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What makes
you think Christianity is the only way to God?
The truth of Christianity rests completely in the
person of Jesus. The gospels are the written accounts, by eyewitnesses,
of Jesus' life and deeds. Jesus said that He alone was the way to
the Father (John
14:6), that He alone revealed the Father (Matt.
11:27; Luke 10:22).
Jesus claimed to be God (John 8:58
;Exodus 3:14), who forgave sins (Mark
2:5; Luke 5:20;
7:48), and who rose from the dead
(Luke 24:24-29;
John 2:19-21). Jesus said
that He was the only way. Jesus is unique. He was either telling
the truth, He was crazy, or He was a liar. But since everyone agrees
that Jesus was a good man, how then could He be both good and crazy, or
good and a liar? He had to be telling the truth in order to be good.
He is the only way.
Furthermore, Christianity is not just a religion;
it is a relationship with God. It is trusting in Jesus and what He did on
the cross (1 Cor. 15:1-4), not
on what you can do for yourself (Eph.
2:8-9). It is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and
dependence upon the One who died and rose from the dead (John
2:19-21).
Buddha didn't rise from the dead, nor did Confucius or
Zoroaster. Muhammad didn't fulfill detailed prophecy or rise from the dead
either and though there is far less reliable information written about them,
they are believed in.
The scripture is right when it says in
1 Pet. 2:7-8, "This precious
value, then, is for you who believe. But for those who disbelieve, 'The
stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,' and,
'A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'; for they stumble because they
are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed,"
(NASB).
It is Jesus who we look to for the validity of Christianity.
If Jesus is false, then Christianity is false. If Jesus is who He
claimed to be, then Christianity is the only correct religion.
The Mathematical Odds
of Jesus Fulfilling Prophecy
"The following
probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press,
1963) to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability.
Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability in reference
to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived
down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017."
That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend
this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that "we
take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They
will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver
dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold
a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick
up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would
he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets
would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come
true in any one man."
Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "we find
the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10157,
or 1 in 10,00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
000,000,000."
(This information
was taken from the book Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh
McDowell.)
The estimated
number of electrons in the universe is around 1079. It should
be quite evident that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies by accident.
He was who He said He was: the only way (John
14:6).
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