| The Christian claim that Jesus is \”the only way\” to God seems insufferably arrogant, politically incorrect and culturally gauche in today\’s society. This booklet explains both the \”inclusive\” and the \”exclusive\” Christian attitude to other religions. It then offers a third alternative which honours the uniqueness of Jesus as \”the Way\” while encouraging conversation and respect between people of different faiths.
For the full text of this booklet in PDF format, click here. This booklet is out of print and not available for sale. |
9 thoughts on “Jesus the Only Way? Why Christians Seem Arrogant”
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Thank you SO much for this excellent paper. It thoroughly, intelligently, and lovingly answers questions I am asked by my searching friends. I thank God for you!
I have been reading the Bible for the last 3-4 years. The message that Jesus is the ONLY to salvation is in my humble opinion wrong. I would like to hear from your good self on this matter. Please provide me your platform to claim that this view of yours is correct.
Thanks.
Jay
Hi All Readers,
The following is a response I wrote to John’s Article that Jesus is THE ONLY WAY. Read it please and give me your thoughts.
Hi John,
It was indeed a pleasant surprise to read your short response and I look forward to your more lengthy one. I look forward to it as i feel that your response shall be thought provoking and satisfying than the response I have received from many others who call themselves ‘Christians’. One Pastor from a very well established Church in Melbourne, simply walked away when I asked him to explain what Jesus meant by the following:
“Him that overcometh shall make
a pillar in the temple of my God
and he shall go no more out”.
He simply kept avoiding me every time he saw me in Church or other places. Yet another, also from a more prominent Church which has a membership of about 10 thousand, also did the same when I asked him to explain the following Jesus’ statement:
“Fear not they who can kill the
body but not the soul; but fear
him that can kill both body and
soul in Hell.”
It has been a totally disappointing experience for me, in my quest to know what the Church/Christians think Christianity is all about. Every person who professes himself/herself to be a Christian, refrain questioning their Faith. In one instance, i even suggested to a close friend that if questioning your faith is taboo, Martin Luther the founder of the Protestant Church would not have done so. If we believe in ‘Free Will’ which the Church throws in, at almost every sermon, only as a THROW AWAY LINE; we should raise all our doubts to those who claim to be the upholders of not just the Christian Faith but all other faiths as well. Don’t you agree?
As I read the Bible, especially the sayings of Jesus, I cannot help but to come to the conclusion, that the actual message of Jesus has been ignored and thrown to the wind, in the eagerness of the Church to concentrate on just ONE of Jesus’ COMMANDMENTS – to spread the word (Evangelize).
Let me be clear by saying that there is nothing wrong with Evangelism. It is necessary but forms just ONE OF THE COMMANDMENTS of Jesus. However, the emphasis paid by the Church to this Commandment (EVANGELISM) by Jesus, which was relayed by Him AFTER RESURRECTION, is out of proportion to any of His OTHER COMMANDMENTS. Let us pick one other COMMANDMENT of Jesus and juxtapose it to this. Take the Commandment in Matthew 5.44 where He says that we should LOVE not just our loved ones and Neighbour but also OUR ENEMY. Have you heard any Sermon on this? I doubt you have. Even if you have, it would have been said as an ‘Obiter Dictum’ – legal terminology meaning that it was not a main point and said a minor comment. Why is that so John? Well, let us compare Evangelizing and Loving The Enemy and consider what would it take for us to obey them. Which is easier? Having said that, you must agree that what is spread (evangelized), must be THE TRUE MESSAGE ( that Jesus who was born a Jew into Judaism brought) and not spreading something that is UNTRUE. Is this not why He (Jesus) said:
“When anyone hears the word
of the Kingdom and UNDERSTANDETH IT NOT, then
comes the wicked one and
catcheth it from where it is
sown in his heart. This is he
who receiveth seed by the
wayside.”
Hopefully you and I shall have a thought provoking communication about this Avatar (God incarnate in Hinduism) called Jesus Christ.
Coming now to your short response on the Elephant example, I can understand when you say that the example makes us all wearing blindfolds. Then again John, are we not blind in the first place? Are not our eyes blinded that we are unable to to see our ETERNAL HOME? Is there not a veil in front of us that prevents us from seeing our ETERNAL HOME. Is this not why the creator of the Universe (God), keeps sending us messengers and sometimes takes the birth of a human to guide us on the right path? Having not seen our ETERNAL HOME and thinking that this (The World) is all there is to everything, we are blind in the same way as the people in the elephant example. The Veil (materialism) has to be lifted before we can see or enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The blindfolds on the men around the elephant must be removed in order for them to perceive how an elephant looks. The elephant is only an analogy representing God. Likewise our material infested nature, full of envy, jealousy, greed, hatred, anger etc must be taken away or extinguished in order for us to be fit to perceive our Eternal Father. The ‘I’ which represents the ‘Ego’ must be destroyed as i had briefly explained in my earlier correspondence. Is this not why Jesus said:
“By seeing they see and shall
not perceive, by hearing they
hear and shall not understand.
