Do All Roads Lead to the Same God?
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Introduction
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From LA
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Graduated UCB with math degree
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Edwin & Mike are college friends
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Moved to SF and served at SFSU for 4 years
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Work in downtown SF
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Sophia & Zack
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Serve in ISF
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Agree/Disagree
Now, I want to get a feel for your opinions and thoughts regarding this topic. So let’s do a quick survey.
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No religion is true or correct.
Most religions have at least some truth
There is one true religion
All religions are equally valid
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VIDEO - Let’s watch this video and see what some other people have to say about this topic.
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According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 7 out of 10 Americans believe that many
religions can lead to eternal life.
Quotes from Pop Culture
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Strong opinions about whether there is only ONE way to God
Many ppl don’t believe that there’s only 1 way
Some ppl believe there’s many ways
America is religious diverse
Have you ever walked around Malcolm X plaza and looked around at all the different religious clubs and wondered:
o Can there be multiple roads to get to God?
Before we talk about the different religions, we need to define what religion is.
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WHAT IS RELIGION
Defining religion is very difficult. We know that Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism are religions.
What are some characteristics or essential attributes of all religions? How can we define religion?
TAKE ABOUT 1 min and come up with a definition with your neighbor
A loose but workable understanding of religion is that
set of beliefs that seek to explain life’s major questions regarding
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ultimate reality (by ultimate reality – I’m talking about our view of God)
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the human condition (or what’s wrong with humanity?)
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how can humans find spiritual liberation
Remember these 3 things! I’m going to ask you about it later.
Religions might have rituals and traditions. But essentially all religions give their believers a worldview, which functions like a
lens helping us to see and make sense of the world around us.
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So now we have a definition of religion, but there’s so many religions to consider!
SO MANY RELIGIONS
Aren’t they all the same? How do we know which one to choose?
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ELEPHANT & BLIND MEN
There is an ancient story which tries to explain the relationship between the different religions.
Have any of you heard this story before? Raise your hand if you’re familiar with this story.
In the story, several blind men were feeling an elephant.
Tusk – sharp like spear
Tail – thin like rope
Ear – flat like fan
Hide – hard like wall
Leg – tall like tree
Trunk – round like snake
Each blind man thought he was correct and they got into an argument.
But the king, who was watching from his balcony, told the blind men that the elephant was one big animal. He told them that
they were all only touching a different part of the animal and that all the parts must be put together to find out what an
elephant is really like.
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Discussion:
1. What does this story say about our search for religious truth?
2. Do you agree with its conclusion? Why or why not?
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Elephant represents religious truth
Blind men represent different religions
Blind men searching for truth, claim to have full truth
Problem is that they’re blind and only grasp a piece of the truth
Limited understanding & Ignorant of whole truth
All touching the same thing just from different angles / perspectives
Put them all together to get full picture
Same God through different paths
Therefore, the violence and wars that are fought over religious disagreements are pointless. All religions capture some
important religious truths and they should honor each other accordingly.
So where does this analogy break down?
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Another illustration. Instead of the elephant story, the search for religious truth is more like figuring out “What does my mom
look like?”
2 volunteers
Hair color, height, weight
Can my mom look like A and B?
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Problem with the elephant is that religions aren’t merely describing different aspects of the same truth
Beliefs that cannot be harmonized because they’re actually contradictory
Just like you have different contradictory ideas about what my mom looks like, religions have different contradictory
ideas about God (i.e. nature of God, what happens after death).
Means that all religions cannot be true – they may all be false but they can’t all be true.
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Let’s unpack this idea of whether all roads lead to same God. Fancy term - religious pluralism.
But this was not the original definition. Let’s look at what the traditional or original definition was.
PLURALISM
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Diverse religious makeup of society – this is good
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America – religious freedom, w/o fear of persecution
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Didn’t make any judgment on whether any religion is true of false
BUT religious pluralism has come to mean more…
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Modern definition of Pluralism
 All religions are valid
 More than one ultimate reality – multiple truths
 No single absolute truth; it’s all relative
 It does not matter what religion we choose
Do you see how the definition of religious pluralism changed? It changed from meaning religious diversity to meaning that all
the religions are valid and true.
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What happens when we hold onto this modern definition of pluralism?
We get this politically correct notion of coexistence.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for coexisting peacefully in the traditional sense.
People of different faiths can live among one another and respect one another and have productive dialogue. This is a great
ideal to strive for.
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But coexistence nowadays means more than living together in peace.
Religions are different but are basically the same.
You can’t say that there’s one way to God.
That’s so judgmental and arrogant. You’re so intolerant! Don’t hate, just tolerate!
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Have you ever called anyone intolerant? Have you been called intolerant?
What’s the definition of tolerance?
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Tolerance – Modern Definition
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Inclusive
Everyone is right; no one is wrong
There’s no truth – it’s all relative
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Tolerance – Traditional Definition
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To allow or permit, to recognize and respect others’ beliefs and practices without sharing them, to bear or put up
with someone or something not necessarily liked
We cannot tolerate people unless we disagree with them
Tolerate people vs. ideas
Of course, we should be tolerant towards people of differing faiths. But we can be tolerant and respectfully disagree. But we
should critically evaluate whether ideas are sound – whether they are true.
So back to our original question, do all roads lead to God? Are they all the same?
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But what are some real differences in some of the major world religions?
