That's No Way to Get to Heaven

I am going to structure this blog post based on the flow of conversation, not necessarily around specific ideas.  So, please pardon if it seems like the post jumps around a bit!  We welcome any thoughts on the discussion that we had.  In person, it was quite good, and I feel that additional thoughts would be even more helpful.

Christianity:  the way to get to heaven, not by your own efforts, but through God

Video dialogue on Chapter 1:
     Q1.  How can you be sure there is only one way to God?  Why isn't religious pluralism an acceptable standpoint?  Where is the justice in a God who condemns people to hell who cannot (based on circumstances) ever hear about Jehovah?
     A1.  Deut. 28:29 = God keeps some things from mere humans, yet we know that God is still just and merciful, so there must be a way.
     Example1: If a man were born in Tibet in the 13th century and had never heard about Christ, then God would probably have made sure that that particular person would still not have accepted him even if he had been born in the 21st century in Indianapolis  [note: this is only an example and even the speaker did not buy completely into this argument].

     Q2. What good is religion if it results in only conflict and wars?  Since we have always had religion in one form or another, can we really predict that less religion would be better?  Would there be peace if everyone understood different faiths, and problems if the sole belief in one faith results in intolerance?

     Q3. Can religion play a part in political decisions or does it need to remain separated?
     A3. Everyone brings religion into the public sphere because everyone has a form of "religion" [as defined as a view of how life should be].

Debriefing the video:

     Q1. What would a Christian "extremist" look like?
     A1. Would they kill people?  We typically label Muslim "extremists" as "jihadists",  yet many people who really believe Islam would never do things like those on Jihads.  Would Christian extremists live like Christ: serving the poor, giving their goods away, blessing people, turning the other cheek, etc.?
     Example1. Mother Theresa, who lived her life serving others.
     Rebuttal1. Yet, Gandhi was also a person who self-sacrificed for others, admittedly living a better life of service than many people who call themselves Christians.  However, for Christians, behavior does not equate salvation.  Unfortunately, that means that many people who are Christians end up damaging others' representations of the faith.

     Q2. What about those who never got a chance to hear about Christ?  What about the ancient cultures who did not even know Christianity existed [example: Maya culture in ancient Mesoamerica], or those who heard about Christ only from Conquistadors or the Crusades [i.e. die or convert]?  Would those people still have a chance to enter heaven?  What about those who die young, before they have a knowledge of this world, let alone Christianity?
     A2.  We cannot know; God has not revealed it to us yet.

Questions from the study guide:
A) All major religions are equally valid, produce much wisdom and happiness, and basically teach the same thing.

"So religious pluralism is not a tolerant attitude toward all religions, but a new religion itself that essentially asks every other faith to remake itself in the image of religious pluralism.  In other words, it refuses to acknowledge the true diversity of world religions--often in the name of promoting diversity"
     Discussion: Even within religion, everyone has their own take on certain doctrinal differences.  For example, there are 4 different Southern Baptist churches in the Champaign-Urbana area alone, let alone other denominations of Christianity or other faiths.  Most non-Christian Americans that one speaker knew started out as Christians, others are just not in church because of the church community.  Which leads to the question of : what is Christianity doing that is repelling said people?

B) Lots of good and intelligent people differ with the Christian viewpoint, so it is arrogant to claim that Christian beliefs are the only true ones.

"The person who says, 'It is arrogant to persuade others to your religious position' is actually doing the very thing he is forbidding--at the moment he is forbidding it."
     Discussion: Christians are, in fact, intolerant of other religions.  To believe solely in one religion, you have to have a degree of intolerance.
     For future discussion: I Timothy 4:10

C) You can't hold people responsible for rejecting Jesus when they have never heard of him.

     Discussion: If everything is proven, then there is no room for faith, which is an essential part of religion.  We can't handle certain knowledge, which is why God did not reveal it to us.  Scripture is sufficient for us to live on today.  Part of it is arguably a control issue: we don't have the big picture but we want to because we want to have that control, but for a Christian, the control needs to rest with God and God alone.

D) Nobody can know whose religion is true, so Christianity can't claim it is the only true way.

     "The only way you can be absolutely skeptical about religion and say nobody has all the truth, nobody has complete knowledge, is if you have complete knowledge."
     Discussion:
          Q1. Was Christ arrogant [see below definition, which was developed during discussion]?  He did say that he was the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, and the ONLY life, and that no one could come to God except through him.
          A1. Jesus was not arrogant because he was God.  He died for his beliefs, and he would have recanted if he would have not been God.
          Rebuttal1. Other people have claimed to be God and have died for it [i.e. cult leaders, see Branch Davidians].

Arrogance: claiming to have a false sense of knowledge; puffing up oneself; making much of oneself

     One view of Christianity: "Christians think, 'I'm right, you're wrong, and you are going to hell because of it.'"
     Counter:  We are still working out our faith, and though we don't know it all, we do believe that Jesus is Christ.  We can't know everything, not even in heaven, because we are not God.  Christians know that what we believe is true; we know the Bible is true; and we have confidence in the knowledge that we do have.

Intro/Chapter 1.

     Intro: Validating doubts- we are all together in this walk of life, some people have miraculous stories and we often think "why did God share that with them and not with me?", but not everyone sees the same picture and not everyone comes to God the same way.

     Chapter 1:
Everyone has a culture that shapes their belief system.  Therefore, there is no unbiased viewpoint; which raises the question: "can we have a truth claim?"  We all choose what we believe; and those who know there own faith think that there's is the right one and everyone else is wrong.  However, instead of being solely shaped by society, everyone always has a personal choice to make with regard to religion.