If Christianity the true religion, how is it observably different from other, false, religions

AnotherAtheist said:

I intend to post this question and see what people say. I don't want this to become an argument. So, I'll be reading responses but intend to not comment much if at all.

Notes - I acknowledge that some people view multiple religions as diifferent views on the same reality so that more than one religion can be true. This question is not for them.

Also - if anyone wants to convince me then they'll need to point out something that believers in other religions can't claim for their own religion. Or, the question will not have been answered.

And - I'm looking for something objectively observable. Belieivers having feelings and experiences again will not answer the question as believers of many religions have those.

EDIT: Unfortunately I spotted the read and agree thread after I posted this. I'll edit my post to make it more compliant.

Specifically I need to include an argument as to why Christianity may be false.

If there is a true religion, then it should clearly stand out as being different from the others, as its teachings will be true, not heavily distorted or downright wrong like other religions. I don't see any religion which stands out as being diifferent from others, and hence that for me is evidence that all religions are man-made, and none is true. Hence, I take that as evidence that Christianity is true.

My purpose in this thread is for Christians to have the opportunity to argue that Christianity is clearly different from other religions in a way that shows true divine guidance.

Click to expand...

Hello!
I will start with one simple fact that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God in the Flesh.
He walked the earth, interacted with His chosen, performed numerous miracles and healings, forgave sins, cast demons out of individuals, died for the sins of the world , resurrected from the dead, walked with them for an additional 40 days then ascended to His home leaving us with His Holy Spirit to guild us for the rest of our earthly existence. This is the foundation of Christianity. Circling back to "Emmanuel" God with us, He always existed with no beginning and no ending. He created everything including man in "His own image'. All through history, He was challenged by "other" Gods yet He proved Himself by the power displayed when met with adversity.
Now I understand that most of what I speak of is documented in the Old and New Testament however, many of the writings have archaeological proof, ancient unbiased historical accounts and scientific data leading to an intelligent designer.
As far as proving Christianity as a false religion, it would be as difficult for me to prove that oxygen does not exist.

AnotherAtheist said:

I intend to post this question and see what people say.

Click to expand...

The distinguishing uniqueness of Christianity is found in the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and secondarily in the historical consequence of the religion in shaping Western civilization.

(That's where you should start. Starting with verification procedures of the hard sciences would be like using a microscope to analyze cloud formations.)

What humans need a God for?

What humans need but incapable of knowing is a future. It's human nature to prepare for one's own future. That's how you need a pension plan when getting old. So it boils down to how far away you need to prepare for such a future.

Either you assume with faith the life ends here such that a pension plan is good enough and you don't need a God for further information. Or you assume with faith that life can go beyond, thus you need a God to get to the info of what could possibly lying ahead.

How would you consider the truth of the existence of aliens? There are basically two ways. First is the aliens show up to face humans. However if they have a good reason to hide from the public, then the only way left is to go though those encountered them to approach such a truth.

To put it another you have to rely on testimonies from the eyewitness accounts. You need to examine how serious they are in reporting the encounter and how credible they are. Say, if one claims to have been abducted by aliens then at least he should have reported it to the police. He must be examined to be a sane and honest person...etc. That's how humans can approach a truth with the occurrence traceable as the eyewitnesses are still alive. It becomes more difficult when the occurrence becomes history with the claimed eyewitnesses passed away.

Now if a God has a critical information (a future) for humans then what should He do?
He should show up to humans to keep each and every single humans informed of the situation, unless He has a good reason not to show up publicly. If so then what should He do?

The analogy is, if the US government has a critical message for its citizens then what should it do. It should inform each and every individuals of course. However if this is not possible then the next is to turn on the mass media to broadcast the message as far reaching as possible. Such as the explicit wording of "broadcast the news to each and every state of the US".

That's how an explicit command from Jesus to preach the gospel to each and every nation as a witness before He makes His return. That's why Christianity is an international religion and mankind-facing.

For more than a thousand years, Islam remained local in the middle east. For another thousand years, the Hinduism remained local in India. It is because their gods didn't turn on the "mass media" with an explicit command to make them mankind-facing.

In a sense, a religion is the mass media of a God who has a message seriously concerning the fate of humans which cannot be ignored. If not so then the religion itself as a whole can be ignored as it doesn't concern humans. If on the other hand, the message of God is critical then He should have an explicit command to fully turn on His mass media for His truth to convey and thus mankind-facing.

If the US government doesn't enforce explicitly when a message is critical to its citizens, then it's not a responsible government. If on the other hand in effect that the message failed to reach each and every state but remained local in one of two states, then both US government and the mass media may be held responsible.

Only Christianity is the qualified religion in terms of the scale of humans being informed, with the continued effort in preaching the gospel as explicitly instructed, with the holy book composed of testimonies ultimately from those directly encountered God and witnessed the deeds of Jesus Christ.

The God of Christianity also has the duty to abide by a covenant saying that humans need faith to be saved, He thus cannot show up publicly and thus has to rely on turning on His mass media He built for the message to convey in a mankind-facing way. He also demonstrated He's God or at least not a human by 1) telling a future, 2) breaking our physics laws with miracles. That's how His eyewitnesses are authenticated with God telling a future or performing miracles though their hands. For this matter and there is a reason why His eyewitnesses are called the prophets.

Acts 14:3 (NIV2011)
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

If it's said that we can't tell observably the difference, I'd rather say that it's human intelligence which being unreliable in telling the difference.

Grace. Most religions require that you must do something to earn your way into a higher state. Christianity teaches God gives those who believe in Him will gain eternal life with Him. Because of that love we will become more like His character and His character is reflected in His commandments. The first 6 is our duty to God out of love for Him and the last 6 is our duty to man for love of them. There is no way to do anything in order to spend eternity with Him---We learn of Him through His word, it is what we compare everything else to. His word is a reflection of His love for us and as we read it and learn to love Him and our fellow man we become more like Him.
Most religions it is humanity earning their way to the realm of that god by appeasing him with gifts and acts. With Christianity it is God Himself has come down to give His life in order for us to come to Him. Our God, the man we follow, is now alive and He is now acting as our High Priest and offering that blood He gave to cover our sins. His tomb is empty. The tombs of all other gods of this earth, those that man follows, are occupied-- Buddha, Mohamed, Confucius, so on.

SkyWriting said:

It doesn't. But it is the only religion based on history over time.

~Unique in Its Time Span~
Most scholars agree that the New Testament was completed by the second half of the first century AD. But sufficient evidence confirms that the earliest forms of the Bible were written during the time of the Hebrew exodus out of Egypt (c. 1400-1200 BC). This means the composition of the biblical writing, from the earliest book of the Bible to the last of the New Testament writings, spans a period of 1,300 to 1,500 years. The Bible is exceptional in that it was written and assembled over a vast number of generations.

Click to expand...

How is this really distinguished from something like Islam, which spans an even greater length of time? They use the Torah, the Psalms, Gospels, and the Quran.

Or Mormonism, for that matter, which uses the Bible and a much more recent book. If some new offshoot of Christianity comes up with a new book, they'd have an even greater time span.

AnotherAtheist said:

I intend to post this question and see what people say. I don't want this to become an argument. So, I'll be reading responses but intend to not comment much if at all.

Notes - I acknowledge that some people view multiple religions as diifferent views on the same reality so that more than one religion can be true. This question is not for them.

Also - if anyone wants to convince me then they'll need to point out something that believers in other religions can't claim for their own religion. Or, the question will not have been answered.

And - I'm looking for something objectively observable. Belieivers having feelings and experiences again will not answer the question as believers of many religions have those.

EDIT: Unfortunately I spotted the read and agree thread after I posted this. I'll edit my post to make it more compliant.

Specifically I need to include an argument as to why Christianity may be false.

If there is a true religion, then it should clearly stand out as being different from the others, as its teachings will be true, not heavily distorted or downright wrong like other religions. I don't see any religion which stands out as being diifferent from others, and hence that for me is evidence that all religions are man-made, and none is true. Hence, I take that as evidence that Christianity is true.

My purpose in this thread is for Christians to have the opportunity to argue that Christianity is clearly different from other religions in a way that shows true divine guidance.

Click to expand...

The clarity found in Christianity and how it is distinct from all other religions is everything written (in it's totality) in His Holy Word regarding Jesus (and there is a lot to that).

It's ALL about Jesus and Him being God incarnate and everything that goes along with that. Fully God and fully man.

Observable?

I observed (you can too) the bible stating several times, the biblical God is the only true God. making Christianity the only true religion.

Not good enough?

I don't care...it makes perfect sense to me.

Maria Billingsley said:

Hello!
I will start with one simple fact that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God in the Flesh.
He walked the earth, interacted with His chosen, performed numerous miracles and healings, forgave sins, cast demons out of individuals, died for the sins of the world , resurrected from the dead, walked with them for an additional 40 days then ascended to His home leaving us with His Holy Spirit to guild us for the rest of our earthly existence. This is the foundation of Christianity. Circling back to "Emmanuel" God with us, He always existed with no beginning and no ending. He created everything including man in "His own image'. All through history, He was challenged by "other" Gods yet He proved Himself by the power displayed when met with adversity.
Now I understand that most of what I speak of is documented in the Old and New Testament however, many of the writings have archaeological proof, ancient unbiased historical accounts and scientific data leading to an intelligent designer.
As far as proving Christianity as a false religion, it would be as difficult for me to prove that oxygen does not exist.

