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Of Bikes And Bridges


This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. (I Timothy 2:3-6) 
         Why can't all roads lead to God? Why can't Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity all be true? They all have some version of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." They all have such similarities. At least, that's what some lovely, "spiritual" people have told me. But do they?
          They all provide some means by which one achieves heaven (though they don't agree as to what that means.) Hinduism and Buddhism believe that those who are imperfect are recycled into another life, whether as a bug or a man depending on your karma. At least in Buddhism, once you reach perfection, you are absorbed into God, exterminating you as a person altogether. Or, so I understand it. According to Islam, heaven is obtained by living a life of sufficient submission. They all leave it entirely up to the person to achieve it even while its provision is entirely out of the control of the person. How do you know if you've been good enough? Even within Judaism, the focus is on our efforts. Judaism seems to me to be more honest because it makes it clear that our righteousness is worthless, and that believing God is what is reckoned as righteousness. Only in Christianity does God provide the means of salvation.
        Even granting that, why can't God just accept our best efforts, miserable though they may be? Suppose that ten people decided to jump a canyon on their bikes. Some might simply ride off the edge and plummet to the rocks. Others might make it five, or ten, or perhaps even twenty feet out over the half mile gap. Some clever person might use a motorcycle with rockets attached, and make it 98% of the way across. They would still plummet to the rocks below. Suppose someone built a bridge. Would it make sense to say that those who reject the bridge and continue to try to jump the canyon on their bikes are going to reach the other rim? Would it be reasonable to be angry with the one who built the bridge, or those who choose to use it because they get to the other rim? Should those who are on the bridge jump off the bridge because those who choose to trust in their bikes are offended? Does it make the bridge any less the only way to make it across?

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