Do you remember when we defined religion? Who remembers the 3 things? Ultimate Reality, Human Condition, Spiritual
Solution. Let’s look at what some of the religions say about these things.
Ok – so now you can take a look at that chart that I handed out at the beginning.
ULTIMATE REALITY
Christianity – one God, a triune personal being
Islam: one God (Allah), impersonal (cannot be personally known, he is beyond human understanding, man only know his will)
Hinduism: many gods
Buddhism: no god
There cannot be both many gods and no god at the same time. If God exists, he cannot be both personal and impersonal.
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HUMAN CONDITION
Christianity – man is sinful by nature; man rebels against and is separated from God
Islam – man is originally sinless, but sin by disobeying God
Hinduism – man is ignorant of his unity with Brahman; man is trapped in cycle of reincarnation
Buddhism – suffering is caused by desire / cravings; man is trapped in cycle of reincarnation
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SPIRITUAL SOLUTION
 Christianity – salvation is a gift gained by trusting in Jesus Christ & his death on the cross for man’s sins
 Islam – man achieves salvation by submitting to God’s will
 Hinduism – man must gain knowledge of one’s relationship to Brahman through yoga & meditation
 Buddhism – man must eliminate desire, achieve enlightenment, enter nirvana / annihilation / nonexistence
Differing descriptions of ultimate reality lead to differing descriptions of the human problem and to differing prescriptions
for its solution.
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SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES
 Each religion may have some similarities but also makes fundamental claims that are contradictory.
 Therefore, all religions cannot be true.
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All religions might be false, but they cannot all be true.
So in other words, all paths cannot lead to the same destination. So how do we choose which religion to follow?
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Do I choose a religion based on taste or truth? Is it based on personal preference and what I like?
Is choosing a religion like choosing ice cream? Or is it like choosing insulin?
There is a difference between choosing between ice cream flavor and insulin. When choosing ice cream, you choose what you
like. When choosing medicine, you choose what heals.
When you’re sick, it matters which medicine you take. When you have diabetes, you need insulin, not Tylenol. There’s only
one thing that will heal you. It’s important to find the correct one otherwise you will die. When it’s a life or death situation,
you want what truly works.
So again, how do we choose which religion to follow?
I know that many of you come from different religious backgrounds – some of you out there are Christian, some are not
Christian, some believe in God, and some don’t believe in God. Whatever background you have, I hope you see that we must
choose a religion based on truth and not based on what we like, because our lives are at stake – we’re in a life or death
situation.
Therefore, it’s our responsibility to examine the paths before us and make an informed choice.
For those of you who are not familiar with the various religions, you may be wondering where should I start investigating?
Let me make a suggestion. You should start your investigation with Christianity.
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Why Christianity? Christianity differentiates itself from other world religions in several ways.
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Christianity is testable
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“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians
15:14)
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You can actually determine if Christianity is true or false because it’s based on a single historical event – the
resurrection of Jesus. If Jesus resurrected, then Christianity is true. If Jesus did not resurrect from the dead,
then Christianity is false. Because this is a single historical event, we can look at the evidence and come to a
conclusion in a finite amount of time. And there is a lot of good evidence to believe this.
 Crucified & buried
 Empty tomb
 Post-Mortem appearance
 Birth of the church
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Contrast Buddhism which is based on subjective experience
Salvation is free
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Christianity is unique in that salvation is free. The spiritual solution to humanity’s problem does not have
anything to do with earning it. In all other major religions, man needs to work for and earn salvation or
spiritual liberation.
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Laptop example (cost – free)
 At the Center of Christianity is Jesus
Jesus stands out from all other religious figures – respected by pretty much everyone. The other major religions try to claim
him as an important figure in their own faith.
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Many people claim he was a good moral teacher
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Islam – prophet who was sinless
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Hinduism – perhaps an avatar or manifestation of Vishnu
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Buddhism – Bodhisattva (someone who opted out of nirvana to stay behind and assist others)
If everyone regards Jesus so highly, why not start with a religion that is centered on Jesus?
Testimony
Let me end by sharing some of my story. Before college, I was not a Christian. I started investigating Christianity as a freshman
in college. I had heard about Christianity but didn’t know what it was all about. I wanted to find out what Christians believed
and whether it was true or false.
I didn’t just become a Christian because I liked it. I spent several months going to Bible studies, reading the Bible, taking a
course on Christian foundations, asking lots of questions.
How do I know God exists? Can I trust the Bible? Where did I come from? What is my purpose? What can be done about my
sin – the pride / arrogance, jealousy, anger, competitiveness, ambition, insecurity, and fears that I had? Is there a solution to
the brokenness and emptiness that I feel in my heart?
Through that year of investigating, I found that Christianity provided solid intellectual answers to my questions. I learned that
the Bible is an authoritative source and a historically reliable document. Christianity gave answers to what’s wrong with the
world and what’s wrong with me. When I look out at how this world is and how I am, the answers that Christianity provided
seemed to fit and make sense.
And when I examined the lives of genuine Christians in my life, I saw that they were able to truly live out their beliefs on a daily
basis – their beliefs impacted how they lived their lives.
So in summary, I hope the presentation tonight helped you to better answer this question of “Do All Roads Lead to God?”
Although we live in a world of different religions, every religion is uniquely different and makes certain claims that cannot be
reconciled with other religions. And so not every religion can be true.
Questions?