Why I Believe – A Pause to Respond to Comments 3

Greetings Dear Reader,

It was asked in one of the comments why the God of the Bible is seen as the only God by Christ followers.  I want to answer this very carefully because it is an honest question and deserves a respectful and loving answer.  Too often those who follow Christ are arrogant and dismissive when this question is posed.  That is definitely not in the spirit of things that Christ taught us.  Even Paul, a Pharisee insists that we “dedicate our lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect.”

It is difficult to approach this answer externally.  It goes to the problem of being inside or outside of this faith.  The internal and easy answer is that Yahweh insists over and over that he is the only true God.  This is not unique but if I accept the Bible as authoritative then I must accept this.  Christ also verified this. 

To answer this from inside then one must first then assert that the Bible is authoritative.  I will not attempt to do that here because there are excellent volumes that one could read that do it much better than I can.  Here are two of the best.

The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture by Rene Pache

Inerrancy by edited by Norman Geisler

When in college I had the privilege of being Norman Geisler’s student aid whilst he was on campus for a week long seminar.  His specialty is Christian Apologetics.  I found him to be both humble and honest in his pursuit of reasonable answers to why we believe.

The hard part is that just claiming to believe this sounds arrogant and I do not know how to get around that.  Answering this from outside is a whole other matter.  Since I am endeavoring to be honest in my answers and not give any cliché or pat answers, I must first say I cannot prove anything beyond the need for faith to accept it.

So to get to the heart of the question concerning other belief systems I will first say I could not personally accept anything where God or the gods are not something far beyond me.  But even in the Bible God promises that all who seek him will find him.  If that is true then whether I know the answer of not he will extend himself to those who honestly seek him whether they know the right words or not. 

If I am honest then I cannot say how he does this.  Too often we dismiss this honest question with a call to missionary work or evangelism.  Jesus told us we were to teach all men to do according to his example.  I am familiar with many other faiths and I know that in each of them are adherents who are just as earnest as I am to mine.  As a man of faith I believe that God knows what he is doing with this dilemma. 

Paul makes it clear that those who do not know the Law (the Law of Moses) are not judged under the law. If I am to hold that God is just, merciful, and loving then I must balance that with that he is also unwilling that any should perish.   This means that for me that I see the richness of following Christ and wish for others to have it.

Some will condemn me for not taking a harder line here but to me that would be counter to the way in which Christ approached things.  Jesus condemned most harshly those who made the law more burdensome than it was intended.  He accepted everyone and invited them to see the Father through his eyes. 

If I am to follow in that spirit I cannot condemn anyone who disagrees with me.  I must be honest and stand by the truth that my singular God will reveal himself to anyone who diligently seeks him.  To claim that I know all the ramifications to that would be a lie.  If I am secure in faith that would seem to be enough. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."