Are All Religions The Same?

     Question to O. A.:  Are all religions the same?  One of my college professors told me that all the religions in the world are the same because they’re just different paths up the same mountain to the same God.  Is that true?  C. S. in Oklahoma.

     Dear C. S.:  No, that’s not true.  All the religions in the world aren’t the same.  There are about 4,000 religions in the world, depending on which beliefs and rituals we include in the fuzzy word “religion.”

      These thousands of religions include:  Buddhism, Firewalking, Hinduism, Humanism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Taoism, Voodooism, and Zoroastrianism – to name just a few.  And all of them are different.  For example, some don’t believe in God.  Others believe God is only a force.  Some believe God is people.  Some believe God is dirt, rocks, or snakes.  One religion believes there are 300,000 gods.  Some believe people are evil.  Some believe people are good.  Others don’t believe there’s any such thing as good and evil.  Some believe in heaven.  Some don’t.  Some believe in hell.  Some don’t.  And so it goes.

     You can see the problem.  Since these 4,000 religions all contradict one another, they can’t all be true.  All of them could be false.  But all of them couldn’t be true.  Why not?  Because the conflicting beliefs that there is no God; that God is a force; that God is a snake; that God is dirt, that there are 300,000 gods, etc., can’t all be true at once.  Conclusion?  All religions could be false, but all religions couldn’t be true.  Now, where does that leave us?

     Here’s the Good News:  There is one religion on earth that stands out from all the others.  It works in people’s lives.  It changes people’s lives.  It makes people’s lives better.  That one religion is Christianity.  It’s the largest, fastest growing, most researched, most investigated, and most documented religion on the planet.  And it’s the only religion that has been verified by archaeological discoveries, eye-witness reports, documented historical events, scientifically verified writings and – most importantly – by giving billions of people supernatural hope, healing, peace, and purpose.

     Let’s be clear.  It’s important that Christianity has been scientifically verified and that it has over two billion satisfied members.  But here’s the real point.  Christianity is the only religion in which the Holy Spirit indwells its members with supernatural power, and in which the Holy Spirit expresses miracles through its members.  No other religion does that – or even claims to do that – or even knows that it’s possible.

     So – your professor is the one who’s deceived.  Not you.  Let’s pray that one day he discovers the peace, hope, and purpose that only comes from being a Christian.  Let’s pray that one day he discovers that Christianity is the one true “path,” up the one true “mountain,” to the one true God.