Case For Christianity

In the world today there is a growing infatuation with the religions of the Orient.  Mohammedism claims 1.8 billion adherents worldwide. There are more than half a billion Hindus with an equal number who are members of either Buddhist or Confucian sects.

Incredibly, there are over 10 million Moslems in the U.S. There are half a million Buddhists in North America and about a million Hindus. It is claimed that other Eastern cults such as Shintoism, Taoism, and Confucianism number hundreds of thousands of American adherents.

Clearly, in many areas of our country, Eastern Religions have begun to rival Christianity in popularity. This calls for a clear statement of the case for Christian faith. The following features of Christianity make it superior to all other religious systems:

1.    Its Great Personality. The superiority of Christianity is derived from the superiority of Christ. The world has not seen His equal. He alone Òdid no sin neither was guile found in His mouth.Ó (1 Peter 2.22.) Other religions have had their ÒprophetsÓ and ÒpriestsÓ, but Christianity alone has a Saviour who Òtasted death for every man.Ó (Hebrews 2.9.)

2.    Its Historical Basis. Christianity and Judaism are the worldÕs only truly Historical religions. Other religious systems seek validity and promise ÒsalvationÓ in the  inner, subjective experience of the individual practitioner. Christianity offers salvation on the basis of the atoning death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Romans 5.6.) Christianity is based, then, not on the subjective experiences of the believer but on actual, historical events.

3.    Its Point of View. The focus of Eastern Religion is inward. A poster advertising an oriental cult at on a college campus exulted: ÒYou go in and in and in, And then you go in and in and In.Ó Because of their emphasis on inward mystical experience, Eastern Religions are essentially sterile and fundamentally selfish. In contrast, while other faiths turn inward, Christianity reaches outward. It emphasizes events which have taken place outside the individual believer and preaches responsibility to others. Consequently, the validity of the Christian life is measured, not in terms of the ability to achieve a self-focused, mystical experience, but on the basis of obedience to God and service to fellow men. (Matthew 22.37-39.)

4.    Its Continuing Hope. Christianity offers a hope of continued personal existence extending beyond this life. The best that other religions have to offer is annihilation at death, or dissolution into the universe at large, or perhaps some ill-defined and shadowy corporate existence in union with other souls. But Christianity holds out the Òhope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.Ó (Titus 1.2.)

Christianity is unlike any other religious system on earth. It is authenticated by its uniqueness.  Christianity offers what no other religion can. This is proof of its Divine origin. Only of Christ and His religion may it be said: ÒAnd there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.Ó (Acts 4.12.).

ÑBobby Dockery

Fayetteville, Ark.