If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?

I am writing my essay about Abrahamism at moment, during my research I saw this question.. Just wondering, what do you think or understand when reading this question?


~ Aqua



,,If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?''

because they must be brought to jesus to be saved, according to christian dogma. John 14:6, King James Version (KJV) "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

so 'we' dont, just christians.

Aqua wrote: I am writing my essay about Abrahamism at moment, during my research I saw this question.. Just wondering, what do you think or understand when reading this question?


~ Aqua



,,If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?''

I'm a practicing Christian, so I feel qualified to give you an answer that I feel is informed. Keep in mind that I am Orthodox and that our way of explaining things, as well as many of our beliefs, differ greatly from many of the fundamentals of Western Christianity (Roman Catholicism and Protestantism).

Why do we need Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ came with two goals:

1. Mankind's theosis- Through knowing God in a human form, we are able to have a closer connection to him than man did even before the Fall of Man. Christ came to teach us the unabridged straight truth about God, so that we might become like God, the process of which is called Theosis, which is salvation and the path to salvation.

2. To destroy death by death- Christ is fully God, but also fully man, so like all men, he had to die, by some means or another. Orthodoxy does not teach that Christ sacrificed himself to atone for man's sin, or to pay off a debt. Christ died so that he would rise again and therefore conquer death.

Afterlife is a different concept either. There is no literal heaven or hell. Everybody will be in the presence of God, and that experience will be what the individual makes of it. In other words, it will be joy for those who love God and misery for those who hate Him. As to whether a person's state can change after death is a contentious subject. I believe Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (and English bishop and himself a convert to the faith), at least considers it a possibility, as do many Orthodox theologians. I believe the "official" Orthodox stance on universal salvation (known to us as "Apocatastasis") is that there is no problem believing in it, but that it would be irresponsible to teach it as dogma.

I hope that helps.

I'm agnostic but I will answer your question from a theistic POV or at least my warped theistic POV

Old Testament God = Kill all the nonbelievers, New Testament God = Everyone can be a Christian and be saved. Jesus Christ Needed to come to earth so that all mankind could be redeemed for the sins which began with the very first people. Now that he died for everyone he opened up a path for any people through him and his ways a way into heaven. Although a lot of Christians will tell you that you go to hell if you don't believe in him I think if Jesus was real he would understand that if someone led a good life based on Jesus teachings even without knowing him could go to heaven. The people who broke off from the Jewish faith needed Jesus as a way to convert and allow others to convert to their faith. He also adds the classis hero motif to the tail.
I sincerely hope you ask this question out of sheer curiosity and are not trolling Christians on here this site is not about religious discrimination.

lol, I considered today: If I had a video camera, I'd make a youtube video about how all the religions benefit their followers in some way- with the message "You can't reach these people if you're screaming FIRE & BRIMSTONE!"

I would imagine those that rationalize the idea look at it like this:

Not everyone can be saved, that doesn't mean that everyone can't have a good life here on Earth. They just won't have anything in the afterlife.

So why do you need Christ? For the end game.

Yes, but as I recall, its what you do on earth as Christian that matters to your endgame. Unless your going for the death bed repentance.

This is also assuming out of all the religions, (Christianity not even being near the oldest) yours is the right one, or as right as any, given there is no real evidence to any such deity, or cosmic/karmic punishment if you dont believe in that one.

Aqua wrote: I am writing my essay about Abrahamism at moment, during my research I saw this question.. Just wondering, what do you think or understand when reading this question?
~ Aqua

,,If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?''

I once asked me. Then I wondered in sequence: "Do I want everyone to be saved or not?". Do I need Jesus Christ to save only some or I need him to save everyone? When I was a Christian I thought Jesus would find a way to save all, even devils, for the love he feels for humanity and his creation, and that this issue that only a few would be saved was something created by the human mind (because observe that it actually looks something really created by human mind, only a unique portion saved while the rest suffer in hell; Jesus is not, by talking to the Bible). If we need Jesus Christ is by his example and his lessons, "Heaven" is a result of our position, we are good people, caring for the world and people. So I thought when I was a Christian.

