All Paths Lead to God?

Jesus can’t be the only way, can he? Your Christianity is fine for you, but everyone has their own way of approaching the divine; all religions are true… Whenever I talk about the events surrounding my conversion to Christianity, this kind of response has been most common – hearers are quick to put my Christianity on an equal footing with every other possible spiritual manifestation as if to say “Jesus is not special.” It should come as no surprise to you that I am going to argue the opposite: Jesus is special. In fact, I’ll go so far as to suggest that he is the only true path to God.

There is one simple reason why the “all paths” theory is wrong:

Religions are usually mutually exclusive. For example, when the Islamic prophet Muhammad claimed to be the “seal of the prophets,” he asserted that everyone claiming to be a prophet after him was false. When the LDS prophet Joseph Smith claimed to restore the true church of Christ and exclusive priesthood authority, he declared the others to be in a state of apostasy and corruption. The Roman Catholic Church claims that outside its baptism (and other sacraments) there is no salvation. It takes some skillful mental gymnastics to justify the idea that all three of these traditions are simultaneously true; it’s simply an oxymoron. If each claims to be true to the exclusion of all others, they cannot all be correct.

There is one simple reason why the path of Jesus stands out above the crowd:

All other paths try to bring man to God… Christianity brings God to man. Christianity claims that God himself stepped into his own creation to restore the relationship that we broke through our rebelling against him. He came to reclaim his lost sheep, so to speak, and lovingly bring them back into the fold.

No other “religion” or “spirituality” offers this. Buddhism prescribes the eight-fold path to enlightenment which includes strict adherence to ethical standards and other ritual actions. Islam prescribes five pillars which include daily ritual prayers and good works which adherents expect will get them on God’s good side come judgement day. Look at any other religious tradition and the onus is on man to somehow work his way to the ultimate goal (whatever that may be).

Jesus did not advocate a system of actions that a person could do to get to God. He simply pointed to himself, claiming to bridge the gap between man and God single-handedly. When he died on the cross, the veil of the Jewish temple was torn in half from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This veil separated man from the most holy place in the temple (representing God’s presence), and the only one who could enter into it was the high priest who had to be ritually purified beforehand; the symbolism of this veil’s demise immediately after Jesus’ death (paying the price for our sins) is significant. Man no longer must be separated from God, because the relationship can now be restored through what Jesus did for us!

Many non-Christians love the idea of Jesus, thinking of him as a wise teacher or a radical reformer. But he didn’t think of himself as just another teacher or just another reformer. Rather, he referred to himself as the bread of life, the light of the world, the door whereby people could enter and be saved!  He asserted himself to be the exclusive way to God: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus offers a path which he claims is the only path to God. It’s not a path of doing enough good things or not doing too many bad things, or doing rituals just right, or belonging to the right organization. It’s a path focused on himself – that one monumental historical figure. If you want to be on the right path, I would suggest you have to start and end with Jesus!

The best way to begin down that path is to read in the Bible about what Jesus said and did. Next week I hope to begin a series on the importance of the Bible. Thank you for reading!

A Journey to Jesus (Part Two)

Read part one here: http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2013/05/a-journey-to-jesus-part-one.html

I became an atheist in 2008, and I was content with my godless life. 

In 2012 that changed unexpectedly. In April, when we were packing to move to a new house I found an old Bible that my now-wife had given me as a gift the year we started dating. I opened it and flipped through the pages a bit. As a history and religious studies major in university I still found religion interesting even if I didn’t believe any of it. So it was maybe a bit of scholarly curiosity, maybe a bit of nostalgia that kept me reading the book. At a few points while packing I decided to take a break to read a chapter or two, and it eventually turned into a habit. As the summer progressed I continued to devour the words of Jesus in the New Testament. At some points the words pierced me deeply – early on I encountered John 8:58, in which Jesus said “Before Abraham was, I AM!” I knew it to be a thinly veiled claim to divinity – he was claiming to be the God of the Old Testament (see Exodus 3:14; John 8:58). I considered for the first time in years the possibility that Jesus was telling the truth. I had a conversation with my wife about these things, and we decided to go to church once or twice to explore that option again.

