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Editor’s note: This article is based on chapter one of theologian Michael Horton’s book The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way: “Dissonant Drama: Paradigms for Knowing God and the World.”
Everyone you know likely has an opinion about what is going to happen when they die. Some believe they will go to heaven—if it exists—because they have tried hard to be good. Others believe that their state in the afterlife will depend on how well they kept the commands of their religion.
Some people believe that upon death they will cease to exist, so it doesn’t matter how they live. Others think the goal is to leave behind an honorable legacy. Many believe they are in a repeating cycle of death and rebirth until they can break free from the cycle and enter a state of bliss. Christians believe that both heaven and hell exist, and the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ.
The claims of Christianity draw a line in the sand.
All these views cannot be correct. It is impossible because they are mutually exclusive. The claims of Christianity certainly draw a line in the sand. If salvation comes only through Jesus, as the Bible teaches, other religions can offer no more than helpful advice at best; at worst, they lead people away from the most important truth of all.
Something is going to happen to us when we die. We had all best try to discover the truth of the matter, instead of assuming we have the power in and of ourselves to determine our eternal state.
There is an important word to know to make sense of the claims of different religions. This word is ontology; and when you understand its meaning, you will be able to see why all religions cannot be equally true. Ontology is the study of the nature of being, reality, and existence. If you look up the word on Wikipedia, you will find that two very important aspects of ontology are determining categories of being and their relationships to each other.
You are either God or different from God.
Let’s see how ontology helps us understand the differences between various religions:
Pantheism: Hinduism is one example of a religion that teaches pantheism. In pantheism, all reality is ultimately one, so there is no distinction between God and the world. Everything is divine because God is in everything. Buddhism, based on the teachings of Buddha, also contains a variety of religious and philosophical views with some versions containing pantheistic elements.
Panentheism: Panentheistic beliefs can be found in Native American religions. Panentheism is a form of pantheism in which God—or the divine principle—transcends the world; yet, God and the world exist in mutual dependence upon each other.
Creator/Creature Distinction: In the monotheistic (belief in one God) religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, God the creator is categorically (ontologically) different from his creation. This means that God is a completely different kind of being from his creation, although in the case of humans, God created them in his image (Gen. 1:26-27).
To be created in God’s image means we have some similar characteristics with God, but we are different kinds of beings. For example, humans are created, whereas there has never been a time when God did not exist. Humans can love and have knowledge like God, but their love and knowledge are limited and imperfect. God’s love and knowledge, however, are unlimited and perfect.
People cannot be a part of God ontologically, as Hinduism states, and be ontologically distinct from God (such as is the case in the creator/creature distinction of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). These are mutually exclusive claims: humanity cannot be of the same essence as God and be a different kind of being at the same time.
God either has a relationship with you or he doesn’t.
Now let’s look at some views regarding how God engages the world:
Atheism: God does not exist, according to atheism, so there can be no divine influence on—or relationship with—the world.
Deism: People who are deists believe that God made the world, but he has removed himself from it and doesn’t get involved in its daily workings.
Pantheism/Panentheism: God is a part of the world, according to pantheism and panentheism, and thus is always engaged.
Christianity/Judaism/Islam: In the monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, God sovereignly chooses to communicate with his creation. While he is a distinctly different kind of being from humans, God—of his own volition—reaches down to have a relationship with people according to his will.
If God doesn’t exist, as atheists believe, no relationship with creation can occur. For deists, God chooses not to have a relationship, so no relationship with creation can occur. For pantheists/panentheists, God has no ultimate control in his relationship with creation because he is a part of it. In Christianity/Judaism/Islam, the creator God chooses to have a relationship with the humans he has created on his own terms.
It is impossible for God to be nonexistent, distant, and engaged with his creation all at the same time. It is also impossible for God to be necessarily engaged with his creation (as is the case with pantheism) and choose to engage with his creation (as is the case with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) at the same time.[1]
God is not some kind of cosmic Gumby doll that we can shape into our own idea of what he should be.
If God doesn’t exist, then our ideas and thoughts regarding a divine being are silly and ultimately meaningless. If God does exist, he is not some kind of cosmic Gumby doll that we can shape into our own idea of what he should be. It is in a person’s best interest to seek to know God as much as he is willing to be known, that is, as God has revealed himself to his creation.
While the teachings of inclusivism and pluralism may at first glance seem to be loving, truth does not allow conflicting claims to all be correct. It is not the sincerity of our beliefs that matter; rather, it is the truth of the object in which we place our faith that matters. The Bible teaches that God chose to create humans and have a relationship with them. Furthermore, this relationship is not an equal one: God as creator rules over his creation. Because some people choose to reject God’s existence doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist or that they are not accountable to him.
The truth of the Bible hinges entirely on the historical death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
The Bible is an account of something that happened—and is continuing to happen—in history. The early Christians based their faith not on a hope and a prayer but on factual events. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, the Christian faith is not even a good story with helpful principles. Furthermore, while the truth claims of other religions such as Islam are based on privately received revelation, the truth of the Bible hinges entirely on the historical death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul leaves no room for thinking otherwise:
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:14–19)
As much as we would all like to think we are in control of our future, if we are honest with ourselves, we don’t have any power to make our beliefs about the afterlife become reality. The Bible clearly states that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Seek the truth while it may be found and consider with the utmost gravity the claims of the Christian faith.
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Recommended:
The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way by Michael Horton
Notes:
[1] For more in-depth study on this topic, please read chapter one of Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011): “Dissonant Dramas: Paradigms for Knowing God and the World,” pp. 35-79.
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