Why should I be a Christian instead of some other religion?

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Thorolfr

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As someone who has studied a lot about religion and history, I sometimes struggle with the question of why I should believe that my own faith as a Christian is the correct one. Growing up, I went to Sunday school and during the summers I sometimes went to Bible camps. Now as an adult, when I’m in church, certain rituals and hymns and certain stories about Jesus resonate with me and they sometimes even bring tears to my eyes.

But that I am now a Christian who feels an emotional connection to many of its rituals, creeds, hymns and stories is mostly due to the fact that I was raised a Christian in a Christian family and live in a part of world that has historically been Christian. That I am a Protestant Christian is mostly due to the fact that all of my ancestors for more than 400 years were Protestants who came from Scandinavia, England and parts of Germany that became Protestant during the Reformation. So, it is mostly an accident of history that I am now a Protestant Christian.

If I had been born some place in the Middle East or North Africa and belonged to a family from that part of the world, I would probably be a Muslim. If I had been born in India I might be a Hindu or if I had been born in Thailand, I might be a Buddhist instead. In each case, the Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist rituals, stories, and style of worship would probably resonate with me and feel most correct and most convincing to me because that would have been the faith I was raised in and the one my family belonged to.

I’m very interested in history, too, and can’t help reflecting that if I had been born in Scandinavia 1500 years ago, I would probably be worshipping Thor and Odin like my Viking ancestors and might not know anything about Christianity. If I had been born somewhere in what is now Mexico before 1517, I and none of my ancestors would ever have heard anything about Christianity and I would perhaps be practicing the religion of the Mayas or the Aztecs.

So how can I tell that my religion as a Christian is correct or mostly correct while those other religions are not correct?
 
You really dont know what God would have in store for you in ANY culture you were brought up in. Now you know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, You are fortunate to have been blessed to be a Christian, now if you would only come home to the Catholic Church! 😃
 
Thorolfr said:
So how can I tell that my religion as a Christian is correct or mostly correct while those other religions are not correct?
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It’s all about Jesus. Who He was. IF you believe that He existed, and believe what He taught of Himself, that He lived a perfect life, was crucified, and rose 3 days later to prove Who He was… then why would you not be a Christian? In short, as Paul said, if Christ be not risen our faith is in vain. You can tell your religion is correct because the tomb is empty. Further, that is not something you are expected to believe with a blindfold on, but rather to research the evidence and either believe it or not, as it is claimed to be a historical fact.

I believe that fact. We can talk about the apologetics behind that fact, but that is the heart of the matter.
 
Thorolfr said:
So how can I tell that my religion as a Christian is correct or mostly correct while those other religions are not correct?
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The figure of Jesus stands at the center of Christianity.

If you find him less appealing than the founders of other religions, ask yourself why.

Or ask yourself why you find the founder of another religion more appealing.
 
Well Jesus is what he says he is, the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior the way to eternal happiness in heaven or he is not any of those and we are living in vain. You have to have faith in Jesus. Another words there is something called Truth, and that Truth is Jesus and his Church. Its not relative.
 
Mere Christianity (Lewis) and Orthodoxy (Chesterton) offer a good perspective from a Christian view. But it all boils down to the person of Jesus Christ.
 
Kliska said:
It’s all about Jesus. Who He was. IF you believe that He existed, and believe what He taught of Himself, that He lived a perfect life, was crucified, and rose 3 days later to prove Who He was… then why would you not be a Christian? In short, as Paul said, if Christ be not risen our faith is in vain. You can tell your religion is correct because the tomb is empty. Further, that is not something you are expected to believe with a blindfold on, but rather to research the evidence and either believe it or not, as it is claimed to be a historical fact.

I believe that fact. We can talk about the apologetics behind that fact, but that is the heart of the matter.
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Every religion claims that its history is a historical fact. Muslims claim that the Archangel Gabriel brought a revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. They have their own historical records about the Prophet Muhammad that they say prove this story.

Last year I read two biographies of Joseph Smith who didn’t even live that long ago and about whom we know quite a lot. His story about finding the golden tablets and the angel Moroni does not seem very convincing to me, but 11 million Mormons believe it.

The followers of every religion believe the history of their own religion, but I don’t know how to prove my religion is better or more correct than theirs. I have faith my religion is the correct one which is no doubt based partly on the fact that I was born into a Christian family and they have faith that theirs is correct.
 
Also, Muslims would be happy that they have the truth about God being the God of Abraham, the truth that there is a final judgement, and any truth that we know be true through Jesus and the Catholic Church. So for a person that is a Muslim they could have joy over those truths and feel blessed, but those truths are only true because of Jesus and his Church. They would lack joy in being a Muslim to not have followed Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
 
Every religion has at least some truth in it. If all of it was false, no one would want to belong to it. What would be the point? Every human desires truth, no one likes being lied to. The only reason to belong to any religion is because it contains within it’s teachings more truth than any other religion.

The Christian claim of course is that Jesus is The Truth and that’s what makes it so attractive. But within Christianity there are many churches that claim to teach The Truth of Jesus Christ, yet every one of them teach something different. They cannot all be teaching The Truth.

When people honestly seek truth, that is when they find God.
 
**Luke 14:26

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple**

So Jesus is saying that it doesnt matter your family traditions, here he may be pointing to the Jewish traditions of handing down the faith, that we are called to follow Him no matter what.
 
