Why would Jesus be the only way to God?

  

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

This is a common question that comes up when talking Christianity and how to "get to" heaven. There are many different faiths and many different ideas on what to expect after we shuffle off this mortal coil. Many people believe that all roads lead to "heaven" (whatever that means for each individual). So, why should Christians believe that Jesus is the one and only way to get to heaven?

Obviously, the short answer is because Jesus said so. Unfortunately this may not be a particularly compelling answer for someone who does not see the Bible or Jesus as an authoritative source. Authority is a fairly significant issue and is beyond the scope of what I want to cover here, but will certainly attempt to address that at another time.

For now, assuming that the Bible is actually authoritative, let's take a look at how this remains a very important doctrine from within the Christian faith. For many, the fact that Jesus said so is sufficient. But how and why is that the case?

How Could a Loving God Condemn Good People to Hell?

Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash

It is a common question that arises from people who have lost their faith, are losing their faith or never had faith to begin with. If Hell is such a terrible place, as Christians have always said, why would a loving God allow good people to be there? It just doesn't make sense, does it? How can this be?

Does God's Foreknowledge Destroy Free Will?

Recently, I was listening to The Bible Answer Man and a caller had asked a question about whether or not we could have free will in light of God's foreknowledge of what we would do. The caller spent a few minutes on the air with Hank going back and forth about whether this was an issue and whether God's knowing a future event without the ability to be wrong about it means that the event is pre-determined and could not be any other way.

For Hank's response, I would invite you to listen to the show from 5/26/2016. For my part, I would like to spend a few minutes taking a slightly different approach to this question. As is usually the case, this response is not solely made up of my own brilliant ideas, but is derived from responses I have heard from others in the past on this subject.

Does God condone slavery?

A common indictment against God (or the Bible) is that He condones slavery. There have been a number of responses to this sort of accusation. Most of the responses that I have heard or read about are typically quite similar. For most who level this challenge against God, the rebuttal is found lacking.

Most commonly, the rebuttal is that the slavery indicated in the Bible is not the sort of slavery that we currently think of in a post-19th Century Colonial America. While this line of argumentation seems to be true, as far as it goes, I don't believe it gets us very far in the conversation.

Has the Bible Been Translated Accurately?

When it comes to the Word of God, one of the most common questions that comes up is about whether or not the Bible we have today is an accurate representation of what was originally written 2,000 years ago. This challenge tends to be less about whether or not the Bible is the inspired Word of God (we'll get to that in another post) but whether or not it was handed down through the centuries without major alterations and corruptions along the way.

One common analogy people make is to compare the transmission of the events of Jesus' life to the Telephone Game. You remember that game. You sit in a big circle with a couple dozen people. The first person whispers something to the second. The second person whispers the message to the third. This continues until the last person gets the message. Of course, when the last person says the message out loud, it is hilariously different from what the first person said.

Do atheists lack a belief in God?

A common rebuttal from atheists regarding their responsibility to defend their own view is to say that they simply do not have a belief. This, according to their view, absolves them from any obligation to shoulder a burden of proof. They claim that not believing God exists is substantially different from saying God does not exist.

One such atheist once explained this by using the illustration of a jar of jellybeans. He said if someone told him there were 500 jellybeans in the jar, he might not believe them. But that does not mean that he believes there are not 500 jellybeans in the jar. Therefore, this is an example of a lack of belief and is parallel to the atheist's lack of belief in God.

The problem with this illustration is, it is not parallel. The number of jellybeans in the jar does not have any implications in how a person lives his or her life. How I treat other people is not impacted by whether or not I believe there are 500 jellybeans. Even taking and eating a handful of the jellybeans is not affected by whether or not I believe there are 500 of them in the jar.

Do Christians decide if God is real?

A while back, I wrote about whether it is appropriate for Christians put reason above God's Word when it
comes to belief in Christ. You might think I'm repeating myself, here. I assure you, this is a different thing. The other post had to do with prioritizing reason above God's revelation. This one has to do with our role in belief.

