I just read a post by Danielle Belton on her Black Snob blog. It's about Oprah claiming that there are many roads to reach God in general and Jesus is not the only way in particular. Her post is about the potential backlash from Christians in general and black Christians in particular. I read many of the comments and I noticed a theme that alarmed me and force a response from me.
As many folks pointed out, Oprah's views are well-known and public for years now. What bothers me is that there should be more of a backlash. More Christians should be speaking out and explaining that it is important that Jesus is the only way! This is what makes Christianity distinctive compared to all other belief systems. Without that fact Christianity looses all meaning. IT is important. As a Christian, I say "Jesus is the only way!" as a truth claim. It is either true or it isn't. If it is a lie than no one should be a Christian. You must make a decision and live with the consequences of that choice.
As for the other points that people raised that if Jesus is the only way than billions of people are excluded, I don't know what will happen to those who don't know or will ever find out about Jesus. All I know is God will deal fairly with them. As for you and I, who have heard the claim that Jesus is the only way, we are accountable for either accepting and believing that. It doesn't matter if our ancestors were enslaved and persecuted through men misrepresenting and twisting the Bible into lies because the Bible is still true.
It doesn't make sense that all roads will lead to God because they all conflict with one another. They can all be false, but only one can be true. Take the claims of Islam versus the claims of the New Testament. The Koran says that they neither crucified or killed Jesus but it was made to appear to the Jews and Romans that they had killed Jesus. But the Bible says without qualification that Jesus was crucified. He Died and was resurrected to life. Both of these books can't be true. Everyone must look at the evidences for himself/herself and decide.
I'm probably going to write more about how God may deal with those who never learn about Christ in the afterlife, but I will conclude with a small attempt. Think of all the Old Testament men and women who we know lived righteous lives by any standard - Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and any other religion you can think of. Muslims admire Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and many other heroes. No one would argue that any of these guys went to hell, yet they may not had any personal knowlege of Jesus. Yet they were declared righteous because they put their faith in God and trusted that God was going to save them and their people even if they themselves would not see it. This is what they were commended for. I've got scripture to back this up.
At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?"
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."
"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. - John 8:52-59
There are other scriptures I could cite but I'll save it. Instead I want re-iterate that Jesus was either completely nuts, a big-fat liar, or He was the incarnate Son of the Living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - our Lord and savior of all mankind. Pick one. The evidence says Jesus is who He claimed to be and proved it by coming back from the dead never to die again. I agree with Joshua.
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15
Jesus said:
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6-7
