My Religion is the Only Path

[john313]

I thought it might be interesting to see how many people think their religion is the only path to paradise/heaven. i have heard many followers of different abrahamic religions say such things.
i personally believe there are many paths to paradise based mostly on a person's works.

 

[Sunstone]

Saying there is only one path is like saying there is one size of shoe which fits every foot. It's an absurd statement. But for political and social reasons, it has long been said -- and too often believed.

 

[Fluffy]

Whilst I would not necessarily call what paths lead to as paradise, I do believe ALL paths no matter what form they may take, lead to the same end.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Hmm... I think I agree with two answers, that this is a paradise, as well as all paths leading to paradise.

 

[Popeyesays]

Actually, I think it is ONE path, with different markers and lights along the way. So Icannot answer your poll.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Steve]

There is one true God who made one way.
We all need the atonement Christ made for us because we have all done wrong in Gods eyes and he is just and will punish sin. We have all broken Gods laws, Jesus paid our fine, without him we are left to face Gods justice ourselves.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22-26
​

 

[Fatmop]

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

That's a real downer. I, of course, voted for 'paradise on Earth.'

 

[almifkhar]

well this poll wasn't as scarry as i thought it would be. glad to see that there are openminded people out there

 

[Steve]

well this poll wasn't as scarry as i thought it would be. glad to see that there are openminded people out there

So openminded yet cant believe there can be only one way. The term openminded means nothing, at least with the way i see it used so often.
I could just as easily say, you need to be openminded to consider the exclusive claims of Christ.

 

[Fatmop]

I could just as easily say, you need to be openminded to consider the exclusive claims of Christ.

Of course, then you'd have to back it up with your definition of open-mindedness and explain how considering the exclusive claims of Christ is actually open-minded. Sure, if you consider them alongside the exclusive claims of Muhammed and Confucius..

glad to see that there are openminded people out there

So am I. I don't usually count myself among them.. not one of my virtues, sadly.

 

[Zephyr]

There is god, but he is called by many names, and appears to different people in different forms. The only wrong paths are those of disbelief and idolatry/worship of a mortal. I would consider Atheists to be of the first category and Christians/(insert religion with a mortal god here) of the second. Everyone has to save his or herself. It's all written in the book of Awesomesauce.

"Save your own ***. No one else can."
-Nifty Laws to Live by, The Book of Awesomesauce.

Oh, how I love it.

 

[Master Vigil]

It reminds me of what the Buddha once said. I spent time with yogis in the mountains who lived to be 300 years old, and then died. And I spent time with ascetics who lived to be 80 years old, and then died. There is no difference here. We all die.

I see no difference in the paths we all take. They all lead to the same end.

 

[Mike182]

i see "religion" as a bike wheel, because a bike wheel has lots of different spokes, but they all go through the same centre

i believe that their is one God, and we can reach God through many different paths

i personally have chosen christianity, as i believe their to be a lot of truth in the new testiment.

now, many people in my church think im crazy and disillusioned in my beliefs in this area, as they believe that Christ is the ONLY way to God, but i disagree, because im sure their is room in heaven for great people who are not christians - like ghandi (the only one i can think of off the top of my head)

 

[glasgowchick]

There is one true God who made one way.
We all need the atonement Christ made for us because we have all done wrong in Gods eyes and he is just and will punish sin. We have all broken Gods laws, Jesus paid our fine, without him we are left to face Gods justice ourselves.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22-26
​

Amen, Jesus said that He is the way the truth and the life, no-one come to the Father except by Him..Jesus is the way, there is no other...

 

[Sunstone]

I like Lilithu's metaphore of an elephant. The truth is the elephant. People approach the elephant blind and can only feel one part of the elephant. Some feel a leg, some feel the belly, some feel the trunk, and so on. For each there is a different path, based on how they approach the elephant. But not all paths lead to the elephant. Some lead away from the truth. (I hope I've adequately summed up Lilithu's metaphore here).

At any rate, I think there's a lot of truth in Lilithu's metaphore. It seems to me there are many paths to God, but not all so called paths lead to God.

It also seems to me that, while we can seek advice and guidence from others as to the path we should take, it is ultimately up to us to learn to recognize and follow the path that is best for us.

Lastly, the notion that there is only one true path to God fails to take into account human diversity. Humans are a very diverse species, on all levels, including the spiritual.

 

[jewscout]

There is one true God who made one way.


