Op-Ed: Is there more than one path to heaven?
LIVING ON PURPOSE
By Dr. Billy Holland
Christians insist there is only one way to heaven, as salvation is associated with believing in Jesus Christ – nothing or no one else. The foundation of their evangelistic mission is declaring that Jesus is THE way, and all other religions are counterfeit and dangerously deceived. The world calls this a controversy despite the Bible revealing that God has never been tolerant of other religions. One of the most common outcries within the realm of spirituality is how could such knowledgeable and devout people from the history of the world who worship other entities be considered deceived and God’s enemy? The Christians response is that they have become brainwashed with misinformation and have fallen in love with a spiritual impostor. As humanity continues to evolve toward a more unified concept of independence, there is a growing criticism against any religion claiming to be exclusive.
A critical component of Christian salvation is how a person who receives Christ as their Lord and Savior becomes born again by being transformed from a state of being lost, into a new creation and identity as now a saved child of God. According to the Christian view, until a person has gone through this process of accepting God’s grace through faith, the person is being held captive by sin, and their name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life. These individuals will be lost forever, no matter how devoted they were to the contrasting religious philosophies they were taught. Christianity has always been strongly resistant to being incorporated into a global religion, and by the way, they are not the only ones. Following Christ requires an all-or-nothing commitment to Jesus as the one and only incarnation of the Son of God, who, as a member of the Trinity, is also the one true God.
Within the concept of religious pluralism and universalism, there are progressive and non-exclusive belief systems that respect all types of paths to heaven, including simply living a moral life and being a nice person, which has always been accepted as non-judgmental. Some Universalists who embrace the idea of total reconciliation are convinced everything will be restored and forgiven, and that all those who ever lived will eventually return to God to live with Him forever. The philosophy of there being no such thing as hell or an eternal consequence and punishment for not accepting Christ is no doubt also growing in popularity, even though the Bible warns of such a place. Since the God of the Bible is not a team player, the world finds this offensive, especially with a culture that thrives on the freedom of choice. The world wants to know why can’t everyone serve a god like cheering for a beloved team, having personal political views, or eating at a favorite restaurant?
As a Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury insisted that truth cannot contradict itself. Either Jesus is the Son of God who provides salvation to all who will believe, or he is not. It is either one or the other; it cannot be both. To believe that all contradictory religions are God’s truth is like saying 2+2=5, or 8, or 26, or whatever you like. And to believe in all religions simultaneously is to become hopelessly self-contradictory. One simply cannot accept the Hindu belief that there are hundreds of thousands of gods, while embracing the Muslim belief that there is only Allah, along with Buddhism which does not believe in a divine entity at all, at the same time. Consider religious opinions about the afterlife: Certain sects of Taoism and Shintoism maintain that there is no afterlife. Buddhists, through endless reincarnation experiences, seek Nirvana, where the human conscience finds complete peace, while Christianity, in Revelation 22:4, teaches that heaven is a reality where after this life, only the redeemed will spend eternity in his presence. How can they all be true?
Free will allows everyone to have their own opinions, and humans can worship any idol or religion they choose, but they cannot make up their own truth. To insist that all religions are equally true is another way to say that all religions are equally false. A.W. Tozer is quoted, “Jesus does not only speak the truth that we must believe; He is the truth that we must live.” Ravi Zacharias is quoted, “Divine truth is not merely a concept to be embraced, but a person to be known.” “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3:3.
Dr. Holland is an ordained minister, chaplain, teacher, and author. Read more about the Christian life at billyhollandministries.com.