Thank you Tom for this post, it is at the core of my concern with a “New” Christianity. Conspicuously absent in your treatment is any mention of the Cross and the Resurrection. These are decidedly Christian tenets which would seem inseparable to the person of Jesus. Perhaps this would be areas best fit for subsequent chapters of the book the blog cannot be, but I would ask; How we could speak of salvation as the participation of God from the Love of Christ without a necessary confrontation with the Cross? A Pew study is mentioned in the December issue of the Christianity Today as pointing out that fewer Christians hold to an exclusivity in Christ with respect to salvation. Another interesting thing that I have watched was a monologue by Julia Sweeny: Getting over God where she wrestles with what she was taught about God to the eventual atheism.
It seems that the embrace of Pluralism can all to easily dismiss away Christ so I think you are correct in stating initially that this is

Thanks for your response, Ron.

I do mention Jesus’ death and resurrection briefly in the blog essay above, but you’re right that I don’t develop their importance.

My failure to do so doesn’t mean I think them unimportant.  They are central.  And I think many whom I label “New Nazarenes” would agree about their centrality.

My failure to develop the important themes of cross and resurrection is an unfortunate result of trying to keep my comments brief. One of these days I’ll have to develop them by writing a book on these subjects! : )

Thanks again…

I would love to see you write a book on this important subject. Can I pre-order my copy? While I deeply love the church - your reminder that salvation is in Jesus is wonderful to think about.  Keep thinking out loud Tom.

Tom,
Thanks for your blog and the subsequent comments about the Cross and Resurrection.

Another example of course is the woman from Samaria in John 4. She starts from her cultural perspective as it pertains to genuine worship, despite her personal track record, but earnestly wants an answer to her search for a meaningful relationship with God. 

In Jesus’ response, He notes “the gift of God” (Jn 4:10 NIV) and again when referring to the water He will “give” (4:14).  God is willing to offer that gift to anyone who asks. That certainly seems to transcend Christianity, for seeking to know God is global.  It is the person of Jesus that makes God known.

Certainly that woman, as did Samaritans in general, had a concept of Messiah from which to start.  My question, will we love others enough to know their cultures and “gods” in order to pronounce Christ like Paul did at the Aerogapus for their “unknown god”?

It is at this point the discussion of the Cross and Resurrection becomes important to share.

While I find this a lovely articulation of one way of forming core Christian convictions, I find it unfulfilling and inadequate. Is Christ the only way to the conviction that God is love and that the way to God is by way of love? Hardly. Devotional theism is a common feature in a variety of traditions. Even Pure Land Buddhists can and do affirm that we cannot be saved other than by the compassionate grace of Amida Buddha.

Also, why not radicalize John 14:6? To affirm that Jesus is the Way is to affirm that his way of living life—the cruciform life—is the only way to God. But if so, then only those who live the cruciform life can come to God not merely those who affirm with their lips some conviction in the proposition that Jesus saves.

It would follow then that all those who live the cruciform life—and we would do well to affirm that such a life cannot be lived apart from the empowering grace of the Spirit—are walking in the way to God. But that would surely include a cloud of non-Christian witnesses, bearers of compassion to the world that God loves.

A core Christian conviction: only God can bring us to God. God is not merely the Goal but always also the Way. But this is not only a Christian conviction. To confess that Christ is the way for Christians need in no way rule out the wideness in God’s mercy that insures that God will be the way for others in other ways. All this we can affirm as Christians from looking hard at the love of God disclosed in the Christ.

At any rate, thank you for engaging this vital conversation.

Many emergent writers and Greg Boyd in The Myth of Christian Religion regard religion itself as an enemy of God’s purposes. Much of this attack on religion has focused on Christendom and a post-modern/emergent rejection of it’s distortion of Jesus and his mission. To be consistent, we can not limit a critique of religion just to Christian expressions. Perhaps religions (including the Christian forms)are more a tool of the enemy than God.

Christ’s experience with the Pharisees, Christian history, and experiences on the mission field suggest that the most religious people are the most resistant to the gospel. In both Africa and India the gospel has spread more quickly among the animists than among the Hindus and Moslems.

Do you have any examples where the Holy Spirit has truly used religions to draw people to Christ? Aren’t they far more often a hindrance? How can we engage in a serious critique of the “Christian religion” without extending that critique to all religions? Don’t all religions lead to a spiritual pride that keeps us from humbly accepting grace and gift of Jesus?

Tom, nicely said.
This subject was the subject of my MTh thesis in which I argued for “salvific optimism” because Jesus is the Way. Salvation is never in spite of Jesus but always because of Jesus. I remember Brian McLaren saying that too many Christians quote John 14 with the implication that Jesus “in in the way” of salvation and not the way to salvation. The debate for Christians might be epistemological, regarding what must be known about Christ for our salvation, but should never be ontological. Christians must be unified on the affirmation of Jesus being the way to life.

“A core Christian conviction: only God can bring us to God. God is not merely the Goal but always also the Way. But this is not only a Christian conviction. To confess that Christ is the way for Christians need in no way rule out the wideness in God’s mercy that insures that God will be the way for others in other ways. All this we can affirm as Christians from looking hard at the love of God disclosed in the Christ.” This would be my response as well. I chose the path of Jesus but I believe that there are many paths to God. Others are on a different path and for me only God can and will decide who is in and who is out. I will share my story and the Jesus story to any who would want to listen but there is no way that I would ever tell someone they are on the wrong path.

