FAQ’s Of The Christian Faith ಮಾದರಿ

Why do Christians insist that Jesus is the only way?

One of the objections that skeptics raise is that the Christian perspective is intolerant of other views. This is interpreted as bigotry and hence unsuitable in an increasingly pluralistic world. 

A student once raised this objection: “You Christians are narrow-minded; you insist that Jesus is the only way”. I gently countered him asking: “Is it always wrong to be narrow-minded?” 

He appeared a little perplexed and I illustrated for him that in a Math class, 2 + 2 is always 4 and there was no scope for broadmindedness, and even if one insisted, the grades in the exam may not reflect an appreciation for the same. 

Truth tends to be exclusive and narrow. It is like this little boy intensely praying after his geography exam, ‘God, please change the capital of India to Mumbai’, simply because he had written so. Clearly, one cannot afford to change the truth to suit one’s whims and fancies. 

What transpires with most religious claims is that each of them, not just the Christian worldview, tends to be exclusive. Here is something that most wouldn’t have thought about. The so-called ‘pluralist’ is as exclusive as anybody else in the fray. This is because he / she is claiming that their view or way is the ‘only’ way! 

In John 14, we read Jesus saying to Thomas and His disciples: “I am the way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. He then died on a Roman cross thereby showing us that the only way to the Father’s mansions is through the death of Jesus Christ. Now, no other religion makes that claim. Right from the diagnosis of the human condition, to the destiny that is promised, each worldview makes fundamentally different claims. Theoretically, all of them may be wrong. One option that we do not have is that all of them could be right, because they say opposite things. 

So, the unique message of the Bible is reasonable and more than that enjoys an experiential relevance, and an empirical adequacy that is unparalleled. No wonder, Jesus exclaimed looking at His opponents: “They hated me without cause”. (John 15: 25) 

While the salvation offered in Jesus Christ is unique – “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) – the Church is an organization that reaches out to people from every creed, colour or background. In other words, while salvation is exclusive in Jesus, everyone is invited. 

PRAYER

Lord, help me to fulfill the great commission that you have given to your disciples.