*cracks knuckles*


Alright, there's a ton of theological standpoints to choose from but I'm going to give you the one I grew up with, repugnant as it is.

To say all people can be saved is only to say that no one is automatically damned, but that does not mean all will be saved. John 14:something says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me." The way I was taught, only those who accept Christ as Lord and Savior will be saved. Christ was and is considered to be the sacrifice that was needed, but because only he could do it then Salvation can only be achieved by and through him.

In short, you need Jesus because it is required to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, sole deity, to be saved.

Aqua wrote: If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?''

My experience has been that various scriptures from around the world are not intended to be presented as A truth, but as THE truth. Many religions promise some manner of salvation, but they stipulate that their own path is the only one that works.

The question looks like it has been written from the perspective of a comparative religion student. It implies that all paths work. It suggests that all people of all religions can be saved. Why then would any particular path be necessary if any one of them will do the job?

Except that, from the perspective of most any particular religion, their and only their path leads to salvation. You will often find individual practitioners that will allow for multiple paths to salvation, but I cannot think of a religious scripture that allowed for that. If someone knows of one, I'd be interested in giving it a read.

The assumptions don't coincide. Thus the confusion.

Just to throw my own hat into the ring, I'm not really interetsed in being saved. Beyond the immediate dangers of speeding cars, I see nothing from which I need be saved.

We don't. We don't "need Jesus to be saved".

If we want to SAVE OURSELVES from as much unneeded suffering as possible we should ACT AS (purportedly)JESUS ACTED.

It doesn't matter if he was(is) alive.

If you must have faith in something have faith that being a good person is worth it, even if your shit on your entire life.

From a Catholic POV, yes, all people can be saved but all must be saved through Jesus Christ. However, there are a number of ways a person can be saved though Jesus that may not involve the Catholic Church. One good example is a person that is completely ignorant of Jesus through no fault of their own will most certainly be saved in most cases.

Also, the Catholic church (in spite of all the false information out there) does not teach that any particular group of people will go to hell. All sinners, unrepentant, will go to hell but after that it is God's decision and not ours. So, on individual cases Catholics are taught not to say who is or isn't going to hell. Also, people commonly say that according to the Catholic church all gays will go to hell.....no...all sinners will go to hell and homosexuality is simply a sin and like anyone that sins and isn't repentant then they could potentially go to hell.

So, in short everyone must be saved through Jesus but there could be many paths to Jesus and given he's the almighty and all knowing we cannot possibly know who will or won't go to heaven but we know you get there through heaven.

Of course, Jews, Muslims and every other belief system will disagree with part or all of this.


And for the record, I'm psuedo Catholic but consider Jesus to have been a Jedi.

Do you (no one in particular but in general) know how The Bible got put together - when - and who did it? Many scholars say there are properly five gospels. I agree. Add The Gospel of Thomas and see what happens.

Here are the first 10 verses.


These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."

2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"

3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.

When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live.

For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?"

Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."

7. Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human."

8. And he said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

9. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."

10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."

...

Full text at:

The Nag Hammadi Library - The Gospel of Thomas

http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html



So close to Jesus we've been mistaken for co-joined twins.

Br. John wrote: Do you know how The Bible got put together - when - and who did it? Many scholars say there are properly five gospels. I agree. Add The Gospel of Thomas and see what happens.

Here are the first 10 verses.


These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

1. And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."

2. Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]"

3. Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father's) kingdom is within you and it is outside you.

When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."

4. Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live.

For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one."

5. Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you.

For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]"

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?"

Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."

7. Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human."

8. And he said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"

9. Jesus said, "Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure."

10. Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."

...

Full text at:

The Nag Hammadi Library - The Gospel of Thomas

http://gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html



So close to Jesus we've been mistaken for co-joined twins.

Yes, there are many books that were excluded from the bible that, IMO, should be part of it. The Catholic Church but the bible together and left out books they felt were inconvenient to the faith. The Protestants further removed books that were not convenient for Protestantism.

