Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Thirst-Quencer: "Religions"

What do you think of Catholics? How about Mormons? Hypothetically, if you had to pick a religion to follow, factoring out biblical truth, what would you pick?
For starters, someone can say they are one thing, but actually be another. For example, I had a friend who said they didn't know if God existed, yet she called herself an atheist. After some discussion, she determined that she was really an agnostic all along, but she just didn't know she was. So by doctrinal beliefs alone, I'd say that the Protestant Church is the only group that has their theology straightened out enough. However, this does not mean that all Protestants go to heaven and no one else does. It's a little more complex than that. Some people that claim to be Catholic, but if you examine their personal views of Christ and how one gains salvation, they have actually found the light and their "Catholicism" becomes an outlet for them to bear fruit for the kingdom. This same principle can apply to other religious groups like the Mormons, but typically it's just too big of a jump from most other religions. Now allow me to back up a step an state that Christianity is hardly a religion because the focus of it is a personal relationship with the King. Now if I had to pick a different religion, I'd probably go with Buddhism because it has many of the same values that I have, as well as opportunities to serve. However, I am not one of them because I'd be living a life contrary to the things I've already learned.

Regarding world religions, it seems to me that Judaism is the closest to Christianity because for them they simply have to recognize that Yeshua bar Yosef is their long-awaited Messiah, the Prince of Peace who came to save the souls of men. After that, Catholicism is very close because they recognize the power of God, the problem is that they believe that works save a person, thus missing that relationship with Jesus. Next in line would probably be the Mormons, for them there are two steps, first they have to realize that Jesus is both the Son of God and God Himself. Second, they have to take that knowledge to see that since He is God, He alone is the One who saves them from death, not their own works. Of the eastern religions, Buddhism is pretty close as well, for them they know what love is, but they still need to learn who love is. Once they establish a relationship with Love, their understanding of Him is relatively easy.

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