Premise 1: Why Are There So Many Religions?

According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribal and cultural movements which at some point in the future will be countless

Wikipedia

Studies have shown that 85% of the world’s population claims to have some religious affiliation.

The fact that 85% of human beings on the planet find it necessary to worship God in one way or another indicates there are universal religious instincts common to all societies

Anthropologist have found that even tribes or indigenous groups that have had little or no contact with the outside world have a religious system of worship where ceremonies, doctrines, songs, rituals and forms of giving or sacrifice are used as elements of worship.

wor·ship

/ˈwərSHəp/

the feeling or expression of worship and adoration for a deity

Oxford Dictionary

Anthropologists and Sociologist have found that while worlds cultures, tribes, and indigenous peoples have distinct and profound religious practices and traditions they all contain the same spiritual traits or instincts that are universal to mankind.

These instincts are also referenced in the Bible:

• Transcendence: A “sense” however vague that one is connected to something immensely greater than ourselves.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts

Isaiah 55:8-9

• Sense of Accountability: a sense of responsibility to a higher power and other humanity that informs outer actions

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:28-29

• Sense of Eternity:  An innate knowledge that there is something more to life than what we can see and experience in the here and now.

He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity in the human heart —yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done from the beginning to the end

Ecclesiastes 3:11

The vast number of religions is evidence humans have a God-shaped vacuum in our soul. Because of our God-shaped vacuum, humans have consistently sought to fill the void with gods of their own making. In ancient cultures, people created false religions that worshiped stone idols. Today, many still create false religions. All false religions are essentially attempts to fill the void in the human soul.

Discussion Question 1: Why do you think even remote tribes and cultures with little or no contact with the modern world not only contemplate a higher authority, eternity, and accountability but they develop rituals, traditions, and doctrines to express these transcendent ideas and center their culture around them?

Premise 2: The existence of so many religions reveals man’s need to control or reconstruct God

Romans 1:18-23 speaks directly to why people create gods for themselves and subsequently develop traditions and religions around them:

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.

Romans 1:18-23 describes how man’s sinfulness, his rejection of God’s power over their lives, and an unwillingness to accept God as He describes himself are why “they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like”

Reasons to reject God of Bible	Solution to avoid God of Bible
God who demands righteousness and morality	Invent a God who is preoccupied, humanistic, or turns a blind eye to our sinfulness
God who says you can’t earn your own way to heaven	Invent a God who if you complete certain steps, follow certain rules or rituals and you get in
God  is sovereign, all powerful, all knowing demands faithfulness	Invent a God who is more a mystical force and not intimately concerned in the affairs of men
God who demands eternal separation from Himself for rebellion and sin or restoration by accepting his son’s sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross	Invent a God who you can appease with trite confession, sacrifices or acts of benevolence

Romans 1:18-24 says God is angry with those who suppress the truth about Him and invent other Gods–Why?

Biblical Truth That Is Being Suppressed	Negative Act of Suppression
v. 20 through everything that was made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature	v. 21 they know by observing God’s creative power He is awesome, but still refuse to worship him as God or even give him thanks
v. 21 they know by observing God’s creative power He is awesome, but still refuse to worship him as God or even give him thanks	v. 21-23 they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like…and instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living god, they worshiped idols

The existence of so many religions is not an argument against God’s existence or an argument that truth about God is not clear. Rather, the existence of so many religions is demonstration of humanity’s rejection of the one true God.

Mankind has replaced Him with gods that are more to their liking. This is a dangerous enterprise. The desire to recreate God in our own image comes from the sin nature within us—a nature that will eventually “reap destruction” if not soberly addressed according to Scripture.

Don’t be misled–you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit

Galatians 6:7-8

Premise 3: Some of the Major Distinctives of Christianity

1. Salvation cannot be earned by performance or merit

All the world’s religious belief systems, on the other hand, posit that humans can work their way into God’s presence through some set of good behaviors. Regardless of religious system, all proclaim a similar truth: you, as a simple human, can control (or at least contribute to) your own eternal destiny.

