With so many world religions around today how can you know which one you should examine first? Most people have a desire to believe in something bigger than themselves, but the big question is can we know the truth about God and as a religious seeker where should we start? I would like to submit to you that if one calls themselves a truly reasonable and open-minded religious seeker then they should want to investigate the claims of Christianity first before investigating other religious traditions. May the following five reasons give you food for thought as to why I make this claim?
First, Christianity is testable historically. As you will note as we examine why one should consider Christianity first, we are not trying to prove it is true but only to share why it deserves to be looked into first because of the reasons I am now sharing. The Apostle Paul tells us quite boldly that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, which is the central core of Christianity, then our faith is useless. Thus, we can put Christianity and its central claim, the resurrection, to the test to see if it is historically true. If one can prove it is false then we can move on to another religion. I don’t know about you but if I am going to put my faith in something as important as a worldview, I would want to know that it is true. Christianity not only allows us to test it but encourages us to examine it closely as to its veracity.
Second, Christianity’s concept of grace is unique to it. Grace is God’s unmerited favor and it is His free gift to us. God’s salvation is a free transaction. When you embrace and believe in Christ you enter into an incredible free exchange. You get to give up your lying, cheating, and substance abuse ways and in return get peace, joy and meaning in abundance – and it’s a free gift from God. All other religions require you to earn your salvation and in some the road is quite difficult. It would seem to me that a reasonable seeker would want to start their search with a religion that offers something free.
Third, Christianity has the best worldview fit to explain many of our most perplexing issues of life such as the existence of evil in our world. For example, Christian Scientists deny the existence of evil and treat it as an illusion. Only Christianity can confront evil head on and share an ultimate solution to it.
Fourth, the document that tells us everything about Christianity, the Bible, is by far the most unique, amazing, influential and transformational book around. No book has had more attempts to destroy and eliminate it than the Bible. Yet it remains today as the best-selling and most circulated book in all of history. As far as its incredibly wide scope consider the quote I shared in an earlier devotion on the uniqueness of the Bible from historian Bernard Ramm: “From the Apostolic Fathers dating from AD 95 to the modern times is one great literary river inspired by the Bible – Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, Bible lexicons, Bible atlases, and Bible geographies. These may be taken as a starter. Then at random, we may mention the vast bibliographies around theology, religious education, hymnology, missions, the biblical languages, church history, religious biography, devotional works, commentaries, philosophy of religion, evidences, apologetics, and on and on. There seems to be an endless number.”1 There is just no book like the Bible!
And fifth, since the central figure of Christianity, Jesus Christ, plays a role in so many other religions why not examine the religion that focuses exclusively on Christ. Perhaps historian Philip Schaff, who we quoted earlier in another devotion on just who is this person called Jesus, said it best in referring to the worldwide influence of Jesus Christ: “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”2
In conclusion I believe that a reasonable open-minded religious seeker would do well to investigate a religion first that is testable, offers free salvation, has the best worldview fit of any religion, has the most unique and influential book ever written and the most compelling person who has ever walked on the face of the earth.
1 The Forerunner: https://www.forerunner.com/orthodoxy/X0003_2._Authority_of_Scri.html
2 Goodreads.com: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8345526-jesus-of-nazareth-without-money-and-arms-conquered-more-millions