Pluralism is the prevailing pathos of today. Many people believe that all religions – for example, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Confucianism – are essentially the same. Their goals are the same; only their methods differ.
People who say this don’t understand religion and obviously believe in none. If they did, they wouldn’t say absurd things like this because the founders of these four major religions wouldn’t agree.
Would Mohammed say that Christianity and Islam are the same? No! He would say that Christianity is wrong because Christians believe that Jesus – whom Muslims consider a great prophet but still only a human being – is a god. Would Buddha say that Islam and Buddhism are the same? No! He would say that Islam is wrong because it claims that people can be saved only by believing in the one and only God, Allah, whereas Buddhists believe that god is in us and that we are gods. Would Confucius say that Buddhism and Confucianism the same? No! He would say that Buddhists are wasting their time trying to escape this life, because it is the only life we can actually experience and we need to make every effort to live it in harmony.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Would he say that all religions are the same? Of course not! Some people claim that these words were falsely attributed to him by his disciples later, but that claim is based on theory without historical and documented substantiation. Scripture shows that he claimed to be the only savior of humankind, and that we can only meet God through him.
It’s not right for believers of a faith to say that all religions are the same when their founder says otherwise. Christians in particular shouldn’t say that because contradicting Jesus means that they put themselves above Jesus.
Universalists, who believe that every religion leads to salvation, pride themselves on not being tied to any one religion; their faith includes every religion, excluding none. That idea implies that Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and Confucius each only saw part of the truth but that they now see the whole truth. To me, that’s supremely arrogant. It’s like a young man brushing off the advice of elderly people because he thinks that they’re old and don’t understand the times we live in. People like this cannot admit that something’s wrong with them, cannot accept Jesus as their Lord, and so cannot be saved.
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