IMO, the pre-existent Christ/Logos is the only way any person in any faith tradition is convicted of the fact that God is love, and the Christ incarnate in Jesus born, lived a sinless life, died, and resurrected is the only way to full relationship with God, whereas the gift of the Holy Spirit necessarily empowers all people to good works, but acceptance of the Christ is necessary lest we fall short with any of our Cruciform works - no matter how many, and how true they are. Moreover, lest Christians become foolishly arrogant, it is not Christianity that is salvific, but only the Christ .. and we can certainly more of the fullness of Christ in relating well, and favorably with our neighbors be they of other faith traditions or of no faith tradition.

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”c

20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
-1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Thanks to all of you for your helpful comments.  One of the joys of writing a blog is learning from the helpful responses. I’m sure if I were to write this post again it would be improved in part thanks to your good comments.

I want to respond briefly to Mark’s questions about religion. I tend to see religions as necessary forms and structures without which we would likely become more disoriented than we already are.  But we always face the temptation to idolize the forms and structures at the expense of the Spirit. We must continually beware to resist this temptation, without demonizing the forms and structures themselves.  At least that’s how I see things…

Tom, sisters and brothers in the family of God:
Thank you for the many interesting comments.
Just wanted to add a few quotes that have been helpful on my journey of being with God:
  “One can be wrong in truth and right in grace.” Late Dr. Joe Davis of SPU.
  ” God has not asked me to keep the score but only to play the game.
Suggestion for reading “Wideness in God’ Mercy” by Clark Pinnock.
Another quote:“It’s all right to believe certain things just don"t let certain people know you believe them.” - Dr. Joe Davis again.

I have to admit; reading the title of this blog stirred some pretty intense emotions if the answer was not going to be “yes”. I definitely agree that Christians need to focus on Jesus rather than religion when giving credit to their salvation. I think sometimes as Christians, we can get caught up with the religion aspect of our relationship with Christ forgetting to give acclaim where it’s due. I would be worried if someone were to claim that they were a Christian and not believe that salvation only comes from Jesus. While in some areas Christians can disagree on ideas, there are just same basic principles regarding the faith that have to be accepted. Salvation through Christ and only Christ is one of them.

The bible, I’m sorry to say, has gone through many turbulent times and many revisions. However, the central message is that of a metaphor no one here seems to grasp. Jesus calls himself love and then tells us we are only going to see god by going through jesus. What he is saying is love is the only way to accept the next stage of existence. We are put here on this earth, this hell, to learn. We suffer for our own good. It is through this suffering we find what matters, which is love. This opens the door for us to meet god, whatever that may be. Jesus’ death and resurrection were both an example of how love is all powerful and even death cannot end this energy. He was not an egotistical maniac saying we must all praise him or perish. He was showing us that until we truly love one another we are not able to join the higher consciousness. Buddha preached the same about loving one another. It is my impression “hell” is this earth. The 4th dimension of “fire and brimstone” which we cannot see but definitely experience each day. Our emotions and thoughts are this place. When we are cleansed by the fires of life, the experiences of pain and sorrow, we are ready to accept this gift of love. I am under the impression we die, reincarnate, and learn over and over until we can accept love. And I plan on ascending this time. Bless you all and I pray that each and every one of you find the truth in your soul’s journey.

Awesome.  I am appreciating the discussion of prevenient grace, in the class and in this blog article.  This may be one of the aspects of Wesleyan thought that I hold dearest.  Certainly, I would be nothing, but for God’s prevenient grace.  This is the grace that tenderly drew me.  If this is how God chose to draw me, isn’t that God would want me to draw others.  In other words, in this pluralistic world, shouldn’t we be instruments of prevenient grace.  Prevenient grace draws, it does not coerce.  Prevenient grace loves, instead of judging.  Prevenient grace listens, instead of berating.  Prevenient grace gives room to grow and learn.  If I am not practicing these traits with others, I am not modeling God.

Something I have been wrestling with is what it means to follow Jesus. I believe that Jesus is the source and breathe of salvation. So what does it mean to follow or believe?

Is believing something we say and we receive our salvation like a ticket? Do we say a repentant prayer and boom were saved?

Do we believe and get saved based on our actions? Is following Jesus something we track throughout our life by what we have done?

If salvation is through Jesus and we believe in Jesus based on our actions then can someone who denies Jesus with their words but their actions would suggest otherwise will they be saved?

If someone is a great social activist, loving, cares for creation, humanity, and does good works it would seem like they are responding to prevenient grace that is empowering them to do these works. But that same person is from a nonchristian religion and they do not profess Jesus as Lord. Will they be saved because they are living a life that Jesus asks of us? They are being a loving person, is that enough?

I agree that it is important to distinguish the difference between being “in Christ” and “in the Church” pertaining to salvation. Do not get me wrong; I have a very high view of the Church, and its necessity for a healthy Christian life. However, the Church’s limits do not define Christ’s limits, especially when the Church does not adequately reveal the Gospel. I believe that a person may not be rejecting Christ if they reject a particular version of “church,” which unfortunately happens.

We must recognize that Christians are not the converters; we are witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection gospel. My ministry is defined by a desire to share the love and freedom Christ has given me. May we be clear witness so that God’s offer of salvation can be seen through us. I pray that the Church continually clears a straight path for the Lord. (Mk. 1:3 - I believe Isaiah’s call was meant more than just for John the Baptist.)

