Topic : Religions, universalism
Powers of the Universe
Hence we find in non-Christian religions a restless sense of the hostility of the powers of the universe; an undefined feeling of guilt, and all sorts of merit-making techniques designed to get rid of it; a dread of death, and a consuming anxiety to feel that one has conquered it; forms of worship aimed at once to placate, bribe, and control the gods, and to make them keep their distance, except when wanted; an alarming readiness to call moral evil good, and good evil, in the name of religion; an ambivalent attitude of mind which seems both to seek God and to seek to evade him in the same act.
Therefore in our evangelistic dialogue with people of non-Christian religions, our task must be to present the biblical revelation of God in Christ—not as supplementing them but as explaining their existence, exposing their errors, and judging their inadequacy.
How Good is Your Cotton
Several cotton farmers were whiling away a winter afternoon around the potbellied stove. They soon became entangled in a heated discussion on the merits of their respective religions. The eldest of the farmers had been sitting quietly, just listening, when the group turned to him and demanded, “Who’s right, old Jim? Which one of these religions is the right one?”
“Well,” said Jim thoughtfully, “you know there are three ways to get from here to the cotton gin. You can go right over the big hill. That’s shorter but it’s a powerful climb. You can go around the east side of the hill. That’s not too far, but the road is rougher’n tarnation. Or you can go around the west side of the hill, which is the longest way, but the easiest.
“But you know,” he said, looking them squarely in the eye, “when you get there, the gin man don’t ask you how you come. He just asks, ‘Man, how good is your cotton?’”
