We have all heard or even said; "all faiths are just different paths to the same God and heaven. What matters is how much you believe not what you believe." To start with, many passionately believe there is no God or heaven at all. They place their faith in man. With mankind's dismal record it is hard to understand why. Others believe in fallible gods that are subject to human passions. Some worship animals or even the earth it's self . Many have multiple gods and do not believe in heaven, only a continuous cycle of existence here on earth.
There are so many different thoughts on who or what God is, it is absurd to say we all worship the same God; let alone all seeking to go to the same place. A world without sin, war or cruelty has no appeal to many who love this present world. Many people fashion their god in their own image. They mistakenly believe God is just like them. They think God shares all their values, politics and prejudices. Many people base their beliefs on oral tradition which is subject to change with each person who tells it. Others claim to believe in the Christian God or the God of Abraham. They however reject the written account of God in the Bible. This leads to creating a merciless, cruel god that does not resemble the Christian God of Abraham at all. Others go in the other direction and claim the Christian God of Abraham has no power or desire to judge or punish anyone, no matter how cruel or despotic.
There is a very real historical correlation between what people believe and what kind of society and god they produce. There have been great civilizations that have advanced science and innovation.. However the societies that believed in the Biblical God of Christianity are where the great moral advancements took place. Biblical Christianity ended legal slavery in Rome, British Empire, United States and eventually most of the world. It is no accident that the great advancements in the rights of women both now and in the past are realized in societies influenced greatly by the teachings of the Biblical God.
I can find no other historical source for the great moral ideals of western thought other than the Bible. Our understanding of UNIVERSAL liberty, justice and equality are clearly Biblical. Historically they were always introduced and promoted by Biblical Christians before they were accepted by the rest of society. The Biblical teaching of creation and the universal fall of mankind is what led to the notion of the individual worth and culpability. The Bible taught we were all created in God's image and none of us was beyond or above His law or love. Our view of responsibility towards the less fortunate is derived from the Biblical teachings of Christ Himself. Treatment and forgiveness of enemies was also gleaned from the Biblical teachings of Jesus.
I have found no evidence in my study of history there was any detriment suffered when Biblical knowledge was acquired and practised. The things blamed on Christianity are in effect the result of lack of compliance to Biblical principal. Just as there have always been and always will be those who create their own gods and their own rules. There will be those who call themselves Christians who are ignorant of or purposely ignore the Biblical Jesus along with His teaching. They will substitute their own ideas and teachings for His. The Biblical Jesus said, His followers would be wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. They would love their fellowman and not return evil for evil.
Because none of us have infinite knowledge of God or the Bible much harm has been done in both names. We often substitute our own will in place of God's. The remedy is not in the rejection of the Biblical God, but to increase our knowledge of Him. King David said in the Psalms " The places where the light of God's law does not shine are the habitations of cruelty." This is as true today as it was then. What is so cruel and dangerous about worship based on something other than the Bible; is the one creating the false god gets to make up their own rules. If they want to steal, kill, engage in lascivious behavior, or sate their lust for vengeance they simply make up the rules to comply with their desires.
If you read the first hand accounts of missionaries who have gone where no knowledge of the Bible or Biblical God ever existed. You will find what David said is horrifically true. Most of what the average person knows about eastern and pagan religions is what they have become after being exposed to, or even controlled by Christian societies.
False religion is not the only source of human cruelty. The rejection of any notion of God and moral law has caused more human suffering than all the false religions combined. The twentieth century Marxists have murdered, starved and tortured more human beings than any or all other groups combined. Atheism has not only created more human on human brutality than any other belief system in history. It has produced more suicide, alcoholism, abortion and organized crime. Far from being above it all atheism has sunk mankind into greater depths of brutality and misery.
Many mistakenly belief an enlightened atheism is the answer to the worlds religious differences. Take it from someone who is thoroughly acquainted with history; the only enlightened atheists are the ones who have unknowingly been influenced by Biblical principles and been exposed to the teachings of the Biblical Messiah Jesus Christ. If any disagree I suggest you read three books. First, Gulag Archipelago, by the Russian Alexander Solzhenitsyn...second...Tortured for Christ, by the Romanian, Richard Wurmbrand ...and then read, The Last 100 Days, by John Toland
It matters very much what we believe. What Joseph Stalin believed about God and what Mother Theresa believed about God was not irrelevant or trivial.. What Billy Graham believes about God is not just a subtle difference in theology from what Jim Jones of Jonestown believed. They will not end up in the same place. Either now or in the hereafter. Mao Tse-tung's path did not lead to the same place as the Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce's.
I am an honest intellectual if I had found a way in my studies where mankind could move forward without the Biblical God and His Messiah Jesus Christ, I would say so. If for no other reason to alleviate human suffering. To be perfectly frank it is my conclusion; the further mankind moves away from Biblical knowledge and precept, the more misery and injustice triumph; the more superstitious, fearful and fractured society becomes. Despite our advancements in technology we too often use it to offend God more effectively and oppress others more thoroughly.
Because we all were created by God in His image we all have a moral compass apart from acquired knowledge. It is what makes us all accountable for our behavior, knowledge or not. There are those who choose to follow this in all societies. There are people of all faiths who with out knowing it acknowledge the Biblical God by their conduct. They do not know the source of morality but they do not ignore it's existence in their conscious.
This is not proof of the equality of all faiths; it is proof there is one God and one definition of morality. It is not a coincidence that what is considered moral in an unbeliever is exactly what the Bible and Christ teach is moral in a Christian. Because there are nice people everywhere does not mean everything taught is nice or right. Christ said all have sinned and fallen short of what they knew was right. Even nice people. We all need our sins forgiven and the Spirit of Truth to do what is right when it is not advantageous or convenient. That is exactly what The Biblical Jesus offers us; forgiveness for our sin and strength and knowledge to overcome sin in the future. Eternal life is there for those who do not love sin and want to spend an eternity with a Holy God. Not all people want this not even people who appear to be nice. So many choose to create their own god or claim there is no God.
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