It all comes down to the ressurection
Before becoming a Christian I had no idea that there were other belief systems that also believed in Jesus but had a different take on him and what he did. Perhaps you already know this but I was pretty ignorant about religion and had no idea!
For example in the Quran, Jesus is not the son of God but just a prophet. The Quran says that Jesus did not die on the cross, but ascended to heaven while someone else died in his place.
Jews believe that their messiah (saviour) has not yet arrived. Jews differ on who exactly they think Jesus was but for some he was thought of as a teacher or leader, not a prophet, and not the actual son of God.
In the ‘new age’ belief system Jesus was an ascended master, just a person like us who managed to reach enlightenment, just as all of us have the potential to. In ‘new age’ we all have a God spark, so Jesus was not the literal son of God.
I used to think of belief systems as being like myths or interpretations of an ultimate reality. My thinking was that it was about finding out what systems have in common to distill the ultimate essence of what our spiritual reality is.
Now I think that this ‘what we have in common’ way of thinking is actually more in line with a movement towards a one world spirituality, that is potentially about worshipping the anti-Christ, according to the Bible.
I’ve had people comment that to focus on difference is ‘divisive,’ but I see it more as evidence and trying to discover for ourselves what the objective facts are. That is the way the ultimate truth of our spiritual reality can be figured out. It can be done with kindness and compassion and respect. We don’t have to blur into a breaking down of objective reality into ‘subjective truth’ as a way to get along.
For me it all comes down to the resurrection. Did Jesus really die on the cross, and if so, did he genuinely rise again, not just float off to heaven, but actually leave the tomb where he was buried and walk around in his resurrected physical body?
For me, it’s not about being ‘brainwashed’ by mainstream religion. Whether to go to church or not is a secondary issue. It’s just about the historical facts of what happened.
Below I will post some links with evidence for the Christian viewpoint that Jesus really was the son of God, and that the resurrection really happened.
It’s very telling to me that the BBC has produced two documentaries undermining the Christian belief that Jesus was the son of God and was actually resurrected. - one on Gnostic Christianity and one entitled. ‘Was Jesus a Buddhist?’
Pastor Mike Winger in one of the discussions linked to below notes that
‘Around Easter every year, our friends at the history channel, National Geographic and PBS like to put out documentaries attacking the faith of Christians everywhere, saying things like ‘did Jesus really exist?’ which are totally bunk, not factually true or historically accurate.’
Why does the mainstream seek to undermine the Christian faith I wonder?
A Case For Christ Movie -
Case For Christ Documentary -
Resurrection evidence -