The Exclusivity of Christianity

[Trailblazer]

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)

 

[Trailblazer]

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.

 

[Twilight Hue]

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)

 

[Trailblazer]

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)

Tell the Christians that.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

This air of exclusivity within the Christian religion is not exclusive to Christianity alone, ironically. In fact, many religions say that their exclusive way of spiritual knowledge is the only way. Your prophet, Baha'u'llah, has said that there will be none other for another thousand years. 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?

More likely, what is really going on is, everybody has their own view of what God is, and that is exclusive to that person alone. Yes, many Christians would say the same thing regarding the divinity of Jesus, but what that means to them and how they apply it in their every day life is upon them and nobody else. The thing about the Baha'i Faith is that 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.

What God means to anyone is going to be different than what it means to anyone else. People cherry-pick different parts of the Bible and other scriptures and scream, "see, they say that I am right and you're wrong." Well, I hate to break it to you but much of these books seem to be written allegorically, and people have been debating the true message behind these works of what I would call fiction for centuries now.

People see what they want to see. Is Christianity exclusive to Christians? The majority of Christians would say yes. Have you ever met a person who believed in all of the messengers but decided to follow the path of Christ because it just seemed better to that person? Well, I haven't. Yes, I get it. 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.

And until we start to find some Baha'is who started to follow Christ regardless of that fact, there will be no Christians who accept the non-exclusivity of their religious claims.

 

[stvdv]

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.

Not really, it just means you misinterpret the verses

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

Again, misinterpreting God's words, that's all there is

Easy to prove even, but those who want to see their faith the only True faith will never see the truth

 

[danieldemol]

It was a bit hard considering I'm pressed for time at the moment to go through the whole two OP posts thouroughly. But it appeared to me that you are assuming that a creator God who made us and our environments is any less responsible for our faults than we are.

I question that assumption.

In my opinion.

 

[Windwalker]

Now, let me correct that. One hundred percent of true Christians say no other religion can save.
​

I think you are deeply confused. There are plenty of Christians who recognize other religions as valid paths to the Divine for them, as much as their own religion is for them. Unless you wish to pull out the"No True Scotsman" logic fallacy to support your baseless claim? Are you saying they are not "true Christians" if they aren't exclusivists they way you say they need to think in order to be "true Christians"? That's terribly disingenuous.

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.

I am pretty confident that you are 100% wrong to make absolutist claims like this about every individual in a group. I'm pretty certain there are evangelicals too who are not as rigid and black and white in their thinking as you suppose them all to be.

​

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?

You are an expert on what every facet and aspect of the Christian religion and make yourself their declarer of righteous faith or not? What, are you the Pope or something?

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.

Or it could be that they actually don't believe in the narrow, dismally dark little boxes that you tell them they need to be in order to call themselves Christian? I don't mind offending you when it's called for, and I am not one to see Christianity as the one and only valid path to the Divine. I don't think that way, not because I'm afraid to offend you, but because I see more than other people do about the nature of faith and religion, from a Christian perspective.

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.”

And this is the source of all your problems here. Black and White thinking. It is more than possible for more than one perspective to be equally valid, even if they on the surface contradict each other. If you shift perspectives, then suddenly they aren't polar opposites at all, but simple different faces of the same coins. Heads, is not another coin from it tails. Both are the coin itself.

All of those things that I postulated for you are Bible claims.

All of those things are reflective of how you interpret the Bible through the particular pair of glasses you have chosen to put on your face to read it through. For each of your understandings from it, I can give you and alternative understanding that does not cast everyone but those of the Christian religion into hell.

BTW, saying there is One God, and that all are made One in that God, is actually common to other religions as well, such as the Dharmic religions. Separation is an illusion, and we are all aspects of the One Divine Reality. Christianity honestly just says that using different language and symbols. "All are one in Christ". Same difference.

 

[Trailblazer]

Not really, it just means you misinterpret the verses

Again, misinterpreting God's words, that's all there is

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

 

[Trailblazer]

I think you are deeply confused. There are plenty of Christians who recognize other religions as valid paths to the Divine for them, as much as their own religion is for them. Unless you wish to pull out the"No True Scotsman" logic fallacy to support your baseless claim? Are you saying they are not "true Christians" if they aren't exclusivists they way you say they need to think in order to be "true Christians"? That's terribly disingenuous.

I am pretty confident that you are 100% wrong to make absolutist claims like this about every individual in a group. I'm pretty certain there are evangelicals too who are not as rigid and black and white in their thinking as you suppose them all to be.​

You are an expert on what every facet and aspect of the Christian religion and make yourself their declarer of righteous faith or not? What, are you the Pope or something?

Or it could be that they actually don't believe in the narrow, dismally dark little boxes that you tell them they need to be in order to call themselves Christian? I don't mind offending you when it's called for, and I am not one to see Christianity as the one and only valid path to the Divine. I don't think that way, not because I'm afraid to offend you, but because I see more than other people do about the nature of faith and religion, from a Christian perspective.

And this is the source of all your problems here. Black and White thinking. It is more than possible for more than one perspective to be equally valid, even if they on the surface contradict each other. If you shift perspectives, then suddenly they aren't polar opposites at all, but simple different faces of the same coins. Heads, is not another coin from it tails. Both are the coin itself.

All of those things are reflective of how you interpret the Bible through the particular pair of glasses you have chosen to put on your face to read it through. For each of your understandings from it, I can give you and alternative understanding that does not cast everyone but those of the Christian religion into hell.

