Hey, I gotta question!" yelled a student from the back of the room. I was sharing the claims of Christ at a University of Massachusetts fraternity house when he interrupted me. "Yes, what is it?" I queried. "I think Jesus is great for you, but I know Buddhists and Muslims, and they're just as sincere as you are. And they think their views are true just like you do. There's no way a person can know his religion is the 'right' one, so the best thing to do is to just believe everyone's religion is true for them and not judge anyone."
Ever heard something like this? It's hard to believe you haven't. What should we make of these ideas? How should we respond? I think there is a good response to this viewpoint and I hope to provide it in what follows. But before I do, we should carefully note what seems to underlie such a claim. The student was assuming that there are no objective principles that, if applied to one's religious quest, would help one make the best, most rational choice of religious options. In the absence of such principles, any choice is either purely arbitrary or totally based on emotion or upbringing. In either case, such a choice would in no way put a person in a position to judge someone else's choice as being wrong.
Are there objective principles to guide one in choosing a religion? Indeed there are. I believe the following four principles should be used to guide one in choosing which religion he or she will follow and, if properly applied, I believe they will point to Christianity as the most rational choice.
Facts About Creation
Principle 1: A religion's concept of God should harmonize with what we can know about God from creation.
First, some readers will object that all we can know about God is what he has revealed to us through the Bible. The Bible, however, makes it clear that, from creation alone, even those who have never read the Bible should know certain things about God (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:18-23). This means that when one begins to search for God by reading the various "Holy Books" of different religious traditions, one does not begin with a blank slate. One has had the opportunity to "read a book" — the book of creation — every day of one's life before one picks up the Bible, the Koran or anything else.
Moreover, while I will not develop the argument here — I want you to look into the matter for yourself — but a powerful intellectual case can be made from facts about the creation that a single personal God exists (For a good place to start learning how to make this case, see Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, eds., To Everyone an Answer). This case claims that the existence of one personal God is the best explanation for (1) the existence and beginning of a finite universe, (2) the beauty and order of the universe, including the existence of biological information, (3) the existence of finite minds such as our own, and (4) the existence of objective moral law and the equality of human rights.
Please note that Principle 1 points to monotheism, not because the Bible requires it, but because monotheism is the best explanation of these facts about creation. Principle 1 leaves Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the running.
Of course, the student's objection is just the old one coming from the general understanding or misunderstanding of "religious pluralism," the idea that no one religion can provide all the answers to life's questions. Or, it is one of the prevailing ideas, at least. Furthermore, I think this gives tragic birth and tragic life to the unlearned stance of, "What is right for me, is right for me, and what is right for you, if right for you."
ReplyDeleteIf you follow and "continue" along the line of what the student said, "There is no way a person can know his religion is the right one, so the best thing to do is just believe everyone's religion is true for them and not judge anyone," you see this clearly defined and played out to its disastrous result.
In fact, it provides anyone with this view great comfort, and a false sense of security. Thus it follows that with such a false sense of security, they can go about the business of believing whatever they want, as long as it's right for them, and no harm is to come by it.
This is the devil's great coup d'état, and God gives such people who hold to the false idea of "whatever is right for me," a chilling warning in Proverbs 1:20-33. This warning should make the hair on the unbeliever's arm stand up, but very few of them have ever read it. Another bleak tragedy, you think?
By the way, I hope no one is sick and tired of me, for being the only one who comments here, usually. Each time I decide that I've made my last comment, the spark of God's fire erupts in me. I won't apologize for that, but in a way I can understand any subtle annoyance one might have. But, if I can point you to my mom, she says, "You are the sweetest thing living." Gotta love moms.