For this peoples hearts are
waxed gross and their ears
dull of hearing and their eyes
they have closed.”
What indeed was Jesus trying to say here John? Who was He talking to? That is easy! It was to His own Jewish people. Did you know that He was specifically sent by God for the Jewish race? If you think not, just read what He said to His disciples before He sent them out to preach.
“Go not into the way of the Gentiles.
Neither enter ye in the land of the
Samaritans, but go rather unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10.5
Even more convincing than the above is what transpired between Jesus and hi disciples on the one hand and a woman from Caanan. As Jesus was walking with His disciples, there came this woman who had a daughter vexed by the Devil. Upon seeing Jesus, she ran towards Him and begged Him to cure her daughter. Jesus refused and kept walking away from her.
John, when I read this for the first time; it puzzled/worried me very much. I could not fathom why Jesus refused to help her. His refusal at least was not welcomed by His disciples either. I think it was Peter who said to Jesus that He should attend to the woman as presumably she was becoming a nuisance and kept on following them. This is what Jesus replied:
“I am not sent but to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel”.
(Matthew 15.24)
What does this mean John? Is this not yet again, proof enough for my contention? There are even more deeper concerns I have, on the reply Jesus gave to the woman when she knelt before Him and worshipped Him. He did not want to help her and said:
“it is not meet for me to give
bread meant for the children
unto the dogs”.
John, this is harsh but Jesus spoke the truth. Yet again He confirmed that He came only for His people who were and still are a hard race. Their hard heartedness is so clear when you read what they said to Pontius Pilate when he said that the blood of killing an innocent man (Jesus) shall be on them. They replied that they did not mind that and that it did not bother them if it fell upon their children as well. What more needs to be said about the mind set of that race!
Look, I am getting carried away as usual when it concerns Jesus. I need to stop now and look forward to your detailed response. There is so much more to write about Jesus’ message.
A very happy Easter to you and your family.
Thanking you,
Jay.
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Hi Readers,
This is me again. It is appropriate that I let you read the earlier response I gave to John after reading His article on “Jesus Is The Only Way”. I love anyone to respond to what I have written as it is important to REALLY UNDERSTAND what Jesus Christ was ALL ABOUT. I am sure all readers are aware of the story about “THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES”! Read my thoughts and PLEASE RESPOND.
Jay.
Hi John,
I have read your article.Whilst it deserves accreditation as an academic piece of work, I am disappointed to say that having read it, I cannot without any doubt say that you have convinced me, Jesus is the ONLY WAY. Here are my reasons:
1. It is crucial to note that the contents of any article must always be connected with the topic on which the writer is writing. The topic on which you have written is with a question mark (?). I shall presume that you seek to establish in your article that Jesus is the ONLY WAY. The material a reader would look forward to read within this article must therefore be related to the question of whether Jesus is the ONLY WAY. To convince the reader that this is so, the writer must refer to the various sources he referred to and point out to the reader that the source proves this point – that Jesus is the ONLY WAY. A person with an opposite view (like me) that Jesus is ONE OF THE WAYS, will require the sources you refer to, to substantiate that Jesus is THE ONLY WAY. If I am you, I would first look for the most important source to establish this point. In this case, it is irrefutable that the PRIMARY and MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCE is non other than the founder of the faith (Christianity) – Jesus Christ. Needless to say there are other sources that may be relied upon. You can refer to what the Disciples said and then to the numerous opinions of a vast number of Theologians. Having said this, I am sure that you will agree that the most authentic and primary source must be what exactly Jesus said. When we give Jesus the title that He was the son of God or God himself, you cannot deny that what He said is the CORE of Christianity. Every other source must be secondary to that. To this we must also add a caveat. It must be accepted without question that all secondary sources must always be struck down if what that source stands for is CONTRADICTORY TO WHAT JESUS SAID.
I was hoping to see if you discharged your duty by referring to any statement by Jesus to say that He was the ONLY TRUE ONE and that HIS WAY IS THE ONLY WAY. I was not surprised that there was not any except for the very famous 14.6 Statement of Jesus in John:
“I am the way the truth and the life.
No man comes to the father except
through me.”
