Do you think it’s intolerant to say that Jesus is the only way to God?

Question

Jesus is the One who said that He is the only way to the Father. For Christians to say that there are other ways to find peace with God is to bear false testimony. In one sweeping statement, Jesus discards all other religions as a means of finding forgiveness of sins. This agrees with other Scriptures: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12), and "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

What do you think?



http://www.needgod.com
http://home.earthlink.net/~airick_1976
http://www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/browse.shtml

Mr. Happypants. I had to say this. Sir you say that you are a Christian and yet you say that Christ is not the only way. My friend I need to tell you that you are not a Christian. You cannot call Jesus lord and call him a liar all in the same sentence.

every Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or even my very-kind-and-loving-Atheist father is not automatically condemended because they are a jew or what not. Let us see why they are condemended from the Bible.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

You see, if you reject Jesus as being the only way, you have condemned yourself.

Answer 1

Dear ES,

Through the years I've heard so many people say that it isn't fair to people who aren't born in Christian families or in a Christian nation.

The thing is that nobody is born a Christian, absolutely nobody. The awesome uncreated Creator didn't have to save a single person because ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. But while we were yet dead in our sins Christ died for the ungodly.

Jesus is the only Way to the Father but the Father does NOT have any quotas. He doesn't want anybody to be eternally separated from Him.

I'm enjoying your questions but I'll eventually get to the links you have provided. Thank you!

Answer 2

Yes it is very intolerant because what Yeshua meant in what he said is not what Christians explain it to be.

We have to remember what Yeshua was teaching was a return to God's Torah and walking away from the traditions of the Pharisees. You see, no one can find salvation through the tradtions of the Pharisees. What Yeshua meant was that since he was anointed a kohen (priest), he now was granted duties and responsibilities that the Pharisees never could have - only the kohanim (priests) of the Temple were granted such. One example is the authority to forgive sins. The book of Leviticus is quite clear in what duties a priest is required, and forgiving sins is one of them. God granted authority ONLY to the priests (kohanim) of the Temple, never any judges like the Pharisees.
That is the true meaning of being a "mediator" between God and men, this is the role of the Kohen.

And Acts 4:12 is actually a reference to Acts 2:21 "AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."
Which is a quote from Joel 2:32 -
"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered"
In the origial Hebrew, the word "LORD" is actually the Name of God as He gave it to Moses in Exodus 3:15.

So, based on this trail of information going all the way back to Exodus, the Only name by which all of mankind is to be saved is actually God's holy Name, no other.

Answer 3

I cannot believe you would reject one of the best answers given, that's what I think. But if Christians believe that so many people around them are going to hell, I can't say I respect Christians much. I know Christians who do not believe in salvation just through Jesus, and scholars have said the same thing also, such as John Hick.

What makes you any cleverer? Perhaps these people do not take the Bible as word-for-word from God, and why should they? It was clearly not written/dictated straight from God, bet you anything the original even had spelling mistakes (except perhaps not the OT since I know jewish scribes have to redo the entire scroll if they made a spelling mistake!)

Everywhere. x

Answer 4

I definitely agree with what you are saying and really whether people agree or not, the truth still stands.

I was talking to my friends who are Christian and we were talking about the issue of the fact that there is only one truth and that we should all strive for that truth and never rest until we do find that truth; to my amazement they all disagreed and said that we should just let everyone go with what they believe in and let God deal with them.

I do not agree with this because if everyone knew the truth then God would not have sent us to all nations and teach (Matt 28:19-20). He does say also that "my people perish because of lack of knowledge", so it doesn't make sense to live with this kind of principal if clearly God says that there is but one truth and way and life that's in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Answer 5

How loving would we be if we do not confess everything we know to be true? We know that Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. To tell anyone there is another way is to call Jesus a liar. How much worse would it be to see someone thrown into the lake of fire because we didn't want to hurt their feelings? We cannot concede there is another way, just to be "politically correct". How many times is the word "truth" mentioned in the bible? Yet, I looked up the word "intolerance" and found nothing. There is only one way to say it; and that is using the words of our Savior.

