Christianity is but one in a great field of religious philosophies
and ideologies that litter the landscape of humanity’s search for ‘something
more.’ I once had a youth minister who
described this search as an internal ‘god magnet’ that each and every one of us
possesses. That is, we are aware that
there is ‘something’ bigger than ourselves that remains unseen. Like a magnet, it draws us to itself. For the Christian, this something is Yahweh,
God. But the fact that so many other
religions claim that their particular set(s) of beliefs are correct calls the
Christian claim into question. What
makes Christianity so special? Why is
the Christian right and everyone else is wrong? What makes Christianity unique?
In exploring this subject, the most compelling argument for the
unique nature of Christianity is the nature of God, Himself. He is the eternal, uncaused Creator who has
made Himself known to humanity and desires a personal relationship with all
people. The mere fact that God is
personal says that He is knowable. This
trait alone stands out against many religions.
For example, in Islam, adherents worship Allah who is linked to Yahweh
in the historic sense. However,
theologically, Allah is unknowable and unreachable for the Muslim. There is no personal relationship and many of
Islam’s doctrines and beliefs are contradictory to the characteristics of the
Christian God.
Buddhism is much the same
in that there is either no god at all or there exists an “impersonal ‘Buddha essence’”
to which followers are to
attempt to attain 1. Although,
in Mahayana Buddhism, many deities “came to be represented in art and revered
in ways very similar to worship of Hindu gods,” none have the personal or
knowable characteristics of the Christian God 2. Judaism, Christianity’s older brother, has
even lost touch with the God of their ancestors. For today’s Jew, being Jewish is less about
religion and more about culture and tradition.
“The crucial question in Judaism is, What do you practice? or What are
you doing with your life? not What do you believe?” 3.
In writing to Timothy, Paul warned that religion would become
tainted and men would follow evil spirits.
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith
and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (1 Timothy 4:1, NIV). Hinduism and the tribal religions declare the
existence of a number of gods. In the
case of Hinduism, the number of gods in their pantheon is staggering. “Beyond the principal deities of the Trimurti
and the avatars, it is estimated that there are 330 million other gods in
Hinduism” 1. In some Hindu
circles, Brahman (the supreme god of the Hindus) is seen as a “personal, loving
god who desires the salvation of all men.
More usually, however, he is described as a supreme, impersonal being
completely above all creation and uninvolved with life on earth” 2. The tribal religions tend to have many
deities as well, though their pantheon is not as encyclopedic as that of Hinduism. Their religions typically include nature gods
and spirits and are “marked by a proliferation of ritual and magic” 3. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator—who is forever
praised. Amen” (Romans 1:25).
Chinese
popular religions as well as Japanese religions have become an amalgam of many
belief systems that have lost any philosophical or religious substance. “The whole character of Chinese popular
religion flows in the direction of a plethora of rituals and obligations
without much discernable doctrinal underpinning” 3. Likewise, “for many Japanese, religions do
not offer a personal faith; they offer ceremonial services” 1. For the most part, these religions have
become animistic folk-religions. That
is, while people search for that ‘something’ that pulls at them, they “become
desperate, and…are tempted to grab for something that works” even if it is not
the manner in which the particular religion is meant to function 1. They take the basic tenants of a religion or
a philosophy and bend it to fit into their way of life. They have been deceived into false beliefs
that lead nowhere. In another example of
blending traditions, Sikhism synthesized Islam and Hinduism to form its belief
system.
Standing in stark contrast to the polytheistic religions described
above is the exclusive nature of God.
The Christian God is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present in our
lives. Because He truly is the Almighty,
He does not require any other ‘gods’ to help in overseeing His creation. Paul writes that He is “able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 4:20b). The power of God is unfathomable to the
limited comprehension of the human mind.
The polytheistic religions have created their pantheon of gods with each
having jurisdiction over a certain area of creation or having responsibility
for a certain tribe, clan, or family.
Many
will ask, What about Jesus and the Holy Spirit?
Is Christianity not polytheistic as well? The answer is decidedly “NO.” Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John
10:30). Further, the Holy Spirit is also
referred to as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ twenty seven times
according to the NIV 4. It is
understood that they Triune God is three persons of the same essence that make
up a single Godhead. Thus, when God says
“Let us make man in our image” in Genesis 1:26, the ‘us’ is the Trinity, not a
group of gods.