In other words, while the previous post discussed whether or not reason should be prioritized over God's Word when it comes to understanding what is true and what is not, today I want to look at whether God's existence is dependent on our own personal beliefs about Him. It is an important distinction to make and hopefully it is one which can be understood properly. It essentially comes down to the question, "Do we create God by believing in Him?"

Can God be both Just and Merciful?

Is God a God of justice? Or is He a God of mercy? Are those two things mutually exclusive? It seems that whichever direction we go with this, God is accused of doing wrong.

Many have claimed that the God of the Old Testament was mean, capricious, vindictive, petty, unjust and much, much more. This usually stems from passages having to do with the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cleansing of the Promised Land of other nations and tribes, etc.

People will refer to these parts of the Bible and claim that God is a horrible, mean, violent deity. So much so that some people will claim that, even if they were convinced that this God exists, they would not follow such a being. They simply don't like Him. They don't believe such a God exists, but hate Him anyway.

Do beliefs have moral qualities?

With all the political hot topics being bandied about regarding things like abortion, religious freedom, same-sex marriage and health care, as well as recent SCOTUS decisions, I thought this would be a good time to write a new post. Although I have not prepared a lot of material to keep things going, this seemed like something which needed to be addressed.

I have heard a lot of talk on both sides of the issues listed above and have noticed how these conversations have a tendency to degenerate and lead to quarrels, threats and even physical violence! This has gotten me thinking about not only the topics, but the way they are engaged.

What does this have to do with God?

Well...nothing, really. Except to say that the articles that I had written months ago have finally caught up to me and I have not had enough opportunity to keep ahead of the calendar.

Not to worry. The research and ideas and study are continuing and there will be more content coming in the near future. I have several things on my plate that I will be researching, reading, cross-referencing, etc.

Some of the topics I am working on are:

• Authorship of the Gospels
• Disparate details of the resurrection accounts
• Slavery in the Bible
• Secular morality
• Extra-biblical writings
• The Trinity
• Sin in heaven
• Letting God be God
• Lot and the visitors
• Early manuscripts

If there are any specific things that you would like me to cover or expound upon, please leave your comments below and I will try to get to them as time permits. In the meantime, thanks for reading and I do hope that you have been somehow blessed or enriched. 

I will be back soon. Until then, keep searching, keep asking and keep learning!

Is Christian Exclusivity Arrogant?

One of the many common accusations against Christians is that we are arrogant in believing that we, exclusively, have come to know the objective truth about something such as our eternal destiny. With all the other religions, anti-religions and everything else out there, how arrogant it is for us to claim that our way is the right way and everyone who doesn't believe what we do is just wrong!

In one sense, I suppose I can understand how someone could feel this way. On the other hand, it seems to me that people who do so fail to understand that almost any particular world-view is held by individuals to the exclusivity of other world views. When it comes right down to it, just about everybody who holds to a world view of any sort is actually in the same boat. So, when making this charge against Christians, the detractor is essentially jack-hammering the very foundation that they, themselves, are standing on.

What if Someone Believes in God for Bad Reasons?

Do you believe in God? Why do you believe in God? Do you know anybody that would answer that question using a less than ideal answer? Perhaps something like, "My parents were Christians." Or maybe, "Everyone I know is Christian."

If you or somebody you know is a Christian for one of those kinds of reasons, you (or they) don't have a very good reason to be a Christian. There are lots of people all around the world, but particularly in United States, who are Christians for those kinds of reasons. In other words, lots of people are Christians for really bad reasons.  An important question to ask when this is the case is, "So what?"

Can we prove that God exists?

A common question posed to Christians, indeed to theists of any stripe, today is whether or not one can "prove" that God exists. While this is a legitimate question to ask, some precautions and clarifications are necessary in responding to theses inquiries.

The first thing to point out is that the term "prove" must be clarified. Technically, to prove something is to show that it is the case with mathematical certainty. In other words, proving something is like showing that we can be as certain of a claim as we are that 2 + 2 = 4. Often, however, that is not what many people mean by "proof" while many others may mean precisely that. This can cause a breakdown in communication.

Top Posts of 2013

Congratulations! You have made it to the end of 2013. I thought I would go ahead and share the top 5 posts (by number of hits) for the year. It was going to be the Top 10, but since this blog just started halfway through the year, that seemed a bit weird since I'd be listing almost half the posts from the site. So, we'll do the Top 5 this year and maybe next year we'll do a Top 10.

So, here they are in order of greatest to smallest number of hits:

1. The Laws of Logic
2. Is the Bible True?
3. What is the Straw Man Fallacy?
4. Is Christianity Exclusive?
5. Should Christians be Anti-Intellectual?

I also would like to give "honorable mention" to What If the Bible Has Errors? as this post has been around for less than a month and yet has performed quite admirably.

Now, as we end 2013, I do hope that your year was blessed. If, however, it was filled with difficulty and trial, please do still look forward to the new year with hope and expectation. Moving into 2014, I do hope that this site will continue to bless you in some way.

If you have topics or questions that have not yet been addressed, please feel free to comment below and I can add new questions and respond to them as I am able. Also, if you would like to guest-post, I am open to doing that as well, though I've never done that before. It seems like a great way to better share information and ideas.

Until then, please have a blessed and prosperous 2014 (in one way or another).

The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us

I know that this really isn't a question. For some people, it may be questionable, but for the sake of today, I am going to simply assume that it is true rather than address the question. Mainly, this is because of what day it is and what the Church at large comes together to celebrate every year at this time.


Greg Koukl has said, multiple times, that he believes John 1:14 is perhaps the most important verse in the entire Bible. It speaks of a moment in human history when the almighty Creator of the entire universe - the One who made time, space and matter - humbled Himself by taking on a human nature for the express purpose of living a sinless life and dying a violent death in order to restore the broken relationship with His creatures.

What Am I? An Argument for Dualism over Materialism

Many atheists in the world would, almost by definition, have to be considered materialists. A materialist is a person who believes that the physical matter in the universe is all there is. There is nothing that exists which does not exist in the material world. Therefore, a materialist does not believe in the existence of a supernatural God or of a non-material soul.

It is upon this basis that I would like to make a case for the fact that we, as human being, indeed have a non-material aspect to our nature. Call it a spirit, a soul or a "center of consciousness" or whatever. Regardless of the terms you prefer to use, what I want to present here is primarily the conclusion that, whatever we are, we are more than our physical bodies.

Can Christians Watch Rated R Movies?

In many ways, this question is similar to the question about Christians using profanity. The basic premises still apply. The quote used from 1 Corinthians 6 still applies here in the same way that it applied to cursing.

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
1 Corinthians 6:12a

Essentially, the short answer is that, yes, Christians can watch rated R movies. Watching a movie with an R rating is not, necessarily, a sin. That said, there are a number of various nuances that we should probably take a look at with respect to this question.

What If the Bible Has Errors?

At the start, let's be clear. I do not believe the Bible contains errors. However, I have heard enough stories about people who have lost their faith because they "found out" that the Bible has errors or contradictions that I felt it would be good to address this.

While I do not believe that the Bible contains errors or contradictions, let us for the sake of argument grant that it does. The most important question anyone can ask in light of this, before they lost their faith, is: What follows from that?

Should Christians be Anti-Intellectual?

The current culture seems to view the Church as being about faith and not reason. These two concepts are touted as being contradictory, as if you can either have faith or reason, but clearly not both. Partly, this seems to be a result of the Church's retreat from the academy during the modern era.

Historically, this runs counter to the way Christianity has been understood. After all, most of the centers of education, universities, colleges, etc. are a direct result of Christian influence which targeted bringing knowledge and education to the masses. Without the Christian Church, it would be unlikely that we would be anywhere near where we are today from a scientific knowledge point of view.

How Can We Love Our Neighbor?

The Bible teaches that we are to love our neighbor. With all the parables and stories, as well as examples, of how we should go about loving our neighbor, it seems that how to actually love our neighbor is one of the most universally misunderstood concepts in Christianity.

The general understanding seems to be that as long as we are friendly and cordial to our neighbors on the off-chance that we happen to run into one of them between home and work, we have met this requirement admirably. And that's only for the "neighbors" we actually can identify and have had some sort of prior contact with. To complete strangers, we may not even be quite that nice.