There are many religions in the world, with billions of followers between them.  It is vital that we have a right understanding of what God thinks of each of these faiths, and in what way He calls us to relate to them and their adherents.  Perhaps the first thing to establish is whether other gods exist or whether all the world's religions actually refer to one and the same God.

So we have established that there are other beings that can be "gone after", "served" and "worshipped".  According to the Bible, people also bow down to them, sacrifice to them, burn incense to them, and so on; so they do exist.  The next thing to check is whether these beings are true deities.  If not, then obviously we need to determine what they are, because that will surely influence how we view them and their worshippers.

We can see that, although other beings exist which men call gods, the God of the Bible is "...the only true God..." (John 17:3).  His Name is Jehovah, or the great "I AM" (Exodus 3:14; Psalm 83:18 [both King James (Authorised) Version]).

Who Can Save?

If there is only one God, then logically these other "gods" must be something else.  Before we determine what they are, let us first work out whether they are able to save us from our sins.

The scriptures we’ve studied are unmistakable.  They show that entities exist which people serve in preference to the one (and only) God; and that these other entities cannot save them from Hell.

Who or What Are These "Other Gods"?

People worship a variety of things.  Because God's creation is so awesome, many people wrongly serve aspects of it rather than serving its Creator.  But regardless of where the worship is directed, worship is a spiritual act  and, according to the verses we have seen so far, whenever men worship anything other than the true "Lord God of Israel", they are indeed opening themselves up to spiritual danger.  What then, is the truth behind these other gods?

We can see that the worshippers of these gods are committing idolatry and that this is very wrong.  But what lies behind these idols?  What is it that seduces men to be tempted to worship other 'gods'?

Ultimately, as these verses testify, those who worship any other gods are worshipping devils.

For more proof that other gods are just idols and represent devils, please see Deuteronomy 32:17; Leviticus 17:7; and Psalm 97:7.  We are not questioning that folks can be very sincerely committed to the beliefs and gods of their religion, but the reason they are often so devoted is simply because the devils (also known as false spirits) that lie behind these religions encourage men to worship anything other than the true God.  It pleases the fallen nature to serve false gods, whereas devotion to the true God requires us to fight our fallen nature.

The serving of false gods can result in men receiving such spirits; which is why so many apostates [1] needed to have devils cast out of them in Christ's day - and why Christ warned us that the world will hate His true followers (see John 15:19).  This, in turn, explains the vicious treatment that the early Church received at the hands of pagan Rome - as well as the inhuman acts committed by followers of other religions (including the secular or atheistic religions of the 20th century), and apostate 'Christians' throughout history.

But what of Jesus Christ?  He accepted men's worship, yet neither He nor God the Father made any complaint about this in Scripture.  There can only be one explanation: that Jesus is God.

A key feature of other religions is the idea that Jesus Christ is not truly God.  (Some will call Him 'divine' or will pay lip-service to His Deity, but they all nonetheless repudiate it in one way or another).  By teaching this, these religions undermine His atonement (i.e. His death and resurrection for man's salvation) at a stroke, for if He was not God, then He was born of Adam and was tainted by Adam's sin (in which case He was not the spotless sacrifice demanded by God's law (see Numbers 28:3,9, and 1 Peter 1:19), so His crucifixion cannot have paid the required price for us.  (We look at the gospel in more detail here.)

An added ramification of the weakening, or denying, of the Deity of Christ is to deny God's Word, for the Scriptures say of Jesus:

He appeared to men before His Incarnation (e.g. in Daniel 3:25) and His appearance in Genesis 18 proves that He is Jehovah [3].  We know that religions denying the Deity of Jesus Christ are fatally deceptive, for He said that anyone who did not believe He was Jehovah (the "I Am") would die in their sins (John 8:24, c.f.v58).

Where Do Other Religions Come From?