Answer 6

The question is not whether it's tolerant or intolerant. The real question is "is it true"? Are christians narrow minded and intolerant? My answer would be YES on narrow minded and NO on intolerant(if you use the traditional definition of tolerance).
Why are christians so narrow minded? Because christians are interested in truth. That's why they are so narrow. Most people, in this post-modern culture aren't. Many don't even believe there is something called truth. Logic itself will make truth narrow. The 3rd law of logic is the law of non-contradiction which says A cannot equal non-A. Another way of stating that is to say that if 2 statements or philosophies or religions or anything else diametrically contradict each other, they cannot both be true. That alone makes things narrow. Let's just say that I am standing next to a blue chevy. I say this is a blue chevy. The next guy that comes along may say it's a red camel. Another may say it's a yellow submarine. Another may say it's Hillary Clinton in a blue dress. There's a million things you could say that this thing is. But if they all contradict each other there's only 2 possibilities logically. 1)only one is true and all the rest are false 2) they're all false(that's got to be considered a logical possibility). Either way you've narrowed your choices. But one thing that is not true is that they are all true or even some of them....not if they all contradict each other. If you have a few that don't contradict each other in any way then those few are not a few but they are the exactly the same thing. 2+2=4. Boy, that is a narrow minded statement. Let me give you a more open minded statement. 2+2=4 but 2+2 also =5 and it = 7 and it = 11 and it = 15 and it = 27. That is a much more open minded statement. BUT WHICH IS TRUE. 2+2=4!!!!!! That is the only true statement in the bunch. If you don't believe me then the next time you throw a party and put 2 oranges on this table and 2 oranges on that table and then say to your 27 guests, "why don't all 27 of you go over there and get yourself an orange off those two tables", wait and see if they all get an orange. If they all get an orange then I'll say "you know, maybe you're right.......maybe 2+2 is also =27. But that's not what's going to happen. Trust me on that. What's going to happen is that 4 people are going to get oranges and 23 are going to get nothing because 2+2=4(and only 4). That's very narrow but it's true. Truth is very narrow because of logic. All these so-called open minded people are very illogical and not at all interested in truth because all truth is very narrow.
People talk about christians being narrow minded and thinking they’re right all the time and being intolerant. That statement, that christians are narrowminded, intolerant and always think they are right…..how would you catergorize that statement? Would you say 1)it’s not true 2)it might be true or it might not be true, I’m not sure 3)it’s absolutely a true statement and anyone who doesn’t believe that is wrong. If It’s not true, then why should I or anyone else believe you when you say that since you don’t believe it yourself? If you’re saying you’re not sure whether it’s true or not(it might be and it might not) then I have a problem with that. You’re deliberately offending christians(by calling them narrow minded, intolerant, know it alls) with a statement that you openly admit that you’re not sure is even true. If you say “it’s absolutely a true statement and anyone who doesn’t believe that is wrong”, my question to you would be “aren’t you a little bit on the narrow minded side too”? You’re doing the same thing you’re accusing christians of, namely, saying that you’re right and anyone who disagrees with you is wrong.
Why is it wrong to believe that you're 100% right. Why do I have to believe like most people believe, namely, that if you're dogmatic about anything you're being intolerant to other views and being narrow minded. Most people have accepted that view of intellectual tolerance. As a result, most people live their life, knowing that they are going to die some day and they don't know what's on the other side of death and they're scared that there may be an afterlife and they may end up in the wrong place for eternity. They have to live that way all their lives because they have this false view of tolerance. Remember that old pop song back in the 1950's by Sam Cook: he said "it's too hard living but I'm afraid to die...I just don't what's over there on the other side". If a person thoroughly investigates his views and reasons them out logically and comes to the conclusion that he is right, what is wrong with that? That is why God gave us intelligence, reason and logic. You want to call me narrow minded and intolerant and mister know it all and 100% right all the time. Go ahead. I don't care because I live my life without a fear of death. When death comes, I'm ready to go. I know what's on the other side.....at least for me. If you want to live your whole life in ignorance(ignorance using the classical definition of ignorance……namely, I DON’T KNOW), be my guest. But that’s your choice. It’s a decision of your free will. It isn’t a necessity. We can know things in this world with 100% certainty. Intolerance doesn’t mean that you’re arrogant if you think you’re right or that all viewpoints have as much truth value as all other viewpoints. All viewpoints don’t have as much truth value as all other viewpoints. If I’m sitting on a chair and I say that this thing that I’m sitting on is a chair and someone else comes along and says no, it’s a great white shark that I’m sitting on, don’t tell me those two viewpoints have the same truth value. That’s the view of tolerance that has emerged in the last 40 years. The traditional definition of the word tolerance(which has been in existrence for thousands of years is this: I’m right and you’re wrong on this issue, but because I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of thought, I’m willing to tolerate your wrong views. Otherwise, what is there to tolerate? If all views are right and equal, you don’t need to tolerate anything. You only tolerate things that you think are wrong. I don’t need to tolerate the idea that the christian God is the God of the universe because I believe that. I need to tolerate the Idea that there is no God because I think that leaves people with a meaningless existence and yet if they want to believe that they have every right to believe that.

