptable way of thinking.

Wrong, we are all to independently investigate, to see if He was right, and if we don't recognize His claim that doesn't damn us. Baha'is have different opinions also, you know. I think for myself. I was thinking for myself after when admittedly I joined a little fast, then scrutinized Baha'i for over 50 years to see if it stood up. I was looking for flaws in it. There appeared to be flaws, but then I investigated further, probed further, and resolved the flaws to my satisfaction. I still probe Baha'i, think for myself.

That's just my journey, I can't speak for every Baha'i.

 

[Truthseeker]

So, hypothethically, in 2870 what happens if there's 2 or more candidates for the next messenger. Let's say that there is significant differences between them. How do the Baha'i ( the UHJ? ) determine which one is the leader at that time?

Different Baha'is will believe different things about that. I was disagreeing with other Bahais about that a couple of weeks ago. My position was that The UHJ as a body wouldn't be able to decide which was which in that situation. The UHJ said:

There are several statements in the Sacred Scriptures of our Faith which are related to this general subject, and one in particular is found in "The Dispensation of Baha’u'llah", (The World Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 117) as follows: "My fears are for Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me — Him Who will be invested with great sovereignty and mighty dominion". When a National Assembly wrote to the Guardian, asking about this reference, the following reply was sent on his behalf.

...this refers to the Manifestation Who is to come after a thousand or more years, Who like all previous Messengers of God will be subjected to persecutions, but will eventually triumph over them. For men of ill-will have been and will always continue to be in this world, unless mankind reaches a state of complete and absolute perfection — a condition which is not only improbable but actually impossible to attain.

As you see, the persecutions to which the next Manifestation will be subjected will be carried out, according to the above statement, by "men of ill-will" who, alas, "will continue to be in this world". There is nothing in the Writings to support the view that the opposition or persecution will be instigated or inflicted by the Universal House of Justice.

You are aware, of course, that one of the reasons for the appearance of a new Manifestation of God is to bring forth a spiritual renewal, as the former Dispensation would have passed through its stages of growth and reached its zenith. You can be sure that the Supreme Institution of the Faith, "under the care and protection of the Abha Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One", will exert every effort to recognize, when the time is ripe, the reality of the new Manifestation, and lead men to Him.
Universal House of Justice, "Recognition of the Next Manifestation by the Universal House of Justice"

They believed that the Baha'is wouldn't listen to the UHJ. My position was that they "would exert every effort" to recognize Baha'u'llah, but that is not something they would be infallible about. Now that I see the whole statement again, they may have been right. Perhaps like I was thinking about this when we discussed this, some people wouldn't believe that they were infallible about this matter, while they actually were infallible about this, and there would be division and persecution of the next Manifestation.

As to how they would decide, who knows?

 

[stvdv]

Not really, it just means you misinterpret the verses

I agree, but it wasn't me who misinterpreted the verses.

Well, I meant your agreeing with him in below quote (last one) of yours (black)

Let’s look at some of his claims. What is in red text is from the article, and my comments are below.

But on the face of it, it’s impossible that Christianity is true and other religions are true. This is the basic law of reason called the law of noncontradiction. Just from a rational standpoint, the law of noncontradiction is, “A cannot be non-A at the same time in the same way.”

That is correct. If Christianity is true that means that all other religions are false, given Christians believe that Jesus is “the Only Way” to God.

If Jesus says "I am the only way to God"

It's not exclusive to Christianity at all

Hence your misinterpretation

 

[Trailblazer]

If Jesus says "I am the only way to God"

It's not exclusive to Christianity at all

Hence your misinterpretation

I don't understand what you are getting at.
What other religions teach that Jesus is the only way to God?

If Jesus is the only way to God that means Christianity is the only religion that has a way to God.

 

[Colt]

Let’s look at some of his claims. What is in red text is from the article, and my comments are below.

But on the face of it, it’s impossible that Christianity is true and other religions are true. This is the basic law of reason called the law of noncontradiction. Just from a rational standpoint, the law of noncontradiction is, “A cannot be non-A at the same time in the same way.”

That is correct. If Christianity is true that means that all other religions are false, given Christians believe that Jesus is “the Only Way” to God.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus did say that but Jesus did not say: “No one will ever come to the Father except through me.” I believe that what Jesus said in the New Testament applied to the Christian Dispensation, but it was never intended to apply to all of time.

If Yahweh is the one and only living and true God, there is no other god

That is logically true, and I believe it is true because it is in the Bible and all the Abrahamic religions teach that there is only one true God.

If the Bible is the one true revealed revelation of God, there is no other revelation.

