Chart of Major World Religions at a Glance

11/4/2014

Last Sunday as part of Brookside Church's "Prepared" series, co-lead pastor Steve Moltumyr responded to the question, "Is Jesus the Only Way?" (To access the full sermon, click here and find the sermon preached on November 2, 2014).

As part of that sermon, he referenced a chart comparing some of the world's major religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity). The differences highlighted in this chart help dispel the myth that "all religions teach the same thing" or that "all religions lead to the same place." (By the way, I've not talked with an adherent of any of these religions that would espouse such a claim themselves.)

In case you're interested, here's the chart:

By their very nature, charts are a bit simplistic and can't convey all the nuances involved in a more thorough discussion. Nevertheless, charts are helpful at surveying the landscape of a topic and introducing us to big ideas and general themes. I'm hopeful the categories discussed in this chart are presented in a way that adherents of any of these religion would themselves agree with. For further study on this, I encourage you to look more deeply into the "Contributing Sources" materials on p. 2 of the chart.

3 Comments

Bruce

11/5/2014 06:12:47 am

Since I haven't contributed for awhile I just have to put in my two cents. I know your probably getting sick of me but here goes. For me it's clear that everyone is saved through the saving work of Jesus. What is not consistent throughout the new testament is how we are saved. I find it hard to believe that someone growing up in a culture that is Muslim (or something else) that doesn't know Jesus would be turned away by God. The same goes for kids, grandmothers or anyone else growing up in a culture that is not Christian. We are talking billions of people here. I think what is turning some of our young folks away from church is that kind of narrow minded thinking. And I don't know that even most folks at Brookside if they were honest really believe it themselves. Some would use the easy route (like I have done in the past I'm ashamed to say) by saying we just don't know what God would do in those circumstances. And I want to make it clear that I'm not a Universalist.

Tim Wiebe

11/6/2014 06:26:51 am

Bruce,

Glad to hear from you again! I was wondering if you were still checking in - glad to hear that it sounds like you are.

I plan on posting a blog related to your question ("what about those that haven't heard?") in the next week or two so will leave a fuller explanation for that. The only think I'll briefly say is that I think we need some framework for responding to the question/issue biblically. Even if the Bible doesn't explicitly say (some may debate whether it does or not), I still believe we need a framework that gives us parameters for a biblically guided response. The categories that we need to think through - in my opinion - are these:

- What do we know about God that should influence our response?
- What do we know about humanity & creation that should influence how we respond?
- What do we know about mission that should influence how we think about this?
- What does the Bible tell us about salvation that we need to factor in?

Again, I'm hoping to post a blog unpacking these categories more fully in the next few weeks. Keep watch for that, and I'll be eager to hear your follow-up thoughts!

11/6/2014 12:59:33 am

I missed last week so didn't get to hear the sermon. I just clicked on the link and had a listen. It didn't really change my mind from what I said in my previous comment. Tim...the grid you put together was very good and thanks for doing that. I was a little shocked when he said the following : "What does another religion lead them to do. Does it lead them to do things that are loving toward other people. Or does it lead them to do things that are cruel or inhumane". He didn't say it but I'm assuming he's talking about the Muslim religion. I think some would be highly offending by that statement.