Aren't All Religions Equal?

The Christian faith presents a big problem when it comes to other religions, as the Christian faith claims to know the exclusive truth about God. Central to the problem is that the Christian faith holds to what is called “correspondence truth.”

Correspondence Truth

This means that truth always corresponds to reality.

Therefore, truth for a Christian isn’t just our version of truth or merely comforting thoughts, but the way things actually are. It also means that when other religions or worldviews teach competing claims, we believe that they are stating things that don’t correspond with reality, they aren’t the way things actually are, they are false.

We see this reaffirmed in John 14:6 when Jesus states that, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is saying that he reveals the truth about God.  This would have been understood as an exclusive claim about God, which Jesus would have believed to be corresponding to reality. Jesus was declaring any other competing claims to be false.

We also see this reaffirmed in Acts 4:12 where Peters says that “There is salvation in no one else [besides Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Peter is speaking of the reality of sin being a problem for all people, which we need salvation from, and that Jesus’ death and resurrection are the sole hope we have for the forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus is put forward as the exclusive hope for humanity, and Peter is saying that any other option falls short.

The Problem

Here’s the problem, as life continues on you’ll meet many good and decent people who hold to other truth claims that they say corresponds to reality.

The Solution???

Religious pluralism is the most common response to the problem of good people holding competing truth claims. There are two types of religious pluralism.

1. Unsophisticated Pluralism
This states that all religions are true and teach essentially the same thing. However, this is clearly wildly false when we compare different religions. Islam teaches there is one personal God who created the world. Man is sinful and needs forgiveness and has one of two destinies, eternal heaven or eternal hell. Classical Buddhism on the other hand teaches nothing about sin or salvation. There is no personal God in Buddhism, and man doesn’t even have an eternal soul.

The idea that all religions essentially teach the same thing is clearly wrong.

It’s interesting how no one uses this way of thinking with math or banking. If I were to walk into a bank and tell them “all statement amounts are true and say essentially the same thing” and then hand them a napkin on which I’ve written “I have $1 million in my bank account,” they are always going to maintain a correspondence view of truth and tell me that I’m broke as a joke, and then proceed to laugh me out of the bank. The bank wouldn’t ever operate in a pluralistic way, why would we apply this thinking in reference to God?

2. Sophisticated Pluralism

This teaches that all religions are false, but somehow reflect truth. With this way of thinking, it’s impossible to say that one religion is true, and others are false.

This way of thinking loves the illustration of the blind men and the elephant. The illustration goes something like this: Imagine you are in a room with an elephant and several blind men are trying to describe that elephant. One man grabs the tail and states “the elephant is like a snake,” another grabs the leg and states “the elephant is like a tree,” one grabs the tusk and states “the elephant is like a spear.” In this illustration they are all equally false, but reflect some truth about the elephant. Sophisticated pluralists would say this is how religion works, we are all false, but reflect a bit of truth about God.

The Response

Pluralists make several statements about religion and truth I want to respond to.

1.  “All religions reflect truth, but not the whole truth”

This is essentially what the elephant and blind men illustration is trying to communicate. Each religion is reflecting truth, but not the whole truth. But here’s the problem, the only one who knows it’s an elephant is the outside perspective, and the pluralist is claiming to be the outside perspective. Basically, the pluralist is saying that everyone is wrong, while they alone are exclusively right. While trying to combat against exclusive religious claims, the pluralist is making an exclusive religious claim and claiming to have the whole truth.

Or to put it more simply, in trying to let every religious view be right, they are saying all others are wrong, and claiming to be the only true religious view.

2. “It’s arrogant to say that Christianity is exclusively true, and all other faiths are wrong”

As we’ve seen, pluralism is teaching that it is exclusively right and all other religions wrong. If exclusivity is arrogant, then pluralism has to be arrogant as they are making exclusive statements. Once again, with the blind men and the elephant, all the men were wrong in their descriptions about the elephant. The only truth about the elephant was the outside perspective, which pluralism claims to be. Pluralism claims to be the one who claims to see, while all other religions are blind! Therefore, if the Christian faith is arrogant, pluralism is as well!

3. “Your exclusive religious claims create wars and violence, it hinders peace.”

Pluralists are stating their views are the best answer to the problems of war and violence which religion creates. However, in the 20^th century some of the most violent and intolerant have been those who believed that religion caused intolerance and violence. 

The atheist Joseph Stalin is said to have murdered up to 61 million people during his reign in the Soviet Union. The atheist Mao Zedong is said to have caused the deaths of up to 70 million people in communist China. Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge banned all religious groups and murdered 3 million people, or about 25% of Cambodia. Hitler is thought by many historians to have been an atheist or a deist, and desired to eradicate the Christian faith. He was responsible for the deaths of at least 11 million people.

