Help!!!

[Nathann]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions. She
said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist
churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

 

[DArceri]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions. She
said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist
churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

Christianity teaches that there is only one TRUE God and that TRUE God is Triune in nature (Father Son, and Holy Spirit). You can start by asking her how godly repentance to that ONE TRUE, Holy, and Righteous God fits into her belief system. Also ask her how Jesus teachings fit into her belief system. IOW, how can ALL paths can lead to that one and only True Triune God when Jesus states their is only one way. If there are other paths that lead to God, then not only did Jesus die for naught, Jesus is also a liar since He stated that He is the ONLY way to God. Jesus said, the path is narrow and "NOBODY comes to the Father except through Me". He also said that "if you DENY ME, I will also deny you to the Father"... There are so many other exclusivity verses that can be quoted.

Bottom line, there is only one truth, not several truths. When we die we will be face to face with the One True God. Somebody is going to be right and somebody is going to be wrong. When Jesus claimed that truth exists, He also implied falsehood exists. If what Jesus said was true, then what Buddha said was false. One final note, Jesus was sinless and in no need of redemption, whereas Buddha was a sinner seeking some sort of redemption with an unknown entity that was considered impersonal. Now why would one put their faith in a sinner (full of unwanted desires) who was seeking oneness with an impersonal entity, and not put there faith and trust in the one who was not only sinless, but claimed to be One with God and have a personal relationship with Him.

PS. Doesn't Buddhism teach that one has to rid themself of all desires to be one with the universe? Kind of ironic that one would need to 'desire' to be desireless. LOL..See the nonsense.


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[LWB]

I see nothing wrong looking upon and drawing inspiration from other religions as one might do with a philosophical view. Siddhārtha Gautama had some pretty interesting insights, some of which have allowed me a deeper appreciation of Christ's teachings. I think the Buddha points to Christ, much the same way Stoicism and Taoism do. Perhaps these three, like the wise men of old, would bow down and pay homage if given half the chance.

 

[aiki]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions.

This is logically impossible (at least the believing bit). The various religions of our world are in contradiction to each other about many things. Basic logic dictates that they may all be wrong but they cannot all be right and yet contradict one another. If your friend likes to be illogical, well, then her "all roads lead to Rome" is fine. But if she wants a reasoned approach to the matter of religions, she's going to have to adopt a different view.

I think your friend may be taking the lazy approach when it comes to religion. Its easier and simpler just to declare that all religions are essentially the same than to consider their claims carefully and choose from among them. The problem with this kind of intellectual laziness is that if the truth is out there, if only one of the religions has got it right and the others do not, it will keep one from ever discovering that this is so. In the case of Christianity, this will have an eternally devastating consequence.

She said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

Well, you can tell her that all religions don't all connect to Christianity. This is patently false. For example, Buddhism is in essence a kind of mysticized atheism. How could it connect to a religion like Christianity that has God at its center? The truth is that it doesn't. In various respects this is true of every other religion.

Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

Selah.

 

[oi_antz]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions. She
said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist
churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

Can you consider that she might not be totally wrong? In other words, concentrate on building upon the rock that has already been established (by her own confession she confesses to have at least some faith in Jesus Christ - "Christianity"). So to build upon that rock, you don't need to shatter the house she has already built, but rather work with her to identify specific points of theology (or theory) that conflict with what Jesus teaches. To do this, you must reference the Bible. Perhaps the biggest hurdle will be to have her recognize that the Bible is the authority on Jesus. Concentrating your efforts on "Jesus" instead of "Christianity" might help with that.

 

[zaksmummy]

Concentrating your efforts on "Jesus" instead of "Christianity" might help with that.

Remind her of the verse when Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me".

 

[Zebra1552]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions. She
said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist
churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

Proving a friend wrong will lose you the friendship, period, or put strains on it. You are the one with the problem, that your friend believes erroneously. The one who must deal with the problem is you, not your friend. Your friend shouldn't have to believe 'correctly' for you to love them as your friend.

 

[dmwalker24]

This is typical new age quackery. Others have correctly pointed out that given the contradictory tenets of the different faiths, at least some of them must be wrong. Likely the vast majority. If we're going on measurable evidence... All of them. Regardless it's very "in style" these days to try to roll it all up together. Crystals, and yoga, and Christianity, and meditation, and whatever else you can come up with. Honestly I have more respect for the fundamentalists who pick something and stick with it. These new age moderates remind me of undecided voters who are still undecided while standing in the line at the poll. My advice on your friend is to get her into homeopathy, or maybe scientology. Something kind of cult'ish. That might break her of the "roll it all into one" way of thinking. I would suggest atheism, but honestly it might be too much work for someone who thinks a = b = c = d = e.

