Other religions: let's be practical!

All religions are basically the same?

Bob Ackroyd at Brunsfield Evangelical Church explores the practicalities of this and I've discussed an approach a little while ago.

All religions are the same in that they all ask four basic questions:

1. How does your belief inform where you come from (the origin of man)
2. Where you are going (post death?)
3. Why you are here (existential definition)?
4. What's right, what's wrong? Why (meta-ethical epistemology)?
   

A great basis for a conversation: you listen to them, maybe they will ask you your views. See where it goes.

Two questions I would either add or substitute are:

1. Who are we? (aiming to get to Schaeffer's point about the 'mannishness' of man: i.e., in God's image)
2. Why do we suffer? (On the premise that ALL religions are about the problem of man's suffering and pain.)
   

Look out for putative resolutions of these questions that deny obvious reality, the reality of the human dilemma: man is both great and cruel, has joy and suffers, or seek the resolution in man either individually or collectively, on a 'try harder' basis, or an 'it doesn't matter' basis...and how would either help when they are within the very system that is the product and source of the dilemma!

The resolution has to come from without and has to be final: it cannot be part of an infinite regress of causes.

It cannot be contained in the uniformity of natural causes in a closed system, but can only be in a system that is open to resolution from without, from not where the dilemma and its discontents arose and are hosted.

Indeed, as Schaeffer tells us: there are only two religions (and our discussion with the 'omni-religious' should have this back of mind}: paganism: the uniformity (or not) of natural causes in a closed system, and Christianity: the uniformity of natural causes in a fallen but open system: open to the creator, the eternal, self-existing, communicating person.