Die godsdienste sê nie dieselfde nie, en hulle weet dit self
Kort antwoord: Baie godsdienste leer dat ons goed moet wees vir ander, en dit is waar. Maar oor die groot vrae, wie Jesus is en hoe ‘n mens by God uitkom, sê hulle nie dieselfde nie. Om hulle almal oor een kam te skeer, neem hulle nie ernstig op nie.
Jy het dit seker al op ‘n plakker of ‘n prent gesien: die simbole van die wêreldgodsdienste langs mekaar, en die woord Coexist. Of iemand in die klas sê: “Al die gelowe sê eintlik dieselfde. Wees goed vir mense. Die res is net verpakking.”
Dit klink vriendelik en nederig. Wie wil nou sê “my geloof is reg en joune nie”?
Wat waar is
Begin by wat waar is. Baie gelowe leer jou om nie te steel nie, om eerlik te wees, om vir die arme om te gee. Die Gereformeerde tradisie verbaas nie daaroor nie. Augustinus het geskryf dat waar ‘n Christen ook al waarheid vind, dit aan sy Here behoort. Calvyn het gesê ons onteer die Gees as ons die waarheid verwerp waar dit ook al verskyn. Ons noem dit algemene genade: God laat sy lig ook val op mense wat Hom nie ken nie.
Alles in ander gelowe is dus nie vals nie. Dit is nie die punt nie.
Waar hulle verskil
Die punt is dat die gelowe self sê dat hulle verskil, en dikwels oor die heel belangrikste dinge.
Neem net een vraag, die vraag wat Jesus self aan sy dissipels gestel het: wie sê julle is Ek? (Markus 8:29). Vir ‘n Christen is Hy God wat mens geword het, wat gekruisig is en opgestaan het. Vir ‘n Jood is Hy nie die Messias nie. Vir ‘n Moslem is Hy ‘n groot profeet, maar nie God se Seun nie, en die Koran sê in Soera 4:157 uitdruklik dat hy nie gekruisig is nie. Dit kan nie alles tegelyk waar wees nie. Of Jesus het aan ‘n kruis gesterf, of Hy het nie.
Of neem die vraag hoe ‘n mens reg kom met God, of met die werklikheid. In baie weë is dit iets wat jy doen: die regte pad loop, die wet hou, jou karma suiwer. Die evangelie sê iets anders: jy word gered uit genade, deur geloof, en dit kom nie uit jouself nie (Efesiërs 2:8–9). Dit is nie verpakking nie. Dit is die inhoud.
Die draai
Kyk nou weer na “hulle sê almal dieselfde”. ‘n Moslem sal nie saamstem nie. ‘n Boeddhis sal nie saamstem nie. ‘n Ortodokse Jood ook nie. Die sin praat namens hulle almal, en oorstem hulle almal.
Dit is eintlik nie nederig nie. Dit sê: ek sien die geheel, en julle sien elkeen net ‘n stukkie. Dit is self ‘n standpunt met ‘n aanspraak op waarheid.
Respek begin nie by sê dat ons almal dieselfde glo nie. Dit begin by luister na wat die ander een werklik glo, en dit ernstig genoeg opneem om te sê waar ons verskil.
Volgende keer
As iemand sê alle godsdienste sê dieselfde, vra: “Oor Jesus ook? Wat sê hulle oor wie Hy is?”
Of vra ‘n Moslem-vriend self. Hy sal jou waarskynlik vinniger as die plakker sê dat julle nie dieselfde glo nie.
Gaan dieper
- Proloog, Opstel 3: Wie se Waarheid?
- Reeks 1, Sessie 8: Jesus Christus: Die Finale Openbaring
- Reeks 4: Waarheid & Kennis (binnekort)
The religions don’t say the same thing, and they know it themselves
Short answer: Many religions teach that we should be good to others, and that is true. But on the big questions, who Jesus is and how a person comes to God, they do not say the same thing. Lumping them all together does not take them seriously.
You have probably seen it on a bumper sticker or a picture: the symbols of the world religions side by side, spelling the word Coexist. Or someone in class says: “All the faiths really say the same thing. Be good to people. The rest is just packaging.”
It sounds kind and humble. Who wants to be the one who says “my faith is right and yours isn’t”?
What is true
Start with what is true. Many faiths teach you not to steal, to be honest, to care for the poor. The Reformed tradition is not surprised by this. Augustine wrote that wherever a Christian finds truth, it belongs to his Lord. Calvin said we dishonour the Spirit if we reject the truth wherever it appears. We call this common grace: God lets his light fall also on people who do not know him.
So a Christian need not think everything in other faiths is false. That is not the point.
Where they differ
The point is that the faiths themselves say they differ, and often about the most important things.
Take just one question, the one Jesus himself put to his disciples: who do you say that I am? (Mark 8:29). For a Christian he is God made man, crucified and risen. For a Jew he is not the Messiah. For a Muslim he is a great prophet, but not God’s Son, and the Qur’an says explicitly in Surah 4:157 that he was not crucified. These cannot all be true at once. Either Jesus died on a cross, or he did not.
Or take the question of how a person is put right with God, or with reality. In many paths it is something you do: walk the right way, keep the law, purify your karma. The gospel says something else: you are saved by grace, through faith, and this is not from yourselves (Ephesians 2:8–9). That is not packaging. It is the content.
The turn
Now look again at “they all say the same thing”. A Muslim will not agree. A Buddhist will not agree. Nor will an Orthodox Jew. The sentence speaks on behalf of all of them, and outvotes all of them.
That is not actually humble. It says: I see the whole, and each of you sees only a piece. It is itself a position with a claim to truth.
Respect does not begin by saying we all believe the same thing. It begins by listening to what the other person really believes, and taking it seriously enough to say where we differ.
Next time
When someone says all religions say the same thing, ask: “About Jesus too? What do they say about who he is?”
Or ask a Muslim friend yourself. He will probably tell you faster than the bumper sticker that you don’t believe the same thing.
Go deeper
- Prologue, Essay 3: Whose Truth?
- Series 1, Session 8: Jesus Christ: The Final Revelation
- Series 4: Truth & Knowledge (coming soon)