The previous scriptures give a big clue to this question.  As part of his efforts to "become like God", Satan created a deceptive, counterfeit religion.  This religion had a passing resemblance to the true faith, but was poisonous at its heart.  It appeared to satisfy man's need for spiritual food and for ease of conscience, but actually led to self-worship and thus gave Satan more control over his followers.

This false religion blossomed in Babel where man sought to get to Heaven his own way, i.e. by his own efforts.  Nimrod was the ruler of Babel (also called Babylon and Chaldea – see Genesis 10:9-10 and 11:4-9 plus Isaiah 21:9; Daniel 3:12 and Jeremiah 50:2).  The Babylonian religion has created many children and grandchildren, but each one ultimately stems from it.  That Lucifer is the King of Babylon, and therefore the head of all false religions, is amply stated in Isaiah 14:
 

Apart from Christianity and biblical Judaism, the evidence is that the world’s religions are all derived – directly or indirectly – from Babylon (otherwise known as the “land of the Chaldees”) [5].  Solomon observed that “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, KJV) and when we start to investigate the world’s religions we find this to be so of them. 

For example, most of us will be aware that the gods of Roman mythology were almost identical to those of the Greek religion preceding it, with largely just the names being changed.  Greece derived its gods from Egypt – and Egypt from Babylon.  Hinduism is essentially the ‘Babylonian Mysteries’ in different garb and is itself the basis of many New Age teachings.  So it is with the other world faiths... 

The Wodan of Mexico is the Odin of Scandanavia who is the Adon of Babylon; Vishnu is the Sanscrit form of the Chaldee (i.e. Babylonian) name “Ish-nuh”; Persia was only one of many nations to worship the Chaldean ‘goddess’.  Freemasonry, druids, muftis: all are easily traceable back to Babylon.  Krishna, Zen, Zoroaster, Indra, Kali etc etc: they all originated in Babylon.  (We only have space here for examples, but scholarly, unanswerable evidence is available in Alexander Hislop’s book The Two Babylons.  See also here.) 

Note that each of these religions claims to be the truth and that their adherents often point, for proof of this, to the miracles they witness.  But Scripture, in addition to talking about the “false ways” of other religions, also mentions the false miracles that their master, Lucifer, is able to produce.  These are termed “lying signs and wonders” and Pharaoh’s magicians were a vivid example of pagans who could perform miraculous feats similar to some of those done by God (see Exodus 7:11). 

According to Scripture, Satan can easily cause “false visions” and “false dreams”.  He and his minions can appear to people as angels or other ‘beneficent’ apparitions, or communicate through whatever other medium they like.  They can even engineer ‘coincidences’ that make us think the Lord is directing us.  Furthermore, if Satan can cause sickness and can curse people with demons then he certainly has the power to relieve these things – which is why many false religions can claim healings, deliverances, restored relationships and so on.  (Note: The very fact that idolatrous religions experience supernatural events is evidence that they are satanic rather than merely an invention of man.)

Some Major Religions

Just for the record, let us embark on a safe, whistle-stop tour of a few of the world’s major religions: 

Hinduism

Hinduism erroneously teaches that everyone is part of God.  The gods and goddesses worshipped here are supposedly manifestations of God (but see Genesis 3:5).  As with many other false faiths, Hinduism preaches a Jesus but it is ‘another’ Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4) than the scriptural one – because Hinduism believes Jesus was not God, but only a teacher and guru.  According to Hinduism, His death did not atone for sins and He did not rise from the dead.

Hinduism also promulgates the dangerous teaching of reincarnation (c.f. Hebrews 9:27) and the equally dangerous practice of yoga.  Several of its practices are described and condemned in Deuteronomy 18:9-14 and Romans 1:23&25.  This faith is connected with Transcendental Meditation [6] and, like all false faiths, is just a variation on Babylonianism. 

Buddhism

Buddhism is mostly atheistic.  Many Buddhists do not believe in a God of any kind – but God declares “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).  Buddhists do not believe that people have a soul or spirit.  They do not believe in Heaven or Hell.  Nevertheless, Buddhism possesses many features of the false Babylonian ‘Church’ [7].  To Buddhists, Jesus was merely an enlightened man [8].  The name Buddha has precisely the same meaning as Lucifer.