Aqua wrote: I am writing my essay about Abrahamism at moment, during my research I saw this question.. Just wondering, what do you think or understand when reading this question?


~ Aqua



,,If people of all religions can be saved, why do we need Jesus Christ?''

out of curiosity saved from what? if jesus saves you from your "sin debt" then you dont need him? you could save your sellf? you have the payment for the "sin debt" ?

I dont think we can offer more than an opinion on the matter unless we agree on the validity of the following assumptions inherent in the question:

1. People of all religions can be saved.
2. Being "saved" is the end goal for all religions.
3. We need Jesus.

This thread is suspect. The question is pointless. It presupposes that one believes in Christ, that we need to be saved, that everybody will be saved, or any combination of the three.

To one who doesn't believe in Christ, it's a pointless question to ask or answer. Now, if it was being directed at a Christian (or believer of any other religion) who believed in universal salvation, that would make sense. All I see is a very poor and juvenile attempt to troll or mock Christians.

Star Forge wrote: This thread is suspect. The question is pointless. It presupposes that one believes in Christ, that we need to be saved, that everybody will be saved, or any combination of the three.

To one who doesn't believe in Christ, it's a pointless question to ask or answer. Now, if it was being directed at a Christian (or believer of any other religion) who believed in universal salvation, that would make sense. All I see is a very poor and juvenile attempt to troll or mock Christians.

Without being snarky, I think the whole idea of the thread is a question for a Christian POV because it is pretty obvious that only Christians think you need to be saved and you need Jesus to do that.

Ousan Ka wrote:

Star Forge wrote: This thread is suspect. The question is pointless. It presupposes that one believes in Christ, that we need to be saved, that everybody will be saved, or any combination of the three.

To one who doesn't believe in Christ, it's a pointless question to ask or answer. Now, if it was being directed at a Christian (or believer of any other religion) who believed in universal salvation, that would make sense. All I see is a very poor and juvenile attempt to troll or mock Christians.

Without being snarky, I think the whole idea of the thread is a question for a Christian POV because it is pretty obvious that only Christians think you need to be saved and you need Jesus to do that.

Islam has a somewhat similar concept of salvation, as does Zoroastrianism. Hinduism and Buddhism have a concept of salvation as well, if the world is used more broadly.

Star Forge wrote:

Ousan Ka wrote:

Star Forge wrote: This thread is suspect. The question is pointless. It presupposes that one believes in Christ, that we need to be saved, that everybody will be saved, or any combination of the three.

To one who doesn't believe in Christ, it's a pointless question to ask or answer. Now, if it was being directed at a Christian (or believer of any other religion) who believed in universal salvation, that would make sense. All I see is a very poor and juvenile attempt to troll or mock Christians.

Without being snarky, I think the whole idea of the thread is a question for a Christian POV because it is pretty obvious that only Christians think you need to be saved and you need Jesus to do that.

Islam has a somewhat similar concept of salvation, as does Zoroastrianism. Hinduism and Buddhism have a concept of salvation as well, if the world is used more broadly.

Yes, but this question is specifically about Jesus so it almost certainly is asking from a Christian POV.

There really wouldn't be much point in asking this to a Muslim, Jew or Buddhist as none of them believe in the divinity of Jesus. Though, Muslims do believe he was a prophet.

I understand the question as a problem that arises in Christianity whenever people try too hard to make it moderate or liberal and by extension tolerable in this day and age. We have come to a point where people are no longer utter irredeamable savages and recognize that a system of justice that relies on the awareness of and submission to a religious message fails the instant people exist who have no such awareness. When in earlier days somebody not of the faith was evil by virtue of not being of the faith and deserved eternal torment by our and inevitably our gods' sick standards, today we came to recognize this as immoral and pushed theology to abandon that particular stance. Since however the entire construct was originally designed to be irreducibly complex, pulling out one string would have to result in most of the rest of it falling apart also. This question is but a symptom of that wound. They cannot have their cake and eat it, too.