In my previous correspondence to you, I have already pointed out that Jesus never said “I am the ONLY way”. Had He said that, I would be most surprised as He was devoid of ego, which He constantly said we must get rid of, if we are to be fit to enter the Kingdom of God. If not, He would not have preached that we should offer the other cheek, if someone were to slap us on one. Most of all, He would not have said:
” Ye would have heard it being said; love thy neighbour and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them that despietefully use you and persecute you.”
What indeed is the message here John? Add to this:
“Except ye be converted and become as little children ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Suffer little children and prevent them not from coming unto me, for such is the Kingdom of God.”
The master of masters (Jesus), came with a special message from our Father (God), to show us the way back to our eternal home. Hearing His message is not good enough. Having heard it, we have to first UNDERSTAND the message and then PUT INTO PRACTICE what He taught us to do. If we do not UNDERSTAND, we bcome as He said “seeds fallen by the way side.” If we do UNDERSTAND we are like seeds that fall into “good ground” and we shall then produce much fruit, “some a hundredfold, some sixty and some 30.” Having understood we must then practice it. If this were not to be true, He would not have said:
“Not everyone who calls me lord, lord shall enter into the Kingdom of God”. AND
“Why call me lord, lord and not do the things I tell you to do”.
In this respect, Paul said the following:
“He who sayeth that he knoweth Him and keepeth not His sayings, is a liar and the truth does not reside in him.”
“He who sayeth that He abideth in him, ought to himself also so to walk, even as He walked.”
It is my humble opinion that anyone who says that Christianity (Jesus) is the ONLY WAY is far removed from the TRUE TEACHINGS of Jesus Christ, as what He taught has been distorted and misunderstood over the years, by all those responsible for spreading His message. Let me also inform you John, this is equally applicable to ALL OTHER FAITHS. The way Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam are being practiced, is far removed from their CORE principles. As a result of this, Christians are made to believe that the other faiths are false. Let me give you an example.
It is popularly thought that Hindus believe in many Gods. This is not so. The RIG VEDA, one of the oldest Hindu Scripture, thousands of years before Jesus said:
“Ekam sat, vipra bahudha vadanthi”.
This is in Sanskrit and it means:
“There is only one truth. It is
man who looks at it differently.”
Let me now make some comments on just some of the points in your article that caught my attention.
At page 2 – paragraph numbered 1:
“However, Christians claim that it was true, and that Jesus was the incarnation of God unlike any other, and therefore the fullest revelation of God available to humankind.”
This is submitted to be not true as you do not seem to know, what the Hindu scriptures say, that Krishna was God Himself. Thousands of years before Jesus, He came as a messenger to the people of the Indus Valley in India to show them the way back to our eternal home. So did Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed. It is a great folly, for anyone to comment without knowing enough about what they are commenting on. Did you know that the TRUE Hindu Scriptures do not claim that it is the ONLY WAY?
John, is not God the the focus of all faiths? It is only how we pray to Him that makes it different. The Rig Veda the oldest book of the Hindu Scriptures which is dated thousands of years before Jesus states this:
“Ekam sat, vipra bahudha vadanti.” (Sanskrit)
This means – There is only one truth (God). It is only man who looks at it differently. Have you noted John, that the Mantra of the Church is, “There is only ONE GOD”. Having said that, the next thing that the Church preaches, starts with the words “OUR GOD”. This is respectfully submitted as a CONTRADICTION. If you concede that there are MANY GODS you may then use OUR GOD not otherwise. Don’t you agree that you cannot ‘have the cake and eat it as well’?
Your criticism of the elephant and the blind men does has no relevance to your contention Jesus is the only way. In fact it proves the opposite contention. The elephant example illustrates the very fact that there is only ONE GOD. The elephant represents GOD. The blind men represent all Humanity. Have you seen God? I haven’t and the Bible says that no one has seen Him either. It (Bible) says God is spirit and if we are to pray to Him, we must do so in spirit.
In conclusion, I would submit that you have not put forward any substance to establish that Jesus is THE ONLY WAY. In Luke you will come across a passage where Jesus said:
“If he is for is he is not against is.”
He said this to prevent the disciples who wanted to stop a person who did not belong to Jesus’ group but was preaching the same message. John, this shows clearly, that the MESSAGE is MORE IMPORTANT than the MESSENGER. The TRUE MESSAGE brought by Jesus is for is not to love this world and to abandon the pursuit of happiness here. Is this not why He said:
“Lay not up for yourself treasures
in this world where moth and
rust corrupt and where thieves
break in and steal; but lay up
for yourself treasures in heaven
neither moth nor rust corrupt and
where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there shall your heart be,”
Believe me, it is the same message brought by Krishna to the people of India first and to the whole of humanity thousands of years before Jesus. This principle of ABANDONMENT found in Jesus’ message, is known as ‘RENUNCIATION’ in Hinduism.
