One True Way?

[takumsaw]

I've been wondering, are all religions aside from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism actually pagan? God made many different covenants throughout the Bible. What if God made even more covenants with other races of people, resulting in different religions? Perhaps God has chosen to manifest himself in many different ways to different cultures around the world. Each religion may have originally been formed by God according to the people's lifestyle. Chief Red Jacket of the Seneca tribe once said to a Christian missionary: "Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things,why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding?"
If God created different religions according to each race's understanding or way of life, could any one religion actually boast that they possess the "One True Way" to worship?

[Barry]

Though I rarely post in these discussions. And I don't think I should either. But, good Q, IMO, Man is the one
who made up the different religions the way they think would
be the "One True Way". again, IMO, if it doesn't come from
the Bible, it's not the "One True Way". If it comes from any
other book, it's called a false doctrine. Now I'm not cutting
down what a person believes in or how he he/she worships
GOD. Everyone has their own way. I'm not saying that my way
is the best way. It's just my opinion and the way I believe
in. It's really between You and GOD. Not what the church
says. Just some food for thought.

Cya,

[aric]

takumsaw said:

I've been wondering, are all religions aside from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism actually pagan?

According to Wikipedia (yes, not the best source, but good for an introductory overview. BTW, I'll stop making excuses for my use of Wiki from now on since I'll assume everybody knows what the problem is and that I know about it) "pagan" was a term used by monotheists to label folks who didn't share their monotheistic views. So yes, all non-monotheistic religions are pagan religions from the viewpoint of monotheism.

takumsaw said:

God made many different covenants throughout the Bible. What if God made even more covenants with other races of people, resulting in different religions?

You mean to say that there might be truths outside of the Bible? Say it ain't so!

The funny thing is, this isn't even an issue for someone who doesn't assume the Bible to be the definitive source for "Truth" in the first place.

takumsaw said:

Perhaps God has chosen to manifest himself in many different ways to different cultures around the world. Each religion may have originally been formed by God according to the people's lifestyle. Chief Red Jacket of the Seneca tribe once said to a Christian missionary: "Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things,why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion according to our understanding?"

I somewhat agree with Dwaggie's first sentence. Religion is a reflection of the people who believe in them. Each religion is shaped by the culture and experience of each group, which is why you have such diversity. That's not even mentioning the various individuals who have had their own personal revelations and proclaiming to everyone that God, Heaven, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster spoke to them and told only them the Truth.

takumsaw said:

If God created different religions according to each race's understanding or way of life, could any one religion actually boast that they possess the "One True Way" to worship?

Not if you step above the theological fray and look at it with a mindset that doesn't privilege one doctrine over another.

Allow me to let you in on a secret. The fundamental way of thinking behind many religious viewpoints (especially fundamentalist ones) is where you come to the conclusion first and hammer reality to fit that conclusion. IOW, you take beliefs such as "The Bible is God's Word," or "There is no other God but Allah" and ignore anything that contradicts or rivals it and you have the basic reasoning underlying dogmatic religious thinking. That’s why you won’t find someone who thinks like that genuinely consider any type of religious position that's different from there own on equal terms. For them, there’s only going to be one source of the One True Way – their own.

dwaggie67 said:

Though I rarely post in these discussions. And I don't think I should either. But, good Q, IMO, Man is the one
who made up the different religions the way they think would
be the "One True Way".

The first interesting thing is that if this sentence were by itself, I’d have thought you had converted to atheism!

The second interesting thing is that you don’t apply this conclusion to the Bible. After all, the Bible really is a bunch of people writing down what they think, or what they heard someone else think, God said and wants. There are many degrees of separation between you and God when you take the Bible as His Word.

dwaggie67 said:

again, IMO, if it doesn't come from
the Bible, it's not the "One True Way". If it comes from any
other book, it's called a false doctrine. Now I'm not cutting
down what a person believes in or how he he/she worships
GOD. Everyone has their own way.

Not to burst your bubble, but when you say that any idea or doctrine that doesn’t come from the Bible is false, you’re automatically “cutting down” what that person believes if it doesn’t match your own Bible-based standards. Or is there a definition of “false” that I’m not aware of?

dwaggie67 said:

I'm not saying that my way
is the best way.

Ah, but you said above that only doctrines that come from the Bible are true, whereas those that do not aren’t. Let me quote you on that:

“Again, IMO, if it doesn’t come from the Bible, it’s not the ‘One True Way’. If it comes from any other book, it’s called a false doctrine.”

That’s not to say that it necessarily contradicts with your statement about your way not necessarily being the best way. Assuming, of course, that you don’t believe that part of the quote where you say that only Biblical ideas and doctrines (ones that you claim follow in other threads) are True while others that don’t aren’t.....

- Aric

[Stouthorn]

It's interesting you bring up the multiple covenants. The Catholic Church recognizes the covenant made with Isaac and his descendants, the Jewish people as still binding (God doesn't break his promises, is basically what they say) but, interestingly, don't recognize the covenant made with Ishmael, who Muslims claim is the ancestor of the Arabs.