Main Bible Reference: Matthew 24:1-8, 23-28.
To go, or not to go to Hell.
How do we picture Jesus? Little Jesus meek and mild, with children
climbing all over him. The nice guy who hung out with those society wiped
off. The innocent Jesus who had been unfairly picked on and executed for
no apparent earthly reason. It’s often been said to me that the OT tells
of a God who is angry and wrathful, who sends judgement upon his people,
while the NT tells of a God of love who is going to see everyone saved.
God of the OT talks about hell and judgement while the NT talks about love
and heaven.
However, during the old testament, the word we know as hell (Hebrew: Sheol) was a general term to refer to the place of all departed spirits regardless of their personal status with God. If you died, you went to Sheol regardless whether you were good or bad. It was the unseen world of the dead. It is Jesus who modifies their understanding of life after death. Hell (greek: hades) became the place of eternal punishment for those who rejected the Gospel message, while those who lived under the will of God would be with him in heaven. Your relationship with God on earth had a bearing on your relationship with him after your death. We have hints in the NT that those that came before Jesus get picked up by him after his crucifixion. (1 Peter 3:19) As far as I’m concerned Jesus has some sort of preoccupation with Gods eternal judgement, to a level previously unseen throughout the OT. If people don't listen and respond to him, they could have a lot of trouble for eternity. Jesus calls for an urgent response; The end of the ages is on its way. This is not a nice sounding time; famine war, persecutions, religious deception, false prophets, turning away from the faith. However, those who remain faithful throughout all this will be saved. Jesus is a somewhat demanding figure in this case.
Eternal damnation is not something that I think I would enjoy. Most people in society think that if there is life after death, then we will all go to heaven. I’m OK, in the end God will accept me. (Universalists: god accepts everyone in the end).
Christian teaching says that it’s not what we do that will get us to heaven, but our personal relationship with God. Because we desire to be in a healthy personal relationship with God, we want to live our lives in a way that will glorify him. Our authority come from how God has revealed himself in the bible.
I think that this could be a root problem for some of our difficulties relating to those within other religions.
Many Christians have a concern as to whether God revealed himself in other ways to different ethnic cultures. I think part of the reason for this is a genuine concern not to judge members of other religions. In recent times was have become more aware of the devoutness of peoples in other religions, and embarrassed by a history of wars and brutality initiated by ‘Christian’ countries. Should we criticise other religions when you look at how well we don’t do.
But, the problem arises when we look at how do we weigh these valid concerns against the Great Commission to go and spread the gospel throughout the world.
Alternative 1 - all religions are equal
Don’t bother. Perhaps we don’t need to evangelise, because all other
religions are equally as valid. If all religions are equally as valid,
then the central message of each religion is the same, and everyone has
everything that they need to be saved by Gods grace within their own religion.
Two possible reasons.
Reason 1
Christ is not actually needed for salvation. Jesus is an added extra.
Bahai’s teach that all religions are actually the same. God personally
revealed himself 9 times throughout history, with Jesus being of the 9.
God reveals himself to a level that is acceptable to society at that time,
which explains why God appears to say something different every time he
pops down for a visit.
Reason 2
Another line of thought prevalent in many areas of Christianity;Christ
is actually there present in all religions, be it anonymously. This is
nothing but wishful thinking on the behalf of some Christians
What would other religions think of this?
1. Muslims would find it completely blasphemous.
2. Hindus reject the possibility that Christ could be the only way,
being happy to include Christ among their many divine beings. However,
those converted from Hinduism have found that salvation through Jesus is
completely different to the fatalism in the reincarnation and good works
used by Hindus to seek salvation.
3. Buddhists don’t think Christianity has anything useful to offer.
They don’t believe in God and salvation must come through living by the
teaching of Buddha.
4. Judaism rejected the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah, still
looking for him. They would have nothing to do with Christ. Interestingly
enough, some passages from Isaiah have been looked over in a recent timetable
for Jewish scriptural readings (the lectionary) because of their ‘Christian
connotations’.
Conclusion: most religions wouldn’t think that they are the same as
Christianity, and are fundamentally opposed to the gospel message.