I would like you to respond but I do not think that you would. It would be a pleasant surprise if you would.
May the Lord guide us in all our thoughts and actions.
Jay
Want to be disciple of Jesus
On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 9:18 AM, Jay Pilai wrote:
Hi John,
I thank thee for such a prompt response.
I look forward to reading the article and will get back to you. Since knowing Christ 4 years ago, I have had this discussion with many people and did not get any sensible response. The basic need of ‘man’ to assert that one is superior/better in every way possible than the one next to him; is very strong. This need (ego) prevents us from acknowledging and/or understanding the divine scheme of God. This was clearly stated by Jesus when He said:
“If anyone comes after me let
him deny himself, take up his
cross daily and follow me.”
The words ‘”DENY HIMSELF” is crucial. It could also be stated as DENY HIS SELF. The denying of one’s ‘SELF’ or ‘EGO’ and the extrication of our ‘SELF’ from this material world are corner stones in all of Jesus’ teaching. Remember John, His disciple who bears your very name (John) said as follows:
“Do not love the world or the
things of the world. If anyone
loves the world or the things
of the world, the love of the
father is not in him.”. 1 John 2.15
The moment you
The question is, why would anyone reject the Love of God in and Through Christ, when he was prophesied to come and was written about more than 1000 years before His physical appearance on earth. All things were made by Him, for Him and Through Him. And, I and the Father are One. And, if you have Seen Me you have Seen the Father. Why is it not considered arrogant when one knows about Him and then rejects him for unprovable myths that have no historic record?
…Buddha was on the right track for rejecting Hinduism, but he nearly starved himself to reach ‘enlightenment’. It is interesting that he lived at the same time as near the end of the time of the prophets are 500BC; the paradox that the very ‘religion’ that was the one of man to which the person named Jesus came into the world is the very one that rejects Him. Christ didn’t come itno the world to ‘create a new religion’…all the worlds other religions are man made. Christ is about Reality According to the Will of God, not religiosity according to the ignorance of man in regard to the Knowledge of God. It’s impossible in many regards to convince a Hindu (e.g.) as the read the bible through the hindu lens, can’t work that way. The mind must be wiped clean, starting for square zero. But in the long run, is it really about being right or wrong about what one believes or was raised to believe? IN this world it is, but God says NO. He doesn’t care what we believe, because people will believe wherever and whatever they set their mind and heart to no matter what. “UNless you are converted and become LIKE one of thses little ones, you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven”. Unless one is born from above you cannot See The Kingdom of God”. People are not born “Christians” (a title likely that came from pagan Romans)..it is an act of GOD..for “Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. “No one can come to Me unless The Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.” Which means, if they haven’t heard from God and are being taught by God, then one cannot come to The Son. “All those who are Known by God, Love Him”. “Even the demons believe in God and shudder” Believing in God or a bunch of gods is meaningless..the reality is Believing IN Christ is Being Brought Into Christ. You don’t believe in Him, you KNOW Him. “As I Am in the Father, and the Father is in Me, I will be in You as you are in Me, and we are One in Perfect Unity” Where is the Unity through A Human anywhere else. Why reject this love the require only The Trust and Hope and not based on Works that you can be assured today? No where else. That is a Loving God.
Hi Stephen,
The question is NOT about REJECTING Jesus. If anyone rejects Him, he/she is wrong. The issue here is not this but whether the to SALVATION has to be that taught by the Gospel. To do so is what I say as ARROGANT despite the absence of ARROGANCE in Jesus’ teachings.
Amen
Jay
I am a newer Christian and here’s my understanding – not really reading the whole thing. -Anyone (jews, gentiles, hindus, muslims and all) who believes and accepts Jesus as savior has access to Heaven. If one doesn’t believe in Christ or Bible or Father in Heaven, why would they even want to go to that heaven where they exist? May the Spirit of God help each of us to understand His mysteries. In Jesus’s name, Amen
Hi, Susy:
Lovely to hear from you.
Yes, it’s a difficult issue. I think you are saying something really important when you say the main reality of heaven is the presence of God and Jesus, and why would people WANT that? I suppose I worry about those who have never heard of Jesus. Isn’t it possible that they really want to know God in their hearts, and that if they heard of Jesus (or when they’re faced with Jesus after death), they say, “Oh, that’s what I’ve been looking for all my life but I never knew it!”
What do you think?
Blessings!
John