As a follower of Christ, I echo and affirm that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” and that he is “the gate” (to borrow from another verse to John) to the Father. I have not heard or seen this verse used to confirm the divinity of Jesus before, but it makes sense. God is love and his love and mercy are over all of his works. Jesus showed us what that looks like from a human standpoint.  Jesus is the Way because his way is love.

I really appreciated this blog, because it was straight to the point. As a Wesleyan, myself, I appreciated how Dr Oord covered the importance of our Christian heritage, which points to the divinity of Jesus. I also appreciated how he emphasized our understanding of prevenient grace.  In my opinion, our understanding of the divinity of Jesus, and God’s inclusive prevenient grace reveals just how effective our traditions theology can be in dealing with pluralism.

It is because of our heritage and theology that we can see other religions as vehicles of God’s grace instead of enemies or just those people. He then puts the cherry on top by emphasizing that perfect love for God and neighbor must embody our understanding of Jesus and prevenient grace. He wrote, “Finally, we Wesleyans abhor mean-spirited opposition to other religions. Instead, we seek to understand and dialogue with those from other religions. We dialogue because we want to serve, not obstruct, the Redeemer’s prevenient work” (2).  It is perfect love for God and neighbor that should compel us to join God and not obstruct the Redeemer’s prevenient work.

Dr. O, I enjoyed this post and also Truesdale’s book. The four elements truesdale mentions highlight some of my reflection paper this week, regarding how Christians should engage our pluralistic culture. I would add at least one more element, since he only vaguely mentioned it in his second element. The Gospel…not only Jesus’ incarnation but His death, resurrection, ascencion in order to reconcile all of creation to Himself.
In this element lies the hope of the world.

Thanks Tom for this post!!

YES, Jesus IS the Way!  It is so encouraging to read your insightful and uplifting words about the many aspects to Jesus and the love God has for God’s creation!

I, too, agree that it is helpful when discussing my salvation to incorporate the fact of Jesus being human and divine. 

With respect to other religions, I think it is too easy to “bully” other religions with the misuse of Biblical scripture, when instead we should be loving on those people like God calls us to love.  It is humbling when I am reminded that the Holy Spirit can work so far outside of me that it could actually contradict things I am doing (that I think are what God wants). 

Thanks!

Without prevenient grace, where would any of us be?  I believe that Christ is the only way, but God always makes the first move.  It is His nature to first love us and make the move toward us.  You said, “...God acts first and provides the possibility of salvation to all people. If people respond appropriately to God’s empowering and inspiring provision, they experience salvation.”

Although I believe that many of us would rather see people confess Christ with their mouths, what if that is not possible?  Is there any step in between God’s provision and prevenient grace and the moment a person experiences salvation?  There should at least be some aspect of repentance from sins, right?  Any ideas?

Great blog! There are two things in particular that stood out to me. First, I thought it was very important that you included the distinction in the beginning that there is a difference between Jesus being the way to salvation and a religion, or the Church, as being the way. It seems the line gets blurred between these two and it’s good that made the clarification.

Secondly, in the excerpt from Truesdale, you included that Wesleyans don’t hate or look down on people from other religions. We need to remember that as Christians we are called to love all people. Although we want to show Christ’s love and share the Gospel with those who don’t know God, we shouldn’t look down on others or develop negative attitudes towards them. Thanks for including this part!

Very recently for me the subject of Christian vs. Christlike has started to weigh on my mind.  There are many who would consider themselves Christian who are just barely Christlike.  There are many more who are Christlike that are not nearly Christian at all.  Acts of love and mercy are human responses to God’s grace.  Are we to deny the legitimacy of Christlikeness in a Muslim or a Buddhist.  I think we would be foolish to do so.

Jesus does not equal Christianity.  This is a simple yet helpful caveat for beginning to unpack this issue.  I think what is most helpful about this discussion is the space it creates to gain distance from religion and to start talking about grace.  It’s difficult to structure any conversation on Jesus being the way and without addressing the issue of distorted versions of Christianity and I think what you provided here is a helpful way to unpack where to place things in proper order.  A Christocentric view of salvation leaves room for inclusivity and prevenient grace and helps to frame authentic dialogue with people form other religious back grounds.

I have a hard time with the idea that salvation can come without a personal decision being made to accept Him as their personal savior.  I am okay with saying that God works within other religions to move people to a place of questioning and searching for something more, that is then discovered in the Gospel message through an encounter with a missionary, evangelist, radio minstry etc.  God is no respecter of persons in that He does not limit His message and offer of salvation to one type of person, but He does limit the way of salvation through a willful decision to follow His Son.

Is Jesus the way?  I say YES!  Along my journey many have asked me what the big deal is about Jesus and why Christians are so hung up on that guy.  Jesus is God’s love lived out in the flesh for us all to see.  I appreciate your distinction between Jesus being the way and the church/Christianity being the way.  I feel that this is one of the most puzzling areas for most post-moderns.  We live in a time where truth is found in any philosopher, theologian, prophet, or new age hippie.  Many view Christianity as one of many ways to peace and enlightenment. 

I love the fact that prevenient grace does not need a church or Christians involved.  The Triune God is able to speak to all where they are at whether atheist, Muslim, Jew, or Christian.  I appreciate your thought that religions can become vehicles the Holy Spirit uses to draw people to Christ.  This reminds me that all religions are man-made.  Can God use them, sure.  But Jesus did not come to become an institution.  He came that all may have life!

I really appreciated the encouragement to read “Jesus is the Way” as another instance where Jesus is sharing that he is God and salvation is found in him.  This opens up the door for many who respond appropriately to God, but may not have a correct understanding or relationship with Jesus.