The 2 exceptions
a) Hinduism: millions of Gods versus one. My mathematical skills tell
me that we’re probably talking a different language here.
b) Bahai: we must remember that Bahai’ is especially designed to fit
in western societies (they often try and sell themselves as a Christian
denomination). Their entry point is that they teach what Jesus taught,
but it is a message of love.
Alternative 2: We’ve actually misunderstood Christianity
Some say that there is no compelling evidence that God meant Christ to be the only path to salvation, and in many ways, we have misunderstood the real purpose of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus came to teach us such enduring values as justice, compassion, love, and mercy. Jesus was the great example that we should all aim to follow.
There is an element of truth in this; Jesus is a great example. But, there were lots of good examples throughout history. We teach that Jesus is unique. What makes him unique is that he came to do something that no one else could do. He paid the price for our rebellious nature through his work on the cross. It is the cross that makes Jesus work absolute. It shows us what divine justice is. If it were not for the cross, the values taught by Jesus would have no objective or absolute meaning. If we do away with divine justice, we have no objective basis for human justice. Each society is free to provide its own meaning without fear of being fairly evaluated.
Conclusion: if we take away the absoluteness of Christ’s work (death
and resurrection), then the absoluteness of his ethical teaching (such
as justice) also disappears.
Alternative 3: All religions ‘work’
This argument follows the line that while the fullest expression of
God’s grace is to be found in Jesus, God’s grace is actually at work in
all world religions. My problem with this is that if God is loving and
just, why has he given such totally different information about himself
and his expectations of us to each group of people. If all other religions
‘work’, then logically, central Christian doctrines such as the Trinity,
the incarnation, and the work of Jesus on the cross and his uniqueness
are completely unnecessary and are best disposed of.
I happen to think that this isn’t the case. Most other religions don’t
work. (except to an extent Judaism who can fairly claim a revelation from
God) They represent efforts by human to understand the meaning of death,life,
the universe and everything. Therefore, can we wipe off all world religions?
But, could there be truth in other religions?
YES, I think we could probably find some truth in other religions
1. Creation
God’s revelation of himself in Jesus, and the witness of this in scripture
is unique and final. But, God has partially revealed himself in creation.
‘the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work
of his hand . . only a fool says in their heart there is no God’
(psalm 19:1, 14:1). We believe that since the creation of the world God’s
invisible qualities, such as his eternal power and divine nature have been
clearly seen from what he has made. Therefore, everyone is without excuse.
(Romans 1:20)
The evidence provided by creation is available to anyone who cares
to look. If this evidence is available to everyone, then it would be fair
to assume that some of this evidence can be found in other religions.
2. Image of God.
We are made in the image of God and have been given the ability to
distinguish between right and wrong. (Romans 2:14-5) - Those who do not
have the law, do by nature that which is required of them. . .They show
that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, even defending them.
Therefore, I don’t think we should be overly surprised to find that Jesus’
golden rule ‘do to others as you would have them do unto you (Matt 7:12)
crops up in many other religions (i.e. Confucianism
3. Atheism does not come naturally.
Deep down, the material things of life never satisfy. God has ‘set
eternity in the hearts of men’ Ecclesiastes 3:11. It has been said that
there is a God shaped gap in every human being. People hunger for God.
Even those who adhere to religions that are technically non theistic, such
as Buddhism end up incorporating some form of God into their religion.
For these reasons, I think there are elements of truth in other religions. Interestingly, some converts describe a continuity between their previous world religions and new faith in Christ. This doesn’t make those religions true. A half truth is a half lie, and a half lie is not true. We are warned about being deceived by those who would take us away from the truth. The best way to deceive someone is to dress your story up with aspects of the truth. The best way to get a crowd when you’re preaching, is to say something that itchy ears want to hear.
In Conclusion
So, how do we relate to people in other religions without condemning
and bringing Gods wrath down on us? We need to look at people with the
Father’s eyes. How would Jesus relate to these people. With patience, sharing
as much of the truth as the individual could handle at any stage. Not condemning
them as a person but bring them to a point where they can be confronted
by Christ. People have discovered Jesus through other religions. People
have given out bibles and they have been read. I have good reason to believe
that many Muslims actually accept Jesus as saviour, but have been unable
to break out of Islam for cultural reasons. We must continue to pray for
those in other cultures and religions that are opposed to the message of
Christ that he will reveal himself to them.