Click to expand...

Well, I think this needs only a simple response.
So what?
Is there any reason to believe that this story is true?

InterestedAtheist said:

Sure they are. Loving your god and being loved by him/her/them are common features of many religions.

Click to expand...

That's a direct claim. In #12 you backed this up by naming the Jewish religion - Christianity is linked to it - and by saying that Muslims are to love their God. This doesn't mean being loved by this one, I would say.
I think, there is no adequate back-up information for your claim. I agree with @A_Thinker here.

thomas_t said:

That's a direct claim. In #12 you backed this up by naming the Jewish religion - Christianity is linked to it - and by saying that Muslims are to love their God. This doesn't mean being loved by this one, I would say.
I think, there is no adequate back-up information for your claim. I agree with @A_Thinker here.

Click to expand...

Yes. It is a direct claim, and not a difficult one to back up.
You say Christianity is linked with Judaism. But ask any Jew, and they'll tell you that Christianity is incorrect. Consult any source at all, and you will find that Judaism and Christianity are separate religions.
Here's two more proofs if you like:
1. Allah loves humans, and Muslims love Allah:
Does Allah Love Us as Jesus Does?
"The direct short answer to this question is that NOBODY on the surface of the earth from the beginning of time and until the end of time even remotely has the same loving capacity as Allah Almighty does! Nobody! Allah Almighty IS, in fact, the Creator of Love and the One who Bestows Love. Any love you’ve ever seen or experienced in life is merely a minute reflection of His love. Love doesn’t exist and people don’t exist and Jesus (peace be upon him) doesn’t exist without Him."

2. The Norse God, Baldur. He loved all things, including mortal humans; and when he died, the entire world - every single god, person, animal, rock and tree - wept so that he might be returned to life.

AnotherAtheist said:

And - I'm looking for something objectively observable. Belieivers having feelings and experiences again will not answer the question as believers of many religions have those.

Click to expand...

AnotherAtheist said:

One person PM'd me to say that near-death experiences, in the majority (or even more?), match the Judeo-Christian tradition. That's something I'm in the process of looking into by reviewing research on NDEs.

Click to expand...

Are NDE's not experiences, and therefore excluded from your criteria?

AnotherAtheist said:

If there is a true religion, then it should clearly stand out as being different from the others, as its teachings will be true, not heavily distorted or downright wrong like other religions. I don't see any religion which stands out as being diifferent from others, and hence that for me is evidence that all religions are man-made, and none is true. Hence, I take that as evidence that Christianity is true.

Click to expand...

?

AnotherAtheist said:

I intend to post this question and see what people say. I don't want this to become an argument. So, I'll be reading responses but intend to not comment much if at all.

Notes - I acknowledge that some people view multiple religions as diifferent views on the same reality so that more than one religion can be true. This question is not for them.

Also - if anyone wants to convince me then they'll need to point out something that believers in other religions can't claim for their own religion. Or, the question will not have been answered.

And - I'm looking for something objectively observable. Belieivers having feelings and experiences again will not answer the question as believers of many religions have those.

EDIT: Unfortunately I spotted the read and agree thread after I posted this. I'll edit my post to make it more compliant.

Specifically I need to include an argument as to why Christianity may be false.

If there is a true religion, then it should clearly stand out as being different from the others, as its teachings will be true, not heavily distorted or downright wrong like other religions. I don't see any religion which stands out as being diifferent from others, and hence that for me is evidence that all religions are man-made, and none is true. Hence, I take that as evidence that Christianity is true.

My purpose in this thread is for Christians to have the opportunity to argue that Christianity is clearly different from other religions in a way that shows true divine guidance.

Click to expand...

Only Christianity explains why the universe is a diversity within a unity. Also, the Bible is the only religious book that teaches the three main characteristics of the universe that have been confirmed by science, ie that it has a definite beginning from nothing detectable by humans, that it is expanding, and that it is energetically winding down.

InterestedAtheist said:

Well, I think this needs only a simple response.
So what?
Is there any reason to believe that this story is true?

Click to expand...

There are numerous confirmations from secular sources that do not deny the existence of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I can't answer the "so what" question for you, that is something you and your creator will figure out one day.

I've been thinking about your post a lot.