That decision resulted in a series of events that led to my conversion. I believe that God responds when we open our hearts to him in sincere prayer. I slowly allowed myself to set aside old prejudices toward born again Christians, toward the Bible, and toward God… Rather than rallying my faculties to attack Christianity upon reading a questionable passage of scripture, I yielded to the possibility that my conclusions were premature. More often than not, I realized that such criticisms of the Bible were based on a very shallow reading of the text which often ignored the intended purpose and meaning (I hope to address this in a future blog post entitled “Atheists can trust the Bible”). It required some newfound humility on my part, but God led the way in breaking down every wall that kept him out.

There were a few instances where a particular “wall” (problem I had with Christianity) that I had prayed about was addressed in the very next church service I attended or the very next chapter of the Bible I read. My years as an atheist trained my mind to recognize such instances as coincidences – and I certainly still believe that skepticism can be very healthy! But it can also lead to blindness, or a willing disregard for truth. Just as Jesus healed literal blind men in the first century, he dealt with my spiritual “blindness” with patience and continued to provide me with the evidence I required to believe. He is faithful, even when I was not.

Finally, toward the end of June I had a series of three dreams which I believe to be revelations from God. First I dreamed that there was something spiritually unclean in my life that I should have put away a long time ago (the concept was presented to me in visual metaphors, but the meaning was clear). Second, I dreamed that I was preaching Christianity. The third dream was more complicated, but I was quoting biblical passages, rebuking false doctrine, and telling a man of the need to be born again; in the morning I looked up the biblical passages that my character in the dream had quoted and it clarified the meaning of a particular part of the dream. I was convinced more than ever before that God had answered my prayers for guidance! The thought still stirs up such gratitude that I can hardly express it in words! All I can say is Praise God! Glory to God! The very next chapter I read in the Bible was the first chapter of Ephesians, which contained the following passage…

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:17-18)

A revelation of the knowledge of God… The hope of his calling… That is exactly what I believe God had just given me.

The next day was July 1, 2012. I was in Calgary for a conference and was to head home by bus that morning. As I was waiting to board the C-Train I found myself overwhelmed by the idea that despite my faithlessness (and every other flaw), God was still interested in walking patiently with me, answering my prayers for guidance, and pointing me in the right direction. He even had a calling for me – to share his gospel. Amazing grace! The idea brought tears to my eyes as I stood waiting for that train; so you can imagine that I was tipped over the edge when I finally boarded the C-Train and found a piece of paper beside the very seat that I sat upon: a tract from a group called Every Home for Christ, a group that preaches Christianity. I knew for certain at that point that God was trying to get a message across to me, underlining it again and again! Dreams, biblical passages, tracts – rapid-fire sequence. The message was clear as day, and I could not ignore it.

The next feeling I had was that of conviction. God had a calling for me, but it was not because of my own worthiness or piety. I had a wicked heart; among other flaws, over the past several years I had expressed utter resentment and hatred toward God, toward Christianity, and toward born again Christians and others in my life. I needed forgiveness. At that very moment I asked God to forgive me, to give me new life, and to make me a new creature. My feeling of conviction was followed by enormous relief and joy. I had given my life to Jesus, and I was born again.

Since that day I have sought to follow the path that God set out for me in his word and in his revelations to me. I experienced for the first time what “Amazing Grace” means, and it drives me to share what I believe is the true gospel (the “good news”) with others. Jesus is the son of God, and he came to build a bridge between us and God, restoring that relationship that was lost through human rebellion.

May God give you a revelation of the knowledge of him, and the hope of his calling for YOU! Thanks for reading! The next blog post will address one of the most frequent comments that I get… “All paths lead to God; Jesus is not the only way, is he?”

A Journey to Jesus (Part One)

It’s not easy to put a “testimony” to writing. But it’s a story that I believe is meant to be shared, because it is the story of what God has done in my life. The biggest challenge is providing sufficient details without making it too long to read! I had to divide it into two parts. 

At about 10 a.m. on July 1, 2012, I became a born again Christian. Here is a brief summary of what led to that event. 

I was raised a Mormon (member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and took my religion very seriously. It was at some point in my youth that I first heard of those “evangelicals” or “born again Christians” who believed so differently from us. For example, they believed that they were “saved by grace”; we believed that was just an excuse to live immorally, and we affirmed that “works” were necessary to earn a place with God in the next life.