Buddhism has various offshoot religions including ‘Nichiren Shoshu’ which, like Babylon, teaches that prosperity and healing can come through repeating a phrase or “mantra” (a practice banned in Scripture, see Matthew 6:7), and that fulfilling worldly desires brings enlightenment. 

Islam [9]

Moslems use parts of the Bible but they believe it to have become corrupted (we have seen Christ’s view about this belief however).  Moslems try to persuade Christians that Islam worships the God of the Bible, but a character comparison rapidly shows that theirs is not the same God.  Islam’s God is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but (as evidenced by the preponderance of crescent moon designs within Islamic art) is ‘Allah’, the moon god worshipped in Babylon (see Deuteronomy 4:19; Job 31:26-28; and Romans 1:25).

As with Hinduism, Islam reveres a ‘Jesus’, but it insists he was only a prophet and was definitely not God the Son.  (Islam teaches that God has no need of a Son and that anyone believing otherwise is cursed [10] – while ignoring the fact that man has need of God’s Son.)  Their Jesus was not crucified (according to some Moslems it was actually Judas on the cross).  Their Jesus ascended to Heaven without dying and will return in the future to live and die (but see Hebrews 7:16).

Some Judeo-Christian Features

Many faiths teach a personal god, a triune god, and even a god of “love” but, theirs is an imitation trinity exposed in Revelation 20:10.  (Note that the names of Babylon’s false trinity were Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz; precisely mirrored, for example, in Hinduism’s Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.  Note also that, just as the members of the real Trinity have various names and features, so all of Hinduism’s hundreds of gods are simply different aspects of the three that make up their trinity.  The true identity of the members of the trinity worshipped in the world’s religions is also revealed in Revelation 16:13-14.)  As we have shown, these gods are NOT the God of the Bible, but false ones.

Many faiths teach peace, yet they often permit violence towards those who do not share their beliefs.  For instance, provided it is for the furtherance of Islam, mistreatment of non-Muslims (including murder) is acceptable.  Indeed, Islamic shariah law demands that Muslim men who convert to Christianity be killed.  Many faiths promote righteous living, good conduct, grace, and so on, but this must not fool us.  We have seen from Scripture that these faiths are clever forgeries to deceive mankind.

Outwardly, they often contain some Judeo-Christian features – including a moral code – in order to be even more deceptive.  (Satan does not mind us being moral; he does mind us submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.  Only the latter will get us into Heaven.)  We must not be seduced by high morals within other religions.  These religions are hateful to God and extremely dangerous to man.

It would be wrong to attach any credibility to these unbiblical religions or to sanction them in any way.  Indeed, anyone who denies the true God and denies that Jesus is the Messiah is, according to 1 John 2:22-23, a liar and “anti-Christ”.  Verse 26 reveals that such people are (consciously or otherwise) attempting to delude Christians and cause them to “fall away” from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Hebrews 6:4-6).

Some Major Cults and Sects

Satan also loves to counterfeit the true so as to hoodwink those who are seeking the truth.  We have already noted that the world’s other religions borrow from the true faith in that they have varying degrees of Judeo-Christian flavouring to help them appear to be rooted in truth rather than error.  Here we will have a quick look at a few of the pseudo-Christian cults that also plainly stem from Babylon (remembering that any religion undermining the written Word is inescapably false) [11]. 

Mormonism

Mormonism uses the Bible but only alongside ‘inspired corrections’ and other ‘inspired’ books.  As in Babylon, it teaches that God the Father was originally a man but became God.  According to Mormonism, God the Father has a physical body, as does his wife; and there is no Trinity, but instead separate gods.