We all need the atonement Christ made for us because we have all done wrong in Gods eyes and he is just and will punish sin. We have all broken Gods laws, Jesus paid our fine, without him we are left to face Gods justice ourselves.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22-26


​

Amen, Jesus said that He is the way the truth and the life, no-one come to the Father except by Him..Jesus is the way, there is no other...

well i'm screwed

personally i believe we all have our own unique paths to walk, there is no one path IMPO

 

[Halcyon]

Anybody else know that paradise literally means walled garden? Halcyon's pointless trivia of the day

I'd have to go with my enlightened peers and suggest that since all people are made unique, it stands to reason that we each must follow unique paths back to God.

 

[painted wolf]

Creator has made no one anything... many races, many languages, many cultures, many religions.

From what I see around me there is little evidence that Creator likes stagnation and the boringness of a single path... I do see that Creator revels in difference and variety.
Why should this not include religion?

wa:do

 

[lilithu]

I like Lilithu's metaphore of an elephant. The truth is the elephant. People approach the elephant blind and can only feel one part of the elephant. Some feel a leg, some feel the belly, some feel the trunk, and so on. For each there is a different path, based on how they approach the elephant. But not all paths lead to the elephant. Some lead away from the truth. (I hope I've adequately summed up Lilithu's metaphore here).

At any rate, I think there's a lot of truth in Lilithu's metaphore. It seems to me there are many paths to God, but not all so called paths lead to God.

Namaste Sunstone,

just for the record, my elephant metaphor isn't mine. It's a very old Indian story that has been retold by Hindus, Buddhists, and Sufis to describe how we can seemingly have different and contradictory views of God, yet it really is all the same God, depending on which part we touch. I was just elaborating on the elephant metaphor to say that even tho there are different legitimate views, that doesn't mean that all views are legitimate. I'm sorry for the confusion; certainly didn't mean to take credit for someone else's wisdom.

This is the version of the story that I gave at a recent workshop. It's mostly from the Sufi tradition but I modernized it a little bit.

Once upon a time there was a village where everyone had been born blind. (Don’t ask me how that works, just go with it.) One day, the raja’s herald came to the village riding an elephant. Now, elephants were scarce in this part of India so there was a lot of excitement about its presence and the villagers decided to send their six oldest and wisest men to go out to the elephant and report back on what it was like. Since they couldn’t see, the only knowledge open to them was touch.

One touched its leg, the other a tusk, the third an ear, the fourth its trunk, the fifth its side, the sixth its tail, and in the belief that they now knew the elephant, they returned home. But when they were questioned by the other blind men, their answers differed. The one who had felt the leg maintained that the elephant was nothing other than a pillar, extremely rough to the touch, and yet strangely soft. The one who had caught hold of the tusk denied this and described the elephant as, hard and smooth, with nothing soft or rough about it, more over the beast was by no means as stout as a pillar, but rather had the shape of a post. The third, who had held the ear in his hands, spoke: "By my faith, it is both soft and rough." Thus he agreed with one of the others, but went on to say: Nevertheless, it is neither like a post nor a pillar, but like a broad, thick piece of leather." A fourth who had touched its trunk insisted that an elephant was more like a waterpipe. The fifth who had touched its side insisted that it was like a wall. And the sixth who had touched its tail insisted that it was more like a brush. Each was certain of the truth of their experience, and thus certain that the others were wrong. They started quarreling, shouting at each other and finally came to blows.

Were any of these men wrong in what they experience or how they reported it?

I’m sure you’ve all figured out by now that the elephant represents God or ultimate Truth. Each was right in a certain sense, since each of them communicated that part of the truth he had comprehended, but none was able describe the elephant as it really was; for all were unable to comprehend the entire form of the elephant. The story warns us to keep that in mind when we talk to other people about religion. We may feel absolutely certain about the truth of our beliefs, and we may be right. Yet our truths may only be a part of it. We may need many overlapping and sometimes seemingly contradictory truths to get the whole picture.

 

[lilithu]

I thought it might be interesting to see how many people think their religion is the only path to paradise/heaven. i have heard many followers of different abrahamic religions say such things.
i personally believe there are many paths to paradise based mostly on a person's works.

Glad to hear it.

I couldn't vote in your poll because I was equally torn between "many paths to paradise" and "paradise on earth." I don't really believe that we have paradise on earth. It's not like I'm unaware of all the evils of the world. What I believe is that we catch glimpses of paradise on earth, and that we could make paradise on earth if only we already saw it that way. UUs call it the beloved community - a world here and now where there is no bigotry or oppression, no poverty, no one left alone to fend for themselves. In Christian language, God's kingdom is already at hand, if only His will truly be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Buddhist language, samsara is nirvana. I also believe that there are many paths to paradise in that there are many paths that lead us to turn away from self-centeredness towards love. Love of God, love of creation, love of community.