jimmudcatgrant said:
I never read one word where Jesus tried to get along with false religion. He was especially hard on false religion and had no problem saying there was only one way, you must be born again. He chastised Nicodemus for being a teacher of Israel and not knowing the way of salvation. He had scathing commentaries to the scribes and Pharisees and Saducees. It is amazing to me that ignorant Christians compromise the truth in order to be liked. Rick Warren said that the God of Christianity and the god of Islam were the same. That is blasphemy.
It's amazing how often people make these statements and forget that the Jews were surrounded by pagans everywhere. How often did Jesus go after worshipers of Pan or Aphrodite? Zeus? Apollo? Maybe Isis?
Jesus (and Paul) weren't "especially hard" on pagan religions. They were "especially hard" on people who were supposed to be God's chosen people and who were defiling the religion He gave to them. To push it into today's world, Jesus and Paul would have been condemning those people in the church, not those who practiced other religions.
Jesus was non-commental towards other religions (other than His universal "I am" types of statements, which is equally damning to all false religions). Paul went so far as to say not to judge those outside the church, but only judge those inside the church. Paul also used the pagans' own religious beliefs and practices as a way of contextualizing the gospel so that his pagan audience would understand.
I went to temple with a Hindu friend of mine just the other day. Does that make me apostate? Not at all. What it does is makes me a credible witness for Christ who my friend will listen to because he knows I'm willing to be kind to him and respect his culture and beliefs. He's also learned more about the Christian faith from my wife and I than from anyone else because he is willing to ask us questions, something he isn't willing to do with anyone else.