The Jesus of Mormonism was married, and his sacrifice does not provide full atonement.  According to Mormons, the Holy Spirit is a fluid-like substance by which the Father exercises his influence.  They also teach that we are saved (and made gods) by works including Mormon Baptism and other rituals.  They claim that there is no eternal life without Mormon membership.  (The number of Babylonian elements overtly present in Mormonism is very substantial and includes: belief in baptism for the dead, oaths of secrecy, and ‘celestial marriages’.) 

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses (‘JW’s) use a Bible version that removes or obscures many scriptures supporting the Deity of Christ.  To JWs there is no Trinity and Jesus is not God but is a created being who died on a stake (not a cross).  They also do not believe He is coming again, but that He returned invisibly in 1914 and that, very soon, He and the angels will destroy all non-JWs [12].  (As people advance as JWs they are told that Jesus was really the archangel Michael – but see Hebrews 1!  This is a very New Age teaching.) 

As in Babylon, JWs preach a works-based salvation.  Full salvation, in Heaven, is supposedly limited to 144,000 JWs.  This number has already been reached.  According to JW teaching, the rest of the righteous, who mainly earn their salvation by ‘door-to-door’ work, will live on the earth and must obey God perfectly for one thousand years or be annihilated.

Christian Science

Christian Science uses the Bible but teaches that it is not as reliable as the writings of its founder, Mary Baker Eddy.  It teaches that God is an impersonal Principle of life, truth, love, intelligence and spirit and also that God is all that truly exists – i.e. matter is an illusion.  Christian Scientists (so-called) hold that Jesus was not the Christ but displayed the “Christ idea”.  Just as in Babylon, the Son is demoted.  They teach that Jesus was not God and that God can never become man or flesh.  Jesus did not, and could not, suffer for sins in their eyes.  According to them, Jesus did not die on the cross, was not resurrected physically and will not literally return.

The Holy Spirit is defined simply as being the teaching of Christian Science; i.e. just an impersonal power.  They further teach that Humanity is already eternally saved, because sin, evil, sickness and death are not real; and besides, Heaven and Hell are just states of mind, and the way to reach “Heaven” is by attaining harmony (oneness with God) – just as in Babylon’s religion.

(Please note that many other individuals and ‘ministries’ around the globe have adopted false beliefs from Christian Science.  Because these people call themselves “Christians” but are not, they give Christ and His true followers an extremely bad name.  They need to be recognized for the deceivers they are.)

Unitarians

As their name suggests, Unitarians do not believe in the Trinity of the God-head.  Instead they teach “divine unity” or the “oneness of God”.  Some Unitarians hold that God is not a person at all but a Principle, while others see Him as a created being.  To them all, though, Jesus is not God or Saviour; he was merely a good man, the scriptures are not the inspired Word of God but are the invention of men, and man’s reason and conscience is his final authority.

As ‘Universalists’, Unitarians believe that everyone will ultimately be saved and that there is no Hell.  Salvation, to them, comes through “character development” or good deeds and education – just as in Babylon.  Unitarianism esteems the teachings of all religions and argues for a World Religion – more Babylonianism.  (We should observe here that a Unitarian was on the board of translators for one of the most popular modern versions of the Bible.  It is worth knowing how one’s Bible version came into being [13].)

Another Jesus 

Again, according to God’s measure, these faiths are false because they do not adhere fully to Scripture nor teach the Scriptural truth about His Son.  (The Christadelphians are another group denying His Deity.)  Many followers of these cults would claim to “love Jesus” but they are talking about another Jesus.  For these reasons we should understand that, however subtle these beliefs might be, or whatever “elements” of “truth” they may offer, they are from the same source as the world’s other false religions.

Simply put, if someone perceives God to be anything other than the God described in the Bible, then they are not worshipping the God of the Bible but another “god” – an idol that cannot save (demons will happily transform themselves into whatever ‘god’ a person wants or expects; see 2 Cor. 11:13-15), and the Lord is unequivocal in His condemnation of all idolatry.
 

Have They Rejected the Light?