I think that Romans 9:10, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”, needs to be added to this conversation.  While Jesus’ main point in John 14:6 may not have been to indicate that a proper belief in Jesus was the only way to experience salvation, how should we best understand Romans 9:10?

I appreciated that you noted many Christians distinguish between Christianity and Jesus. This is so important. Religion and institutions can be very helpful, but if we put them on a pedestal at the same level or higher than Jesus, we may not have our priorities straight.
Your comment regarding Gal. 5:6 (“The only thing that counts is faith working through love”), was especially helpful. I take comfort in knowing that the only deity that offers a relationship (especially one of love) with humans is Jesus Christ. Since I believe our Creator is loving, I have to affirm that a relationship is the only way to salvation. A relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Way and no one comes to the Father except through him. That we know to be true or our identity as Christians is meaningless. However, how Jesus is the way is important to our understanding. As the perfect sacrifice for all sin and the Great High Priest, he makes it possible for us to be restored to a right relationship with God and others. If there were no incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, there would be no salvation. He is THE WAY.

That being said, we are only responsible for what we do with the knowledge of Christ that we have. As Wesleyans, we attest that God is not willing that any should be lost and that his prevenient grace is available to and at work in all. The Bible speaks in many places of the salvation and redemption of those which have no personal knowledge of Jesus the Galilean. If this were not so, Moses, Isaiah, Elijah, and David would be among the eternally lost. Clearly it is possible to be righteous before God, in light of the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross, without having personal knowledge of the person of Jesus.

Our job is to be loving towards others, cooperate with the prevenient grace that is already at work, be faithful witnesses, and leave the judgement to God.

Thank you for this concise clarification on the centrality of Jesus to Christians and Nazarenes in particular.  The divinity of Jesus has always had allure and peril for people.  The question I believe you may elude to is if Jesus is also fully God then does someone need to proclaim the name Jesus or does calling on God alone fulfill “the way, truth and life”?  Like you, the answer for me is found in Jesus.  After all, Jesus did say he was sending something better, a.k.a the Holy Spirit.  Without Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension we would not have the Holy Spirit.

This is a great blog post by Tom.  I remember when I was an undergrad student at NNU and was in a class with Tom.  We talked about this verse, and I remember not understanding it.  I understand it much better now as my theology has grown in the past few years.

I feel very comfortable with everything that Tom said.  I know that not every question about this verse was answered.  But like Tom said, he would probably need a book to do that!

I think that keeping simple things simple and keeping the main thing the main thing is incredibly important.  We need to be centered on Jesus Christ.  This is a verse that we can stand upon.  He is the Way, Truth, Life.  Our faith has everything to do with this God-man.

That’s where we begin.  And I love that.

Kenton

I appreciate your comments and those of Truesdale. I very much appreciate the distinction made between Jesus and any religion including Christianity. I believe Alan Hirsch said it in “The Forgotten Ways” that the gospel message at its core is very simply: “Jesus is Lord”. I think with this in mind we can avoid some of the religiosity we often fall into. And if we take the time to react to the love of Jesus In the Way, Jesus reacted to us then we can truly go out and “love our neighbor as ourselves”. Not only that, “we can love our enemies”! Truesdale’s thoughts on ensuring that we don’t become a stumbling block to people of various religions and become a nuisance to the Holy Spirit is profound. I feel more filled with love having read this.

Thanks, Tom,

Your thoughts cause me to inquire more deeply into how we apply the simplicity of the gospel, “Jesus died for all.” Is it reflecting on our Biblical theology or is it the cultural transition to postmodernism that is causing us to more openly befriend the advocates of different faiths? The reality is that we live in a post-Christendom era of conflicting narratives competing for the hearts and souls of humankind. If we are to be a co-worker with God, we must understand what it means for God, through Christ, to have died for all.

You have in this essay, clearly defined a basis for a missional theology of understanding how God is reaching to save all of creation. We can seek to understand and evangelistically pursue the salvation of all people of all faiths when we believe the deity of Christ, God the source, and the humanity of Christ, love as the means. This does not seem difficult to enact in our witness. 

You have also identified that it is our interpretation of the Bible and the Christian traditions that direct us in the application of saving truth to the mission of God. In other words, we are somewhat shaped by our Armenian/Wesleyan theology and the Nazarene or other holiness tradition that profiles our perceptions and assumptions. It seems the four points by Truesdale form a good missional theology on the salvation of the world. With God as the source and love as the means, Christ is both the central and the only way. Founded on this, we can give a faithful witness.

I loved how you clearly distinguished between Jesus and Christianity as we proclaim it (and others experience it). In many cases religion has killed the beauty of the gospel message. I want to return to the basics, proclaim, like Paul, Christ crucified.
Prevenient grace is out there. Enough evidence of it is available. I can remember experiencing it myself. In the end I responded to the call of God only because the prevenient grace allowed me to move away from the terrible guilt that kept me prisoner.

In Al’s quote “Third, we affirm that religions can become vehicles the Holy Spirit uses to draw people to Christ.  But religions are at best incomplete anticipations of the fullness of God manifest in Christ.” I could not help but think of a scene from Tyler Perry’s play “I can do Bad all by Myself.” in the scene everyone has sat down for dinner at Madea’s house and Mr. Brown asks Bobby to say grace. Bobby had been to jail and after he was released he started working for Madea. Bobby states how he would love to pray because God has been so good to him, to which another character, Anthony, asks how that is possible because he had been to jail. Anthony goes on to state how Bobby had found the “white mans” religion, but was on his way to knowing the full truth, and tells him to read the Koran.