http://www.intouch.org/index_76034.html

http://www.pleaseconvinceme.com/home.php

http://www.tektonics.org/

http://www.johnankerberg.org/ankerberg-articles/christian.html

http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/theological-dictionary/TD4W1003.pdf

Answer 7

Dude...

Listen am no Christian, but I believe in the message of Jesus.

Thats because when Jesus was around, his message WAS the only way to God cause all other messages had been duped and falcified by corrupt priests.

Now, keeping that in mind, I do not believe in every single word of the bible as it is now, however I do know what Jesus meant when he said hes the only way to God. (could he have said that if he was God? I dont think so...)

What he meant was, anyone who follows me: follows my actions, does as I say, believes in what I believe, WILL find God. And trust me, those who actually did follow him, did find God.

Dont know if we can do the same nowadays, cause no one really has any idea as how Jesus behaved other than he loved everyone...

things like what he commanded on issues of society...are so vague and mixed up in years and years of editing...people just dont have strong convictions about laws anymore...save the old testament..and that wasnt even sent with Jesus.

Peace out

Edit: It isnt intolerant to say Jesus is the ONLY way to God. Its ignorant. Because even tho he was the only way back in his time...he was definitely not the only way before ...so he cannot be the only way if God has sent other messengers.

Answer 8

I think any religion that preeches its the ONLY way to God might as well be a cult of some kind, a REAL God will not put across barriers to him when already it is so easy to sin and fall away from the path of God. I went to a Church of England school, but my faith was not that of the church, we still sang in church and i respected the way of life of that school. Personally I dont think Jesus claimed he was the only way to God, HUMANS not prophets over the years re-wrote it as that HE said that. I honestly believe a good prophey would not force himself onto you by showing you there are no other options, a TRUE prophet will come to earth to just say quite plain n simply, BELIEVE IN GOD as he created you, show a little respect.

To summarise, GOD is in us all, we should respect mankind and not let religion segrogate us any further than it has already. Each religion has its own literature but its been modified by mankind to glorify their own beliefs. As in Sikhism, the first line of prayer starts with the sentence"there is only one God".

Answer 9

Yes. As a Christian I think that Jesus is the BEST way to God, but not the only way. I'm convinced that God's mercy is so overwhelming that I can't believe that He would automatically condemn every Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, or even my very-kind-and-loving-Atheist father to Hell.

God's mercy is available to all, whether he be an Orthodox Jew or a disgraced mega-church Christian televangelist who abandons his family for gay prostitutes and drugs.

If this wasn't the case, then God's love would be conditional love. I thought that God's love was unconditional.

Answer 10

The only way to the Father is through the Son.