What Do You Believe? Why?
Welcome to college. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you this is going to be a major year in your life. You’re finally on your own. The decisions you make now will help shape your future.
One of those decisions you’re going to make will be forming your own belief system. Maybe you’ve come to college knowing what you believe and why. Maybe you know what your parents believe but aren’t sure that’s for you. Or maybe you’ve never really thought about the existence of a God or any spiritual questions.
Whatever you believe it is going to be questioned. Because you are on your own now, no one else can make that decision for you. It’s time to determine what you yourself believe to be true.
I faced this decision my freshman year of college. I grew up in a home where Christianity was taught and believed. I had gone to church my whole life, and thought I had a strong belief system. But that belief system was nine hours away from me now. I had to decide if Christianity was all it had claimed to be, or if I was just following the crowd.
So I did some research. I read what the Bible had to say about God, and I thought about what I knew to be true. Some religious philosophies really didn’t make sense, or didn’t seem to have a point. I needed a faith I could believe in, something that would support me. Something that was distinct enough from other religions that I would know it to be true.
I discovered three main differences between Christianity and other religions.
Who God Is
There are as many different views of God as there are different religions. Some religions, such as Hinduism, teach that there are many different gods. New Age religions teach that we are all god. Buddhism teaches that the existence of a god is irrelevant because everything, including humans, is fictitious.
Christianity, on the other hand, tells of a loving God who created people for a relationship with himself and is always at work in their lives. He is one God manifested in three ways (God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit). The God of Christianity is our creator, our guide and our father.
The Messenger
Many religions teach of a specific prophet, such as Mohammad in Islam or Gautama in Buddhism, who enlightens the people about their god. Most often this prophet is a human who has undergone a spiritual journey and been granted a special enlightenment by the gods. These prophets offered advice and wisdom to the people during their time on Earth and recorded this wisdom for future generations.
Christianity’s prophet, Jesus Christ, was the manifestation of God on Earth. Instead of teaching the way to God, Jesus said that he was the way to God. His followers also believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is currently preparing a place for them in heaven. More than just a good prophet, Jesus came to bring people into a direct and personal relationship with God.
The Path to God
Many of the world’s religions disagree on the way to reach the supreme being, or even what will happen if they do. Hinduism, for example, teaches that humans must go through several reincarnations, repeating life over and over until they get it right. When they do, they believe that they will simply be dissolved into God. Muslims believe people reach God through good works–if the good works outweigh the bad works, then God will accept the person.
The God of Christianity takes a much more active role in the lives of his people. Jesus’ followers believe that even though God loves us all, everyone is separated from him because of their sins–we will never be good enough to reach God. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross paid the price for those sins, which allows us to live eternally with God in heaven. Followers of Jesus Christ don’t have to worry about doing more good deeds than bad ones, but that faith in Christ’s payment for their sins is all that it takes to get to God.
This is just a quick and simple overview of Christianity and how it’s different from other religions. My suggestion, and what I did, is to research and find out for yourself. Read the Bible, starting with the section called John. Think about what you know to be true, and what you believe. There are many different religions in the world, and ultimately we will all be called to account for what we believe. Know what you believe, and know why.
God Wants You to Know Him Personally – What does Christianity actually teach?
John-Mark Day is a religion and news-editorial journalism major at Texas.Copyright 1997 WSN Press, Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc.