Which religion gets top marks?
May 1st 2008 23:52
Imagine a school room. The teacher is a big old man, with long grey hair and beard and flowing white robes. He is giving the results of the religion exam. Well – such and such denomination – he says, congratulations. Out of all the religions and denominations in the world, you were the only ones to get full marks for every area. Other denominations of your religion failed to get full marks – in either big or small ways. Other religions completely failed and will not get the chance to sit the test again. Instead, they will be sent to hell for permanent detention.
Talk about the exam results from hell. Or is that the results tests from heaven that send you to hell?
I’m a Christian and, as a Christian, I have beliefs about certain things. I believe that I am right on those matters. If I have a talk with an atheist about religion, one of us is going to be closer to the truth than the other. I believe that person will be me.
However, I find it hard to believe that God would make all his truths completely clear to one religion – or one denomination in one religion – and fail to make them clear to everyone else. And if he did do so, I find it even harder to believe that he would send people to hell for, metaphorically speaking, failing to get the right results on the exam test. This makes even less sense when we consider that many people base their beliefs on the religious environment they are currently in. Even those that move away from the church of their youth, are shaped by the religious environment they were brought up in. If they choose to go to a new church, that new church usually begins to shape their beliefs.
Although churches – at least in my experience – seem loathe to say they are better churches than other churches with similar beliefs, they seem to have no problem in telling others where the other churches have got it wrong. Whereas at the same time, they are reluctant to question any of their own doctrines or beliefs. Of course they know they have it right – and I’m speaking purely from a Christian perspective here. They have the bible and the holy spirit. But how can one explain why many Christian religions with the same bible and the same holy spirit come to differing beliefs? Well obviously they’re not reading their bible correctly or they don’t have enough of the holy spirit in their lives. Sorry, but that’s just rubbish.
As for churches with completely different beliefs – whether because they belong to a different religion or have radical views within Christianity – the common assumption is that they must be going to hell. For a church that believes they are getting full marks in the religion exam, any other church’s performance on that same exam is going to be based on how closely their answers match up with that church’s answers.
I find it hard to understand this complete confidence that one’s religious beliefs are true. I do have a very firm faith and I am completely convinced that my beliefs are close to the truth. But not completely true. You see, there are some things I just can’t ignore that at the very least places doubt on my own beliefs.
The first is that – to state the obvious – people of faith do not agree. Even within the same religion, there are disagreements. There are some things within the Christian church that are common across denominations. I believe that these things are most likely true. But then there are people of other religions who would disagree with them. But the fact that there are so many disagreements on matters of faith shows me that they cannot be certainties.
In the Reformation, the motto of the day was solo scriptura – scripture alone. The common assumption was that, once people started looking only to the bible for their theology, they would all come up with the same beliefs about certain matters. It worked so well, didn’t it? That’s why Protestants never disagree with each other. If God’s truth was completely clear and able to be believed without any uncertainty, why do so many people disagree?
Although I think my beliefs are true, I know that others would disagree with those beliefs. To me, that has to at least place some doubt on whether those beliefs are true or not. I know that God is real. I know that Jesus rose from the dead. But others know something differently.
The second thing that places doubt on my belief is – actually another belief of mine. One that many other people would disagree with. I believe that God is outside of what we can understand. I don’t think any of us can really come to know the full truth about God. God is beyond comprehension.
I do believe that the bible teaches us certain things about God. I believe that Jesus did have the complete truth and he tried to share it with us. But I still believe that, as humans, we just can’t understand it fully. It’s a bit like Kevin Rudd going to a kindergarten and telling the little kids about parliament. Sure, they might learn something. But do they have a complete understanding of parliament by the time he leaves? Of course, they don’t. They don’t have the skills and knowledge to be able to understanding everything there is to know on the matter.
