Wacky Wednesday--There Are Many Paths To Heaven

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~It wouldn’t be fair to people who haven’t heard the Gospel to give them no pathway to God at all.
~Saying Jesus is the only way is extremely narrow-minded and arrogant.
~Nobody ever says, “I’m sure there’s only one way to God, but I have no idea what it is.” Claiming your religion is the only one is just self-serving propaganda.
~People throughout history have been widely recognized as having an extra large dose of the divine spark, even though they were clearly not Christians. Would you deny that these people were really tuned into God?
~Even the Bible says that there are many more things that Jesus taught than are contained herein. ~Maybe some of the other stuff is what shows up in other religions.
~If the single God at the heart of Christianity, Islam, Bahaism, and Judaism aren’t all the same ~Being, then suddenly you have two (or more) Gods, rather than just the one. Pirsig’s argument.
~There are certainly some elements of truth in all religions.
~Religions agree about a great many things, including the importance of living a holy life, being generous to the poor, and doing good things for other people.
~It’s not particularly loving to condemn people to hell for simply not having even the chance to respond to the Gospel.
~Even Jesus talked about how He only came for certain groups of people, like Jewish sinners, rather than the righteous or the non-Jews.
~If only those who accept Christ go to heaven, then Jesus certainly wasn’t a very good advertising executive. He should have gone to more places rather than just a few square miles of middle eastern desert.
~People can’t be judged for rejecting Christ if they never heard of Him, right?
~So much of Christianity instructs the same basic things as other religions, how different or unique can you really think it is?

Post-Show Thoughts: The key in responding to this idea is to ask the right questions. The first, most useful question is, "If Jesus is one of the ways, what do you think His way is?" or "What do you think the Christian way is?" Since no one who actually knows the Gospel would ever say this, all you have to do is listen for the ways in which they do not understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then lovingly explain it to them. A second question which can be very useful is, "Why do you think that Jesus had to die on the Cross?" This also will reveal what they do or do not know about the Gospel and point out the silliness of thinking that all religions are basically the same as Christianity. Other things are worth saying, but here's my basic advice. Try to avoid getting into an argument and instead try as much as possible to simply clarify the Gospel. The key is to know the difference between moralism and Christianity. Only someone who doesn't know this difference will be likely to be swayed by this argument. And remember that a Gospel is a world-changing event or fact that everyone must deal with. It is only by pondering the Gospel and embracing it that we are changed, at which point the rules are not rules but simply descriptions of how we already want to behave in honor and gratitude of Jesus Christ's gift to us.