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RIT InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
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Other Religions
What makes Christianity different or better than other religions? How do you know your version of religion is right?
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
To speak bluntly, what makes Christianity different is that we believe that God is the one and true God, and that He came to earth in the form of Jesus to save us from ourselves out of His love for us. We know this to be true because God has given us plenty of proof. The Bible, which we believe is the word of God, gives us proof. There is historical and archaeological evidence to support the fact that the events in the Bible actually happened. There is also scientific reasoning to support God’s existence (see the questions about proof).
However, some of the same events are claimed in multiple religions, so how do we know that Christianity is the right one? This is where real life experience comes into play. God wants you to know Him, and will make Himself clear to you, especially if you ask Him to. He’s done that in my life. Has answered my prayers, changed me for the better, etc. And this is something I can’t prove to you in a way that you will be completely satisfied, although you can see the results of His work in my life and you can hear my testimonies, but you have to experience Him for yourself. Ask God to prove Himself and He will. Other religions, don’t hold up to that. As one of our recent speakers said, she tried talking to Alla, and Buddha, and all the other deities that she heard of including God, and only God responded.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
What really makes the difference in Christianity is that our works have nothing to do with salvation. In many other world religions, it is all about what you have to do on your own to get to heaven. As Christians we believe that it is nothing we did, but rather all what Christ did for us, and that we just need to accept this.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I agree with Joe. This is the challenge I pose: Find another religion with grace. I do not know any other religion that does not require man to somehow earn God/god(s)’s favor. For the Christ-follower “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.” ~Eph 2:8-9 (NIV)
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Most major religions preclude the existence of other true religions. This conclusion is based on simple logical extrapolation of foundational laws and principles of the religion(s) in question. For example, Christian theology dictates that the Lord is the one and only true God, and this excludes the existence of another true religion with another God (or Atheism).
I am not well versed enough in Hinduism or a various lot of other minor religions to go into detail, but I can illustrate this point using Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Atheism. Traditional Jews do not believe their Messiah has come yet to save them from their iniquity. However, careful examination of scriptures will reveal that Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament Messianic prophecy. Either Jesus was or wasn’t the Messiah, so Judaism and Christianity are mutually exclusive in that regard (there are other forms of Jewish belief systems that include Jesus as Messiah, but we won’t go into that here). Muslims acknowledge Jesus as a prophet of Allah, but not the Messiah and Son of God. However, if Jesus was not who he said he was, that would make him a liar and blasphemer, not a very good prophet. So Islam and Christianity cannot both be true. Atheism excludes the belief in a God, so that is clearly mutually exclusive with the three monotheistic doctrines discussed here.
Further examination from personal, logical, and historical standpoints shows Christianity to make more sense than other religions. This cannot possibly be extrapolated here with any sort of brevity; the point of this post was merely to establish that in most cases, a given religion is incompatible with others, so one or the other must be true. The rest of this site will help explain why Christianity is it. Here’s some historical food for thought though: more is known about Jesus historically (that is, corroborated outside of the Bible) than any greek philosopher, or even George Washington.
June 7th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
To answer (re-iterate) on your first question, Christianity is the only religion that do not require us to do good works for salvation. Good works come AFTER we are saved.
When it comes to a religion, we must first look for its Founder. Christianity was founded by Jesus Christ and the term Christian is first mentioned in the book of Acts which was written shortly after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Acts 11:26 “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. AND THE DISCIPLES WERE CALLED CHRISTIANS FIRST IN ANTIOCH”)
Jesus Christ is the central person in Christianity. Jesus fulfilled ALL the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him, performed miracles, healed the sick, lame, deaf, blind), to show that He was God in the flesh. The odds of fulfilling the prophecies are extremely small that it is almost an impossibility.
Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life which is another reason why He is God. The same cannot be said of Buddha, Mohammad, Mary, and many other gods people worship out there. Jesus always spoke the truth and He is always right, which makes Christianity right over the other religions.
The death, burial and resurrection of Christ fulfilled the law once and for all. Jesus Christ is THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE.
If you have ever lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain. You are a sinner. Please realize this.
We must put our faith in Jesus Christ alone, for the work He did on that cross to take care of the problem of sin. We must put our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, repent of our sins and turn to Him. Once you do that you are on your way to Heaven when you die.
God Bless