WHY CHRI STIANITY IS TRUE John 5:28-40
By William Ward Ayer, D.D. Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, New York, N. Y.
C HRISTIANITY is either a completely divine faith or the most intolerant and egotistical religion of history. Because of the unique nature of Christianity, it cannot be a halfway faith; either it is absolutely true or unspeakably false. Modern attitudes which make Christianity merely one of many religions, with little more authority than the others, has weakened the testimony of the faith and made many pro fessed followers of Christ wishy-washy, without conviction or stability. Christianity is both intolerant and compassionate. It will not admit the complete validity of any other religion, neither will it coerce anyone into its fold. Demanding freedom of thought for all, it declares there is but one way of access to God, and that through Christ. This was the claim of Christ: “ I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” “ I am the door,” “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” These and many other intolerant expressions came from His lips. Christianity is basically intolerant of other religions, but does not permit contempt for adherents to other faiths. It is at once the sternest and yet the kindliest of faiths. It declares
all ethnic religions blind gropings after God but says to these pagan beliefs that Christianity is the way to God, to forgive ness of sin, and eternal fellowship with the Infinite. Christianity recognizes in historic Judaism the basis of its faith, yet it has the audacity to say that Judaism is an in complete faith. It calls attention to the closing verses of the Old Testament (Mai. 4:5, 6) to show that Judaism’s revela tion closed with a note of expectancy, the hope of the coming of the Messiah. Judaism without the Messiah is a faith of incompleteness and longing. Judaism without the Deliverer has a heart cry that has never .been satisfied. Groping After God Many people doubt the presence in the world of absolute and final religious truth. They claim that religion is subject to the laws of evolution; that all faith is a progressive search for God, and that Christianity is perhaps the best discovery to date, but that there will be other and more satisfactory revelations later. How can we know when there are so many religions? Be fore the author became a Christian, he wanted to study all world religions and determine which one was true; so "he pur posed to study Buddhism, Mohammedanism, Confucianism and others and form his own conclusions as to their validness. He discovered the task impractical, if not impossible. Later he found Christ as his Saviour and learned he needed but one thing primarily, a knowledge of God in Christ. One need not grope around in the dark for long periods before coming to the light. One may embrace Christ, and Christianity will prove its absolute truthfulness and in turn reveal the false ness of all other faiths. 'There are five great religions in the world (if we may for the sake of argument include Christianity as a world re ligion). These are Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Mohammed anism, Buddhism and Christianity. Space does not permit the consideration of all of these religions now. We shall examine two. Mohammedanism professes to be a special revelation of God to man; Buddhism, while not professedly a revelation of God, is supposed to be the working out of a desirable way of life. These two religions properly examined will give us a satisfactory understanding of the methods of other religions. Mohammed’s religion has captured millions. His doctrine of God’s oneness had deep appeal when propagated in a pagan, polytheistic era. However, his failure was his denial of the doctrine of the Trinity. He knew nothing of the deity of Jesus Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. Low Moral Viewpoint The god of Mohammed is a pitiless god, without holiness or compassion. The Moslem faith is not propagated in love but in fanatical zeal. It has been propagated by the sword all over the world and brutality has accompanied the enlargement of its borders. One notes the brutality in modern India, and shudders at the slaughter of human life in Palestine. That it is not a religion of divine revelation is seen by its low moral viewpoint, its permitting and promoting of polyg amy, its reducing of womanhood to a mere chattel in the social scheme. Mohammedanism’s view of heaven as a place of sensual enjoyment where the carnal desires of this life are exercised without hindrance or physical inabilities shows that this religion comes from the sinful heart of man rather than the holy heart of God. It is hardly necessary to compare Mohammedan carnality and low moral standards with the exalted teachings of Jesus, who said to the Sadducees that in T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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