When Christians cause violence and wars, the need isn’t for a rejection of Christianity. The heart of the Christian faith is God dying for the good and forgiveness of His enemies. Instead, people need to take the exclusive claims of the Christian faith more seriously as this is going to lead to peace, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. This way will change everything.

4. “Your religious view is only based off of where you were born”

The argument is all religions are culturally conditioned, and therefore equally false. For example, if you were born in India you’d be a Hindu, if you were born in China you’d be a Buddhist, if you were born in Iran you’d be a Muslim, and since you were born in America you are a Christian.

But here’s the problem, pluralism is itself a religious view! This means that if we follow the logic, it’s culturally conditioned and equally false. As the argument goes, the only reason why a pluralist is a pluralist is based upon where they were born. If the pluralist was born in India they’d be a Hindu, or the pluralist was born in Iran they’d be a Muslim. This argument doesn’t disprove pluralism, just as much as it doesn’t disprove any religious faith.

Conclusion

If the Christian faith corresponds to reality, if it is exclusively true, then it’s exclusively true that we have an incredible hope. It’s exclusively true that the sovereign God who is ruling and reigning over all died for his enemies.

This beautiful truth changes everything for the person who anchors their lives in it.

"How Could God Allow Evil and Suffering?" Slides From Kipp Schwarz

Here are the slides from Kipp Schwarz when he taught on the problem of evil on August 22, 2013:

10 Places Your Small Group Could Serve

Our desire is that our HSM small groups would be mobilized to serve others regularly. Take a look below to see why we want this and how this can be done!

Here’s the purpose

In order to fully live out the Gospel Christians must live with compassion and service for those in need.

Here’s the vision for small groups

First Free Student Ministries Small Groups will be the primary means by which students will have compassion and service for those in need.

Here’s 10 places your small group could serve:

1. Lady Bugg House

Babysitting (ladies only), organize a game night (ladies only), manual labor, provide a meal, and other opportunities are available.

Call 316–440-2844 and ask for Nicole or email ladybugghouse@gmail.com

2. St. Anthony Family Shelter

They provide families with basic needs, assistance and support to gain stable housing, education on parenting and other life skills, and referrals to community resources. Opportunities include opening their family activity center to play games with kids or serving meals during the week.

Contact them at 316-264-7233 or email Dawn Epp at epp@catholiccharitieswichita.org

3. Union Rescue Mission

If evenings work best the option to serve the meal to their overnight guests is a great fit. This opportunity normally takes place from about 6:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. They prepare the food and your group would serve the meal. The only requirement for that is everyone in your group must have a food handlers card. For more information on the food handlers card or class times please follow this link: http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/PWU/Pages/Food-Tobacco.asp.

If during the day or weekends work well they always have plenty of things going on! They have another building that is in the process of being repurposed where they need help organizing clothing and things in that building. Occasionally they have food donations that they need help sorting. There is always something to do!

They also have some off-site projects that they need help completing.

4. Nursing Homes

Some of the ones you can contact where we’ve served before are Larksfield, Sedgwick Plaza, and Chaucer Estates. This is an opportunity to visit and care for those who may be lacking family or meaningful interaction.

Contact Phil Thengvall to specifically meet with people from our church at 316-305-4801.

5. The Treehouse

This organization seeks to serve low income/single moms. Call 316-686-2600 to learn about their volunteer opportunities.

6. Wichita Housing Authority

This is an opportunity to help clean and prepare low income housing for incoming tenants. It is an eye opening opportunity to learn about a culture far from our cozy lifestyle. Contact Brad Snapp for inquiry at 316-462-3721

7. Adopt a Missionary

Often missionaries can feel a sense of isolation, sending them a care package and a note of encouragement can go a long way for them. Contact Curt Romig at 316-491-3764

8. Refugee Families

The nations are coming to Wichita and we have the opportunity to love, welcome, and share the Gospel with them in our city. Contact Curt Romig at 316-491-3764

9. Morning Star Ranch

World Impact owns this camp. They are in need of help with maintenance. It is approximately an hour away and would be  a half day to a full day commitment.

Contact Paul Schultz at 316-617-0105

10. The Lord’s Diner

Large volunteer groups from area churches and organizations are the core of their volunteer base. These groups are scheduled to serve on a regular basis once a month or once every other month, depending on the size of the group and the availability of dates. Smaller groups and volunteers not affiliated with a group are matched with existing volunteer groups to "lend a hand" on a regular basis.