I agree with Dr. Peterson that the question of who is a Christian and who is not, is different than who is going to hell and who is not. I whole heartily agree that Jesus is the way. However, this does make it difficult when it comes down to those who never hear Jesus’ name. Or the person who lives in a Buddhist society living a devout Buddhist life may never hear the gospel of Jesus, but this does not mean that they cannot go to heaven.

However, Jesus is the way and through prevenient grace he is revealed to all.

I think that this is a very helpful way of looking at salvation. It is important to remember and hold firm that Jesus is the way to salvation. I have always found it interesting that C.S. Lewis talks about this as well. In his book The Last Battle, Lewis describes a man who is not Narnian and believes in the evil god Tash, but has found his way into the new Narnia, or heaven. this man has a dialogue with Aslan and Aslan says something along the lines of, you were worshipping the good that you though you saw in Tash, but because Tash is essentially bad, you were worshipping me the whole time. This is a very interesting way of thinking about other religions and the truth they hold. As you have stated, This encourages us as Christians to be in dialogue and open to people of other other faiths, but maintain the truth of Christ’s nature.

Through my time at NNU, I have heard this topic come up numerous times. What I have come to believe is what I have always believed: that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It is always asked, though,what about those who have never heard Jesus’ name? I really like the third statement that says that other religions are at best incomplete but can be vehicles to the full truth that is Christ. I have never thought about it like that before, but I think I like and agree with that statement.

I really like Truesdale’s third and fourth points.  As we enter into a postmodern world, it will be necessary for the Church to be in dialogue with other religions if it is going to survive.  Prevenient grace is beautiful when we see it in this light: that God can be revealed in all sorts of things, even other religions, but it can still point to Christ as the means of salvation. As people who know Christ, we have the unique opportunity of being vessels of grace that spread the good news of God to all people, no matter what their beliefs!

I appreciate the commitment to stay true to the words of scripture expressed above. Though it is sometimes difficult to grapple with the idea that Jesus is the one way and all other religions are incomplete at best, I appreciated that this was explained with love. If God is love, then one cannot exist in perfection apart from God. Yet, at the same time, I think it is very important to acknowledge that God can use other religions as vehicles to reveal himself to others. I have faith that God is just, so there are probably many who never heard the name of Jesus who will be in heaven because God made himself known to them, and I am so thankful for this. It is not that they get there without God, but I believe God can reveal himself in more ways than just through sermons and mission trips.

Jesus is the way! But here is the issue I have with American Christianity. Whereas Jesus is the way, the picture that we paint of Jesus is not the way. We call ourselves Christ Followers and then we say and do horrible things. Now I realize that we are not perfect. But something has to change because people out there don’t follow Christ because of what we say and do. I do not blame them. Jesus is the way, but is the Jesus that we paint the way?

I got the sense that this blog as trying to say two different things, or at least mask one thing (religious pluralism) under the face of another (soteriology / Christology).
Even if one can argue that religious pluralism may be true (which I still find any argument to be convincing), there still is no reason to BELIEVE it to be true, if logically examined through a Pascal’s Wager formulation. There are other arguments for this as well.

Yes, Jesus is the way, period. But does prevenient grace go so far to the point where everybody or (most) people are saved without even the choice whether or not they want to be saved? That seems to be pushing it quite far, especially when someone emphasizes God’s lack of power / freedom for the sake of our own freedom as humans…

ANOTHER is that I struggle with this topic is the lack of theological severity of sin, but perhaps that is a for a different topic.

The question about Jesus being the only way to salvation is a huge barrier between Christians and non Christians. This topic has kept a lot of good people from becoming a Christian. From what I understand, some people say is the problem with Christians, is that they always think that their way is right.
If it was not required for all Christians to believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, this would change all Christians. Although, this would change a lot of what many Christians have grown to know. I do like the idea that the Church would be more inviting to everyone, regardless of how they feel about God. Regardless, Christians should not give in to discrediting Jesus if it is central to what they believe.

I really like that we are affirming Jesus as the only way to salvation here. All too often nowadays you hear people misinterpreting or twisting those words so that it’s not always by believing in Jesus but becoming part of a certain tradition/doctrine/cause that someone finds salvation. Also, the focus on believing in Jesus not Christianity has been an interesting development over the past few years, constantly seeing people with such slogans as “Reject religion; Embrace Jesus”. Our salvation is in Jesus, not our practices, our backgrounds beliefs, or our traditional values.

I am so glad that your point at the end of this blog is that you agree that Jesus is the only way. It is hard for me to agree that God will save everyone and that we will all end up in heaven with God. I don’t think that it is wrong to thing that He will give us all a second chance, or a third, or a fourth, but I don’t think he will reward those who deny him. Jesus is the only way, and I honestly believe that.

I completely agree with what you are saying, Dr. Oord. I think we sometimes get so caught up in our religion that we can forget about our spirituality. We get stuck on technicalities that seem so important that we forget that it is what the foundation is that really matters.

I also found your points very helpful. I sometimes struggle with what to say to people when we are discussing our beliefs. Your points help give me a starting point when I tell people that Jesus is the way.

