其他宗教

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引到永生的门是窄的，路是小的，找到的人也少。——马太福音7:14

对非基督徒来说，基督教最令人反感的说法之一就是它提供了通往天堂的唯一途径。如果你是一个非基督徒，这冒犯你或让你感到不安是可以理解的。但我希望你至少能理解和尊重为什么对基督徒来说，不回避这一重要的基督教教义是很重要的。如果圣经真的是上帝的话，如果基督徒没有提到圣经中这么一个影响深远且永恒重要的部分，难道你不觉得那就太自私了吗?

比较世界宗教

我们要做的第一件事就是确定世界上主要宗教彼此间的差异，并确定这些差异是否可以跨越。基督教是建立在圣经的三位一体之神的基础上的——圣父，圣子，圣灵，尤其是圣子耶稣基督的生活。所有其他的宗教都是基于人的写作，而不是某个人的生活。犹太教是基督教的姊妹宗教，它基于圣经的旧约，否认新约，认为救世主还没有到来。伊斯兰教是建立在穆罕默德的著作的基础上，他们崇拜单一的、没有人情味的上帝。莫蒙主义是基于约瑟夫史密斯的著作，他们否认耶稣的永恒神性，相信多神，并且相信人类可以获得神性(就像他们的耶稣和圣父那样)并统治他们自己的星球。东方的宗教，包括印度教和佛教，以及基督教科学等西方新时代的宗教，基本上相信一切都是神(泛神论-可能会和你在一起)。这些宗教也教导轮回，直到圣灵达到“觉悟”和与神合一的程度。基督教教导人人都有一死，死后都有审判。(希伯来书9:27)。

基督教也是唯一一个承认人类与圣洁和正义的上帝之间没有希望的鸿沟的宗教，教导人们只有通过上帝的恩典才能获得救赎。所有其他的宗教都教导救赎必须通过人类的努力才能实现。也就是说，基督教是唯一不需要任何努力便可获得救赎的宗教，它完全是上帝的恩赐。在这一点上，我认为我们应该能够同意，世界主要的宗教是完全不同的，它们存在许多相互矛盾和矛盾的观点。认为所有的宗教都是平等的观念是不理性的。

圣经对其他宗教的看法

那么，圣经对其他宗教有什么要说的呢?它告诉我们，一场精神上的战争正在进行，而撒旦和恶魔之神的意图就是使我们远离真相。使徒约翰写道:“全世界都卧在恶者手下(约翰一书5:19)。使徒保罗警告我们说，人们会“听从那引诱人的邪灵和魔鬼的道理(提摩太前书4:1)”。从一开始，撒旦就一直在欺骗人类。在伊甸园里，他使夏娃相信“你们将会像上帝一样”。有趣的是，你有没有发现“上帝”是许多宗教的共同话题，包括佛教、印度教、摩门教，甚至是肯尼斯·科普兰、辛班尼和其他一些人错误的基督教教义吗?¹圣经也教导说，撒但和他的仆人会伪装成公义的大臣(哥林多后书11:13-14)。虚假宗教的撒旦是一个非常有效的谎言，因为它混合了一些真理。和真相混在一起的谎言就像老鼠药，它含有99%的好食物和1%的毒药——它那1%的毒药(或谎言)会杀死你！

