One of the questions I get asked a lot goes something like this . . . “How do you know that Christianity is more true than any other religion?” It’s a great question and one that I think there are good answers to. Last night I ran through a couple of things to think about as you compare Christianity with other religions. It was really quick so we will review and add to it next time we meet (after Thanksgiving).
Here are the points I raised:
- Only Jesus, as the founder of a “religion”, claims to be God and backs up his claim with miracles and teaching that eyewitness testify about.
- Only Jesus rose from the dead and has the power to raise others.
- Many founders of other religions have petty shady backgrounds – both before and after they were “enlightened”. The character of the founder seems really important.
- Jesus message connects to the beginning of history – he didn’t bring a brand new idea – God’s plan has been growing from the beginning of time – all the way back to Adam.
- The teachings of Jesus connect with our hearts better than some of the teachings of other religions. For example, His messages of grace and forgiveness ring out against messages of revenge and karma from other faiths that support class systems, oppression, and abuse.
- You check out history and see what different religions have produced in the world – do they make their cultures “better” or not?
- You can also check out how the people of different religions live their lives.
This is a quick list and some of them may be a little confusing or fuzzy when you just read them, which is why we are going to talk about them again. But I wanted to start the ball rolling to give you some confidence if you are a Christian and get you thinking if you are considering becoming a follower of Jesus.
I love way the Gospel of Luke starts :
“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:1-4
The things we have in the Bible were written by people who heard and saw what Jesus did and they were recorded so close to the actual events that there was not time for them to get embellished or turn into legends. We will keep talking, but I hope this helps.
You can have certainty that what you read about in the Bible really happened and can be trusted.
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