Quote Originally Posted by metalman
The fact that there are many other gods is no surprise. The reasoning that because a religion exists therefore it is valid is also flawed. The fact that jungle natives pray to frogs, their ancestors, a tree stump or some god named dagon, baal, or billybob is proof of only one thing...idolatry and false gods exist. This is evidence of the Bible being correct in that the devil has been working hard eveywhere to decieve humans. Those gods have no saving power. Although the names differ with cultures there are commonalities shared by most all those gods. Make no mistake, although many of those names are just varieties of the same false god, virtually none are of the Creator. The foundation of Christianity is that there is but one real living Creator who made the universe and its inhabitants. He does have many different names but dagon, baal, billybob and all the others are not Him. His creatures either acknowledge him or not. Worship of creation instead of the Creator is itself idolotry.
good answer, i actually agree with you partially on this. i never said and i certainly do not believe that every single religion on the planet is valid. the key is to look at them objectively and critically (the Bible actually instructs to do this) to see if they make sense. and when i say objectively, it means that you set aside your biases and notions and look at ALL the FACTS before judging.

the idea of one creator creating the universe, or even the general concept of salvation of the soul, is neither unique or even original to christianity. some of those very same 'jungle natives' believe the same thing, and have been believing it long before hebrews walked the earth or moses decided to write anything down. even the idea/word 'worship' as we understand it is a very loose and probably inaccurate way of describing their respect/reverence for their 'tree stumps' or 'frogs'. it's a LOT more complicated than that...this is the same ignorant attitude that drove the Crusades, the Dark Ages, and even the institution of slavery.

Quote Originally Posted by metalman
In fact if you study carefully there are really only two paths a human being can be on, regardless of their original religion or lack of it. They (we all) are either on the path to eternal life or the highway to eternal death.
I agree 100% on this. but remember, the goal of trodding the path of righteousness is not the destination, but making the journey itself