InterestedAtheist said:

"The direct short answer to this question is that NOBODY on the surface of the earth from the beginning of time and until the end of time even remotely has the same (1) loving capacity as Allah Almighty does! Nobody! Allah Almighty IS, in fact, the Creator of Love and (2) the One who Bestows Love. Any love you’ve ever seen or experienced in life is merely a minute reflection of His love. Love doesn’t exist and people don’t exist and Jesus (peace be upon him) doesn’t exist without Him."

Click to expand...

so your source is saying that
(1) Allah has a great capacity to love being the creator of love and
(2) if there is love between humans... Allah was the one who gave it.

But still, this is not proof for a Allah loving independently of human's love - between themselves in this case.
(1) is only saying he has the capacity to love and (2) means, if there is no love between persons then, maybe, it's because Allah didn't "bestow" anything on anybody.

Baldur doesn't seem to be independent of man's love, either.

InterestedAtheist said:

But ask any Jew, and they'll tell you that Christianity is incorrect. Consult any source at all, and you will find that Judaism and Christianity are separate religions.

Click to expand...

Both Christians and Jews worship the same God at least. That was my point.

Maria Billingsley said:

There are numerous confirmations from secular sources that do not deny the existence of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I can't answer the "so what" question for you, that is something you and your creator will figure out one day.

Click to expand...

There are indeed a small number of secular sources that confirm the existence of a rabble-rousing Jewish preacher at that time.
Are there any secular sources that confirm the view that he was the son of God and rose from the dead?

thomas_t said:

I've been thinking about your post a lot.

so your source is saying that
(1) Allah has a great capacity to love being the creator of love and
(2) if there is love between humans... Allah was the one who gave it.

But still, this is not proof for a Allah loving independently of human's love - between themselves in this case.
(1) is only saying he has the capacity to love and (2) means, if there is no love between persons then, maybe, it's because Allah didn't "bestow" anything on anybody.

Baldur doesn't seem to be independent of man's love, either.

Both Christians and Jews worship the same God at least. That was my point.

Click to expand...

The problem, thomas, is that I've never denied the Christian religion is unique. Of course it is. Every religion is unique, otherwise they wouldn't be separate. I just thought I should correct some erroneous statements, never a waste of time. I am, however, quite happy to concede that God is like not other God, and Christianity like no other religion. The problem is, no religion is completely like any other religion. So, where does that leave us?

The real question before you now is this: are any of the unique qualities of the Christian religion proof that God does in fact exist? Are there any aspects of the Christian religion that you can point to and say, humans could never have come up with this; this is proof that our God is real."

A_Thinker said:

That's called moving the goal-posts.

And, if I remember correctly, ... they aren't your goal-posts ...

Click to expand...

No, that's what Christians do in trying to get around the problem involved when arguing by mere novelty is pointless, because all religions strive to distinguish themselves, the claims are not substantiated by how unique they are, you have to actually demonstrate the causal connection and not mere correlation, which humans are massively prone to (apophenia and pareidolia among other problems of psychology we have)

Ed1wolf said:

Only Christianity explains why the universe is a diversity within a unity. Also, the Bible is the only religious book that teaches the three main characteristics of the universe that have been confirmed by science, ie that it has a definite beginning from nothing detectable by humans, that it is expanding, and that it is energetically winding down.

Click to expand...

Almost certain Hinduism can actually substantiate all of that, though the swath of texts to go through makes it a bit trickier, but Hindu thought easily predates Christinaity, if not Judaism as well. Diversity within a unity...never heard of the monistic thought in Hinduism?

Seems to me you're just looking for stuff that's "common" and then pointing out how "only Christianity" is claiming those things with a pretty narrow viewpoint, to say nothing of speaking in a manner that isn't remotely humble or rational.

The fact that Christianity or Islam or Hinduism may agree with things we have substantive evidence for is not evidence that the faith worldview is remotely true in itself, that's incidental and correlative, not causative or demonstrable, because someone can be correct even if everyone thinks they're insane, but they can also be sane and still be wrong, it's not a matter of credibility in the sense of someone trusting them, it's whether their claims can be substantiated and demonstrated in a meaningful manner that's not subject to vacuous interpretations of ambiguity

InterestedAtheist said:

There are indeed a small number of secular sources that confirm the existence of a rabble-rousing Jewish preacher at that time.
Are there any secular sources that confirm the view that he was the son of God and rose from the dead?

Click to expand...

Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of Christians, encountered the
resurrected Christ. He had no motive to claim such an encounter if it had never occurred.

Maria Billingsley said:

Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor of Christians, encountered the
resurrected Christ. He had no motive to claim such an encounter if it had never occurred.

Click to expand...

Hallucination. Next?