To become a volunteer at either Lord's Diner locations you must first obtain your Food Handler's Card. This can be done by attending a free, two-hour class at the Wichita Health Department. Please call the Health Department at (316) 268-8351 for a complete list of class dates and times. In addition, there are a couple volunteer forms that must be completed before serving. These forms can be obtained by contacting The Lord's Diner at (316) 266-4966.

Those interested in becoming a part of the "team" at either location should contact the Director of Volunteers (volunteer@thelordsdiner.org) at The Lord's Diner for availability of dates before beginning the certification process.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Slides from Bob Mueller on the Reliability of the New Testament Part Two

Slides from Bob Mueller on the Reliability of the New Testament

Here's the slides from this past Sunday when Bob Mueller taught, enjoy!

6 Videos to Introduce You to the Reliability of the New Testament

This past Sunday in High School Ministry Bob Mueller introduced us to the reliability of the New Testament. Here's 6 videos to introduce you to the topic.

1. Dr. Ed Gravely answering “How many New Testament manuscripts do we have? Why does it matter?”

2. A debate between Bart Ehrman and Daniel Wallace on “Is the Original New Testament Lost?”

3. Daniel Wallace answering “How do you explain the high number of variants in the New Testament?”

4. Michael Kruger answering “Has the text been changed over time?”

5. Dr. Ed Gravely answering “Don’t all the translations prove the Bible’s unreliability?”

6. Michael Kruger answering “Do the Gospel accounts contradict?”

7. Is the NewTestament Reliable? by Paul Barnett - Yeah I tacked a book on the end. But it's a good book! So buy it and read it!

How Do We Know Which Books Should Be in the Bible?

I’m excited as we continue to look into defending our Christian faith through High School Ministry; it’s going to be a fun ride this semester. This past week we dealt with answering the question, “How do we know which books should be in the Bible?” Let’s look at what we went over, here are my notes from that teaching session:

Some assume that early first century Christianity was a war of different books and ideas about Jesus, and the books that in the Bible were those that happened to survived this war. According to this line of thought, our current brand of the Christian faith and our Bible is basically due to a “Survival of the fittest” process, and this Bible we have is the fittest one in existence in comparison to other weaker versions, while many perfectly fine losers exist. This implies that the books of our Bibles have no more merit than many other ancient books rejected by the church about Jesus, such as the Gospel of Thomas or Gospel of Peter. The books of our current Bible were just the luckiest throughout history.

The Problem

How do we know which books should be in the Bible? How do we know that these are the right books instead of the Gospel of Thomas, or the Gospel of Peter?

What is the Canon?

When talking about what books should be in the Bible, people frequently talk about the “Canon.” To be clear, this isn’t referring to a weapon used in battle. So first, I wanted to define this.

Canon

The Codex Sinaiticus is the earliest complete New
Testament from around 330AD 

The list of books that should be considered sacred Scripture.

There are two canons: the Old Testament Canon and the New Testament Canon. Although both provide unique issues in trying to establish their authority, we will primarily deal with the New Testament Canon.

Does having a Canon make sense?
1. I would argue that if God exists, it makes sense that he has objectively and authoritatively revealed himself.

Objective

By this I mean uninfluenced by a persons’ thoughts or feelings. The Bible is objective, it gives straightforward answers to certain questions such as: Who is God? How are we to live? What is wrong with the world? How is what’s wrong with the world being made right?

Authoritative

By this I mean all people, in all times, and in all places should live in line with it and believe what it says. 2 Timothy 3:16 is important for this, it says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Useful for teaching, reproof, and correction for whom? There is no qualification because Paul assumes what he’s written is authoritative over all. Also, Paul roots Scripture in God, certainly giving Scripture highest authority.

We will be talking about this in the coming weeks in High School Ministry, but there are an overwhelming number of great reasons to think that God exists. It seems strange to me to think that God exists, but he has not objectively and authoritatively revealed himself to his creation. Why would he not reveal to humanity how we are to live, what is wrong with things, and how things can be made right? It only makes sense that God would authoritatively and objectively reveal himself.

2. If Jesus did miracles and rose from death, it only makes sense that his followers have been given authoritative and objective revelation.

We’ll get into this in the coming weeks, but Christian historians teach that there is no better explanation for the testimonies, the life transformations, the prophecies, the people martyred for sharing about Jesus, and the transformation of Jesus’ own family than the than the fact that Jesus died for sins and miraculously rose from death.

Think about it, a man comes who does miracles like no one who has ever existed in the history of the world, this man gets killed and then miraculously rises from death and shows himself to thousands demonstrating his authority. He then returns to God in heaven, and yet we are given no standard by which to think about him and to think about God?

If Jesus did miracles and rose from death, it only makes sense that his followers have been given authoritative and objective revelation, which is the New Testament Canon.

