By J.P. Moreland
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
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