A Rose By Any Other Name…

…would smell as sweet.

That line may sound romantic, from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but it just doesn’t work when applied to the religions of the world.

I sat in my very first doctoral class years ago and listened to a professor extol the “truth” that can be found in world religions, as all being God’s truth. It angered me then and it angers me now.

I don’t doubt that you can find nuggets of truth in Islam, Buddhism, or Hinduism, if you dig long enough, but to what end?

They may be nuggets of truth, but let’s never forget that those nuggets are part of whole religious systems, designed to do one thing…deceive whole populations of peoples and leave them in a godless darkness that can only end in judgment.

I concede that the motivation of some western scholars in identifying truth in world religions is to establish common ground for dialogue.

Fair enough.

But if the ultimate goal isn’t the salvation of souls trapped in deception, we are the ones being deceived.

One last thought on this subject.

Most of the initiatives towards conciliation with world religions appear to me to be made by western theologians who are less than convinced of the exclusivity of the Christian faith (John 14:6).

They have an agenda.

When you speak to Christ-followers in India, China or Africa, saved out of any of the world religions, you find no such ambivalence. They know the darkness out of which they have been saved and have no trouble naming it.

There is only one rose here, the Rose of Sharon (Song of Solomon 2:1).