Where in the Bible does it say that the Bible is the one true revealed revelation of God and there is no other revelation? I believe that the Bible was written to cover only the Christian Dispensation, and it was never intended to apply to all of time.

Of course, Christians believe that the Bible is the Only Word of God and that it will apply for all of eternity. Only 33% of the world population are Christians. So the loving God Christians believe in has denied 67% of the world population from any access to God?

Dispensation

1. the divine ordering of the affairs of the world.
2. an appointment, arrangement, or favor, as by God.
3. a divinely appointed order or age:

e.g. the old Mosaic, or Jewish, dispensation; the new gospel, or Christian, dispensation.

Definition of dispensation | Dictionary.com

There is no logical reason to assume that all revelation ended with the Christian Dispensation.
Moreover, the Bible does not say that. Christians say that and they try to find verses in the Bible to support that belief by misinterpreting those verses.

If the Son of God is Jesus, who is alone Lord and alone King, there is no other lord.

The Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God, but it does not say that Jesus is Lord and King and there is no other lord but Jesus.

Jesus never claimed to be Lord and Jesus never claimed to be King. Jesus disclaimed being a king when He replied to Pilate and said why He came into the world.

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

If Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin and eternal judgment, there is no other savior. If sinners can be saved only by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then they can’t be saved by any other means.

Even if Jesus was a Savior, which I believe, that does not mean that no other religions are true, because there is much more to religion than being saved.

If people can only escape hell by trusting in the person and work of Christ, they cannot escape hell by any other avenue. If sinners will be in hell forever if they reject Christ, there is no other way for them to escape.

Even if we need to believe in Jesus to avoid hell, that does not mean that we have to be a Christian in order to escape hell. For example, other religions such as Islam and the Baha’i Faith teach that Jesus was a Messenger of God so we do not reject Jesus.

If the sole work that saves sinners is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then no other work can save sinners.

Jesus said that His death saved sinners but who is to say that it did not save all of humanity, including non-Christians?

Jesus never said that His resurrection saves sinners. Jesus said that the cross sacrifice saved sinners. The ‘belief’ in the bodily resurrection of Jesus is totally unnecessary for salvation.

If the gospel is the only saving truth and all other claims are lies, if there is only one true religion, then all others are false.

Even if the gospel is the only ‘saving truth’, meaning it is the only religion that offers salvation, that still does not mean it is the one true religion, and all other religions are false. Religion is about more than being saved.

Obviously, if Christianity is the 'only truth' from God, then all other religions are false, but what reason is there to believe that Christianity is the 'only truth' from God?

If there is only one true God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit—then there is no other God. So you get the idea.

That would be true if there was only one God who is a triune God, but nowhere in the Bible is there any triune God. The Trinity is a man-made Christian doctrine.

And because it is such an offense, people cave in, and rather than be faithful to that gospel, they come up with ridiculous things like, “You can get to heaven by any religion.” A lie from the devil. Deuteronomy 4:35 says, “The Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” That’s the exclusivity of the true God. Deuteronomy 4:39, “The Lord, He is God in heaven [alone] and on the earth below; there is no other.” First Kings 8, verse 60, “The Lord is God; there is no one else.”

Even if that is true that the Lord is God and there is no other besides Him, which I believe, so what?
Jesus is not the Lord God so Christianity has no claims on God. Other religions also revealed the Lord God.

Jesus is called Lord in the Bible out of reverence to His exalted station but Jesus never claimed to be the Lord God.

Jesus never referred to Himself as the Lord God. Jesus continually said to worship the Lord God and serve Him only. Jesus never said “you shall serve me only.”

Matthew 4:10 Then said Jesus unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan! For it is written: ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’”

Finally, Jesus never said that there would never be any more religions revealed after Christianity. That is a Christian belief, not anything Jesus ever said. Galatians 1:8-9 says not to preach any other gospel, but a new revelation from God that starts a new religion is not another gospel.

The Bible says:
Deuteronomy 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

But then the New Testament was an addition to the Old Testament, wasn't it?
So Jesus came with a new Revelation from God and added to what Moses revealed.

And the Bible says:
Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

But the Holy Qur’an and the Revelation of Baha'u'llah were not "another gospel." Only Jesus had a gospel.

Islam and the Baha'i Faith are new Revelations from God that came ‘after’ the New Testament, just as the New Testament was a new Revelation from God that came ‘after’ the Old Testament.

The religion OF Jesus was a personal relationship with God, a simple Liberal, generic concept that could have benefited ALL religions! Dedication to the will of God in the heart of the believer. Self forgetfulness and service to others, service to the brotherhood of ALL mankind.