Religion	Way to salvation
Jews	Obey 10 commandments
Muslim	Obey 5 Pillars of Faith
Buddhist	Obey Four Noble Truths and Eight-fold Path
Baha’i	Must Keep Baha’i Law
Hindu	Perform good deeds (Karma Yoga) attain state of consciousness (Jnana Yoga) Perform acts of Worship (Bhakti Yoga)
Jehovah’s Witness	Perform good works that fulfill God’s will
Scientologist	Work towards spiritual enlightenment and an attainment of brotherhood with universe
Mormon	Obey 10 Commandments of Judaism, every commandment of Jesus and the teachings of Mormon Phrophets

Salvation is through Jesus Christ the Son of God

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who came to earth in the form of man through the birth of a virgin. He was sent here by God to provide a way for sinful man to have peace and a relationship with a Holy God.

Unlike all other major religions salvation cannot be earned through the efforts of men

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it (Ephesians 2:8-9)

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)

2. Jesus Christ is the only religious founder who is not dead

Jesus Christ is often mentioned as merely one of many religious leaders, yet the Bible teaches that Jesus is unique in many ways.

One of the biggest distinctions is that Jesus is the only founder of the world’s largest religions who is still alive. Every other founder is dead or anonymous.

Muhammad-Founder of Islam

 In 610, in a cave in Mount Hira north of Mecca, Muhammad said he had a vision in which he heard God, speaking through the angel Gabriel, command him to become the Arab prophet of the “true religion.” Thus began a lifetime of religious revelations, which he and others collected as the Qur’an.On June 8, 632 Muhammad the founder of Islam died after a brief illness. He is buried in the mosque in Medina.

Siddhartha Gautama-Founder of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama died of an unknown illness between 483 BC and 400 BC. The cremated remains of what an inscription says is the Buddha, also called Siddhārtha Gautama, have been discovered in a box in Jingchuan County, China.

Joseph Smith-Founder of Mormonism

Joseph Smith said he experienced a series of visions, including one in 1820, and another in 1823 in which he said an angel directed him to a buried book of golden plates which he translated into the Book of Mormon in 1830. He died of a gunshot wound in Carthage, Illinois. He is buried in the family cemetery in Nauvoo, Illinois.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Claimed to be the Son of God was crucified for claiming to be so. Prophesied that He would die, and in three days rise again to show He was God and had power over death. His grave is empty. His resurrection is attested by four ancient biographies containing eyewitness accounts, and the fact that those eyewitnesses died because they would not deny the facts of the resurrection.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.  He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.  After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.  Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

 I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Jesus; John 11:25

3. Christianity’s does not just offer eternal life but a living personal relationship with God right now

As stated before most of the world’s largest religions besides Christianity are “do then get” religions. You have to do tasks, rituals, sacrifices etc and then you are rewarded with eternal life in one form of paradise or another.

There appear to be five major categories regarding how to get to heaven in the world’s religions. Most believe that hard work and wisdom will lead to ultimate fulfillment, whether that is unity with god (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Baha’i) or freedom and independence (Scientology, Jainism). Others, like Unitarianism and Wicca, teach the afterlife is whatever you want it to be. None mention a personal relationship with God!

Christianity is the only religion where the primary result of salvation is the restoration of a broken relationship with God and becoming a member of His family and an adopted brother of His Son Jesus. Scripture is very clear—a Christian is a child of God.

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:4-5

For Christians the Salvation and Adoption Into God’s Family process goes like this Problem: Sin separates every human being from a Holy God

Problem: Sin separates us from a Holy God

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.  You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else

Ephesians 2:1-3

Remedy: Accepting Jesus Christ atoning death on the cross as a gift and placing our faith in His life, death and resurrection creates the pathway to appease God’s wrath against sin and adoption as His sons and daughters

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7

Most of the world’s major religions and tribal religions consist of a wrathful, distant and unapproachable God that can only be reluctantly appeased by doing special works of righteousness to earn His approval and then and only then gain entrance into heaven with no mention of future relationship.

Christianity’s highest reward is not just heaven it is having God become a loving Father to those who come to Him through Jesus Christ

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

None of the other major religions make this claim as their central doctrine