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Experts in Religious Studies will tell you that there are 11 “living” religions. Of these, there are 5 global religions including: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Of these 5 global religions, 4 of them are missionary religions (Judaism is the exception). This article is in an introduction to how Christianity is different from these three other “missionary” religions.

FACTS ABOUT THE FOUR GLOBAL MISSIONARY RELIGIONS

It is estimated that there are 2.1 billion people who identify themselves as Christian. (Source: “Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents”. 2005. Retrieved 19 Jun 2010.)

It is estimated that there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world.

It is estimated that there are around 400 million Buddhists around the world.

It is estimated that there are 1 billion Hindus around the world.

WHAT IS A RELIGION?

Religion is generally considered to be (1) a system of worship which has a set of beliefs and rules expressed in certain rituals with varying degrees of devotion ranging from nominalism to devotee. Most usually, religion involves (2) worship of God and a set of beliefs about God and His will for mankind. It provides (3) a way of looking at life, mankind’s condition, God’s relationship to His creation, the appropriate way to respond to God, and how people should treat each other. This is called “worldview”.

According to the CIA’s Factbook, published July 2012, the world’s population (7,021,836,029) by religious affiliation is –

31.39%	Christian (Roman Catholic 18.85%, Protestant 8.15%, Orthodox 4.96%, Anglican 1.26%)
22.74%	Muslim
13.80%	Hinduism
6.77%	Buddhism
0.35%	Sikhism
0.22%	Judaism
0.11%	B’hai’ism
10.95%	Other
9.66%	Non-religious
2.01%	Atheism

Interestingly, despite Atheism’s claims against “religion” it goes about its quest in a very religious fashion. It makes claims about God, mankind, the after-life, and the identity of Jesus Christ. This ironically makes it quite religious. Added to this, Buddhism is fundamentally atheistic and it universally considered a religion.

AREN’T ALL RELIGIONS BASICALLY THE SAME?

We hear this all the time, that all religions are basically the same. It is variously expressed with expressions such as, “All religions worship the same God … All religions promote the same values … Any religion will get you to Heaven.” These opinions are at best uninformed, they are at least insulting to each of these religions, and at worst dangerous. To show why, we will consider the four major claims of each religion and then compare them with each other.

RELIGIONS’ CLAIM #1: GOD

RELIGION	CLAIM ABOUT GOD
Islam	God is known as “Allah”. He is eternal. He is omnipotent. He is morally arbitrary (not bound by laws or consistent). He is a solitary person who does not have a son. Islam is not only monotheistic (one God) it is monolithic (one divine person).
Buddhism	There is no God. There is no Creator. Matter is eternal.
Hinduism	God is a personified force known as Brahma. From himself he created the world and from the different parts of himself he created castes of people. He can worshiped as any expression since he is the creation, hence there are over 300,000,000 “deities” in Hinduism.
Christianity	God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit – co-eternal, co-existent, co-equal, “holy” (bound by moral laws and consistently so), and infinitely loving.

As you can see from this summary table, the most foundational concept to all religions, God, is viewed not only differently by each major religion, it is viewed radically differently! It is simply not possible or logical for each presentation of God by these religions to be true because they cannot both contradict each other and be true at the same time. They could each be false, but they simply cannot all be true.

RELIGIONS’ CLAIM #2: MANKIND

Islam

ORIGIN	The first man was created in heaven then transported to earth.
PURPOSE	To obey Allah.
PROBLEM	Mankind is not submitted to Allah.
SOLUTION	Allah has dictated the Qu’ran to his prophet, Mohammed, which calls for submission to Allah, the Qu’ran, and the prophet Mohammed.
OBLIGATION	Muslims have 5 “Pillars” – 1. There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His prophet 2. Praying 5 times a day 3. Giving of alms 4. Fasting 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca

Buddhism

ORIGIN

The first man evolved from what was originally inanimate material.

PURPOSE

There is no purpose, life is meaningless.

PROBLEM

Mankind has desires.

SOLUTION

To attain to enlightenment through the 8-Fold Path:

1. Right View	Wisdom
2. Right Intention	Wisdom
3. Right Speech	Ethical Conduct
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort	Mental Development
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

OBLIGATION

To live out the “noble Eight-fold Path.