BTW, saying there is One God, and that all are made One in that God, is actually common to other religions as well, such as the Dharmic religions. Separation is an illusion, and we are all aspects of the One Divine Reality. Christianity honestly just says that using different language and symbols. "All are one in Christ". Same difference.

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.

 

[Trailblazer]

This air of exclusivity within the Christian religion is not exclusive to Christianity alone, ironically. In fact, many religions say that their exclusive way of spiritual knowledge is the only way.

Maybe some religions say that their religion is the only one that is true, but I don't know of any major religion that is as exclusive as Christianity. Although the Jewish faith is exclusive, it is not a very large faith, only about 14 million adherents. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Only Way, period, for all of time and eternity, and that you cannot get to heaven unless you believe in Jesus the way they do. You can't get much more exclusive than that.

Your prophet, Baha'u'llah, has said that there will be none other for another thousand years.

He said he was the Prophet for this dispensation, for no less than 1000 years, but He did not say He was the Only Way for all of time and eternity, as Christians believe about Jesus.

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?

What does the number of Baha'is or who believed in Baha'u'llah have to do with whether the religion is true? Of course there are more Christians than Baha'is, Christianity has been around for 2000 years and the Baha'i Faith has only been around for about 160 years.

Yes, I get it. 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.

No, That is not what He said, that is twisting what He said to mean something He never said or even implied.
In short, what He said is that Messengers of God are sent in every age and He is the Messenger for this age, but there will be Messengers sent by God in every future age, for as long as man lives on earth.

And until we start to find some Baha'is who started to follow Christ regardless of that fact, there will be no Christians who accept the non-exclusivity of their religious claims.

Baha'is do not follow Christ, Baha'is follow Baha'u'llah, but Baha'is believe in the teachings of Jesus. We just don't believe in the doctrines of Christianity.

Christians are not going to accept the non-exclusivity of their religious claims because if they did, they would not be Christians anymore. To be a Christian means to believe that Jesus is the only true religion and the only way to God. There might be some liberal fringe Christians but they don't represent the doctrines of Christianity, and they are considered heretics.

 

[rational experiences]

History about science mens combustion of earths heavens would remove Christ images now in clouds.

Combust heavens again clouds disappear. It would be so hot no human lived living images would exist after as human life with lord Christ now one body mass caused.

So you'd lose self recognition at death or the eternal spirit awareness of humans purpose between images life recorded heavens and biology now deceased.

A relativity teaching our heavens based on CH spirit above evaluations kept cooled saved was pertinent. Satan angel by mass as image was first. Amount of cloud mass is origin not updated attack.

The one lord and one God in heavens status we now are learned by.

Having ignored old sciences testimonials and caused it again..life's sacrifice.

Men. Evil minded star fall brothers history men versus family in nature. First theists. All lords in society rich men the same as a King. Yet pretending holy king father usurped natural holy father origins they chose one leader.

Knowing it caused rivalry Infighting murder amongst the rich elite families all the same. They said lords not any king status as unified rich men in society should order now.

Yet men knew rich men are cruel evil and greedy. No self control about United family.

So the church said I won't be king I'll be virgin father role. I'll do it correctly this time. Knowing society was ordered now.

And I was meant to order legal control of greedy rich man's society as one holy order. But I failed. As greed won.

Is how the documents involve human life...role plays of just humans and evil human choices.

 

[dybmh]

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.

The word "gospel" doesn't exist in these verses in the original language. The simple meaning of the verses are if anyone, even an angel, comes preaching anything different from what they're preaching, they're cursed. Please see interlinear greek-english below:

Galatians 1:8 Interlinear

Based on this, a proper translation would be:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, evangelize unto you than that which we have evangelized 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.​

So, if Muhammad and Bahaullah are preaching against the resurrection, that counts.

 

[F1fan]

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.

Well, not logically true since Yahweh ISN'T the only god.. That's because he came from the Caananite polytheistic system. Yahweh was one of multiple gods that included Baal, El, and Yahweh's wife Ashera. So that pretty much casts all this into chaos.

And how can you tell if any god is living? Or even exists to check for a pulse?

 

[dybmh]

That's because he came from the Caananite polytheistic system. Yahweh was one of multiple gods that included Baal, El, and Yahweh's wife Ashera

The evidence of this is so weak. How much do you actually know about this? Or are you just parroting someone else?

 

[F1fan]

The evidence of this is so weak.

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

How much do you actually know about this? Or are you just parroting someone else?

This is well known history. Is there a problem?

Canaanite religion - Wikipedia

 

[Trailblazer]

Based on this, a proper translation would be:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, evangelize unto you than that which we have evangelized 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.
So, if Muhammad and Bahaullah are preaching against the resurrection, that counts.

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.

 

[Trailblazer]

Well, not logically true since Yahweh ISN'T the only god.. That's because he came from the Caananite polytheistic system. Yahweh was one of multiple gods that included Baal, El, and Yahweh's wife Ashera. So that pretty much casts all this into chaos.

And how can you tell if any god is living? Or even exists to check for a pulse?

I said I believe it is true because it is in the Bible and all the Abrahamic religions teach.
I did not say I can prove it is true.

If God was not living I guess God would be dead. A living God is not dead. I guess that what he meant in the article.

 

[icehorse]

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

 

[F1fan]

I said I believe it is true because it is in the Bible and all the Abrahamic religions teach.
I did not say I can prove it is true.

It's not believable in any event.

If God was not living I guess God would be dead. A living God is not dead. I guess that what he meant in the article.

Fictional characters can't be alive or dead.