This blog posts addresses the important question concerning the salvation of people, particularly those who do not know Jesus or the Judea-Christian theology of the Western world. Often people ask about the salvation of those outside the Western world. The world is filled with people who act more godly and holy than those who would declare themselves Christians. As a result many ask if these wonderful and loving people will be granted the same salvation and those who declare their sole belief in Jesus Christ as their savior. According to this blog I understand that it is the belief that the only way salvation is obtained is through the acceptance of Jesus. Although I understand this belief and argument I am unsure if I completely agree with it.

We as Christians sometimes do get caught up more in the religion then in Jesus. In that process we lose the foundation of what is central to our faith as Christians and that is Jesus. I do, however, struggle with the idea that those who do not love Jesus or deny him will go to hell. I really struggle with that kind of thought because I do not think that shows us a loving God.  I do not have an answer to how to fix this, hence why I am still struggling with it. I want to say that when judgment comes God will be gracious and merciful to everyone, but I struggle in even saying that. This is a very interesting topic for me.

I enjoyed this discussion because I have recently had a discussion with my fiance.  He is Catholic and so we have talked about our views on this.  We both expressed that no matter what you do in life your salvation should be Christ centered.  Jesus is the way and the only way. 
I also found interesting at the beginning of your blog when you said that more people are venturing out and being friends with those of different religions and we are engaging and learning about their beliefs.  I once had a pastor tell me that the best way I can witness to those around me was by listening to them and learning about what they believe.  I have personally found while taking care of a LDS patient of mine that when I am listening to him he takes the time to listen to me.

I really liked the closing statement of this post, regarding the importance of keeping Christ central to our understanding of salvation.  I also really liked Truesdale’s statement about dialoguing with those from other religions in an effort to “serve, not obstruct, the Redeemer’s prevenient work”.  This issue is a struggle for me because I often have a hard time discovering the proper place between having an open mind, understanding and accepting those with different viewpoints regarding religion, and conveying the truth that Jesus Christ is the way.  In my mind, Truesdale’s statement helps highlight the importance of dialoguing out of a servant’s love, which may mean setting my agendas and opinions aside in order to let God’s grace work in the situation.

I find this aspect of Christianity very unnerving when trying to develop an accurate worldview and responding appropriately to people with different beliefs than my own. If Jesus is truly the only way to salvation how can his other “children” find salvation? What about Hindus or Muslims that were raised by their Hindu parents in a Hindu culture? They can’t turn their backs on their entire life just to follow an extreme Western religion. I don’t understand the stance of the church condemning these other religion simply because those people don’t have the option of expanding their worldviews to be able to accept Western Puritanical beliefs.

I wish I would have read this post a year ago, because it would have helped me explain the Wesleyan view of salvation my host family questioned me about last summer.  One evening my host dad was talking to me about God and salvation.  He told me his wife was scared when she first became a Christian because she thought she always had to repent and ask for forgiveness; if she didn’t, she thought she was going to Hell.  My host dad laughed and said she felt better after he told her that once you’re saved, you’re saved.  He then asked me what the Nazarene’s believe.  I tried to explain it the best I could, but I ended up not really saying anything and changing the topic.  Now I know what I should have said.  I should have said we believe that Jesus is the way; Jesus is the source of salvation, and Jesus’ love is the means and purpose of salvation.  Therefore, if you turn away from Jesus and no longer live a loving life, but a sinful life, then I believe you can fall from grace and salvation.  However, if those people who fall away return and respond appropriately to God’s offer of prevenient grace, then salvation again is possible.

Sometimes it can be difficult to chat with people of other religions while keeping an open mind. When you are set in your ways and know that Jesus is the way, some find it difficult not to come off as condescending. I believe that Jesus is the way and I believe in leading by example. I remember once in high school I got in a conversation after one of my classes with a boy that was atheist. He could have told me one hundred reasons why there was no God and he was really quite convincing. If my faith was not as strong as it was, I probably would have gone in his direction. However, all I could say back to him was that I believe in God and that Jesus is the way and I won’t change my opinion. I tried to explain the love that comes along with the Christian religion, but he wouldn’t have it. Situations like this are difficult in that they truly test your faith. We can’t always show someone God’s love or tell them about Jesus and expect them to do a 180, we have to trust that things will happen in God’s timing. People do have minds of their own, and they are very opinionated. The best solution, in my opinion, is to stick to your faith in a personal manner and show God’s love in any and every situation possible and hope that God will be working through you and in the people around you.

As has been already mentioned in our class, the generation we are growing up in is exceedingly different from our predecessors in regards to Christianity. Sometimes people get caught up in the “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” [Matthew 7:12], while disregarding why we should do that and forgetting Who taught us this “Golden Rule”. I also believe that Jesus is the sole source of salvation—God’s creation is seen throughout the world whether one is reached by the Gospel or not. It saddens me to think that Jesus is being forgotten in these times.

The idea here is that Jesus is the way I think that is true.  The problem comes when we try to force our ideas on others.  We tend to look down on other religions.  If we look at our own there is great conflict.  It is human tendency to think that we are the one that is correct and that everyone else is wrong.  This makes us stop listening to those around us.  We close our ears to others point of view.  The best way to get over this problem is to view our faith from their prospective.  Once we stop and look at what they see it can change how we think about others and shift from a point of view of them being “wrong”.

I agree with the main theme of this entry in that Jesus, not religion is the way; through Christ alone can we have salvation. After reading this one of the things that came to mind is the saying “Its about relationship, not religion.” I have always thought this about my faith. As Christians we should be more concerned with strengthening and deepening our relationship with Christ rather than trying to be religious. Organized religion and going to church are still very important because they are means to us understanding how to create and build a relationship with Christ. However, as Christians we shouldn’t get so caught up in being “Christians” but rather “followers of Christ” because I also agree it is only through Christ we will have salvation.

