For the last couple weeks I and another attorney in my office have been working on a religious discrimination case. Our clients worked for a company run by members of a religion (many would say a cult) who required our clients submit to their religion’s training and teaching as a condition to advancement in the company.
I’ve been reading a lot about the religion, not so much what others say about it but what their religious texts say. In the midst of that study I discovered this religion has an opinion about Jesus. Its founder said Jesus was a pedophile and that Jesus’ death on the cross was not a basis for salvation.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while you know that in August the wife and I were on a Black Sea cruise that took us from Istanbul to Ephesus and ultimately to Athens. While in Ephesus we had a private tour guide, who was Muslim. We spent two days with her, and in the course of getting to know each other it came up quite naturally that we were Christians.
At one point, she mentioned that Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet. She then said, “Well we all worship the same God anyway. Don’t you believe that?” I then explained to her genuine surprise that Christians cannot believe that because Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and the only way to God and that to believe in Him meant to believe He was who He said He was.
As a Christian, you can spend a lot of time studying comparative religions in preparation for sharing the Gospel with non-Christians, but the best apologetic ultimately is Jesus. Most religions have some contention about who Jesus is. Some will say Jesus was a good teacher, others a prophet, some a liar, and apparently one contends He was a pedophile.
This is where Jesus kept the focus during His ministry. After asking Peter who the people were saying He was, Jesus asked Peter the ultimate question, “But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20). It’s the question everyone will ultimately have to answer, and it’s a good question to ask now. GS