2007-09-21 17:19:17 · 45 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
AREN'T THERE MANY WAYS TO HEAVEN?
Of course the real question is “how many legitimate ways to heaven are there”?
Some people admit that Jesus was a great man. Do you believe this? If this claim is not true, would you still consider Him to be a great man?
He clearly claimed to be the only way to heaven. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father but by me." (John 14:6)
Is it reasonable that Christians believe in Him as the only way? Consider that other "great prophets" did not even make this claim. And, their tombs and their bones are with us still. Apparently, death had power over them as well as all others.
Of course great men would have followers. The Bible says: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death." (Prov. 14:12)
But Christ rose from the dead on the third day. Before one rejects the idea of Christ's resurrection from the dead, consider that:
1. The Old Testament predicted this long before it happened.
2. The people and places that surround the event are historically verifiable.
3. The reputation of the Roman army does not support the contention of neglect.
4. Many witnesses of Christ raised from the dead were willing to die for their stand.
5. People down through history have experienced changed lives by encounter with Him
Would you want to entrust your life after death to chance or to someone who was powerless before life's greatest enemy, death?
Especially when our Creator sent a Messenger to show us the way to God, and then show us that these were not just words....
2007-09-21 17:29:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
All religions are NOT one. However, many peoples do worship the same God. From the Abrahamic root of religion sprang Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism (at least). Most Native Americans worshipped the same invisible Creator God before the white man ever came here w/ the Bible. There is some spiritual evidence that the Peacemaker was actually Jesus. Those who worship the same God have the same ultimate goal. Those who worship different gods/
goddesses may have different goals as well as different paths. It is erroneous to lump "all religions" together as one.
2007-09-21 17:29:46 · answer #2 · answered by javadic 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You stole my idea... ;-P
I basically think that the ultimate goal of religion (or atheism...) is the benefit of the followers. It's about happiness and wholeness.
It's like... you and your friends decide to go hiking to a beautiful waterfall. But there are different trails to get there. Some are difficult to travel, some have beautiful scenery... but they all eventually lead to the waterfall. Now, we split up and go on different paths. Does that mean the friends who chose something other than my choice were wrong? Nah.
2007-09-21 19:29:44 · answer #3 · answered by xx. 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, I think the goal of most religions is pretty much the same - heaven. But the paths are too different for all religions to be one.
2007-09-21 17:24:00 · answer #4 · answered by Catholicgal 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
How can anything be the same when the paths are different?
The ultimate goal is the same is a fabrication of a lie. All religions are not the same nor are they one. Some are about self and what one thinks. Others is about man and what he thinks about God! Nothing is about what God thinks of man and his ways. No one wants to really know God nor seek God. It is too much trouble. So we deny the source. God is.
2007-09-21 17:51:05 · answer #5 · answered by God is love. 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm sorry, but I don't agree. It really is a beautiful sentiment and I used to buy into it too, that is until I actually started researching other paths and realized that many of them have very different goals.
You have a choice, you can continue to spread this particular fallacy and feel all warm and cozy inside, or actually do some investigation and join the rest of us in the real world, where we realize that the truth is not that simple or nice.
2007-09-21 17:27:59 · answer #6 · answered by Tea 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, I believe so. I believe there is only one God and the different religions are like different instruments for us to get to know that one true God. Different paths, one final place. No, I don't think truth contradicts itself. I think what matters in religion/s is not what they say, but what they do. I honestly agree that everyone can reach godlikeness on his own, I think Jesus is not the only way to heaven, and I believe there is a personal God. See, I believe that God is just so big for Him/Her/it to be limited to just one specific race or group of people gathered together thanks to socio-cultural upbringing and geographical lines. Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are undeniably different from each other and yes, there are conflicting points. But I always look past these differences, no matter how great they may be, and focus on what ties them all together. Seek to build, not to destroy.
2016-05-20 08:12:45 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you are talking about is a common belief in eastern religions. Hinduism, for example, believes in more than one path to the same goal. Christianity does not share that belief. In Christianity the goal is heaven and the only path is Jesus.
2007-09-21 17:24:31 · answer #8 · answered by lindsey p 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
All religions are one- they all practice their beliefs in a congregation....the Paths are Different: Jews and Muslims believe and practice mostly the Old Testament; Christians believe and use the Old & New Testament to prove that through FAITH in Jesus we are ONE with GOD. John 10:25-30....Jesus answered them: "I told YOU, and yet YOU do not believe. The works that I am doing in the name of my Father, these bear witness about me. But YOU do not believe, because YOU are none of my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father had given me is something greater than all other things, and no one can snatch them out of the hand of the Father. I and the Father are one."
GOD BLESS! AMEN! SHALOM!
2007-09-21 17:54:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No...religions are different. But God isn't a member of a religion. There is one God...then... there are a lot of people with differing ideas about God and how to reach/worship God.
Your question is one that is near to my heart. I have thought about this a lot. If there is an omnipotent and omnipresent GOD, then, by definition, there can be only one of Him(Her).
But man is the author of the religions of the world. I sincerely believe that God looks at our hearts and not at what religion we belong to. I also believe that anyone, of any religion, can reach God in SINCERE prayer!.....Blessings to you!
2007-09-21 17:31:32 · answer #10 · answered by Native Spirit 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