Any non-Christians who care to investigate the root of their faith will discover that it leads back to Babylon.  They can also know from history that the God of Israel is the true God - from the way He has miraculously and faithfully dealt with His People:
 

But men have rejected Israel instead of humbling themselves and learning of her God.

Is There Any Agreement?

Despite all of the above, the Roman Catholic Church says:
 

This statement offers points that certainly appeal but which do not appear to line up with the scriptures we have seen above.  Does God really "respect the ... religious beliefs" of pagans?  Does God think there are "elements of truth" in false religions, or that these Babylonian deceptions offer light - albeit not the "full" light?  In truth He calls their practices and beliefs "abominations".  Rome's statement did not explain in what way these idolatrous religions possess "goodness and truth" but, according to the Bible, only God is truly good (see Luke 18:19).  God has nothing to do with any religion which refuses to adhere to His commandments.  As we have already seen, these religions reject "the Truth" that is Christ, and His Father therefore rejects them.

Revelation 9:20-21 gives an important warning about false religion.  It says that, despite God's coming judgment, they
 

Rome says that we should learn about these religions.  But why is no account taken of the dangerous snare that “learning their works” can represent?  Consider these two warning passages:
 

Paul told us to "flee from idolatry" (1 Corinthians 10:13-14), rather than respect or investigate it.  Our initial quote from Rome's Vatican II Council continues:
 

The fact is that there can be nothing biblically holy about a religion which opposes the Bible.  And does God really call us to draw “closer together” and have “ties” and a “relationship” with non-Christian religions?…
 

The Lord warns again and again that false religions, although tempting because they teach that man can earn his salvation, are deliberately deceptive and must therefore be steered clear from.  But Rome seems to disagree:
 

To exhort “collaboration” seems unwise because Scripture commands precisely the opposite – i.e. that it is repentance which “should be preached in His Name among all nations” (Luke 24:47).  See also Acts 17:30 and 2 Peter 3:9.  Does our Heavenly Father say that anyone who worships another god has “spiritual good”?  Did Christ “dialogue” with unbelievers who worshipped other gods?  Or rather, did He confront them, as graciously as possible, with the undiluted truth that their works and “moral goods” are never going to help them but merely serve Satan’s ends.  There is surely no scope for dialogue; the gospel of Christ is non-negotiable.  Rome currently goes on to say:
 

Again, this does not appear to reflect God’s written Word accurately.  After all, even satanists adore one ‘god’ and ‘strive to submit whole-heartedly to his decrees’.  This is not the test.  Islam’s position on God’s Word and God’s Son prove it is a satanic deception.  It doesn’t matter what a religion teaches about ethics or lifestyle or anything else; if it is unbiblical then it is, by definition, false.

Bearing in mind all the material above, and how God must feel about these 'faiths' which are leading so many men and women, for whom His Son died, straight to hell, we repeat our question: does He respect the beliefs of false religions?  The scripture references we have been examining all state irrefutably that the Lord detests false religions.  God's Word plainly says:
 

We are very aware that some readers will be very offended by what we are saying, or think us ‘negative’ for pointing out such concerns.  A small analogy given us by a friend once may help here.  Whenever soldiers have to navigate a minefield, they need colleagues to help warn them of danger areas.  From one perspective it may seem ‘negative’ to hear specific advice about problems, but wise troops in the minefield appreciate it as a vital help.  It is with this motivation that we note areas of potential concern.

Truth and Error

While Satan is capable of – and does – add ‘truth’ to error to serve his diabolical purposes, the Lord Jesus condemned the entire mixture.  Truth mixed with error does not equal anything other than error in God's eyes.  An obvious example is the temptation in the wilderness where Satan accurately quoted Scripture and made other ‘true’ statements (see Matthew 4:1-11).  Christ did not say “You have some good points there”.  He saw through the deceit and rejected it all.  Compare also God’s words to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 with Satan’s ‘adaptation’ in Genesis 3:1-5 [19].

Does Satan Have Some Truth?

