John 14:6
“I [Jesus] am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
This declaration from Christ is either true or false.
All traditional monotheistic “religions” offer a binary choice: We either agree or disagree with their fundamental assertions—there is no middle ground. For example, Latter Day Saints (Mormons) must believe that Joseph Smith’s rendition of God is true, and all others are false. Muslims must believe that Mohammad’s rendition of God is true, and all others are false. Orthodox Jews must believe that the Old Testament rendition of God is true, and all others are false. Biblical Christians must believe that the Old and New Testament renditions of God, specifically through Jesus Christ, are true, and all others are false.
No room is given for all religions to be true, or even partially true, because each fundamentally contradicts the other. Those who desire a COEXIST mentality can certainly turn to Hinduism, Buddhism, or make up their own. Yet in doing so they must reject the monotheistic religions assertions.
Thus, every human, (religious or not, consciously or not), chooses whether Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, biblical Christianity or any other belief system is true and lives their life accordingly. For example, if someone chooses to live their life based on Darwinian evolution they inevitably choose not to believe in the teachings of Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, or biblical Christianity. This is an inescapable reality.
To avoid appearing to reject the beliefs of others (in a form of live-and-let-live philosophy), there are those who say, “What’s true for you might not be true for me,” Yet that still communicates a choice to accept or reject the other person’s beliefs. For if we believe their religion to be “true” on any level why wouldn’t we accept it for ourselves?
Because fundamentally we don’t believe it’s true!
A person who believes humans evolved from cosmic goo must, by reason of that belief, reject the monotheistic religions noted in this article that teach God created humanity in human form—Adam and Eve. We see this crusade away from such binary choices even now in the rejection of biological science. God forbid (pun intended) we would ever concede to just two biological sexes—male (XY chromosomes) or female (XX chromosomes), even accounting for incredible rare chromosomal anomalies.
So, back to John 14:6.
Jesus declared He is the only way to a relationship with God. This puts biblical Christianity at odds not only with secular humanism but also with other monotheistic religions, and us in a position of deciding whether Jesus was telling the truth. And, as previously noted, whatever we decide about this we live our lives accordingly, which inherently and inescapably means rejecting all other assertions regarding God.
In Pensées (“Thoughts”), collected and published posthumously, 17th century French Mathematician and Philosopher Blaise Pascal introduced this binary choice spoken by Christ in the form of a “wager” (one of four in the writing). Pascal writes:
“‘God is, or He is not.’ But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up…Which will you choose then?” [For those who want to wonk-out on Pascal’s Philosophy, click HERE.]
People steeped in Leftist/Marxist philosophy will reflexively and disparagingly roll their eyes at the mention of Pascal, as they frequently do when George Orwell is cited, yet often without a solid argument against either. Those skilled in debate might appear to have more to offer, yet in this the uncomplicated nature of what Pascal, Orwell, and others declare is frequently dismissed (and muddled) in favor of intellectual verbosity (i.e., sounding smart while avoiding simple, objective reality). They just can’t accept, “Jesus said ‘A’ and we must decide whether ‘A’ is true.”
Known as Pascal’s Wager, Blaise Pascal offered a simple premise regarding the biblical God’s existence:
If the Biblical God exists:
- Believing in and being devoted to Him results in eternal joy.
- Not believing in or being devoted to Him results in eternal misery.
If the Biblical God does NOT exist:
- Believing in and being devoted to Him results in no loss.
- Not believing in or being devoted to Him results in no loss.
Pascal’s main point: Belief in the biblical God carries no negative consequences, while rejection of the biblical God results in a 50/50 chance of spending eternity in misery. He then asks, “Which wager are you going to make?”
Again, objections to Pascal’s Wager are legion (many), and sometimes sound very complicated (e.g., “E” (wager for God) = ∞ × p + f1 × (1−p) = ∞…I’m not kidding). Still, even a deep dive into them reveals a common premise: Reality and truth are subjective, based on each individual’s perception. You might hear, “There must be more options than simply ‘God or no God’!”, “Each person sees God differently, so the options aren’t real!”, or “Maybe there’s more than one God!”
One could reasonably ask, “What if it’s the Mormon or Islamic God rather than the Biblical God that exists? Wouldn’t that create a ‘loss’ for biblical Christians if they remain devoted to the biblical God?” The answer is “Yes,” which reaffirms my point. Pascal’s Wager remains rooted in John 14:6—either Jesus was telling the truth, or He wasn’t. It matters not what we “think” or “perceive,” whether we believe there is or is not a God. And complex mathematical/philosophical formulas intended to refute Pascal’s Wager are distractions from a simple point: Jesus gave us a choice—a binary choice, with which we each must grapple.
And grapple we do, not only as humans in general but even as self-professed “Christians.” If we believe John 14:6 to be true, we must believe the rest of Scripture to be true. Otherwise, we are no different than the “subjective reality” bunch who pick and choose what’s real and what’s not. God’s word is not a buffet in which we are free to pick and choose as we please: “I’ll take some of this, but I don’t like that!” If that were the case, there would be no objective truth, and any declarations such as John 14:6, including anything we deem to be “true,” would be irrelevant. That’s what makes John 14:6 SO important.
So, what’s the point?
Accept the binary choices offered in God’s word and live accordingly. Let’s not pretend to be “Christians” while subscribing to a “That’s not how I interpret it” approach to God’s word (as we are warned against in 2 Peter 1:20-21). If you reject John 14:6 then the entirety of the Bible is, at best, an interesting book of fiction. Either way, grapple we must!
Pondering 