Tragically the religion OF Jesus CHANGED after he left! It became a remixed religion ABOUT Jesus !

The new “chosen people” of Christian exclusivity is a transplanting of the theological arrogance of Judaism to some sects of Christianity.

 

[stvdv]

If Jesus is the only way to God that means Christianity is the only religion that has a way to God

I don't understand what you are getting at.
What other religions teach that Jesus is the only way to God?

I have explained this one numerous times before, people still don't get it, so I have given up and I have decided to stop repeating myself.

Anyway, I believe you can find this yourself, as you come across as smart and reasonable and that's all what is needed to understand and interpret this correctly. There is 1 obstacle though... drop the ego with brainwashed info by Churches or others

When I really wanted to understand and solve difficult math problems, I always tried to solve it myself, from the basis info I had, I didn't ask my teacher. Also much more rewarding this way. Same as with crypto puzzles...no fun if others tell you the solution, feels good to have solved it yourself, only then you seem to really get it. Don't you feel the same with crypto puzzles? I had a great university teacher who said "not so important what you learn here; most important thing is that I teach you to solve any problem you get in life by yourself"; l loved this, a great teacher, I always remember and apply this teaching

Probabably, this is the same here, one has to solve it oneself to really get it

And it's logical and reasonable even. Maybe not a 1 star crypto puzzle, but for sure neither a 7 star, so it's do-able. One obstacle only, you, and most of us for that matter, have been brainwashed by parents, Popes, Church etc for decades. We know that deprogramming is hard and takes time

First step...drop all the brainwash...then read below line again...then it's really not too hard to see the deep meaning Jesus gave with these 7 words, a meaning showing that Jesus was indeed a Great Master, who has been imparting here the highest Advaita Teaching

Jesus said "I am the only way to God"

Just 7 words. Few permutations only

 

[PruePhillip]

It's just some old musty ancient book spouting this and that.

There's nothing exclusive with old musty ancient books.

There are tons of them.

;0)

Reminds me of an old No Parking sign in Brisbane, Australia. Many were booked for parking there, thinking that the old weather worn sign could be dismissed because it hadn't been updated. They were wrong. Same with the bible actually.

 

[Brickjectivity]

@Trailblazer

Judaism is exclusive, however it does not limit others. It doesn't claim that Jews are more valuable than other people. It does introduce the character named Abraham through whom all tribes and families will eventually be 'Blessed'. But what is 'Blessed'? What does that often used but never defined term mean? And what does this mean must happen in order for all people to be blessed because of Abraham?

The truth as I understand it, is that in the ancient terminology this promise to Abram-become-Abraham is confusing. It appears in Genesis, and rough analysis of Genesis shows that 'Earth' in there refers to Israel. It isn't that complicated to show such. Israel is created in the midst of the chaos around it. That being established, the promise to Abraham is that the Jews will be blessed through Abraham and that their descendants will be numerous as the stars.

The irony is that they keep getting killed and oppressed, but they are prosperous. They are in a struggle to endure attacks and onslaughts that come as they increase in number. They survive many things. Rather than be vengeful and murderous most follow the teachings of Jacob, though this is controversial throughout their history. Shouldn't they defend themselves? Shouldn't they have kings and armies? Why can't they live like other nations with someone to protect them? As a people they are exiled and some return to continue the work of surviving. They survive and survive and even in our time will be the oldest nation, albeit a migrant one. All other nations will be replaced either completely or by parts over time. True to the promise to Abraham his descendants will prosper in spite of occasional oppression, killings, exile and so on.

Now we visit History and the time of the Roman occupation and inescapable Roman oppression. Romans despise the concept of peace through anything but military strength. Judaism is like a blazing hot needle in its foot, which it hopes to pluck out. Jews won't stop being prosperous or having babies or spreading concepts of peaceful coexistence. To an empire like Rome this is unacceptable. The temple of peace in Jerusalem is *again* destroyed by this international empire. Jews are slaughtered and blamed for their own disaster, accused of rebellion. Is this the end of Judaism? Is it the final crack which brings down the structure Abraham has become? Multiple strategies are devised to save Abraham's hope. Which will succeed?

And here we are today. That's how I see it.

 

[rational experiences]

If humans said gods inheritor body...the heavens is clear the immaculate. Spirit as it's gas.

Your study would claim nothing is there. No heavens first.

Gods first body is just the earth mass. As human men standing on their science body the machine has to be included. As thinking reviewing knowing variable bodies is because they exist first.

If it's not present said relativity you cannot discuss it.

God is first as just the earth rock.

