Where do other religions make that offer of assurance?
Why do you care why I believe what I believe?
I believe the nigh-omniscient google could help.
For Hindus, there are basically four ways to achieve salvation. If you utilize all four ways (which includes devotion to one or more of the hundreds of Hindu Gods), then it is claimed that salvation is ensured. In Islam, Allah decides who gets saved, but a lot of personal effort must be made. Each religion has its own way.
I don’t, but Christians care about non-Christians accepting their message. For this to happen, there should be a good evidence base for Christian doctrines but there isn’t.
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If you believed there was only one way to be saved that would enable others to join you in heaven, wouldn’t you want others to hear about that? However, we are all free to decide for ourselves what we believe and how we should best live.
Since that is what you believe, why does it matter what other people think? You are free to live your life with the confidence of your own convictions.
Yes, but only if I had strong evidence that there really is a heaven somewhere.
No, its a fact.
Yeah but if you want me to accept your conviction (like the good news of the Gospel), then I would need sound evidence.
If I understand you correctly, you seem to be saying that you know that all religions lead to the same end, just take different paths to get there. How can you know it to be true? Can you know for sure, or is that what you want to be true?
I agree that all religions have different ways, but I am not sure that people practicing different religions are even looking for the same end. Different religions describe what they want that end to look like differently, which affects their method of practice. For example, in my understanding of Buddhist meditation, the goal is to achieve states of nonself and emptiness and elimination of desires. The Christian goals are different. As Christians pray and follow Jesus, they expect to become more of their full self, to become more of who God created them to be, by looking outwardly and up to God, to have their desires most fully satisfied in communion with God.
Why do you constantly misunderstand me? I have never claimed to know that all religions lead to the same end, rather they all claim to offer some type of salvation, through one or more mechanisms.
These questions are premised on a misunderstanding of my position.
Being different, doesn’t mean better.
I did not say that one goal was better than another, I explained how they are different
I don’t see that @Michael_Okoko made any claim about ALL religions. Do you?
I don’t see anything about having my desires satisfied in the two great commandments:
[37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment . [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The two great commandments are not the entirety of the Bible
I didn’t say they were. I am saying that according to Jesus Himself, they are the most important things we should do. They have the advantage of being perfectly clear; even the common and predictable misrepresentation of “neighbor” is very clearly addressed:
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? 30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
IMO, the Bible doesn’t get clearer than this; it says that satisfying the desires of others is far more important than satisfying my own.
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Yes, acting in a way that satisfies God’s desires is ultimately the most satisfying way to live.
Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
If any and all religions lead to salvation, then why did Jesus need to die? Are all religions correct except for Christianity?
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