Religion vs Religion

John 14:6 says,

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This means that to go to heaven, you must go through Jesus, and going through Jesus means believing in him. Whereas Islam might acknowledge Jesus as a prophet, it disputes that he died and was resurrected and declines to worship him, and so do Jews. If we were to go by John 14:6 above, Muslims, Jews, and a whole lot of Chinese, Japanese, and Russians who barely believe in Jesus would not go to the “father.”

Assuming that Christians are right, what is the correct way to worship Jesus? Different denominations and churches do it their way and claim they are doing it right. If a particular denomination is correct, it would mean that the others are wrong, at least in some practices. Remember, Mathew 5:18 warns against modifying the law even in the slightest way.

The Catholic Church believes in the pope’s authority, but Protestants disagree and protest against it. Going by Mathew 5:18, one is right while the other is wrong, and if not, being in one or the other does not matter.

If we narrowed it down to protestants, we would find their glaring differences. Surprisingly, no one is agreeing with the other, and each is claiming to be correct. There are Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) who differ significantly from, say, Anglicans. The SDAs observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, while the Anglicans do it on Sundays. Even narrowing it down further to just SDAs, you will find differences. Some refrain from cooking and cleaning during the Sabbath, while others do not. Each claims to be worshipping God in a more acceptable way than the other. You come to Anglicans, and some take alcohol, while others condemn it, each citing the same book in support of their practices. One will quote Psalms, while the other one quotes Luke.

Given that religions and denominations hope to seek God while being guided by their respective scriptures, it would mean that one belief system is right while the others are not, and if not so, none of them matters any more than the others. In other words, the Catholic is either right or wrong. If it is right, then Anglicans are wrong. If neither is right or wrong, then none of them is any better than Islam or Paganism.

In this story about heaven, we can’t avoid apparent questions. Who is really going? We see differences between Christians and Muslims, Catholics and Protestants, Anglicans and SDAs, SDAs and SDAs, and so on. If we go down, it all comes to individuals. But another question arises: which individual is right? the Indian worshipping Budha, the Christian worshipping Jesus, or the Chinese worshipping neither? Assuming it was the Christian, which Christian? The Catholic or the Protestant, and if protestant, which protestant? The Anglican or the SDA? And if it was the SDA, which SDA? The one cooking on the Sabbath or the one who doesn’t?

Who is fooling who?

What makes you think you are right while others are wrong?

Why harbor thoughts that you would be singing eternally while others burn forever for not doing what you chose to do?

Do you even qualify for that heaven you vehemently defend?

Is it even religion vs religion, or is it you vs you?

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