Hinduism

ORIGIN	The first people were emminated from different parts of Brahma.
PURPOSE	To achieve good karma in order to have a higher trans-migration in the next life.
PROBLEM	Mankind sins.
SOLUTION	To earn merit through religious observances.
OBLIGATION	To honour the religious customs and traditions.

Christianity

ORIGIN	The first man was immediately created by God and the first woman (Eve) was created by God from the first man (Adam).
PURPOSE	To know, please, love and enjoy God.
PROBLEM	Mankind introduced sin into the human race and incurred the the penalty of God’s wrath.
SOLUTION	God has given His Son to be object of Divine wrath as a substitute for individuals who receive the grace of God’s forgiveness through Christ.
OBLIGATION	To live holy lives that reflect love for God and His commandments, and to love others – which is enabled by the Holy Spirit.

Again, it is clear that each of these religions regards mankind through entirely different worldviews. They also regard the problem facing mankind entirely differently.

RELIGIONS’ CLAIM #3: THE AFTER-LIFE

RELIGION	VIEW ON THE AFTER-LIFE
Islam	“Paradise” or “Hell” Paradise will consist of a harem of up to 70 virgins to eternally satisfy sexual desire. Allah will judge the world through Jesus Christ.
Buddhism	“Nirvana”, that is nothing. There is no after-life.
Hinduism	There is no after-life. Eventually a devotee hopes to transmigrate to become one with the universe.
Christianity	There is a Heaven and Hell which will result after the Day of Judgment.

Each of the major religions regards the after-life utterly differently.

RELIGIONS’ CLAIM #4: THE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST

RELIGION	VIEW ON THE IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST
Islam	Jesus Christ was a true prophet. He lived a sinless life. He was not crucified. He ascended into Heaven and will one day return to judge the world for Allah.
Buddhism	Jesus Christ was the reincarnation of the Buddha. He was an Enlightened One.
Hinduism	Jesus Christ was a great teacher.
Christianity	Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God who became a man to die for the sins of mankind.

Every major religion honours Jesus Christ in some fashion. Despite Islam claiming that He was a true prophet of God they consider what He said about Himself to be false. Jesus Christ claimed to be the eternal Son of God who would die on a cross and rise from the dead. He claimed that He was the only way to God the Father and that no-one could go to Heaven unless they surrendered their life to Him.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

In John 14:6 Christ claimed be the exclusive way to God and the truth of God and the very life of God. In John 8, He told the very religious Jews that because they rejected Him, they would “die in their sins”. Therefore, according to Christ, religious sincerity is not the means by which a person can find peace with God.

I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
John 8:24

It is this last claim that is the most important to consider. Jesus asked His disciples, “…but who do you say that I am?” By asking this question He gave us the question that settles all matters of religious verity. Jesus did not, and does not, leave anyone with the option of considering that He is some mere religious option. Neither does does He tolerate the notion that man’s religious practices can solve the fundamental problem in every human heart. He condemned the most religious people of His day for practising Godless religion. And this highlights the difference between following Jesus Christ and His teachings compared with all other religions. “Reliigon” in one sense is the means by which man attempts to be his own God! The requirements of every major religion outside of following Christ are not the requirements that God Himself has given! God has provided not “a” means of salvation leading to eternal life and divine peace – but “the” means.

How to test the truthfulness of a religion

How can we know which religion is the truth? We have seen that they simply cannot all be equally and simultaneously true because they each radically differ from each other. There are very straight forward tests for ascertaining the truthfulness of any religious claims. Firstly, does it agree with the way the world really is? That is, is it demonstrably true? If it claims that the universe is eternal and without cause, does this align and agree with what we know about how things generally exist and come into being? Secondly, can its claims be verified? Claims such as geographical, historical, and factual claims can be tested for verifiability. And thirdly, does its founder have credibility and impeccability? It is for these reasons that many have turned to Jesus Christ and His teachings as revealed in the 66 Books of the Bible as the most demonstrably true of all religions, its facts the most easily verifiable, and its Founder the most impeccable and trustworthy.