One fascinating facet of humanity is how many different religions we have. And for every religion there are people who are sincerely convinced that it’s the truth.
While I doubt anyone would argue that Christians should remain wholly ignorant of the beliefs of other religions, I do wonder what your approach is to learning about other religions.
How much should we learn about other religions?
Are the world’s religions all just different paths to the same destination? Most Christians would answer “no,” as traditional Christianity teaches that Jesus alone can bring us into a relationship with God. But how would you respond to somebody who asked you, personally, if Islam or Buddhism or another religion ultimate led to God?
Here’s how RBC Ministries answers the question:
The major religions that still survive today have lasted a long time, gained many followers, and produced complex and highly developed cultures. Those that have survived into the 20th century generally uphold a moral law similar to the biblical 10 Commandments.  But the world’s major religions do not share a consensus about how to come to terms with our failure to live up to the moral standards of our faith.
While all major contemporary religions have a fairly close general consensus regarding the moral law—the kind of behavior that deserves to be classified as virtuous or sinful—they fall far short of showing us how to come to terms with our own failure to live up to the moral standards of our faith.
According to the New Testament gospel of Christ, knowledge of the moral law brings awareness of sin and guilt (Romans 3:19,20; 7:7-13; 1 Timothy 1:7-11), but is in itself not a means of salvation. Knowledge of the moral law only brings condemnation, and with condemnation comes guilt and the many destructive ways people try to suppress it (legalism, self-righteousness, scapegoating).Only reliance upon Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection in our behalf provides a solution to the awareness of moral condemnation and agony of guilt that rises out of knowledge of the moral law. Only Christianity offers access to God because it answers the problem of evil and guilt.
Read the rest of RBC Ministries’ answer at their website.
Is that a good answer to the question? Do you think that all religions lead to the same God—and if not, how would you answer somebody who asked you why not?
If I were to go to your Facebook page, what would I see listed under “Religious Views”?
Defining your “Religious Views” can be a deceptively complicated experience. Many people aren’t comfortable with labeling themselves so succinctly, because taking on a label often means taking on all the connotations of that label. You might understand what it means to be “Baptist” or “Catholic,” but do all of your acquaintances and friends? Will they in turn label you as a nutcase if you say you’re “Presbyterian?” Should you care if they look at you askance for being “Anglican?”
A recent conversation on the definition of the term ‘evangelical’ comes to mind (see this Jesus Creed post if you’re interested in exploring that). Nowadays, the word “Evangelical” carries some very unchristian baggage along with it in some people’s minds.
A Washingtonpost.com article, Soul-Searching on Facebook, provides some insight into the thought process that goes into the “Religious Views” question:
Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.
“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”
[...]
Of its 250 million users worldwide, Facebook says more than 150 million people choose to write something in the religious views box.
Later in the article Piotr Bobkowski, a doctoral student at UNC, talks about his research:
He has found that a significant portion of privately religious young adults — almost a third in the case of Protestants — avoid identifying themselves by their traditional sects.
Many teens, Bobkowski said, prefer to portray themselves as spiritual but not religious: “That’s why you see all these little one-line creeds popping up.”
What about you? What does your Facebook profile say your religious views are? Do you think there’s good reason for religious people to tiptoe around labels?
If Christianity, Islam, and many other religions call for their followers to help the poor or do good works within society, does it make sense for Christians to team up with followers of other religions to perform those good works? Is it possible (or a good idea) to jointly pursue such common purposes even if you have very different theological goals? How does your church approach this issue in your community?
If you moved to a new country and found yourself faced with unfamiliar customs, religions, and politics, where would you turn for information? Would you turn to local media (TV, movies, newspapers) for help understanding day-to-day life in your new home? Where would you begin?
That’s a challenge faced by millions of Muslims in America, many of whom have moved to the United States without a clear understanding of Christianity and without anyone to help them get connected to local culture. Many have never interacted meaningfully with Christians, just as many Christians have never done so with Muslims.
Mission Network News reports on The Crescent project, which is devoted to building bridges between Muslims and Christians in the West:
Misunderstanding and misinformation. These are the problems affecting relationships between Muslims and Christians. One organization is trying to change that, while equipping Christians to help Muslims better understand Jesus.
President and CEO of Crescent Project Fouad Masri says, “Our goal is to equip and enable Christians to reach out to the millions of Muslims in America with the claims of Jesus and give them a chance to respond.”
Masri says there’s a reason he started the ministry. “I discovered that a lot of Muslims moving to the West do not have any Christian friends. The majority of Muslims today have never been to a Christian’s home. So they come to America, and their view of our values and our religion is what they see on television and in movies. Muslims are not hearing the claims of Christ.”
Read the rest of the article or visit The Crescent Project’s homepage.
Back in January, InterVarsity reported on a panel discussion held at the University of Washington where the participants responded to the question, If Christians would listen, what would you say?:
Three atheists, one agnostic and one Christian volunteered for a panel discussion to consider the question, “If Christians would listen, what would you say?†Well, they did have a lot to say—and the InterVarsity students who sponsored the event humbly listened. The honest dialogue turned into a riveting evening that engaged the hearts and minds of believers and non-believers—to the benefit of all.