What books have been left out of the New Testament Canon?

1. Early Church Fathers

Why do the early church fathers always look
so goofy?

These books were actually not rejected, instead they were just not included. The early Church Fathers outside of our New Testament would have seen themselves as teachers, not as writing Scripture. Examples include Clement’s Letter to Rome and the Didache. These books are not bad.

2. False Gospels and Books

An example is the Gospel of Peter. However this was never written by Peter, or one of his followers. It was written in the second century long after Peter had died. The reason behind these books is that false teachers wanted to steal the influence the Apostles had to spread false teaching.

5 Facts you should know about the Canon

1.      The New Testament Canon is rooted in the Apostles
The Apostles were the closest followers of Jesus and were given incredible authority by Jesus. Every New Testament book was either written down by an Apostle, or a close follower of an Apostle. The Gospel of Matthew was written by the Apostle Matthew, and history affirms this. The Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, who history affirms as a close follower of Peter. Also, it’s important to note that the Apostles would have been alive and were able to affirm that the church use the right books from the right men.

In fact, the church’s overt dependence on apostolic writings is precisely why we see the amount of rejected books in the second century that were named after apostles.  We have the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Acts of John, and even the Gospel of the Twelve.  The early church valued books from Apostles so much that false teachers had to try and mimic the genuine ones in order to get a hearing.

2.     The New Testament Canon is from the first century

The New Testament Canon contains the earliest Christian writings we possess. Do you want to know what Jesus really taught? You should rely on the books nearest to his life and death. This is critical because New Testament Canon consists of books written when Jesus’ closest followers would have still been alive.

3.     Any existing false books are from the second century or later

The false Gospels and other books were a rejected set of books that taught differing theology from the our New Testament Canon. The problem is that these books weren’t from the time of Jesus’ closest followers or rooted in the Apostles. Why would we treat books written long after the Apostles died as authoritative? Why would we think they were better reflecting the actual teachings of Jesus? His closest followers are all dead when these books were written.

4.     Early on our New Testament Canon was treated as highest authority
In 2 Peter 3:15-16 the Apostle Peter, who was in Jesus’ inner circle, was calling Paul’s writings Scripture, let’s look there. It says,

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

This is only about 35 years after Jesus lived. Did it take hundreds of years for people to think the New Testament was authoritative and Scripture? Nope. Jesus’ closest followers were recognizing this right away.

5.     A different explanation than our introduction is more fitting

I proposed a way of thinking in my introduction, which states that there were a bunch of equal competing books which could have been treated as Scripture, and our Bible won out. But, what seems to be a better explanation is that there was one Jesus, and one set of Apostles who wrote books, which were almost always seen as authoritative. As these were established in the church and the Gospel spread, false books were written to cash in on the authority men like Peter, Thomas, or John had, as this could spread the thinking and theology of pagan religions. Their purpose is to steal the influence of the Christian faith and spread other false theology.

Conclusion

Your Bible is the book we should trust and look to when we want to know what Jesus taught and how we should think about God. It has the earliest books about Jesus, and it’s rooted in His closest followers.  The center of the Bible is this, you were created for God’s glory, but have sinned and rebelled against Him. Instead of God merely leaving man to his own devices and giving man the wrath that he deserves, God sent His Son to live a perfect life that you and I could not live, and to die in our place and for our sins taking the wrath we deserve. Not only did Jesus die, but He rose miraculously from death and ascended into heaven. We are able to trust Jesus and receive eternal life, forgiveness of sins, a new status, and a right relationship with God.

6 Resources You Should Check to Introduce Yourself to the Canon of Scripture

This past Sunday in High School Ministry I introduced students to the topic of the Canon of Scripture and answered the question, "How do you know what books should be in the Bible?" Here's some resources I'd recommend you check out to be introduced to this topic.

1. Michael J Kruger talking about "Why You Can Rely on the New Testament Canon." He is the top evangelical theologian in regards to the Canon of Scripture. I'm going to recommend a lot of what he says.



2. Michael J Kruger answering "Who wrote the Gospels?"

3. Michael J Kruger answering "How did the New Testament Canon Develop?"



4. Michael J Kruger's blogpost "10 Facts Every Christian Should Know About the New Testament Canon" is phenomenal.

5. "Introduction to the New Testament" by DA Carson and Doug Moo is a phenomenal resource and includes a chapter on the development of the Canon. This is a must own book.

6. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem also includes a phenomenal chapter on the Canon. Don't let the size of this book intimidate you as this isn't a book you merely read straight through. A great way to utilize this book is to read through chapter titles and tackle topics you are interested in and want to work through.