He announced to the soldiers, “Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.” But one incredulous warrior exclaimed, “William Wallace is seven feet tall!” “Yes, I’ve heard,” Wallace replied. Then one day he came to lead some Scottish warriors into battle who had never met him. As Wallace’s victories became more numerous, his reputation grew exponentially. Later, he told the same audience: “If you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24).Ĭonsider this somewhat imperfect analogy: The movie Braveheart described the exploits of William Wallace as he led the Scottish people in rebellion against Edward Longshanks, the king of England. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39–40). Yet Jesus told them, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. They worshiped the God revealed in the same Bible that Jesus read, and they were passionate about obeying his commands. They were some of the most religious people on earth. And he doesn’t say he is one pathway to God among many he asserts he is the only Way.Įarlier in John’s gospel, Jesus made this claim to the Jewish people who came to hear him. He doesn’t say he can give life he tells us he is the source of life itself. Jesus doesn’t say that he merely speaks the truth he claims to be the embodiment of Truth.
An infinite being has the ability to say with certainty whether there is one God or many, and whether there are multiple ways to know him or only one. There is only one God, and he became a man in the person of Jesus.īut if Jesus is, in fact, God himself, that puts his claim in an entirely different light. How can one person have a monopoly on the truth or proclaim his “way” as the only way to God? After all, humans are finite and fallible, while God is infinitely greater than our small minds can comprehend. If Jesus is merely one more religious teacher out of countless others, then his claim would be absurd.
Those who make such objections have a point. It’s a way of saying that we are closer to God than you, and that’s what leads to hatred.” 5
I don’t see how that is anything different than spiritual racism. Rabbi Schmuley Boteach summed up the feelings of many when he said, “I am absolutely against any religion that says that one faith is superior to another. Are we really so narrow minded and bigoted that we think these people will be excluded from heaven just because they happened to be born in the wrong country or have been taught the wrong religion? After all, there are billions of non-Christians in the world. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).Ĭhristians are often criticized for claiming that Jesus is the only way to God. “I am the way and the truth and the life.
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