Often Christians are perceived as being close-minded and judgmental, especially on certain topics.
The panel said some sobering things like, “Where are the real Christians who live out what Jesus taught?†You can read the full story at StudentSoul.org. Student Soul is a division of InterVarsity’s web ministry devoted to bringing readers and writers together for conversation about faith, real relationships and and life on college campuses.
Election.
Could there be a more contentious word for the American follower of Christ? There are political elections. Elections in which voices from every side of the aisle will sputter about how Jesus would vote. And there is the matter of spiritual election in which one is predetermined to be heaven-bound or not.
Two issues that, in my opinion, should elicit a very similar response: prayer, Bible reading, a healthy understanding of the grace we are given and urged to give by Christ, and humility.
Prayer because—let’s be honest—without God’s guidance, we are left to our own wisdom, which is a terrible position to be in.
Bible reading because each of these ideas are complicated. Everybody needs to determine for themselves how to vote and what to believe, and appealing to the sourcebook of knowledge is a great place to begin.
Grace because chances are if you have or have had acquaintances, friends or family in your life you know what it is like to disagree with someone. Who hasn’t understand why a loved one would believe something? Who hasn’t been on the receiving end of that bewilderment?
Humility because as history has shown us there’s a lot of ways to make a fool of ourselves. Better to know one’s position in God’s kingdom than to be pompously prideful.
Plenty of people will enumerate reasons about who you should vote for, but we’d urge you to enter into the voting booth with a discerning heart and the knowledge that your true allegiance is not to a government but to God.
Yesterday we pointed out a number of resources to help Christians learn more about Islam. Today we’ve got a few more, starting with a series of short Introduction to Islam videos from People of the Book. Here’s the first video:
Be sure to watch part 2 and part 3 if you found that useful.
The above videos, and the resources we noted yesterday, focus primarily on introducing the basic teachings and tenets of Islam. But if you’re looking for a more thorough analysis comparing Islam’s teachings to those of Christianity, Faith Facts has an exhaustive comparison of the two faiths. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christianity and Islam differ, or if those differences are theologically important, that’s a good place to start.
And last but not least, Into Thy Word has an excellent summary of Muslims beliefs, as well as some concrete ideas for effectively sharing the Gospel and showing Christlike love to Muslims. This essay, by Patrick Cate, also addresses many of the more cultural questions about Islam and the Arab world that have cropped up since September 11, 2001—questions about Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, and Western biases against and misconceptions about Muslims.
For Christians, summer and autumn make up a long gap between the major holidays that dot the church’s calendar. But for Muslims, this is an important time of year: we’re right in the middle of Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting and prayer. Arab World Ministries describes Ramadan more specifically:
The fourth pillar [of the Islamic faith] is the fasting, or the “Saum”, during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan. Muslims go by the lunar calendar, and so Ramadan moves every year. From sunrise to sunset, Muslims do not eat or drink. Smoking, sexual contact, swearing and anger are forbidden. The faithful are encouraged to use the month of fasting to draw closer to God, and to renew their spiritual strength.
Why should Christians take the time to learn about Muslim holidays or other elements of the Muslim faith? Because understanding what Muslims do (and don’t) believe is critical if we want to introduce them to the Gospel message. The Ramadan period is as good a time as any to learn a bit more about Islam and its tenets, and to that end a number of resources from the Gospel.com community can help:
Ministries like Arab World Ministries, Lausanne World Pulse, and People of the Book all have excellent information about Islam and the importance of understanding and reaching out to Muslims. Take advantage of the Ramadan period to educate yourself about Islam, and consider ways you can pray for or minister to Muslims!
[The accompanying image is an old map of the city of Mecca.]
One of the more interesting consequences of the Olympic games being held in China has been the Chinese government’s slight loosening of religion restrictions within its borders.
Granted, there’s still much persecution and government intervention when it comes to religion, but something like this would have been unheard of 40 years ago:
China will provide 10,000 free Chinese-English bilingual Bibles to be distributed in the Olympic Village where the Olympic athletes and media are housed, as reported by the China Daily newspaper. The bilingual Bible text will include the CUV (Chinese Union Version) and the ESV (English Standard Version), appearing in two side-by-side columns per page. The CUV Bible is the most widely distributed Chinese Bible in the world, and the ESV Bible has recently become the fastest-growing English language Bible in the world.
In addition to the 10,000 bilingual CUV-ESV Bibles, 30,000 New Testaments and 100,000 bilingual editions of the four Gospels will also be made available at the Olympic Games.
Because cultural and academic leaders in China are seeking to understand the influence of the Bible on the worldview and culture of the West, there is a growing interest in Chinese-English bilingual Bibles in mainland China. “We are especially grateful,†Crossway President Dr. Lane Dennis notes, “that the ESV was selected by Chinese Christian leaders for publication with Chinese CUV Bible, through our partnership with the British and Foreign Bible Society. Since both the CUV and the ESV are ‘essentially literal’ Bible translations, they are ideally suited for a side-by-side comparison of the two languages. What a wonderful thing it would be if thousands of people would learn English—and Chinese!—by reading the Bible in side-by-side bilingual editions.â€
Read more over at the ESV Bible Blog.
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