Just because Satan knows Scripture and quotes it, does that really mean he has some truth?  Not according to Christ:
 

Truth is not something which can be divided up into parts or components; pick-n-mix is not an option when dealing with truth.  It can only ever be whole or complete; because truth is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ - who is perfect.  The Lord Jesus Christ said very categorically: “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6a).  Note that He did not say He was 'all' of the truth or even the ‘perfect’, ‘complete’ or ‘whole’ truth.  He is simply The Truth.  We cannot have 'some' of the Lord Jesus; thus it is not possible to have 'some' of the truth.  When the truth is compromised such that the true Messiah is not taught then there is no truth (Hosea 4:1).

Another analogy may be useful here to illustrate the danger of false religions.  Consider two cups filled with an attractive-looking brew.  One indeed contains fresh, green tea, and would be very good to drink.  The other cup has been introduced by an enemy.  It holds a liquid with a similar colour and the same smell, at the same temperature and consistency – but is poisonous.  Even though the second cup contains a lot of ‘truth’, it would be reckless not to tell a thirsty man the real nature of it.  Some of the ingredients may well be completely harmless, but the poison means we cannot afford to value the mixture at all.

Neither can we say, as Rome does, that other religions "often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men".  Though John 1 tells us Christ “lighteth every man that cometh into the world”, he is not saying there is light in the world’s religions.  Nor does it mean that people do not close their eyes to (or snuff out) the light they have been given (Acts 26:17-18; Romans 1:21-25).  In fact, if a person does not come to the light on offer then they are under the “power of darkness” (Colossians 1:13).  The following Scripture demonstrates that people can have no light:

John himself writes that if we don’t follow Christ Jesus and abide in Him then we “abide in darkness” (John 12:46; see also John 12:35 & 8:12 plus Ephesians 5:8,17).  We noted earlier that other faiths do not teach that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way; they do not speak according to the written Word of God and therefore there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:20); thus they are in total darkness.

On the basis of all this, it is clearly important that Rome does not suggest that the world’s religions are merely lacking "the full light" – otherwise it would have the effect of furthering the clever delusion Satan uses these religions to propagate.  God has judged these religions as being “of devils” – and He has not allowed us the option of modifying His Word to accommodate them.

Here is a little analogy: Our sun radiates light all around, making light available to the surface of the whole world; but if someone does not like the light and hides away from it then that person will be devoid of light.  The world’s false religions have done just this.

We must realize that Satan is a master deceiver who has even managed somehow to fool other angels, let alone many men.  As Revelation states:
 

Contrary to Rome's pronouncement, all false religion is detestable to God.  He made it painfully clear to Israel that if any non-Israelite accepted the one true God, they were to repudiate utterly their past gods, along with all associated practices:

They were to cleave only to the commandments, and people, of Israel.  See Ruth 2 for a beautiful example of this.  (Later in this article we demonstrate, in a dozen different ways, how Paul maintained the same stance towards false religions that we have offered here - even when he went to the Areopagus.)

"Dialogue and Collaboration"

God's Word notwithstanding, Rome insists we engage in "dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions".  Consider this data:

But why seek to legitimize ‘Buddhist thought’ among Christians?  Do the scripture references we have seen above suggest other religions have spiritual truths that we are missing?  Would God really leave some vital knowledge in the hands of pagans?  No.  All vital truths are in the hands of the (true) Church (1 Timothy 3:15).  While truth can certainly be gleaned from other sources, the test of its truthfulness is whether or not it agrees with holy writ.  The Bible stands alone and has demonstrated itself to be the truth [yet to be uploaded] - despite all the attacks upon it devised by both Satan and by men.  The Bible is complete.

Through it, God has made known "all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).  The Bible has all that is needed for men to be perfect:

We are not to associate with other religions for the sake of gaining extrabiblical truth, because they have none: "Learn not the way of the heathen" (Jeremiah 10:2a).  Yet:

Although other groups share Rome’s views, she has been at the forefront of mixing with other religions for a very long time.  It is primarily she who is encouraging these other groups to follow suit.  For example, it is her influence on the Church of England (through people like Cardinal Newman) which has injected Rome’s attitudes into it.  It is Rome who is at the head of interfaith developments. 

We understand there may be some readers who are upset at our questioning Roman Catholic teaching on this issue.  There are those who believe it is ‘uncaring’ ever to challenge, but believers need to be mature and not put themselves above correction.  Nor should they see it as automatically uncaring: Paul’s criticism of the Corinthians, e.g. in 2 Corinthians 7:8-12, was a demonstration of his care.  We care deeply for the welfare of every Catholic.

It is worth noting here that John Paul II also said that all religions would worship together.
 

In the ‘light’ of this, one wonders why Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (see Daniel 3) preferred to be burned alive rather than bow down to the image that the King of Babylon had set up.  They should apparently have instead been urging their friends to join in with this unifying, mono-theistic religious ceremony.  (Note, though, the spectacular evangelistic effect that resulted from their uncompromising faithfulness to the true God.)

Elliot Miller and Wendy Howard respectively make very good points in the following analyses:
 

Note that Cardinal Arinze is no wayward ‘loose cannon’ in Rome.  At one point, he had been widely tipped as one of the frontrunners for the papacy.
 

Please note the reference here to Shiva as “Lord of the Dance”.  Contrary to popular belief, the song of this title often sung in children’s schools and believed to be about the Lord Jesus, is nothing of the sort; nowhere in Scripture is the Lord called this.  Instead: “I discovered the god Shiva was also called Bhudapati, ‘Prince of demons’, a Biblical description for Beelzebub or Satan” [28].

Knowing God

An argument often used to encourage Christians into associating with interfaith groups is that ‘no-one can know God’ (and thus we may all simply be worshipping different aspects of, or giving different names to, the same being).  The Christian response is that we can know a lot about our God through what His own Word says about Him – which is a great deal.

As we have seen, Scripture also says more than enough to know that unbiblical religions are not worshipping God.  It is true that we will not know everything about God until we go to be with Him, but the Bible tells us all we need to know during our time on earth.  If we know Christ Jesus in our lives then, according to the scriptures, we do know the Father – else we do not know Him (John 14:7; 1 John 5:20).  If the Holy Spirit dwells in us then we know God, otherwise we do not (John 14:17).  In other words, it is only non-Christians who ‘do not know’ God:

Jesus made plain that only those who follow Him will ever know the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 14:8-21).  Some try to teach that, because we “see through a glass, darkly”, we cannot be sure that another religion is false.  Such people are not only ignoring the message of the rest of the Bible, but they are also hiding the context of this statement.  These words do not refer to the Christian faith – how else could Scripture say “stand fast in the faith”?  They refer to the extent to which we know God Himself while we are on the earth:

The unpalatable fact is that other religions are designed to ensnare people – and Satan has a great many centuries in which to perfect his art.  That is why the Bible commands the People of God to avoid involvement in any other ‘faiths’.

Take Heed

Despite Rome’s preparedness to condone, and even be involved in, the worship of other gods, we have already noted that such activity is completely banned by the Lord.  As Christ said, when tempted by Satan to fall down and worship him:
 

It is never safe to disobey God, but it is especially dangerous to be involved in the worship of other gods.  We cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
 

This Scripture confirms (a) that there are other “gods”, (b) that the Lord destroyed nations who walked after them, and (c) how serious it is for us to turn away from the Lord.  Elsewhere, God actually calls this adultery against Him.
 

For other clear, unmistakable, descriptions of God’s uncompromising position, see Leviticus 18:24-30 or Deuteronomy 29:10-29.

Is It OK to Worship Our God at Their Ceremonies?

