Guest Voice: DON’T ALL RELIGIONS LEAD TO GOD? By David W. Cloud

I know I should not have to put this little disclaimer in here; but because there are some people, who do not have enough brain cells to figure it out. I will. The following was NOT written by me. It was written by a Fundamentalist Baptist Missionary in Asia. The link below does go to his website. You can buy his materials over at the website. I am not, nor have I ever been affiliated with Way of Life Ministries. I simply like David W. Cloud’s writings. Nor do I profit from any of the purchases made over on Bro. Cloud’s website. I simply put the link up as courtesy to his Ministry.  

Thanks,

-Patrick

—————————- 

From: fbns@wayoflife.org FBIS News Service
To:
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:34:54 -0400
Subject: [FBIS] Don’t All Religions Lead to God?

DON’T ALL RELIGIONS LEAD TO GOD?

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service P.O. Box 610368, Port
Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org

The following is from[1] Your Questions Answered on the Bible & Christianity, a
free eBook available from Way of Life Literature — www.wayoflife.org

___________________

There is a Hindu saying, “The truth is One, but different sages call it by
different names.”

This is a common misconception that is held by many non-Hindus, as well.

But it can’t be true that “all paths lead to God” for the simple reason that
they point in different directions!

If I said to you that I am planning to go to Washington D.C. tomorrow from Nepal
and that to get there I am just going to board any airplane and start flying in
any direction I please, you would think I am crazy. We all know that you have to
follow the right path or you will never arrive at your intended destination.

Likewise, the only way to get to heaven is to follow the right road, and Jesus
Christ claims to be that Road. If He is not, he was either a liar, a lunatic, or
a deceived man.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Consider four ways that the major religions teach different doctrines about the
most important things:

The religions do not teach the same morality.

For example, Hinduism has a caste system that locks men into a certain status
from birth, and the low caste are considered inferior to the high. In places
where Hinduism is still followed in its purest forms, such as Nepal and rural
India, the caste system is very strong. In Nepal, low castes are not even
allowed into the homes of high castes. In many villages, the low castes are not
allowed to drink out of the same wells and fountains as the high caste. In parts
of India there is even an “unseeable caste” whose members are required to work
at night. Though some Hindu scholars claim that the caste system is not an
integral part of Hinduism, it has been practiced by Hindus for thousands of
years and has support from the Hindu scriptures.

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that all men are the same “caste.” We came
from the same original father and mother, and God commands us to treat all men
alike. God’s law as given in the Bible is, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself” (Galatians 5:14). If I love my neighbor as myself, I will not treat him
as an inferior and try to “keep him down.” The Bible commands men to treat one
another with perfect justice. “Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye
shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of
man; for the judgment is God’s” (Deuteronomy 1:17).

In Hinduism, morality is largely relative. Take lying, for example. Even the
Hindu gods themselves lie. Yet the Bible teaches that lying is a great sin.
Consider the following commandment:

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we
are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).

The Bible says that God hates the lying tongue (Prov. 6:16-17). It says that the
liar is a wicked person (Prov. 11:18). It says that Satan is the father of lies
and those who tell lies are following in his evil ways (John 8:44). The Bible
even says that all liars who die without salvation will be punished in eternal
hell.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, AND ALL LIARS, shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”
(Revelation 21:8).

Obviously, what Hinduism teaches about lying and what the Bible teaches are
different and contradictory. If one is right, the other is wrong.

The religions also do not teach the same things about God.

The Bible teaches that God had no beginning; He is eternal. He made all things,
but He is not all things. It teaches that God is not to be worshipped in the
form of idols. It says that God is Almighty and omnipotent, that he can do
anything, and he is omniscient, meaning he knows all things. The Bible says God
knows the names of every star, how many hairs are on man’s head, and the
thoughts of every man’s heart. The Bible teaches that God is holy. He never
commits any wrong deed, never lies, never cheats, never commits fornication,
never steals another man’s wife, never acts foolishly in a rage, never gets high
on drugs. The Bible says God is love, that even though men have sinned against
him and broken his law and turned to their own way, that God loves them and
provided salvation for them by coming into the world and dying on the cross. The
Bible says that God is “meek and lowly in heart.” He is not proud. He treats men
equally and does not look down on some of them as “peons.”

No other religion believes in a God like this. Consider Hinduism. Krishna, an
incarnation of Vishnu, is said to be “God Himself” (Upadhyay, Hindu Gods and
Goddesses, p. 51). He is deceitful, disobedient, and lascivious. “As a child
Krishna was playful and mischievous. Innocent and obedient in his mother’s
presence, he missed no opportunity for mischief when her back was turned. He …
mocked and laughed at his elders and teased little babies until they cried,
urinated in neighbours’ houses and stole butter and sweets. But Yasodha and
Nanda, who had no control over him, just laughed at his antics. … As a youth,
Krishna enchanted and intoxicated the cowherd women with his flute playing. He
teased them and made love to them” (Indian Gods, Kent: Grange Books, 1998, p.
45, 47). Krishna’s flute playing is said to “pull virtuous women from their
homes and drag them to Krishna” and to make “chaste ladies forget their lords”
(David Kinsley, The Sword and the Flute).

Since the religions’ teaching about God is different, how can it be possible
that they all lead to the same God?

The religions also do not teach the same thing about Jesus.

The Bible says Jesus is the eternal God who created all things. He came into the
world 2,000 years ago by the virgin birth. He lived a sinless life, died on the
cross for man’s sins, spent three days in the grave, and rose from the dead. He
ascended back to heaven and is coming again to rule the world.

The Islamic religion believes in a Jesus named Isa, but he is not God, did not
die for man’s sins, and did not rise from the dead.

Hinduism teaches that Jesus was a great guru who learned religious wisdom and
attained to an exalted status, but Hindus do not believe that Jesus is the only
God and Creator and the only Saviour from sin.

Judaism teaches that Jesus was a deceived Jewish rabbi who falsely claimed to be
the Messiah and who was crucified for his lies.

It is obvious that the various major religious do not teach the same thing about
Jesus.

The religions also do not teach the same thing about salvation.

All religions except Bible Christianity, teach that salvation is by works. In
Hinduism, the goal of salvation is to be released from the cycles of
reincarnation (the “wheel of life”), and this is achieved in one of three ways:
through working out one’s karma by rituals, giving alms, good deeds, etc.,
through yogic meditation and “self knowledge,” or through devotion to the Hindu
gods by private devotions, temple rituals and pilgrimages. In Islam, salvation
is achieved through praying five times a day toward Mecca, celebrating Ramadan,
giving alms, going on a pilgrimage to Mecca, etc.

The Bible’s teaching on salvation is entirely different. According to the Bible,
salvation is not what man does for God; it is what God has done for man.
According to the Bible, man cannot be saved by his “good works,” because he is a
sinner and he cannot do the perfect works that God’s holy law requires. God
Himself has provided salvation as a gift by coming into the world and dying on
the cross to suffer the punishment that men deserve. According to the Bible,
there is no reincarnation and no nirvana. There is either heaven or hell. “And
as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews
9:27).

____________________________

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