Posted by
Bob Siegel on Friday, March 18, 2011 2:15:20 PM
Central
to the skeptic’s objection to Christianity is the audacity of Christians
claiming not only that their own religion is true, but that all other religions
are false.
Although I believe Christians should
generally be gentle and humble when talking to unbelievers, I also feel it’s
time for us to stop apologizing. After all, we were instructed by Jesus
to share the gospel with every person. This doesn’t mean we want to
impose on somebody elses’ religious freedom. This doesn’t mean we don’t
respect their right to disagree. This doesn’t mean we will force them to
convert. It just means we would be hypocrites if we said we followed Jesus and
disobeyed what Jesus went out of His way to specifically command us to do. This
is the teaching of the New Testament. I know. I know. You occasionally hear some
minister or priest say it isn’t the teaching of the New Testament. They aren’t
speaking the truth. They may call themselves clergymen but they don’t know the
Bible from Marvel Comic books.
There’s a movement within Christianity
inspired by anti-intellectual disasters like The Jesus Seminar where
liberal clergymen, men like Marcus Borg, shamelessly admit that they don’t like
the teaching that Jesus is the only way. Well, that’s fine. If you don’t like
His teachings, don’t follow His teachings. Nobody’s making you. The choice is
yours. But at least be honest. Don’t try to pretend that He didn’t say what He
said, just because you don’t like it.
And that’s what The Jesus Seminar
did for us. They decided that the controversial statements from Jesus were not
actually spoken by Jesus. They had nothing to base this on, mind you. They had
nothing to base it on other than the fact that they didn’t like His comments.
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
but through me.”
That’s what He said, folks. And no
mental gymnastics in the world can force those words to mean anything other
than what they say.
And I have a flash for you:
Jesus isn’t the only one who said that. Almost every major religion claims it’s
the only way to God. What was the first commandment given to the Jews
through Moses, the founder of Judaism, who claimed to have heard words directly
from God on Mt. Sinai? “You will have no other gods before me.” One
God. One religion.
Moses didn’t say “Ours is one of many
beautiful paths. Buddha and Mohammad will show you other ways. Oh and Dagon,
the god of the Philistines. You should respect him too.”
That’s not what Moses taught. Moses
taught that the worship of any God other than the God of Israel was Idol worship.
As for Islam, do I even need to repeat
it? The Koran makes it abundantly clear that those who do not believe in Allah
and those who do not believe Mohammad is Allah’s prophet will end up in hell.
What then is the difference between a Christian and a Muslim? The Muslim will
kill you if you don’t repent. The Christian won’t.
Does this mean all Muslims are
violent? Not at all. I have met many peaceful Muslims. But it does
mean that all Muslims who take the Jihad verses of their own scriptures
seriously are violent. Some
Muslims look at the Koran the way the Jesus Seminar looks at the Bible.That’s
bad news for effective literary criticism but good news for a world that wants
to be safer.Be that as it may: However Muslims choose to take the Koran, this
is just exactly what the Koran teaches.
It’s time to acquit Christianity from
its bad rap.
The Bob Siegel Show can be heard every Sunday at
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Bob Siegel is a political satirist and
Christian apologist. He is also a
regular contributor for The Washington Times , San Diego News Room and San
Diego Rostra.