#13 – What Makes Christianity Different? | Thought for Today

There are over 4000 recognised religions in the world today. So what makes Christianity different? Why would it make sense for someone seeking truth to investigate Christianity first?

Well to start, unlike other religions, Christianity is testable meaning it can be proven or disproven in a finite period of time. This is because the whole religion hinges on one historical event – the resurrection of Jesus. Either this did happen, in which case proving Jesus’ claim to be God, or it did not, in which case the Bible itself says that the Christian faith would be useless.

Another reason it makes sense to investigate Christianity is because Jesus is the universal religious figure. In Hinduism, Jesus is thought by some to be the one of the incarnations of their deity. Similarly in Buddhism, some believe he is the incarnation of Buddha himself. In Islam, Jesus is seen as a powerful prophet who will one day return to judge humanity. There is no other religious figure which has found its way into every other major world religion. So it makes sense to investigate the religion where Jesus is the centre.

Finally, in Christianity, salvation is a free gift from God. The Bible says, “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” While there may be aspects of grace in other religions, they still require you to work for your salvation.

So despite all the ideas out there, there are many reasonable reasons to investigate Christianity and see if its claims are true. While it may take time and effort, the consequences for your life if Christianity is true are not something you want to miss out on.

I’m Becky Gillespie from Thinking Matters and this has been your Thought for Today. For more reasons to believe visit thinkingmatters.org.nz