圣经的救恩观

那么，现在问题的关键是:圣经关于救赎的说法是什么?圣经清楚地告诉我们，通往天堂的唯一途径就是相耶稣基督的复活！使徒彼得说:“除他以外，别无拯救。因为在天下人间，没有赐下别的名，我们可以靠着得救(使徒行传4:12)。耶稣说:“我就是道路、是真理、生命，若不藉着我，没有人能到父那里去。(约翰福音14:6）”圣经教导我们，罪把我们从一个圣洁的神中分离出来，而唯一能使我们与神和好的方法就是承认我们的罪，接受他的恩慈宽恕，这宽恕是他以将他无罪的儿子耶稣基督钉十字架上为代价得来的。”圣经清楚表示,如果你不接受你的救主耶稣为你的罪免的债，当你死时,就不会在神的恩典之下反而会被上帝依法审判。圣经宣称过去和现在的所有人都失败了,“因为世人都犯了罪,亏缺了神的荣耀”(罗马书3:23;还看列王纪上 8:46,传道书7:20,以赛亚书53:6)”神不会强迫人去爱他，他的圣洁没有别的选择，只能把不悔改的人从他身上分离出来，永远地在地狱里受苦。这似乎是严厉和不宽容的，但如果没有审判，上帝就不能忠于他的圣洁正直的品格。幸运的是，故事并没有停止。圣经告诉我们上帝为救赎我们所做的的美好计划，通过在上帝面前承认我们的罪，我们将被赦免，我们的罪恶的债务将通过他儿子无辜的血被抹去！这是一个无法理解的大礼，它既不是赢得的，也不是应得的(罗马书6:23)。这是一个正直的、圣洁的神的恩典，他充满爱且富有同情心，在“我们仍然是罪人”的时候死去(罗马书5:8)。你知道有多少人会为那些多年来一直迫害和憎恨他们的人而生活?著名作家兼讲师约什麦克道尔提供了一个很好的类比，证明了上帝公正，正直的本性与他的仁慈和优雅相结合:

几年前发生在加州的一件事，说明了耶稣在十字架上所做是为了解决上帝在处理人类罪时所遇到的问题。一名年轻女子因超速被捕，罚款后被带到法官面前。法官宣读了传票，并问道“有罪还是无罪?”女人回答道,“有罪”。法官拉下了木槌，罚款100美元或拘留10天。然后令人惊奇的是，法官站了起来，脱下长袍，走到前面拿出皮夹付了罚金。对此有何解释?法官是她的父亲。他爱他的女儿，但他是一个公正的法官。他的女儿触犯了法律，他不能简单地对她说:“因为我太爱你了，所以我原谅你。你可以离开了”。如果他这样做了，他就不是一个公正的法官，因为他没有维护法律。但是他非常爱他的女儿，所以他愿意脱下他的司法长袍，走到前面作为她的父亲来代表她支付罚金²。

从我们心中所知上帝的属性来看，他圣洁、公义、怜悯和仁慈，因而基督教是唯一有意义的宗教。他为我们的过犯受害，为我们的罪孽压伤。因他受的刑罚，我们得平安；因他受的鞭伤，我们得医治我们都如羊走迷，各人偏行己路，耶和华使我们众人的罪孽归在他身上(以赛亚书53:5-6)。

总结

基督教以外的所有宗教都不鼓励他们的追随者去研究其他宗教，这难道不是很有趣吗?另一方面，被告知的基督徒促使人们去研究和比较基督教和其他宗教。基督教信仰在圣经中被定义为“信就是所望之事的实底是未见之事的确据”(希伯来书 11:1)。作为基督徒，我们有坚定的信心，我们没有遵循“精心设计的故事”(彼得后书1:16)，这是所有其他宗教的问题。对于圣经中关于与撒旦和他的仆人的精神战争的说法，还有其他宗教的事实，这并不令人惊讶。圣经受到的非信徒的攻击比其他任何宗教书籍都要多，这也不足为奇。耶稣断然警告他的信徒们，许多假先知会来引诱他们误入歧途(马太福音24:11，马可福音13:22，等等)。世界上其他的宗教都是撒旦的有效工具，他试图让我们看不到我们对救世主的需要。“此等不信之人被这世界的神弄瞎了心眼，不叫基督荣耀福音的光照着他们。基督本是真神的像。(哥林多后书4:4)

Textual Evidence Historical Jesus

1. Copeland and Hinn are leading teachers in the charismatic Word of Faith movement. While I truly believe there are sincere Christians within the WoF movement, I pray they take a serious look at the questionable doctrines of their church that are so conducive to leading one into spiritual pride. Not only have the leaders in this movement proclaimed the “we are god manifested in the flesh” heresy, but they also teach the practice of “slaying in the spirit”, Jesus was tormented by Satan in hell for three days, you cannot be truly filled with the spirit unless you speak in tongues, you can receive a second, separate baptism long after conversion, the bizarre practice of holy laughter, and many other unscriptural and dangerous doctrines. Many Word of Faith teachers have also made false prophecies, and some have even predicted doom and gloom for Christians who would dare challenge their teachings. I witnessed Jim Baker do this several times on his TV broadcast (probably the only two times I even tuned in). 2. Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, Tyndale House Publishers, 1977, pgs 114-115[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Ding Peng

