What About Other Religions?
/A popular way in our culture to view world religions is to compare them to different paths up a single mountain. God is at the top, and people take different religious paths to reach Him. Christians take one path, Muslims another, while Hindus and Buddhists take still others. The paths may look different, but the idea is that they eventually all arrive at the same place.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that we all worship the same God (once was even in a mosque!).
It’s an appealing picture. It sounds humble. It sounds generous. It’s almost impossible to challenge without looking narrow-minded.
So, the illustration works well in our postmodern culture. Certainly some of the world’s religions do share some things: morality, compassion, and generosity. Islam also believes in one creator. Judaism shares the Old Testament.
But there is a major problem with the mountain illustration: the world's religions fundamentally disagree about the destination and even the nature of the mountain itself. They disagree about authority, about God, about who Jesus is, and about salvation. So deep are these differences that Christianity ultimately challenges the whole idea that we can climb our way to God at all.
So, what really separates biblical Christianity from the other religions of the world? Four questions help us see some of the most important differences.
Q1 - Where Does Our Authority Come From?
Before we even get to beliefs about God or Jesus, there’s a foundational question that decides almost everything else: Who gets the final word?
Christians answer that the Bible does. Not a later prophet, not a religious organization, not a new book that “clarifies” the old one. Just Scripture itself. Paul writes, "All Scripture is breathed out by God" (2 Tim. 3:16).
Other religions answer the question of final authority very differently, and once you notice this it explains why the rest of what they believe is so different. Islam teaches that God gave earlier revelations, including the Torah and Gospel, but regards the Qur’an given to Muhammad as His final revelation. Muslims generally do not accept our present Bible as an uncorrupted preservation of those original revelations. Judaism recognizes the Old Testament but not the New Testament. Hinduism and Buddhism reject the whole of the Bible in favor of their own writings and teachings.
This difference matters just as much for groups that use Christian language. Jehovah's Witnesses do use the Bible (though their own New World Translation). Mormonism accepts the Bible “as far as it is translated correctly,” but also recognizes the Book of Mormon and other latter-day revelation as Scripture. Christian Science describes both the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as foundational to its theology and practice.
It is important to understand what each faith teaches about this question: what has the final authority to determine what is true? For biblical Christianity, that authority is not a later prophet, additional revelation, or religious organization. It is God's Word.
Q2 - Who Is God?
The Bible is really clear on this point: there is one God. “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4). Yet, this one God has made Himself known as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus made this clear when He commanded His followers to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
This is not to suggest that the Trinity is a puzzle we will ever fully solve. Most illustrations fall apart if you push them. Still, it is not optional. It is simply who God has revealed Himself to be: one God, three persons.
Other religions answer this question in ways that cannot be reconciled with that revelation. Islam and Judaism both insist on one God, but the Trinity is ruled out from the start. Neither Hinduism nor Buddhism confesses the one Triune Creator revealed in Scripture.
Groups that use Christian language often land in a similar place. Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the Trinity outright. They view Jesus as a created being, with the Holy Spirit as God’s active force. Mormonism uses the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but teaches that each is a separate being, united in purpose rather than one God in three persons.
It is important to understand that the God who is the destination at the top of the mountain illustration is radically different in each faith.
Q3 - Who Is Jesus?
Perhaps this question is the most important of the four. Jesus once asked His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matt. 16:15).
Almost every major religion says something positive about Jesus. Islam honors Him as a prophet and Messiah. Others may respect Him as a great teacher. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons speak about Jesus all the time and even call Him the Son of God.
I’ve experienced this problem many times, as I’ve often had a positive conversation about Jesus with someone only to realize that we weren’t really talking about the same person. Believing something about Jesus (even something positive) is not the same thing as believing what the Bible says about Him.
The Bible's answer is clear. John tells us, "the Word was God," and also, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). Jesus is not simply a prophet or teacher. He is God the Son who became man.
Even more, Jesus came for a purpose.
Paul summarizes this purpose by saying "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, [and] that he was raised on the third day" (1 Cor. 15:3–4).
Once again, the differences between Christianity and others are enormous. Islam denies both His deity and His crucifixion. Judaism won't accept Him as the divine Messiah or risen Lord. Jehovah's Witnesses are also off the biblical path, denying that Jesus is the eternal God and teaching that He was raised as a spirit being rather than bodily from the grave. And beyond these, plenty of other traditions are happy to keep Jesus around as a teacher or spiritual figure, so long as He stays there.
The problem is that calling Jesus a prophet, teacher, Messiah, or even the Son of God does not necessarily mean we are talking about the same Jesus.
Q4 - How Can We Be Saved?
The answers to this question show that it is impossible to reconcile all faiths being on the same mountain.
The Bible is clear about the human condition: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We have rebelled against God. Morality, religious effort, and good works cannot erase the guilt of our sin.
Other religions diagnose the problem (and therefore the cure) very differently. Buddhism points to suffering, misplaced desires, and ignorance, seeking enlightenment. Hinduism highlights cycles of karma, aiming eventually for liberation as salvation. Islam recognizes human sin and a coming judgment, but its understanding of salvation involves faith, submission, obedience, repentance, good deeds, and ultimately God’s mercy.
Christianity simply does not teach that we climb our way out of sin toward God. We cannot save ourselves. God must save us.
Jesus bore our sins on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). Salvation is not a paycheck we earn by our efforts but a gift of God’s grace. Eph. 2:8–9 reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith… not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Many religions focus on what we must do. The gospel announces what Christ has already done.
God Came Down the Mountain
None of this gives us permission to be rude. I’ve seen Christians win the argument and lose the person in the same conversation. Peter’s instruction in defending our faith still stands: do it with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3:15).
However, gentleness doesn’t mean that differences don’t matter. If Jesus really is God (the Son) who died for our sins and rose from the grave, nothing could be more loving than telling others about Him.
The popular mountain illustration pictures us climbing toward God. Christianity tells a different, but better story: we could never climb our way to God, so God came down to us.
That is still the heart of Christianity. We cannot stumble on the right path that leads to God. Jesus came down the mountain to us. He died for our sins, and He rose again.
If someone tells you all religions are climbing the same mountain, you don’t have to pretend the paths are the same. Instead, we point to the Savior who came down that mountain for us.
Questions for Reflection
If someone told you that all religions are different paths to the same God, how would you respond?
Why is defining who Jesus is so important when talking to someone about Him?
What are the differences between biblical Christianity and other perspectives on how a person can be saved?
How can we clearly disagree with another person's beliefs while still treating him or her with love and respect?
Resources for Further Study
Christianity, Cults & Religions — Rose Publishing: A helpful quick-reference pamphlet comparing biblical Christianity with 20 religions, cults, and sects.
The Kingdom of the Cults — Walter Martin: A much more extensive reference work (700-plus pages!) examining both groups that use Christian language and other world faiths.