 

[razeontherock]

I see nothing wrong looking upon and drawing inspiration from other religions as one might do with a philosophical view. Siddhārtha Gautama had some pretty interesting insights, some of which have allowed me a deeper appreciation of Christ's teachings. I think the Buddha points to Christ, much the same way Stoicism and Taoism do. Perhaps these three, like the wise men of old, would bow down and pay homage if given half the chance.

I think this is the right attitude to have towards this, while not flinching re: the fact that Jesus is the only One that actually brings us to the Father. Other more ancient belief systems certainly seem to prepare hearts and minds to receive Christ, almost like the role of John the Baptist. Yet even he was not worthy to "loose Jesus' sandal." (Quite a loaded statement)

We need not be ashamed about making this same type of comparison. Jesus simply gives a fuller revelation. He is Perfect! Ideas from other belief systems can be compared. Those aspects that are compatible or can be seen to speak of Christ, I think somebody heard from G-d. Other aspects may be just made up, and some of those may even have some merit as worthwhile observations by good people. Some religions have satan's influence, and it's usually easily recognizable.

There should not be any "us vs them" mentality. G-d is Love, and we are all one big, human family.

 

[tripletiger1200]

Pray for her. You could also look up facts about other religions and point out that they all contradict each other and tell her that logically they cannot all be true. Of course this may lead her to buddhism instead of Christianity, so maybe it's not the best idea.

 

[oi_antz]

So, manipulate her into becoming Christian rather than Buddhist? Would you consider it ethical if someone were to do the same to you for Buddha?

Hi JGG, thanks for the opportunity to speak with you again. I expected you to know that manipulation is not a Biblical tactic, and since the Bible is written by people who are inspired by the Holy Spirit therefore it is not a Christian tactic period. Read what Paul said about it:

2 Corinthians 4:2
But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

And for reference when I used the words "build upon the foundation" and "do not shatter the house she has already built" it was said with 1 Corinthians 3 in mind.

Take also Genesis 1:28
"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;"

So we are instructed to "subdue" the earth, we do this by planting seeds where we see a hole, and watering the plants that we see wilting. Matthew 13:24-30 Then we leave it to God because it is He who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:7). Many Christians trip on their enthusiasm here and try to rush the growth, but it is clear from scripture and experience that God gives the increase. Matthew 25:29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

I would appreciate if you will absorb the point I am making before you reply. I was a bit reluctant to reply to your comment because it seemed like you were picking a fight. As for my thoughts on Buddhism, that is a red herring because I already know The Living God and enough about the purpose of life to know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

 

[FreeinChrist]

MOD HAT

This thread has undergone a small clean up. Please view the Statement of Purpose for this forum before posting:
Statement of Purpose for Struggles by Non-Christians.

​

 

[Tim the Plumber]

Okay, my friend thinks that you can believe and respect ALL religions. She
said "they all connect to God and/or Christianity. And she goes to Buddhist
churches and other churches and thinks that what she is doing is okay. What do I say to her to prove her wrong?

All religions are essentially the same thing.

Get people together, providing a social group, a bit of theatre, some meta-phisical none-sence. You can then get them to give you enough money/sacrifices to allow you not to have to work for a living. If you do it well you can even get lots of power and social position from it.

Inciting a tense and hostile separation from the rest of socitey or to oppres a smaller or weaker group will greatly strengthen the solidarity of your own chosen flock of victims that you are riping-off.

So your friend is basically right and her attitude allows her to enjoy the theatre without having to get all emotionally attached to the one cult so she is a lot less vunerable to exploitation than most.

 

[dmwalker24]

Pray for her. You could also look up facts about other religions and point out that they all contradict each other and tell her that logically they cannot all be true. Of course this may lead her to buddhism instead of Christianity, so maybe it's not the best idea.

Your suggestion is a sound one. I would just point out, that if one is interested in logical consistency, your suggestion shouldn't lead to Buddhism. It should lead to a rejection of all on the basis of insufficient evidence and contradiction.

 

[salida]

It sounds like she is falling in the interfaithism trap-this could be used for the one world religion agenda. Unfortunately, some christian churches are being deceived -but many arn't falling for it. Religions are all fundamentally different so they all can't be right. Christianity has overwhelming circumstantial evidence-but still people don't want to believe it. It reminds me of the casey anthony and oj simpson case-the evidence was there but the jury didn't accept it.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Buddhist-Christian.html

The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell a former agnostic- (its overwhelming circumstantial evidence of bible) and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ and The Real Jesus by Lee Strobel a former athiest.