Online Book

Other Religions

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Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. – Matt 7:14

To non-Christians one of the most offensive claims of Christianity is that it provides the only path to heaven. If you are a non-Christian it is certainly understandable why this would offend or upset you, but I would hope you can at least appreciate and respect why it is important for Christians not to skirt such an important tenet of Christianity. If the Bible truly is the Word of God, wouldn’t you agree that it would be incredibly selfish of Christians to fail to mention such a far-reaching, eternally important component of the Bible?

Comparing World Religions

The first thing we should do is determine how the major religions of the world differ from each other, and to ascertain whether these differences are bridgeable. Christianity is based on the Triune God of the Bible – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and particularly the life of the Son, Jesus Christ. All other religions are based on the writings of men and not the life of any particular individual. Judaism, the sister religion to Christianity, is based on the Old Testament of the Bible, rejecting the entire New Testament and holding that the Messiah has not yet come. Islam is based on the writings of Muhammad, where they worship a single, impersonal god. Mormonism is based on the writings of Joseph Smith, where they deny the eternal divinity of Jesus, believe in many gods, and believe men can attain godhood (as their Jesus and Father did) and rule over their own planet. The Eastern religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, and Western new-age religions such as Christian Science essentially believe everything is god (Pantheism – may the force be with you). These religions also teach reincarnation until the spirit reaches a level of “enlightenment” and oneness with god or the gods. Christianity teaches one death and one judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

Christianity is also the only religion that recognizes the hopeless gap between man and a Holy and Righteous God, teaching that salvation can only be obtained through God’s grace. All other religions teach that salvation must be achieved through human effort. That is, Christianity is the only religion that does not require any works to obtain salvation, its entirely a gift of God.

I think at this point we should be able to agree that that the major world religions are quite different, with many conflicting and contradictory views. To hold that all religions are equally true is simply not a rational belief.

Biblical View on Other Religions

So what does the Bible have to say about other religions? It teaches that there is a spiritual war going on and the intention of Satan and his host of demonic spirits is to divert us from the truth. The apostle John wrote that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19)”, and the apostle Paul warned us that people will “follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (1 Timothy 4:1)”. From the beginning Satan has been deceiving humanity. In the garden he convinced Eve that “ye shall be as gods”. Don’t you find it interesting that to be divine “as God” is a common thread among many religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, and even false Christianity teachings by Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn and others¹? The Bible also teaches that Satan and his servants will masquerade as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). Satan’s hoisting of false religions has been a very effective lie since it mixes in some truth. A lie mixed in with truth is much like rat poison, which contains 99% good food and 1% poison – its that 1% of poison (or lie) that will kill you!

Biblical View on Salvation

Well, now to the crux of the matter: What does the Bible say about salvation? The Bible plainly and clearly teaches that the only way to heaven is belief in the risen Jesus Christ! The apostle Peter said:“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).” Jesus himself said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).”

The Bible teaches that sin has separated us from a Holy God, and that the only way to reconcile ourselves with Him is for us to confess our guilt and then to accept His gracious forgiveness through the price paid at the cross by His sinless Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible makes it very clear that if you do not accept Jesus as your Savior to pay the debt of your sins, then when you die you will not be under God’s grace but will instead be judged by God according to the law, which the Bible claims all men past and present have failed, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23; also see 1 Kings 8:46, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Isaiah 53:6)”. Since God will not force anyone to love Him, His Holy nature leaves no other choice but to separate the unrepentant from Him forever to suffer eternally in hell. This may seem harsh and intolerant, but without judgment God could not remain true to His Holy and Righteous character.

