SoulTYPE01 said:
As seeing this MANY times on the RF board, I must ask this. Please do not take it is "bashing" or "defaming".
Why is the "Christian" way the "True" way? What is it that makes your religion correct?
Please inform me because I am very interested. No reply wil be criticised against.
Soul,
I apologize in advance for the length here.
I think it's pretty complicated. On one level, it's a matter of trust. Christians trust Christ's promises, however they may interpret them (and some interpretations are pretty far out).
Also, it is not necessarily Christian to assert everyone else is wrong in all details. I'll use Justin Martyr and the Apostle John for an illustration here.
John called Jesus the "Logos." Normally, this is translated as "word," but there's at least several dozen translations of this word. "Word" doesn't quite catch it all. It can mean "reason," "statement," "story," "argument," and several other things. Heck, the term "logical" comes from the adjective "logikos." One thing it clearly doesn't mean is "Bible" lol.
In John's Gospel, I think it could easily refer to a "revelation," though that is a very unusual and unattested meaning of the term. The Logos is the source of all truth, and Christ is the Logos. Christ unveils Himself fully and comes to earth to solve our problem with "sin" (think imperfection) and death, by uniting the perfect and immortal with our natures.
When Christ ascends, He promises His Body and Blood to His followers. We, in turn, consume them, and become part of His Body -- the Church. The Church is, then, the incarnation of Christ on Earth. This is all very mystical, and I don't really have my head wrapped around it.
Now, there are numerous Christian sects, and they each have their own view on this matter, and I'm not going to speak for them (after all, they've broken away from the Church, or broke away from someone who broke away from the Church, or broke away...and so on).
This doesn't mean that everybody else is wrong in everything, or that no truth exists outside of Christianity. Heck, the Apostle Paul even quotes a pagan poet in the book of Acts (this fact is not often cited by someone who tries to portray all other religions as complete lies). Justin Martyr, a second century Christian, taught that the Logos is manifested in various degrees everywhere and to all (he makes special mention of the Greek philosophers). So, while all religions have a part of Truth, Truth Himself became man in the person of Christ, and then is incarnated through His Church to this day.
That's what I've learned, even though I know this view is *not* shared by most of the people you've talked to. Still, it's Orthodox.
