Course 9 Week 6 Main Comments

You may place your comments for week 6 here anytime after midnight on Monday. You have been doing a good job of carrying this by yourselves. Thank you.

I hope to see you all tomorrow night.

Course 9 Week 5 Main Comments

Please place your comments for week 5 Under "The Saftey Factor . . . " post. There is an explanation there. I hope to get back to the position of being able to post about the exclusive claims of Christianity soon.

The Safety Factor in Making Truth Claims

We have been talking about the fact that almost every major religion makes exclusive claims to truth.

Some have said that it sounds arrogant for Christians to make the claim that Christ is exclusively the way to Heaven. While Christians certanly are capable of making arrogant statement (and capable of making a whole lot more mistakes too), that does not mean that it is not possible to make truth claims without being arrogant.

Aside from sounding arrogant, some making truth claims can be so narrow that to oppose them can be very dangerous. I know of no nation that has been heavily influenced by Christianity that puts a person's life at risk if he or she claims another religion other than Christianity. However, there are countries where it can be very dangerous for a person to convert to Christianity. Countries, such as, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran, are examples of places where a person can put himself or his family at risk if he were to convert to Christianity.

The bottom line is that it is possible to talk about the truth in a loving manner. That should be the desire of all Christians.

The Exclusive Nature of Truth Claims

Pilate, when Jesus was brought before him, asked the question, "What is truth?" That question implied his hopelessness and frustration with real meaning in life. Can we rely on anything?

Since we believe in absolute truth, we also become aware of the exclusive nature of claims to truth. Our society tries to make the claim that "Everything is relative." There is a problem with that, and we will note it in a minute. Christianity, on the other hand acknowledges that "some things are relative, and some things are absolute."

Since every major religion makes claims of exclusivity, it is not really fair to claim that Christians are arrogant when they make the claim that there is only one way to Heaven. The Christian claim is no more arrogant than the claims of the other religions.

Truth, by definition, is exclusive. If something is true, then opposing items must be false. The opposite of truth is certainly excluded by truth itself.

Some People try to deny this (that statements contrary to each other are exclusive). However, the assertions they make that are regarded as "truth" and yet are contrary to each other are nothing more than opinions. Look back at the statement made earlier: "Everything is relative." Another way of stating that principle is "There are no absolutes." Now, concerning truth, others may say "there is no exclusive nature to truth claims."

Let's look at the words that are used by those making the statements mentioned in the last paragraph. "Everything is relative." "There are no absolutes." "There is no exclusive nature to truth claims." Did you notice that those are all absolute words? They are all absolute claims.

My son puts it like this: someone says, "There are no absolutes." Then he asks, "Are you sure about that?" Then they might slip up and say, "Absolutely!"

Truth inherently is exclusive. If something is true, then something contrary to it is false.

In your comments this week, I challenge you to see how claims to truth relate to what you are studying. Tell us how truth, or surety of truth, affects preaching and doctrine.

Almost Every Major Religion Claims Exclusivity

Sikhism is a challenge to both Buddism and Hinduism. Atheism excludes many with theistic view points. Baha'ism claims to embrace offshoots of most major religions; however, while it is inclusive of many viewpoints, it does exclude others who claim to be exclusivists.

Hinduism Claims Exclusivity

Hindus claim to have a very tolerant faith, but when you look more into their belief system, you find that, yes, they claim to be very tolerant--as long as you buy into their belief system as it speaks of truth. What is that belief system? It is syncretism. Syncretism is the attempt to bring together different, or perhaps even apparently opposing, beliefs. So, they are intolerant to those who believe in absolute truth, such as that which is presented in the Word of God. Since they exclude others, they too claim exclusivity for their belief system.

Course 9 Week 4 Main Comment Area

You may post your comments for week 4 below anytime after 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

Course 9 End of Week 3

Today is the last day for week 3.

I hope you all are enjoying your study. I think that Tyler has already finshed his course on doctrines. It turned out to be much shorter than either one of us expected.

Course 9 Week 3 Main Comment Area

Sorry, Fellas,

I made a trip to Dunn Loring, VA, (a suburb of Washington D.C.) to speak at Jameson's (my sixth grandchild's) baby dedication service. On our way home on Sunday evening, the fuel pump went out on our car. We were towed to a town about 18 miles back down the road. We could not get anyone to work on the car until Tuesday.

I will extend the deadlines for the bonuses by two days for each one, but we will still try to end the week on Monday.

Tyler, the comments you made on the Muslim's Claim to exclusivity posting area, will count. Roger and Corey, if you have already made some in another posting area (like last week's), they will count already too.

All new comments should be placed below.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Muslims Claim Exclusivity

We have been talking about the fact that Christianity is not the only religion that claims to have an "only way" to God.

Muslims claim to have the truth. They believe, if I understand it correctly, that the Koran gives the only truth about such matters; however, they believe that translations of the Koran only corrupt the truth. So, if you really want to know the truth, you must understand Arabic and study the Koran in that language. Also, you must have an advanced standing when it comes to comprehending the Arabic language.

I mention these other claims to exclusivity as a foundation for saying that if you want to include some of them as having another way to God, there is a problem with that as far as what they claim themselves. They would not accept the other ways (other than what their claims are).

Exclusivity Seems Offensive

A claim to exclusivity when, it comes to getting to Heaven, seems offensive in our culture of relativism. A buzz word of the day is that of "pluralism." Religious pluralism means respect for all religions.

While we respect all religions, it really is not fair to say that "anything will work." If I wanted to go from here (Illinois) to Atlanta, GA, I would need to go east. Someone would say you cannot get there by going west if you stay in the United States. Others would make a case that if you kept going west (outside of the United States and all the way around the world), you could eventually get to Georgia. (Of course, you would have to go a little south too.)

If you went straight north or south you would never get there. It would not matter whether saying that was offensive or not. You just would not get there. All roads do not lead to Atlanta.

While there may be more than one way of getting to Atlanta, we do have to agree that not all roads lead to Atlanta.

Likewise, not all religions get to heaven. Especially if they have contradictory points. This does not prove there is only one way, but it does narrow things somewhat. The question is, "how far are things narrowed down?" That is the question with which the Bible deals.

Christianity's Claims to Exclusivity

While you are going through your materials this time, I plan to do some study on Christianity's claims to Exclusity. Christianity sometimes comes under fire because of its claims that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. This is often done in such a way to makes it appear that Christianity is the only religion that makes such claims.

But, is this really the case?

I will share with you some of the things I find out.