Around the World in 4000+ Religions
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
— Acts 17:22
Many of us probably grew up with this novel piece of advice: “In public, never discuss politics or religion.” One could argue that years of disregarding these two topics has led to lots of ignorance about both! Furthermore, other flaws attack this logic in regard to religion, including the inconvenient facts that (a) people do discuss religion, with white-hot zeal and consistency amongst themselves, and (b) the Christian perspective is woefully absent from the conversation when saints are indifferent or uncomfortable to add the scriptures into the fray. This unwillingness to give a reason for the hope that is within us (see 2 Peter 2:15) is a factor that needs close examination and rectification. The reason is because, contrary to prevalent belief, Christianity is a valid and even superior—the most superior—answer to the plurality of religious thinking.
At the time of this blog posting, there are over 4,000 recognized religions in the world. This is not counting the multiple thousands—if not millions—of schisms, sects, and specific induvial belief systems that exist beyond that number. Even atheism—the denial of a divine being in power above us—has its own religious adherents, though they wouldn’t agree I’m sure.
To quote the late great teacher R.C. Sproul, “Everybody’s a theologian.” This means everyone has some thought or understanding of God, no matter how flawed it might be. Ergo, everybody’s religious, since Webster’s 1828 edition defined religion as “a belief in a divine being, the revelation of God’s will, and man’s obligation to obey.” From the streets of Bangladesh, to the hill country of Budapest, to the county roads of rural Birmingham, AL, religiosity flourishes in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants. Some in vintage denim and Ray-bans, some in smart Armani suits, some in pajama pants and tees. But behind the eyes of friends and strangers, there is some existential thought about the great mysteries of divinity and our relationship to the beyond.
And also, to quote the not-so-late, still great REM, “I’m losing my religion.” The singer isn’t really losing his religion based on what we’ve said, but he has lost his adherence and allegiance to organized religion, namely Christianity, or whatever form with which he found offense. This is not uncommon, and before this article is over, I mean to submit my own form of this sentiment. We do need to, in a sense, lose our religion.
Let’s not keep Paul at Athens waiting. He is standing at the famed site known as Mars Hill in Acts 17, addressing a group of worshipers and tourists to the Athenian religious center which had been created there. Think of it like their spiritual Burger King, everyone had it their way. Every known deity or idol that they could think of was represented by some imagery or altar and, just in case there was another god they overlooked, they placed a monument and altar out there with the inscription “To the unknown God.” It was a shopkeeper’s religious center. Those who frequented the site were a mixture of Jews and Greeks who argued philosophy for sport. Paul found the spot where most of these people were gathered and threw his hat into this public conversation. Paul never heard that advice about politics and religion. Standing sandwiched between two realities—that of the Gospel and of manmade philosophy—Paul responded to the situation before him in a way that deserves our attention. What does Paul at Mars Hill teach us about interacting with religions of the world?
- Disrespect and caricature aren’t wise tools for reaching people. While some of the crowd scoffed at Paul, calling him a “babbler,” or one who had taken leave of his senses when he had finished. Yet Paul’s ministry was not centered on weaving straw men against his haters to make false arguments about their beliefs. There is tone of respect and sobriety about Paul’s speech that we would do well to mimic.
- There are common threads we can pull to compare our beliefs. Just as disrespect towards those of other persuasions is inadvisable, worse yet would be demonization. Many would say (not without reason) that all other religions beside Christianity are demonic and evil from the ground up. Yet, Paul appealed to one of their own Epicurean thinkers by quoting what would have been a well-known literary work, describing a general belief in a fatherly cosmic Creator: “In him we live and move and have our being” and “For we are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28) These paganish ideas were not without some merit since they recognized a central deity, just without awareness of His authentic Person or ways. Likewise, all religions share the basic principle of seeking to know and connect with a force or power beyond themselves, revealing that all men have some light of knowledge, but only Christ carries us all the way home. Without Him, we grope in endless darkness.
- While sharing some basic principles with other religions, Christ’s truth supersedes and nullifies all other ideologies outside itself. The fast train of non-Christian spiritual teaching hits an immoveable wall with this: “Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (verse 31). Simply put, the proof is in the cemetery—Christianity alone has a risen Savior as its Cornerstone. Furthermore, God has appointed this resurrected King to judge and hold men accountable. Well He can, seeing that He has destroyed death. While validating His own deity and ministry on the earth through His resurrection, Christ also validated the truth of the message He came to share. The Bible is true in every facet because Jesus—who believed the Bible and we would say is the key to the Bible—is alive. *1 Corinthians has much more to say on this subject!
Are we Christians so narrow-minded to say that there is only one way to God? We are as narrow-minded as Jesus. He is the One who said to His disciples, concerning His death and the hope of eternal life before them: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one can come to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6) After His death, resurrection, and ascension, the apostles carried that same exclusivist attitude in their preaching. For instance, they said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Finally, Paul, the late comer into the apostleship, said, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for many.” (1 Timothy 2:5) And such has been the tolling bell of every orthodox arena of Christian life, worship, and ministry since.
The God of Heaven revealed in creation, in Christ His Son, and in His Word, is not willing to share His exclusive place in the hearts of men but holds a unique place of divine authority and it really is His way or no way. Thankfully, His way is not through unbearable weights of human ingenuity or religious works because none of us are free from the warped soul we share from Adam and the sin problem revealed in all of us. His way is us accepting the willing sacrifice and imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ for those who believe. He will accept no less than the best or else we will be woefully lost forever. You and I come to God by redemption, not religion. But don’t forget that for the saint, religion still has a unique place.
In closing, how much religion should we lose? Just that part that focuses on us and our status. That’s the religion that harms, hinders, and hurts. Give man a perfectly good system to know and follow God and once the spotlight turns inward instead of upward, you’ve got problems and they get bigger the longer they go unaddressed. The best intentions of Christians without the power of true biblical worship and obedience will always come to nothing except broken lives.
James said that the real religion that would please God in its purity would be by believers getting real about serving others and pleasing God, through ministering as to the widows and orphans, and considering our moral and inner purity (James 1:26). If you say you’re religious, but you overlook the neediest and most destitute of humanity without warmth for their physical and spiritual wellbeing, your religion is like a rotten egg painted in glitter—nice to look at but nasty. Religion doesn’t save us, but it does make servants of us. And our greatest service is in the hidden place before God.
We don’t need “that old time religion”; we need an all-time spiritual awakening to the realness of God and the grace of His kingdom living.
SDG.