Sometimes we get letters and emails from people who disagree with what we say in our magazine Light for the Last Days. Here is one such reply I sent to someone writing in this way:
Thank you for your email. Permit just to give a brief response to some of your issues.
You say, ‘I am sure you are aware that there are many gods and many religions in this world. You probably believe that yours is the only right one. Can you not see how illogical that is?’
It is not illogical to believe that there is one way to God through Jesus Christ, although of course I understand that most people in the world do not agree with this proposition.
Logically there are three possibilities on this issue.
1. All Gods are equal and therefore there is truth in all religions and all religions may lead to God.
2. There is no God and therefore no religion is giving you the truth.
3. There is one God and one way to know God. Therefore one religion is giving you the truth and the rest are not.
Number 1 in this list does present some logical problems because different religions say radically different things about God which conflict with one another. For example.
∙ Hinduism – there are many gods. Judaism, Christianity and Islam – there is one God.
∙ Judaism – the Messiah is yet to come, Jesus is not the Messiah. Christianity – the Messiah has come in the person of Jesus Christ / Yeshua the Messiah.
∙ Islam and Judaism – God is one and indivisible. Christianity – God is three persons in one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
∙ Islam – Jesus is the last prophet before the final prophet Mohammed. Christianity – Jesus is Son of God, the final revelation of God to humanity.
I could go on with many more examples.
Number 2 leaves us with some questions. While we cannot prove the existence of God there is evidence for His existence. These concern the origins of the universe, the question of the purpose of life, the existence of good and evil and the fact that all cultures have some idea of a higher being – the God shaped space within us that the French philosopher Pascal spoke of.
Many people have difficulty believing in God because of their life experiences or observation of hypocrisy in supposed followers of God. But in the end what we believe or don’t believe about God does not affect His existence, which is outside of time and space and yet which has an influence on what happens in time and space.
Number 3 is the claim that the Bible makes for itself. The Old Testament speaks of one God, the creator of all things, who gave the moral law (10 commandments) at Sinai and who is contrasted with the idols of the nations. These are called vain and the product of human invention (by contrast knowledge of the God of the Bible is given by revelation to His prophets). In the New Testament Jesus is revealed as the one way to God, the sole mediator between God and humanity through His sacrifice for the sin of the world at the cross and His resurrection from the dead.
You say this is based on a very old book full of legends, but to be honest that is your opinion. There is evidence that these things really happened in time and space, when God moved in supernatural ways on earth. When the Lord Jesus came to the earth as Son of God and Son of Man, He had the power to do miracles as recorded in the Gospels. The greatest miracle was the resurrection, after He had paid the price for the sin of the world through His death at the cross. After He returned to heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to empower the true church to continue the work on earth, as He does to this day.
The Gospel claims to have the solution to the issue which the whole human race faced at the time of Jesus, and continues to face today. This is the sin nature in humanity which causes us to go against God’s moral law, and do all the bad things which spoil our world and bring misery to people. True faith does not promote war and strife, but love and peace through Jesus Christ.
Whether we believe Him or not, according to biblical prophecy He will return, not this time as the Suffering Messiah to pay the price of our sins, but as the Reigning King Messiah, with all the power of God to judge the world in righteousness, according to how we have responded to the Gospel message.
That is why we take our message out to the world. Of course we respect your right to reject it and if you like to throw our magazine into the bin, but we are also pleased to receive your comments on our magazine. If you would like to discuss this further, I would be happy to do so.
With best wishes
Tony Pearce