Thorolfr said:
(. . .) So how can I tell that my religion as a Christian is correct or mostly correct while those other religions are not correct?
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Hi. You answered your own question.

Christianity is founded not only by Christ, but in history.

Let’s contrast this notion with other faiths, also keeping in mind Pope Emeritus Benedict’s sage quotation that reflects the eternal immutability of truth: “An Adult faith does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelties.”

Judaism: As God’s first revelation of Himself to people who would listen, He gave the Israelites (and, through Christ, to the gentiles), a rule of behavior and the Ten Commandments.While Judaism’s history is super-ancient and many places and people it notes came and went quickly, there is much documentation and evidence, verifable in science, that illustrate that many events of what we Christians know of as the “Old Testament” were accurately documented. Many stories, such as Genesis, could not possibly be eyewitnessed. But it’s pleasantly curious how the biblical tale of creation matched up to the Big Bang theory from Monsigneur Lamaitre?

Buddhism: While the tales of what the man who would be known as the Buddha seem quite fanciful with no connection to real people or events aside from him. The man did exist based on historical records. The teachings, while more philosophical than theological, do help others come closer to God in their own way. But the Buddha never claimed divinity, which only gets one partially to an answer to life.

Islam: This faith, while held by 1.2 million people, has connections to Christianity and Judaism, has the least historical connections, especially debate about the existence of its founder. Worse, there isn’t a centered authority to help discern this point. I don’t have to go into the problems this created, then and now.

Christianity, in contrast, is heavily documented by many, both believer and unbeliever. Physical evidence, actual people and places, and a Church that has withstood despite many opportunities of being wiped off the earth by war and corruption and division.

When faith doesn’t ground you, hold on to the history of the Church. Hold on to the countless good deeds and people who brought them to us all. Christianity is as real as the sand under your feet and the warmth you feel at the thought of Christ’s love.
 
Charlemagne_III said:
If you find him less appealing than the founders of other religions, ask yourself why.

Or ask yourself why you find the founder of another religion more appealing.
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I find Jesus more appealing than the founders of other religions, but as I said, this might just be because I was raised in the Christian faith and there is probably an aspect of nostalgia attached to the stories, hymns and symbols of that faith that attract me to it. It reminds me of how we all might feel nostalgic about other things we grew up with such as the symbols, songs and foods of our homeland or the characters in books we read as children.
 
A police officer who believes that a person is guilty of a crime needs to justify that belief with evidence, and, depending on the nature of the crime, to the police officer superior to him and the judge.

A lawyer who believes that a person is guilty needs to justify that belief with evidence, in a court of law.

A student writing a graduate thesis needs to justify his beliefs with evidence, according to the principles of the field he studies in, to a team of experts.

This is how justification works in the mundane sphere.

To whom would one need to justify one’s belief in God?
 
OP: all religions aren’t equal.

You can never sacrifice enough or work hard enough to earn the salvation that Jesus offers us.

The bottom line is that “the wages of sin is death” and either you believe that Jesus is the Messiah or he’s not.

Jesus paid our debt through his death on the cross and all we have to do is agree to follow and believe in him. That’s really quite a bargain when you really think about it.

The fact is that it’s 2/20/2015 and you have a choice to make today about where your salvation lies.

I get the mental exercise, but in the end, God always finds a way to reveal himself to his people, regardless of culture and time. Do you realize how many Christians are in Iranian prisons because they won’t repent and just stop believing in Jesus? The underground churches are very real and alive in areas where Christ is (supposedly) forbidden. His people know his voice and follow, regardless of government legal codes.

It’s very easy to be a Christian in the West, though a lot of people would argue that point. But because it’s easy for us to be Christians, we tend to take our faith for granted and not realize how precious it really is. That’s one thing we can really learn from our oppressed brothers and sisters in Christ.

You don’t have to believe anything that Jesus says, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t watching your choices here on Earth. There are no bonus points for “being a good person” (or did I miss that part of the NT!). Either the Bible is real or it’s not.
 
Lucy107 said:
A police officer who believes that a person is guilty of a crime needs to justify that belief with evidence, and, depending on the nature of the crime, to the police officer superior to him and the judge.

A lawyer who believes that a person is guilty needs to justify that belief with evidence, in a court of law.

A student writing a graduate thesis needs to justify his beliefs with evidence, according to the principles of the field he studies in, to a team of experts.

This is how justification works in the mundane sphere.

To whom would one need to justify one’s belief in God?
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To God.
 
spiderweb said:
Every religion has at least some truth in it. If all of it was false, no one would want to belong to it. What would be the point? Every human desires truth, no one likes being lied to. The only reason to belong to any religion is because it contains within it’s teachings more truth than any other religion.

The Christian claim of course is that Jesus is The Truth and that’s what makes it so attractive. But within Christianity there are many churches that claim to teach The Truth of Jesus Christ, yet every one of them teach something different. They cannot all be teaching The Truth.

When people honestly seek truth, that is when they find God.
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I agree. But I feel like I’ve been seeking for the truth all my life and am never certain that I’ve finally found it.
 
Our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead!

The founders of other religions did not rise from the dead.

It certainly was NOT the archangel Gabriel who spoke to Mohammad.
 
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