I believe a lot of Christians defend Christianity more than they do Jesus in today’s world. I am reading the book Blue Like Jazz, and a section of the book he is asked to defend Christianity and he says no because it has too many definitions and means, but instead he wants to defend Jesus. and i believe that is the way believing should be handled. Just like Paul said in Romans, if he has the law in his heart but doesnt know the law, he is still apart of the law under his own situation.

There was a sentence in this blog that stood out to me, “As important as Christianity is as an institution, community, historical trajectory, and set of ideas, we should not equate Christianity with Jesus.”

Often times we do this, equate Christianity with Jesus. Jesus wasn’t Christian. (He wasn’t white either). I think we can get so caught up that we miss the important stuff. Christianity, I feel, has been muddled with traditions and policies that we forget to go back to the core value of Christianity: salvation. And yes, I agree, only through Christ is there salvation. However, the more I study and the more that I see the world around me, God works in the lives of us Christians, and in those who has never heard Jesus’ name.

I understand that I of the most important aspects of Christianity is that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” I think that more often than not, this is taken to mean that ONLY Jesus is the way to salvation—which I disagree with strongly. The way Jesus acted, and the truths he told, and he life he lived are terrific guidelines for us to live by. But to think that our religion or spiritual lives are somehow superior to other religions is rather arrogant, in my opinion. Why would the merciful, loving God that Christians worship just turn his back on his “other” creations and children?

One line in this post really stuck out to me: “...we should not equate Christianity with Jesus.” This is something that I have been thinking about quite a bit as I’ve come to college and begun to build my own life away from my family. It reminds me of a phrase I’ve heard before that states “Jesus is the only way to God, but we (Christians) are not the only way to Jesus.” It comes down to whether or not we are truly letting the love of Jesus lead our lives or if we are focusing on what we think is righteous behavior. It’s like that lyric from a Casting Crowns song “God’s got to change her heart before he changes her shirt.” If we are so caught up in our religion that we forget the love of Jesus, we are not following the true Way. It is His love that makes all the difference in our lives, not our church attendance or how often we take Communion.

“Finally, we Wesleyans abhor mean-spirited opposition to other religions. Instead, we seek to understand and dialogue with those from other religions.  We dialogue because we want to serve, not obstruct, the Redeemer’s prevenient work.”
When I read this quote from Al Truesdale, it struck a major chord in me. All my life I have asked questions about Christianity versus other religions as well as people asking about other religions versus Christianity. More than once I have been either turned down or had someone give me a shocking expression that I would question my religion, either because they thought that was basically a sin or because they thought that I would never do such a thing because of how strongly I stand on it. The thing they don’t understand (and many people along with them) is the fact that I don’t stray from Jesus when I ask these questions, but it strengthens me in my faith even more. This is one thing I have experienced myself and a major thing that I have learned by being a biology major here at NNU, and I applaud my professors for making that so. Some may see it as my professors leading me off the path to God when in fact they are making it more clear. I appreciate this very much and I know that it is a major reason I am the way I am today and why I am so strongly rooted in Christ compared to when I entered NNU 4 years ago.

I think it is important to remember that having Jesus in our life and heart at all times is so important. Jesus is the way to heaven but I also think that we will be surprised who is in heaven when we get there. People we maybe did not expect may have gotten mercy from God, our God is a forgiving and merciful one. It is important to learn about other religions and what they believe so that we may better understand and talk to them about what we believe compared to their beliefs. I think that this is a difficult topic and one that we will not truly know the answer to until we meet God someday.

Our generation is definitely unique in that we make this description between Christianity and Jesus. I think Dr.Oord made a good argument for the difference. I like to think that we as a people are trying to describe this one universal force that exists everywhere. Some may describe this in other religions by different names. I think to think that God judges not based on our specific Christian mindset but takes into account the spirit of the individual in trying to best describe and follow this universal force that exists throughout our world today.

This was a very interesting article for me to read because I have a lot of friends that struggle with this exact issue. These friends use the claim that they have good morals and know how to live a “godly life” yet they don’t believe in Jesus. It seems for many non-Christians, they believe that what gets you into heaven is loving others and doing as God had called us, not believing in Him. To an extent I agree. Sometime religious people put too much stock in the believing part. They use that as their get into heaven free card. Too many times I have seen “Christians” not doing as God call us but saying that it’s okay because they believe in Jesus. There needs to be a happy medium. Where you believe in Jesus and because of that you try to model your life after Him by doing as He asks. This also means not putting so much stock in religion. Where you go to church and what you do at church is much less important than having a personal relationship with God and modeling your life, as much as you can, after Him.

The punishment for sin I death. As sinful human beings, we are all deserving of death. As sinners, we are subject to Hell, and eternal separation from God. As such, we needed someone sinless, with the power to forgive sin, to take our place. As fully God and fully man, Jesus alone qualifies. He gave His life for ours, and now intercedes for us. It is through Him and Him alone that anyone receives salvation. Sometimes however, I think we can get caught up in trying to be perfect, or pointing out those who aren’t, that we forget that it is not by our own righteousness that we are saved. Jesus is the source of salvation. He payed the greatest price to free us from our bondage of sin. Though we could never repay Him, we should continually strive to follow His instruction to love God and others. He knows we are not perfect and will mess up, but we should not get hung up on our mistakes. After all, it is not through our perfection but through His blood that we are saved.

