While visiting my son and his wife in Colorado I took advantage of attending a Class with Tyler at Denver Theological Seminary.<br />
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I sat in on Dr. Douglas Groothuis' "Christian Apologetics" class. Dr. Groothuis is a brilliant and articulate Biblical Scholar and communicator. <br />
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I came across a small pamphlet he had written years ago, "Are All Religions ONE"?<br />
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Basically, his essay debunks the myth that there are NO substantive differences between various world religions/faiths.<br />
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Listen, anytime you hear someone say that all world religions are "basically" the same, you should know that is completely fraudulent.<br />
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A few examples attest to this truth. For example:<br />
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Islam says that Jesus was not crucified. Christianity says He was. Only one can be correct.<br />
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Judaism says Jesus was not the Messiah. Christianity says He was. Only one of us can be correct.<br />
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Hinduism says God has often been incarnate. Christianity says God was incarnate only in Jesus. Both cannot both be right.<br />
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Buddhism says that the world's miseries will end when we do what is right. Christianity says we cannot do what is right.<br />
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In light of these very basic differences we find that many "modern" thinkers of our day try to harmonize the world's religions and faith expressions.<br />
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To quote Groothuis "the pluralists collapse comes when they meet the person of Jesus Christ. They cannot accept him as he is presented in the New Testament and still claim that all religions are one".<br />
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The very fact that TRUTH cannot contradict itself is evidence enough that all religions are not ONE.<br />
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Think about it; the nature of truth and the various claims of world religions and faith expressions point out that "someone is WRONG".<br />
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Dr. Groothuis sums it up with clarity, "All religions are NOT ONE, but aLL people can find ONENESS at the foot of Christ's cross".<br />
The Hebrew leader Joshua said it best in his appeal for people to DECIDE for TRUTH.<br />
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"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. <br />
But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. "Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