Whose law to arise mountain opened O into gods hell. Volcano. God and space womb that story said by increased cooling infinity nothingness caused pressure changes.

Without owning a thesis a formula or a reaction. Magic actually...increasing infinity...nothingness.

Men as a theist knows invention can achieve change to infinity by adding into it nothing by energies consumption.

Biology ends its life converting into new types of body changes that ends as dusts. Remainder.

Energy when resourced disappears.

As only nothingness Increases as mass can be removed to zero holes nothing proven.

So only the whole Jesus story to the end says the holy mother womb owned taking away the sacrificed body...spirit. Gases.

In time and science the law of why light itself exists.

So the day went dark. It was still hot. Unlike immaculate extreme cold dark.

Then light came back as origin as sacrificed to have light. Otherwise life would have ended that day.

Science hence knew they didn't own Jesus as science. They learnt.

 

[Messianic Israelite]

One Lord, One Faith, One God: The Exclusivity of Christianity​

Open your Bible to Ephesians 4. And we have been in Ephesians 4 for a month, I think, but we finally have arrived at verses 4, 5, and 6. And this is a very, very important moment to stop and consider a far-reaching reality that is clearly indicated here. Let me read Ephesians 4:4, 5, and 6. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Here is the singularity of Christianity. Seven times, you have the word “one” repeated. This is a declaration of the exclusivity of the true faith, the true religion.

There is only one body: the church; one Spirit: the Holy Spirit; one hope: that of heaven for those in Christ. There’s only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. That should make it abundantly clear that there are no others, no others. But it seems to have somehow escaped this generation of so-called Christians and even so-called evangelicals, because in a recent survey an inexcusable display of ignorance was manifest.

Sixty-six percent of American Christians say many religions lead to eternal life—that’s two out of three. Fifty-two percent of evangelicals say many religions can lead to eternal life. Forty-eight percent of evangelicals said that God accepts the worship of all religious people. Now, let me correct that. One hundred percent of true Christians say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of true evangelicals say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of evangelicals say God rejects all worship other than that which is consistent with His divine revelation in Christ.

How do we get to a place where people declare they are Christians and evangelicals, and basically don’t even understand the most foundational reality of what is true religion? How does this happen? On the face, you might say they lack instruction, and you would probably be right. But even deeper than that, I think they lack courage, because the reason people cave in to say that other religions can give eternal life is so that they don’t wind up offending other people—because that’s hard to deal with.

But on the face of it, it’s impossible that Christianity is true and other religions are true. This is the basic law of reason called the law of noncontradiction. Just from a rational standpoint, the law of noncontradiction is, “A cannot be non-A at the same time in the same way.” Let me spread that out over Christian theology: If Yahweh is the one and only living and true God, there is no other god. If the Bible is the one true revealed revelation of God, there is no other revelation. If the Son of God is Jesus, who is alone Lord and alone King, there is no other lord. If Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin and eternal judgment, there is no other savior. If sinners can be saved only by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then they can’t be saved by any other means. If people can only escape hell by trusting in the person and work of Christ, they cannot escape hell by any other avenue. If sinners will be in hell forever if they reject Christ, there is no other way for them to escape. If the sole work that saves sinners is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then no other work can save sinners. If the gospel is the only saving truth and all other claims are lies, if there is only one true religion, then all others are false. If there is only one true God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit—then there is no other God. So you get the idea.

All of those things that I postulated for you are Bible claims. I was just giving you what the Bible says: one God, one divine revelation, one Lord, one Savior, one gospel, one means of escaping hell. That’s what the Bible claims, and it is essentially that that is its greatest offense. And because it is such an offense, people cave in, and rather than be faithful to that gospel, they come up with ridiculous things like, “You can get to heaven by any religion.” A lie from the devil. Deuteronomy 4:35 says, “The Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” That’s the exclusivity of the true God. Deuteronomy 4:39, “The Lord, He is God in heaven [alone] and on the earth below; there is no other.” First Kings 8, verse 60, “The Lord is God; there is no one else.”

To continue reading:
One Lord, One Faith, One God: The Exclusivity of Christianity

(Continued on next post)

Hi Trailblazer. Good afternoon. I am also worried about the reduced standards of the people of the world in thinking that all religion has truth and that no one religion can be said to be the correct one. However, let's look at Ephesians 4 and see if what you have said is true. Ephesians 4 says:

"I therefore, the prisoner in Yahweh, beseech you that you walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were also called in one hope of your calling: 5 one Master, one faith, one baptism, 6 one El and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. 7 But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of the Messiah."
- The Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition

Why do you think this scripture applies to those who call themselves Chr-stians? The original Messianic believers were not called Chr-stians. That was only a name later assigned to New Testament believers. So obviously, Ephesians 4 cannot refer to those who simply label themselves as Chr-stians. Yahshua the Messiah was never called Chr-st in his lifetime. He was the Messiah. The Assemblies of Yahweh is an enigma to many people. As the doctrines being taught by the Assemblies of Yahweh are scrutinized, the average individual soon discovers that he cannot readily pin a label upon the group. The world generally seeks to stereotype things, to designate them according to simple classifications. The Assemblies of Yahweh is a religious organization which cannot be readily stereotyped as being a part of the world's great religions - whether Chr-stianity or Judaism. Herein lies the puzzle for the average person.

