Is there a right or wrong religion?

2+2=4.

3.99999 is very close and may be functionally sufficient, but it is still not the absolutely correct answer. I believe that all religions may possess some degree of truth (i.e. there is an absolute power, life continues after physical death, what you do in this life effects the next, etc.) However, some are farther away from the absolute truth than others. If I were to place my brain in the hands of a neurosurgeon, I would far rather it be in the hands of a surgeon who is right 85% of the time than one who is right 50% of the time. If I am to bet my eternal soul on my beliefs, then I want to be as sure that I am as correct in the placement of my faith as I can.

People speak of “having faith” as being sufficient to protect your soul. But you cannot simply “have faith”. Faith is always placed IN something. I place my faith in the solidity of my wheelchair every day. If my wheelchair breaks someday, my faith will be shaken.

You can misplace faith. Take for example the people who died at the hands of Jim Jones! You must place your faith in something and you’d better be sure that the object of your faith is both worthy and sufficient.

Jesus would answer this question by saying:

• John 14:6 “I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT THROUGH ME.”

Jesus is not one way among many, but the Way (cf. Acts 4:12; Hebrews 10:19-20). In fact, in the early church, Christianity was sometimes called “the Way” (e.g. Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23).

Islam teaches that you work as hard as you can at being good and maybe you’ll catch Allah on a good day and he’ll let you in, but maybe not. In fact, the only way you can be assured of making it to heaven, according to the Koran, is by dying while killing infidels.

Buddhism teaches that there is no real heaven, and there is no real hell. In fact, there is no real Earth! Your goal, according to Buddhism, must be to add nothing and detract nothing and thus escape the wheel of life and become one with the Nothing. So the fundamental goal of Buddhism is essentially self-annihilation.

Hinduism teaches that you try to do as good as you can and perhaps, after many reincarnations, you will escape the wheel of life.

Do you catch the general drift? All of these teach salvation by works, and none of them offer certainty. They all say that we must sacrifice something, do something to reunite ourselves with God. Only Christianity teaches that God sacrificed in order to reunite with US! We don’t have to work because God did the work for us. All we must do is accept His free gift and follow him.

Christianity cannot be equally true with Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. They are too fundamentally different. You must choose – and then be willing to bet your soul on your choice because once you’re dead, there are no more chances.