In 2007, I attended an evangelical-type church service for the first time – with my then-girlfriend, now-wife. The deal was that she would come to my LDS church one week, and I would go to her church the next week. I had hoped she would convert to Mormonism. But it was around this time that my crisis of faith began…

I never had any reason to question my faith; I believed in it strongly. But three instances in 2007 led me to doubt for the first time:

1) My family happened upon a radio interview in the car one day in which a man claimed to have left the church due to concerns he had with the LDS temple endowment (I will NOT describe it here, but it is a sacred ceremony in Mormonism). I had no idea what he was talking about, not having been through the temple myself. But it made me wonder.

2) An interaction with a born again Christian man at my then-girlfriend’s church. Most of the people at this church were very welcoming and friendly even if they knew I was a Mormon; one man, however, when he found out I was a Mormon, accused Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) of being a false prophet and a freemason. He said “You can’t be a Mormon and a Christian.” I should stress that his approach was the exception and not the rule in my early interactions with evangelicals. But it left a lasting impression upon me – it was upsetting, and I had nothing but contempt for the man at the time. His mention of freemasonry puzzled me, so I looked it up online to see what on earth he was talking about. There is a lot of sensationalism and misinformation about freemasonry, but from what I could tell from the more reliable accounts, it did not seem consistent with my faith. I wondered if Joseph Smith had been involved with that kind of thing… I hoped not.

3) In November I picked up a copy of the October 2007 issue of the Ensign, an LDS magazine. The theme of the issue was the temple. I read an article by Boyd K. Packer called “Come to the Temple” which included a quote from Brigham Young in it in which he described the purpose of the endowment as receiving “key words, signs, and tokens” which would enable a person to get back to God’s presence after they died (article can be read here: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/10/come-to-the-temple?lang=eng). I had never heard this before, and I suddenly realized how little I knew about my own religion.

I struggled for a long time, but I eventually decided to see what those “anti-Mormon” evangelicals had to say about Mormonism. I didn’t like what I read. It was here that I found a solid link between freemasonry and Mormonism, and none of it seemed to have anything to do with Jesus. My faith was shaken.

In January 2008, I moved away from home to start university. I continued to attend the LDS church for a short time, but inside I was struggling with my faith. I soon encountered a book called “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins, an atheist who argued that God likely did not exist, and that the Bible was written by primitive men. It made sense to me, and provided much-needed certainty in a time of turmoil and change. I soon became an atheist. In summer 2008, I asked to have my name removed from the LDS church.

Life went on. I continued at university and I became a husband and father. Life was good; I had no need for God or religion.

I was content, but God wasn't; he reached into my life in ways that I couldn't have imagined. In my next blog post I will recount my conversion to Christianity. Thank you for reading! 

Introduction

Delusional, annoying, and fake. These are three words that I may have used in the past to describe “born again” Christians. I was puzzled by their persistent enthusiasm, their love songs to Jesus, and their insistence that everyone had to be “saved” by “grace.”

Today I am a born again Christian… not because I liked their more contemporary worship music, not because I needed something to do on a Sunday, and not because I desired a new source of community and meaning in my life. I am a born again Christian, I believe, by the guidance and grace of God. You might even say that it took me by surprise! But that’s another story for another time.

This blog is titled “A Light Unto My Path” based on a Bible verse: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). In other words, we receive direction and guidance for our lives through God’s word (the Bible). Such guidance has come to mean a lot to me, and I hope to explain why.

In this blog I hope to record some of my thoughts about following Jesus and about life as a born again Christian. I also write this blog as one way of sharing the gospel with friends, family, and anyone who would listen. Over the course of this blog’s lifespan, I hope to articulate in depth what can actually be summarized in a few sentences:

1) Jesus is the Son of God, and the only way to God.

2) The Bible is the authoritative word of God, which reveals God’s salvation plan to humanity.

3) You must be born again. YOU should recognize your own corrupt nature (prone to selfishness, wickedness, weakness) and rather than defending it in order to prop yourself up, surrender it all to God and allow him to change you from the inside out!

To offer a brief background and introduction to myself: I am a (new) Christian, a husband and father, and a student of history and religious studies from Western Canada. Please join me in my journey following Jesus, the saviour of the world, the son of God, the way, the truth, and the life.

My next blog post will be a brief account of my own story, summarizing my conversion from Mormonism to atheism to Jesus. Thanks for reading! Praise God!