Waking this old thread:
In the spirit of philosophical theological debate and not with the intent to offend anyone, I respectfully disagree.
Jesus is the only way to people that believe Jesus is the only way.
Here is what I mean: Christians believe Jesus is the way to salvation because this is what their "divine" or "divinely-inspired" writings tell them. This concept of course reinforces the community's belief in Christianity. While many people in this thread and elsewhere proclaim that they "know" this to be true, it is only true because they choose to believe so because of the scriptures and those before them that claim to "know." The reality is that no one really "knows" unless he/she has communicated with or experienced the divine. It is a concept accepted by "faith" in the community from which it originated.
In contrast, other religions throughout the world do not share in this belief because members of these communities have different experiences, perspectives, and writings that convince them otherwise. In the eyes of many of these people, the Christian way of thinking about salvation is wrong.
In essence, you have multiple groups of people declaring their beliefs about the world and the afterworld are superior to others because their writings tell them so.
Who is correct? What is the actual answer to original question of the thread?
...Only God knows.
Metaphorically speaking, I believe God is like a diamond. Every religion or belief system in the world is trying see and understand the "brilliance" and "sparkle" of what we call God. While we quibble about what this is, we often fail to see that we are all looking at the same thing. However, like a diamond in the light, when we look at God from different angles, this brilliance looks differently to different people. No matter what anyone may profess or claim to know in this earthly realm, this is a truth.
Consequently, I have a hard time believing that "Satan's den" is in the cards for the many exceptionally good people of other faiths - such as the Dalai Lama, Ghandi, etc. - that have and are practicing the positive principles that are universally accepted as "good." They were/are the way they were/are because this is how they see "the light." Are all of these people wrong? Only God knows the answer.
Thus, it seems to me, if I want to hedge my salvational bet, it would be wise to focus on right thought and good works throughout my life. This is to me faith in action. It brings inner peace in this life; whereas, the alternative sows discord and discontent. Whether or not this does me any good after I leave this earthly realm, I do not know. In the end, God will decide.
Gordon covered the personal relationship initiated by God, which remains unacknowledged by your post, quite well. The other aspect that I noticed is a quite low threshold of orthopraxy (right behavior). When compared to other religions (belief systems) orthodox Christianity is, to my knowledge, unique, in that no man can, of his own nature or effort, attain a level of righteousness acceptable to Holy God.
>>You might ask, as many have, "What is the essential nature of one of whom it is said 'In the beginning God'?"<<
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