This brings us to the next point; the place of humanity in
creation. The Hindus say humans are a
part of the divine essence of the universe, a universal “Oneness” to which
everyone will return. The Buddhists
claim people are a part of an impersonal aggregate to which they will return
when they enter ‘Nirvana,’ “where the ego is extinguished” 1. Islam, like Christianity, claims that man was
made by God but that there is nothing in us that is like Him. Islam also denies that man is sinful by
nature 1. Tribal religions tend to vary on their
creation stories, but on the whole they tend to see man as a created being,
possibly harkening back to a time when the religions were monotheistic in
nature. However, unlike the Christian
God, the tribal creator god is “worshipped only in times of great distress” 3. Christians believe God created them in His
image (Genesis 1:26), loves them (Psalm 86:15), cares for their well-being
(Philippians 4:19), provides for them (Matthew 6:31, 32), and desires a
relationship with them (Romans 5:8). He
is worshipped and loved by Christians in all that they do (Colossians
3:17).
The sin problem manifests in other religions through fear of
offending the spirits, the natural order, or some impersonal force. That is, they are aware that they have a
problem with sin, they just misunderstand how sin affects their relationship
with a God they have lost touch with. It
is because of God’s love for humanity that He supplied a cure to man’s sin
problem through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. None of the religions mentioned here make
such a bold claim. Instead, they rely on
man to earn his own salvation through works.
However, to the Christian, Paul writes “For it is by grace
you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Ultimately this salvation ends with eternal
life in Heaven, where we will be transformed and be like Christ’s “glorious
body” (Philippians 3:21). In all
fairness, however, most religions promise an afterlife. The end for Hindus is the merging of the self
with the Oneness, the Buddhist seeks Nirvana, and others have some form of
paradise that somewhat resembles the Christian idea of Heaven.
Finally, there is Christ Himself. Many call into question the uniqueness of
Christ, namely His death and resurrection.
In ancient religious mythology, there are a number of gods who ‘died’
and were ‘resurrected’ in one manner or another. For example, the ancient Egyptians claimed Osiris
was killed by his brother Set, only to be magically brought back to life
through a magic spell. The very oldest
depictions of Osiris show plants growing from his reassembled body, indicating
it is a myth associated with agriculture. Tammuz was a Sumerian god of vegetation. He came to be worshipped through a life,
death, and rebirth ritual that signified the changing of the seasons and the
harvests. Others included Attis, Persephone, and Dionysus Zagreus. According to Ring;
With the
exception of the last, each of these was associated with a goddess—wife, sister,
mother, or lover—whose emotions in the loss and recovery of her darling were a
model for the emotions which the ritual of the cult aimed to arouse in the
devotees 5.
Each of these were also myths associated
with the harvest and/or seasons.
The
Jesus story is sublimely unique for a number of reasons. First, Jesus is not just the Son of God; He
is the physical embodiment of God.
Second, Jesus is not killed by another god, nor is He killed against His
will. He freely offered Himself up as a
sacrifice for the sins of humanity (John 10:17-18). Third, there is an eschatological purpose to
the death of Christ whereas the death and rising of these other ‘gods’ is
simply a metaphorical myth. Fourth, the
death and resurrection of Christ are tied to actual historical places and
events. They are as verifiable, if not
more so, as the life of Alexander the Great, while the personalities and adventures of Dionysus Zagreus and his compeers
are the spawn of mythological fancy” 5.
Christians serve a living God.
Jesus conquered death for the sins of the world. Muhammed is lying in a grave. Buddha is lying in a grave. The Hindus worship and venerate statues. The practitioners of tribal religions worship
the creation as opposed to the creator.
Chinese and Japanese religion borders on secularism. Christians are promised eternity thanks to a
loving and knowable God who reached out to them in sacrificing His own son for
our reconciliation and salvation. Works
can never be enough, but childlike faith wins the day. The Christian faith alone has held onto its
monotheistic roots and remains a religion of faith and obedience toward the one
true God who loved us enough to save us from ourselves (John 3:16).
References
1.
Halverson, D. C. (Ed.). (1996). The
compact guide to world religions. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House.2. Cory, S., & Burroughs, D. (Eds.). (2007). The spirit of truth and the spirit of error: Comparing Christianity with world religions. Chicago, IL: Moody.
3. Corduan, W. (2012). Neighboring faiths: A Christian introduction to world religions (2nd Ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
4. Blue Letter Bible Website. (n.d.). www.blueletterbible.org
5. Ring, G. C. (1944). Christ’s resurrection and the dying and rising gods. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 6(2), 216-229. Retrieved from http://catholicbiblical.org/publications/cbq
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