Back to the exam test. I have a sneaking suspicion that many people are going to be getting into Heaven wanting to know the results of that exam test. Not because they have any fear that they may have gotten things wrong, but because they want to show everybody that they were one of the few people to get it all right. I don’t expect to get it all right. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail that test. But I do believe that there are going to be a lot of other people failing that test right alongside of me.
Talk about the exam results from hell. Or is that the results tests from heaven that send you to hell?
I’m a Christian and, as a Christian, I have beliefs about certain things. I believe that I am right on those matters. If I have a talk with an atheist about religion, one of us is going to be closer to the truth than the other. I believe that person will be me.
However, I find it hard to believe that God would make all his truths completely clear to one religion – or one denomination in one religion – and fail to make them clear to everyone else. And if he did do so, I find it even harder to believe that he would send people to hell for, metaphorically speaking, failing to get the right results on the exam test. This makes even less sense when we consider that many people base their beliefs on the religious environment they are currently in. Even those that move away from the church of their youth, are shaped by the religious environment they were brought up in. If they choose to go to a new church, that new church usually begins to shape their beliefs.
Although churches – at least in my experience – seem loathe to say they are better churches than other churches with similar beliefs, they seem to have no problem in telling others where the other churches have got it wrong. Whereas at the same time, they are reluctant to question any of their own doctrines or beliefs. Of course they know they have it right – and I’m speaking purely from a Christian perspective here. They have the bible and the holy spirit. But how can one explain why many Christian religions with the same bible and the same holy spirit come to differing beliefs? Well obviously they’re not reading their bible correctly or they don’t have enough of the holy spirit in their lives. Sorry, but that’s just rubbish.
As for churches with completely different beliefs – whether because they belong to a different religion or have radical views within Christianity – the common assumption is that they must be going to hell. For a church that believes they are getting full marks in the religion exam, any other church’s performance on that same exam is going to be based on how closely their answers match up with that church’s answers.
I find it hard to understand this complete confidence that one’s religious beliefs are true. I do have a very firm faith and I am completely convinced that my beliefs are close to the truth. But not completely true. You see, there are some things I just can’t ignore that at the very least places doubt on my own beliefs.
The first is that – to state the obvious – people of faith do not agree. Even within the same religion, there are disagreements. There are some things within the Christian church that are common across denominations. I believe that these things are most likely true. But then there are people of other religions who would disagree with them. But the fact that there are so many disagreements on matters of faith shows me that they cannot be certainties.
In the Reformation, the motto of the day was solo scriptura – scripture alone. The common assumption was that, once people started looking only to the bible for their theology, they would all come up with the same beliefs about certain matters. It worked so well, didn’t it? That’s why Protestants never disagree with each other. If God’s truth was completely clear and able to be believed without any uncertainty, why do so many people disagree?
Although I think my beliefs are true, I know that others would disagree with those beliefs. To me, that has to at least place some doubt on whether those beliefs are true or not. I know that God is real. I know that Jesus rose from the dead. But others know something differently.
The second thing that places doubt on my belief is – actually another belief of mine. One that many other people would disagree with. I believe that God is outside of what we can understand. I don’t think any of us can really come to know the full truth about God. God is beyond comprehension.
I do believe that the bible teaches us certain things about God. I believe that Jesus did have the complete truth and he tried to share it with us. But I still believe that, as humans, we just can’t understand it fully. It’s a bit like Kevin Rudd going to a kindergarten and telling the little kids about parliament. Sure, they might learn something. But do they have a complete understanding of parliament by the time he leaves? Of course, they don’t. They don’t have the skills and knowledge to be able to understanding everything there is to know on the matter.
Back to the exam test. I have a sneaking suspicion that many people are going to be getting into Heaven wanting to know the results of that exam test. Not because they have any fear that they may have gotten things wrong, but because they want to show everybody that they were one of the few people to get it all right. I don’t expect to get it all right. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail that test. But I do believe that there are going to be a lot of other people failing that test right alongside of me.
| 47 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
