Since we are currently in the Islamic period of Ramadan, I wanted to tackle a question hurled at Christians regularly — one of exclusivity. I indirectly touched on this topic last week when I discussed fundamental differences between the Qur’an and The Bible. I wanted to talk on a larger scale about Christianity's exclusivity. This video below does a nice job explaining the issue. I articulate below how I’d answer this question on the fly.
My framework is to:
Answer the objection as concisely as possible.
Challenge the objector to think more deeply about his or her claim.
Facilitate a “gospel” conversation.
Here are three ways to respond based on the format above:
Christians are just repeating what Jesus of Nazareth said in John 14:6 that “‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” I claim every person who wants to get a driver's license has to pass a written and driving test to get one. Is that being exclusive? Yes, but I'm just repeating the rules. What if this claim is simply true? Isn’t it more important to investigate the claim than dismiss it out of hand because you think it’s narrow-minded?”
It sounds like you're saying it's narrow-minded of me to think my position is true and others who disagree with me are incorrect. But isn't that a narrow-minded position? If someone I know has cancer, am I narrow-minded because I advise the person go to a hospital with cancer specialists who can provide the latest treatments, despite my friend preferring an alternative medicine herbalist who has never healed anyone from cancer? Doesn't it make more sense to figure out which belief – if any – is true?
Why should I pretend all roads lead to God if that's not what the texts of the religions themselves say? Draw a Venn diagram and start filling in the circles with key beliefs of any two religions. For example, let’s compare Christianity to Islam.
Muslims believe there is only one God.
Christians believe God is three persons in one, commonly referred to as the Trinity.
Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet.
Christians believe Jesus was God.
These beliefs are mutually exclusive, and are the tip of the iceberg as far as what separates the two religions. Many religions say you must work to earn your way to God while Christianity says God does the work, but you need to genuinely love Him in order to receive the gift of eternal life with Him. Wouldn't it be wiser to investigate each claim to see which makes the most sense, if they agree or conflict?
What about those who never heard of Jesus?
So if Christianity is the only true faith, what about those who never heard of Jesus before they die? I covered that topic in a separate post.