But fortunately the story doesn’t stop there, as the Bible tells us of God’s wonderful plan for our redemption, that by confessing our sins before God, we will be forgiven and our sin debt will be wiped away through the shedding of his Son’s innocent blood at Calvary! It is a gift of such magnitude that it can not be comprehended, for it is neither earned or deserved (Romans 6:23). It is testimony to the grace of a righteous and holy God who is also incredibly loving and compassionate, who died “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). How many people do you know would lay their life on the line for someone who has persecuted and hated them for years?

Noted author and lecturer Josh McDowell provided a good analogy demonstrating God’s just, righteous nature combined with his mercy and grace:

An incident that took place several years ago in California illuminates what Jesus did on the cross in order to solve the problem God had with dealing with the sin of humanity. A young woman was picked up for speeding. She was ticketed and taken before the judge. The judge read off the citation and said “Guilty or not guilty?”. The woman replied, “Guilty”. The judge brought down the gavel and fined her $100 or ten days. Then an amazing thing took place. The judge stood up, took off his robe,walked down around in front, took out his billfold, and paid the fine. What’s the explanation of this? The judge was her father. He loved his daughter, yet he was a just judge. His daughter had broken the law and he couldn’t simply say to her “Because I love you so much, I forgive you. You may leave”. If he had done that, he wouldn’t have been a righteous judge. He wouldn’t have upheld the law. But he loved his daughter so much that he was willing to take off his judicial robe and come down in front and represent her as her father and pay the fine².

In light of the attributes of God we know to be true in our hearts, such as His holiness, righteousness, compassion, and mercy, Christianity is the only religion that makes sense.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Summary

Isn’t it interesting that all religions outside of Christianity do not encourage their followers to research other religions? On the other hand, informed Christians have no problem prompting people to research and compare Christianity to the other religions. The Christian faith is defined in the Bible as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). We as Christians have solid confidence we are not following “cleverly devised stories” (2 Peter 1:16), which is sadly the problem with all other religions.

Given what the Bible says regarding the spiritual warfare that is going on with Satan and his servants, the fact that there are other religions should certainly be no surprise. It should also not be a surprise that the Bible is attacked by non-believers far more than any other religious book. Jesus emphatically warned his followers of the many counterfeits and false prophets that would come and try to lead men astray (Matthew 24:11, Mark 13:22, etc.). The other religions of the world have been an effective tool of Satan in his quest to blind us of our need for a Savior.

“The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4)”

Textual Evidence Historical Jesus

1. Copeland and Hinn are leading teachers in the charismatic Word of Faith movement. While I truly believe there are sincere Christians within the WoF movement, I pray they take a serious look at the questionable doctrines of their church that are so conducive to leading one into spiritual pride. Not only have the leaders in this movement proclaimed the “we are god manifested in the flesh” heresy, but they also teach the practice of “slaying in the spirit”, Jesus was tormented by Satan in hell for three days, you cannot be truly filled with the spirit unless you speak in tongues, you can receive a second, separate baptism long after conversion, the bizarre practice of holy laughter, and many other unscriptural and dangerous doctrines. Many Word of Faith teachers have also made false prophecies, and some have even predicted doom and gloom for Christians who would dare challenge their teachings. I witnessed Jim Baker do this several times on his TV broadcast (probably the only two times I even tuned in).
2. Josh McDowell, More Than A Carpenter, Tyndale House Publishers, 1977, pgs 114-115[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Fred Williams

Fred Williams has been giving lectures on creation for decades to churches, schools, conferences, and other organizations. Mr. Williams has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and has spent the last 30+ years in the high tech industry as a design engineer of both hardware and software. His projects have included developing software for a cutting-edge adult stem cell growth chamber, managing a team that produced high-precision GPS devices for off-highway vehicles, and is currently employed by Micron developing NAND storage solutions. He is currently the co-host with Bob Enyart on the popular Real Science Radio program that airs every Friday at 3:00pm on the 50,000-watt AM 670 KLTT. He has also long served as the Webmaster for the Creation Research Society, the oldest creation organization in the United States. Fred can be reached at [email protected].