Paul asked this question, rhetorically, of the Corinthians, many of whom had themselves come out of pagan beliefs and practices.  Rome's Cardinal Cooke seems to think there is much agreement.  At a Catholic conference:
 

But Paul did not think there was agreement:
 

A recurring reason for keeping a distance from those who hold to other faiths is, as we have seen, the danger of gradual, but fatal, deception:

In contrast, God is a God who hates lies and cares passionately for truth:
 

The 'bottom line' over this is that:
 

Approaching God in any other way than that which He has ordained is extremely dangerous, as Nadab and Abihu discovered:
 

Uzza also found this truth out too late (see 1 Chronicles 13 and 15), as did the Church members referred to by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-30.

The 'Modern' View

At last we come to Paul’s speech at Mars Hill, recorded in Acts 17:18-34.  Many folks today claim that Paul honoured the Athenians’ religion and merely had to bring them the “full light”.  They assert that Paul endorsed the faith of these people and simply needed to redirect them to the ‘more complete’ truth, e.g. by giving a biblical name to their god. 

This is certainly easier than having to stand up and, as led by God, denounce a false religion and trust God’s Spirit to witness to the truth and to convict the hearers.  But such people apparently fail to notice the following facts about the events in Athens:

• Paul recognized that the Athenians were “wholly given to idolatry” (v16).  Rome may have “sincere respect”, but Paul seems to have had little – if any.  He will have loved the Athenians, but that is very different;

• Paul was encountered by these heathens while he was preaching in the market (v17) – he was avoiding their Temple, not seeking it out!;

• Paul did not initiate the visit; the Athenians “brought him” to the Areopagus (v19);

• They asked him about “this new doctrine” (vv19-20) – Paul was not involving himself in their worship, nor was he speaking of his own volition;

• He immediately confronted them and said “in all things ... ye are too superstitious” (v22).  In other words, however gracefully he spoke to these people, he didn’t “affirm” them or show respect for their “faith”;

• He only happened upon their inscription to the “unknown god” by providence (v23) – Paul hadn’t deliberately sought to “learn their ways”.  Despite his special ministry and his remarkably close and mature walk with the Lord, he still kept himself at arm’s length from deception;

• Paul was not putting a Christian slant on a god that the Athenians already knew – he was revealing a God that was, indeed, “unknown” to them. (Ecumenism, in contrast, ‘Christianizes’ known gods – ones that are already served.  You cannot serve a god unknown to you.)  There is no evidence that Paul showed the slightest regard for the gods that the Athenians knew;

• He vehemently refuted their ideas, e.g. that God dwelt in a man-made temple (v24), or could be worshipped with men’s hands, i.e. “as though He needed anything” – see v25;

• Paul quoted one of their poets (not one of their priests) but this was to illustrate the inconsistency of their beliefs and to highlight the fact that their religion did not worship the God of the Bible.  He did not sanction their spiritual leaders;

• He made clear that God “commandeth all men every where to repent” (v30) – i.e. not to rename their ‘gods’ and ‘correct their understanding’;

• Paul did not ask for their views or for a debate or a ‘dialogue’ with them.  He listened to God rather than the pagan ideas of his hearers.  The pattern throughout Scripture is to preach the gospel;

• He went on to warn them that a day of judgment was on its way (v31).

Paul's own writings confirm that there is NO scope for 'Christianizing' heathen gods (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

But what about Peter - the apostle alleged by Rome to have been the first 'pope', and thus surely one to be looked upon by Rome as a worthy example to follow?  The truth is, he joined Paul in condemning in no uncertain terms false faiths and beliefs as "abominable idolatries" (1 Peter 4:3) and "damnable heresies" (2 Peter 2:1.  See also the whole chapter).  We are not to "respect" the beliefs of non-Christian religions, or "promote" their views by attending their places of worship, or deepen our "relationship" with them by participating in their ceremonies and joining in their activities.  We are instead to show them, gently and patiently, why they have accepted a lethal counterfeit.

Let us conclude with what Paul - who was, after all, the apostle of the Gentiles - had to say to the believers in Rome, in a passage that beautifully sums up all the things we have touched on in this article:

Endnotes

Elizabeth McDonald
February 2013

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