Is Christianity the only true religion?

Kenya, generally termed a Christian nation, has many of its populace born into so-called Christian homes. Due to this reason, it can be easy for many to grow into Christianity without necessarily interrogating it. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the authenticity of Christianity in order to affirm your stance even in the face of adversity (1 Peter 3:15). Here is why we believe that Christianity is the only true religion. 

Defining Truth 

Whenever it is said that Christianity is the only true religion, many things can come to people’s minds. Some can assume that Christianity is true to its followers because it brings them a sense of peace, purpose and happiness. Christianity certainly does these things for those of us who follow Jesus as Lord of our lives. However, this allegation would not be based on truth in as much as it is not entirely false. Christianity is true because it is based on objective truths grounded in reality. Christianity makes factual claims about fundamental things such as who we are as human beings, who God is, and how we relate to God. A religion that cannot truthfully answer these questions is false, not because it fails to give one peace of mind, but because it makes unverifiable claims. 

Adversaries of the Christian faith might object and claim that other religions provide different answers to these fundamental questions. In other words, there may be other answers out there, so why must the explanations offered by Christianity alone be right? However, just because there are many answers to one question does not mean there is no one true answer. It is like 100 people sitting down to do a very complex math problem and coming up with different answers. Just because there are other answers to the math problem does not mean that the correct answer does not exist or that all answers are equally valid. I wish that my mathematics teacher felt that all answers were equally valid on exams because my marks would have been much higher in school. Therefore, objective truth exists, and there must be an answer to whether Christianity is the only true religion. 

Is Christianity True?

Having defined the word “truth” in the statement Christianity is the only true religion, what objective truth can I give to help show it’s true? First, I will point to the fact that there is a God that exists. The universe itself must depend on something else to explain its existence. From where did the matter used to form the universe come? Matter must have a creator; otherwise, how could nothing create anything? Also, the universe is in motion, and Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion is set in motion by an outside force. Therefore, the force setting the universe in motion must be something outside the universe; the Creator God (Genesis 1:1). This affirms that God exists.

The existence of God alone may not entirely prove that Christianity is true, but consider this. Jesus, the head of Christianity (Colossians 1:18), claimed to be the Son of God incarnate (John 5:18-24, John 10:36, John 11:4). This claim would mean that God the divine Father has a Son who is also divine (John 10:30). The Son of God, Jesus, said that he would die on the cross (Mark 9:30-31) and then he actually dies that way (Mark 15:25, John 19:16-18). Then Jesus, after dying, rises from the grave as he said he would according to the scriptures written by eyewitnesses (Luke 24:1-7, Luke 9:22). If Jesus were not indeed God’s son, he would have stayed in the grave. But since he spoke the truth, he died and rose from the grave, which is adequate proof that he is indeed the Son of God. With this, we have every reason to believe him and all of his teachings in the Bible. 

The Life of Christ

It is verifiable that Jesus lived, died and rose from the grave. Over 500 people saw Jesus risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). All other leaders of other world religions, such as Buddha, Krishna or Ondeto (Kenya religion leader), died and stayed dead, but the story of Jesus Christ had a different twist. So how do we know for sure that Jesus died and rose from the dead? There are four strong arguments to verify that Jesus rose from the dead.

Crucifixion – Jesus died from crucifixion, which is historically verifiable. Examples of non-christian historians who recorded it are Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger as forms of evidence. To rise from the dead, Jesus had to die. 

Appearance after the resurrection  – After resurrecting, Jesus appeared to his disciples, propelling them to follow him and continue his mission. Their claims of seeing him in his resurrected state are well recorded in the Bible (1 Corinthians 15:5, Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36, Acts 10:41). Why would the disciples continue following Jesus and even die as martyrs if his resurrection was false? One must be a fool to champion and die for a lie. 

Paul’s conversion – The persecutor and sceptic of Christianity, Saul, who became Paul, converted to the point that he treasured Jesus above all else (Philippians 3:4-8). His coming face to face with the resurrected Jesus led him to leave everything of value (Acts 9:1-5) to join the other apostles in their mission to proclaim Christ (Romans 1:1). Why would a person of Paul’s calibre leave everything of value to join the mission of Christ if it was all false? 

Empty Tomb – The tomb in which Jesus was buried belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, which is verifiable (Matthew 27:57-61). Women were also the first witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10). If Jesus’ resurrection story were false, they would not have had women as the conveyers of the news that he rose from the grave because a woman’s testimony was considered invalid in those times. 

Jesus, the Only Way

The resurrection of Jesus is the main reason we should believe in him and all of his teachings. Without the resurrection of Christ, Christianity is a sham (1 Cor 15:19). He is the head of the Christian church (Colossians 1:18) and is directly involved in the entire Bible story. His life, purity, and especially the resurrection are solid proof that Christianity is true. Then Jesus himself said that he is the only way to heaven, he is the truth, and the life and that nobody can enter heaven except through him (John 14:6); therefore, all other ways are false. 

Eternal life is found only in Christ. Therefore, everyone in Christ has eternal life, whereas those without Christ are already condemned (John 3:18). Click on the ‘ Receive Christ ‘ button if you wish to learn more about placing your faith in Christ. 

References: 

1. Abdu Murary 
2. To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview by Francis J. Beckwith, William Lane Craig, & J.P. Moreland