In a society filled with millions of people, varieties of cultures, and numerous amounts of religions, everyone wants their opinions and ideals of life to be recognized as valid. No one wants to be wrong when it comes to the issue of religion and the meaning of life, so we end up in a world that makes all truth relative, by declaring that no one way is the right or only way.
ABSOLUTE TRUTH EXISTS
In a lot of discussions about religions, people are constantly raising the question, “how can only one way be the right way?” People will usually accuse a person of being arrogant or ignorant if they say that someone else’s religion is not the truth. As people have discussed God and the truths about religions, the following metaphorical story is commonly used:
“A king looks down upon six blind men that are standing around an elephant and touching it in order to figure out what type of animal it is. The one touching the trunk decides the elephant is a big snake; the one touching its leg decides the elephant is a tree; the one touching its tail decides the elephant is a rope; and etc.”
This analogy supposedly shows the limitations of individual perception, the importance of not being narrow-minded, and how people with different beliefs can be right about their perspective of the truth. As people use this analogy to show that all truth is relative, they are stating an absolute truth themselves by inferring that God is too complex for someone to truly understand. Their assuming that the king who is looking down upon those who profess to know the truth doesn’t care enough to open the eyes of the men so that they can perceive the truth. Yet there is a different analogy which will better explain the previous story,
“A king looks down upon six blind men that are standing around an elephant and touching it in order to figure out what type of animal it is. The one touching the trunk decides the elephant is a big snake; the one touching its leg decides the elephant is a tree; the one touching its tail decides the elephant is a rope; and etc. But out of his love for the men, and his desire for all men to understand and know the truth, the all-powerful King opens the eyes of one of the blind men so that he can now see. And because the king has opened his eyes to perceive and visualize the truth, the once blind man now knows, sees, and understands that the animal standing in front of him is an elephant.”
Regardless of your stance on faith, absolute truth exists and we must deal with it everyday. Someone who denies the idea of an absolute truth in regards to religion is making an absolute truth statement themselves, thus making an argument that is contradictory by their own statements.
RELIGION AND BELIEF
All religions recognize that there is a problem with the world and the people who are in it. So in order to fix this problem, most religions teaches its followers to be good people, by doing good deeds or participating in annual rituals, all to the hopes of maybe one day appeasing God in order to achieve then end goal of an afterlife. But how can we as mere humans see ourselves as sufficient enough to work our way to the creator by bridging the gap between us and him through our earthly works? That idea is impossible. No man can work his way towards God by his efforts alone. Due to all of our sins, we are separated from a holy and perfect God, and no amount of good deeds or rituals can fill in the gap of that separation.
THE BRIDGE FOR OUR SEPARATION
Here is where Jesus and Christianity changes the way that we view religion and God. The bible teaches that out of his love for us, God came into human history as a man named Jesus Christ, who was not only fully man but also fully God, in order to remove the separation between God and man. For thirty three years Jesus lived a perfect sin-free life healing, loving, and serving all people, all while teaching the people to repent of their sins and believe in him as the long awaited Messiah, or savior. After completing his public ministry, Jesus was beaten, crucified, murdered, and then punished by God for all the sins of the world. On the third day after his death Jesus resurrected from the dead, a miracle only God himself could do, proving to the world that he has defeated and conquered sin. Now due to his sacrificial death, all those who believe in him will have their sins removed, and be made righteous before a holy and perfect God.
JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY
While all other religions teach different ways that man has to work in order to reach God, Christianity is the only religion that not only teaches but also shows the way that God has made his way to reach man. And God has allowed us to know this reality by opening our eyes and revealing to us the only truth which is Jesus Christ and his Gospel. Without Jesus no person’s sins can be forgiven and mankind will be eternally separated from God, no matter how many good religious acts we do.
There are no such things as personal perspectives and there are no such things as different opinions in regards to religion, salvation, and a purpose-driven life. There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ, the mediator or bridge between God and man, and we know this truth not based upon personal opinions, but due to the works and words of Jesus Christ himself.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6