I think the biggest issue with this concept for people is the “grocery shopping” method. It’s really popular to sort of “pick and choose” parts of religion and morph it into a personal “religion” so to say, to mold it individually to fit their needs. In this process, alot of this essential details are lost, as it might not meet their desires for a perfect religion. These people use the claim that they have good morals and know how to live a “godly life” yet they don’t believe in Jesus. There is a great temptation for people misinterpreting or twisting those words so that it’s not always by believing in Jesus but becoming part of a certain tradition/doctrine/cause that someone finds salvation. I think it’s essential that these truths are not lost, and are enforced hard.

I enjoyed reading your article very much.  I also agree that many Christians put Church, doctrines, traditions and beliefs in front of Jesus Christ.  This can cause many problems for Christians since we can become more “religious” than more like-Christ.  Although I did not grow up in a Wesleyan tradition, I am also a believer of prevenient Grace. I believe without God’s initial work in our lives, it is impossible for us to find salvation on our own. I also agree with the idea that Christians should not engage in mean-spirited comments or attacks towards other religions.  But I am a strong believer that as Christians we do not need to be completely open minded towards other beliefs.  We should be able to know the dangerous differences between different beliefs which sometimes seem so similar the Gospel, but in reality could deceive many people away from the true Christ.

I’m confused, isn’t believing that Jesus is our savior the Whole point to being a Christian?  There are a lot of religions out there, the blog talks about how more and more Christians are being introduced to the other philosophies and how it is affecting their beliefs.  But it all comes down to Jesus dying for us.  But I guess that is where a question of Christianity can come from.  What does it mean to follow and trust in Christ’s sacrifice?  The other religions have different ideologies and principles that separate them from Christianity.  Even within the Christian religions there are differences.  But it is the knowledge of Christ and the price he paid for us to be redeemed that distinguishes us from other practices, and gives us the strive to be a Christian and know what it is to be saved.

This blog post was very interesting because I think that our culture as a church is getting too caught up in religion rather than focusing on our relationship with Jesus. I feel that in today’s society religious groups are very discriminatory against one another. I find this aspect of the church very sad because I feel that we should be able to unite and find understanding through our belief and faith in Jesus. I feel that different religious groups should be able to find commonality without being destructive to the different traditions some religions may hold.

When I started reading this blog, you scared me a little bit when you made the statement “The claims about salvation vary in the Bible and in the Christian tradition.” I agree that Christian tradition has changed over the years, but the Bible only claims one way to salvation, through the blood of Jesus Christ. I was relived to see that you very clearly stated that below. It amazing to me how many people turn away from the Church because they don’t want to follow after a dominating and life crushing religion. It is such an incredibly freeing thing to realize we are not following any religion, but simply Jesus Christ! This takes out all the biases of man and leaves us with the purity of truth. What an awesome thing it would be if people stopped following religion, and simply followed Christ!

I am of a religion that most people don’t view as “Christian,” I have had both negative and positive experiences when it comes to addressing my religion and the certain issues that come with it. I have always lived by the thought that all religions are shooting for the same thing. We are all looking to a higher being for guidance and direction. I really appreciated the Wesleyan comment and approach, to other religions, and viewing them as “vehicles the Holy Spirit uses to draw people to Christ.” This comment shows an extended hand to bond as followers of Christ and not as separate denominations following “different gods.” I also really enjoyed the comment in regards to salvation. If Jesus has not been presented to those around the globe they are not cursed to damnation but rather saved because the gospel can be written within their hearts as well as the freely bestowed grace.

I completely agree with the fact that Christians and other religions get too caught up in talking about the differences and competing with each other that they lose the focus of why they are those religions. Jesus should always be the center and although it may be hard for people to always remember it is the easiest thing about Jesus. He is our center and we should be focused on following him and pleasing him. I really enjoyed this blog and loved how it addressed Jesus is the way.

I do agree with this blog, Jesus truly is the way, the truth and the light. I wonder sometimes about people who do not know Jesus or have never heard of him. It doesn’t seem fair for them to have never heard the good news. That is when the Nazarene theology of prevenient grace can come into play. However, Sometimes I agree with the Nazarene theology of prevenient grace and other times I do not. In the blog, it is stated,  “The grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed on all people,” says my denomination’s statement on prevenient grace, “enabling all who will turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight.” I do believe every person will hear of Jesus but some times it seems unrealistic. I guess nothing is impossible with God. I know the Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Perhaps, maybe it is not meant for us humans to wrap our minds around how God works and to trust that every person will be offered the salvation of God. Maybe it is just our jobs to be witness of Jesus Christ and to pray for those who do not know. We may not necessarily understand why and how God works, but it is rather our faith that saves us.

I find for me that if I desire a peaceful center of life that center must be Jesus. It is really important to share this type of relationship with others so they know how to have the same peace and love that I have found. Jesus is the way truth and life. To rely on him is the only way to live to the fullest extent. It is very important to be well rounded and accept others for the way they are. Christians need to make sure they know enough about another persons religion to understand them and be able to relate to others and show love in correct ways. Jesus calls us to love everyone and I see that as respecting them in ways of knowing about their religion and respecting that.

First, I agree wholeheartedly that Jesus is the way. Second, I also believe in God’s prevenient grace that works with people even before they know anything about Jesus. I think that there are ideas of value in every religion and Christianity is often too hostile toward anything different from itself.