The Assemblies of Yahweh members cannot be called Chr-stians, since one of the definitions of the word (as found in the Second Collegiate Edition of Webster's New World Dictionary) means of or representing Chr-stians or Chr-stianity. The Assemblies of Yahweh cannot be classed as a part of Chr-stianity since we do not follow the doctrines that are generally espoused as being representative of this segment of religion.

Read 'Spiritual Israelite: Not Jews or Chr-stians' for a further evaluation here: https://assembliesofyahweh.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/0123-SNB-2.pdf#page=3

We harmonize the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We do not forsake the Law erroneously as some have put it as 'Jewish', and we use the Sacred Names, of which Acts 4:12 tells us is vitally important for our salvation. How can you say Chr-stianity is the true faith? Don't you realize that the Holy Spirit will not abide with those who do not keep Yahweh's Law and that actually, Law keeping is a prerequisite for the Holy Spirit according to Acts 5:32. Why, if there is one Spirit, is Chr-stianity so divided? Some groups accepts homosexuality, others female ministers, others the Trinity, others do not keep even the Ten Commandments, the Holy Days etc. So this very scripture condemns what you are saying. The Holy Spirit is not divided. Further, what name were you baptized in? Were you baptized in the name of J-sus Chr-st. This wasn't the Name of the Messiah. So if there's one baptism, in to one Name, don't you think it important to use the right one for a valid baptism? Yahshua means Yahweh is salvation. This was the Messiah's Name. Can you clearly comprehend the scripture in Matthew 28 saying:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Father is not a Name, Son is not a Name, and Holy Spirit is not a Name. The Name of Yahshua encapsulates all three.

I could speak volumes. But I'll leave it there. Yes, I think we're seeing a terribly Laodicean attitude in the world where religion is being marginalized, and even those who profess to believe in religion are not sincere to believe in any absolute truth, despite the Bible being readily available to study and meticulously research to find out what the Truth is.

 

[rational experiences]

If humans said gods inheritor body...the heavens is clear the immaculate. Spirit as it's gas.

Your study would claim nothing is there. No heavens first.

Gods first body is just the earth mass. As human men standing on their science body the machine has to be included. As thinking reviewing knowing variable bodies is because they exist first.

If it's not present said relativity you cannot discuss it.

God is first as just the earth rock.

Whose law to arise mountain opened O into gods hell. Volcano. God and space womb that story said by increased cooling infinity nothingness caused pressure changes.

Without owning a thesis a formula or a reaction. Magic actually...increasing infinity...nothingness.

Men as a theist knows invention can achieve change to infinity by adding into it nothing by energies consumption.

Biology ends its life converting into new types of body changes that ends as dusts. Remainder.

Energy when resourced disappears.

As only nothingness Increases as mass can be removed to zero holes nothing proven.

So only the whole Jesus story to the end says the holy mother womb owned taking away the sacrificed body...spirit. Gases.

In time and science the law of why light itself exists.

So the day went dark. It was still hot. Unlike immaculate extreme cold dark.

Then light came back as origin as sacrificed to have light. Otherwise life would have ended that day.

Science hence knew they didn't own Jesus as science. They learnt.

Warnings for humans.

It takes a lot of many humans experiences to tell a story.

A study of correlated advice says to prove humans wrong an incident has to occur more than once. As life is natural by two.

If it is once then man world quote a one of only.

Many times states it's not natural.

As multiples means reacted.

Why men use multiple numbers. To cause change.

So as lots of varied stories are psyche memory and human known already. Human memory can be currently talking without hearing without hearing...subliminally advised.

Yet the advice is stated. A human scientist is pre advised that infinity he can control to increase it by his scientific causes. Only by science does a man want control. Applies all control.

Yet in fact he doesn't control energies consumption.

In numbers used man says I add to increase my availability to access a power by an applied reaction a minus.

So he cannot minus Infinite as he uses numbers and calculus.

Why a human is given false human advice that motivates incorrect human belief.