Evidence God does not want all people to have the same religion

[Messianic Israelite]

I did not say that God changes, God is unchanging. However humans do change over time and the world we live in also changes over time, so what God wants for humans (God’s Will) changes over time. That is why I said:

“What God wants for humans now is not in the Bible. The Bible represents what God wanted for humans thousands of years ago, not what God wants for humans now or in the future.”

Moreover, the Word of God stands forever, because it came from God and it is the record of what God revealed, but that does not mean that everything in the Bible still applies to people living in the present age.

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

That was written and applied only to when Christianity was the narrow gate that led to life, when there were very few Christians in the first centuries, but Christianity is no longer the narrow road that leads to life because about 30% of the world population is now Christians. Given that Christianity is the largest religion in the world, Christianity is now the broad road.

I believe that just as Christianity was the small gate and the narrow road that led to eternal life in the first centuries when there were few Christians, the Baha'i Faith is now the small gate and the narrow road that leads to eternal life in this age. The Baha’i Faith and is the narrow gate because only a few people recognize God’s new religion in the beginning and enter through that gate.

I believe that in every new age, the religion at the narrow gate is the new religion God wants us to find and follow, and it is the gate that leads to eternal life. But it is not that easy for most people to find this gate because most people are steeped in religious tradition or attached to what they already believe. If they do not have a religion, most people are suspicious of the new religion and the new messenger. If they are atheists they do not like the idea of messengers of God or they think they are all phonies.

Jesus told us to enter through the narrow gate, the gate that leads to eternal life, and He said few people would find that gate... It is narrow, so it is difficult to get through... It is difficult to get through because one has to be willing to give up all their preconceived ideas, have an open mind, and think for themselves. Most people do not normally embark upon such a journey. They go through the wide gate, the easy one to get through – their own religious tradition or their own preconceived ideas about God or no god. They follow that broad road that is easiest for them to travel.

I believe that everlasting life now comes through Baha’u’llah:

“The Book of God is wide open, and His Word is summoning mankind unto Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 183

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I believe that when Jesus said that it was true, and it remained true during the Christian dispensation.

Dispensation

1. the divine ordering of the affairs of the world.
2. an appointment, arrangement, or favor, as by God.
3. a divinely appointed order or age:

e.g. the old Mosaic, or Jewish, dispensation; the new gospel, or Christian, dispensation.

Definition of dispensation | Dictionary.com

According to my beliefs by an arrangement of God the divine ordering of the affairs of the world is only according to one religion at a time. Thus each religion only applies to the age (dispensation) in which it is revealed.

Once a Manifestation of God has completed His Mission on earth, what He revealed is pertinent only until the next Messenger of God appears. Moreover, every time God sends a new Messenger, His Revelation abrogates all the Revelations that came before it and the divine ordering of the affairs of the world is according to the religion that He establishes.

I believe that the divine ordering of the affairs of the world is through the latest Manifestation of God and I believe that Manifestation is Baha'u'llah.

I believe that Baha’u’llah is the Manifestation of God for the present dispensation so He is the way to the Father.

“This is the Day when the loved ones of God should keep their eyes directed towards His Manifestation, and fasten them upon whatsoever that Manifestation may be pleased to reveal. Certain traditions of bygone ages rest on no foundations whatever, while the notions entertained by past generations, and which they have recorded in their books, have, for the most part, been influenced by the desires of a corrupt inclination.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 171

I am not God so I cannot say it there are other ways to get into the Kingdom of God, but I believe that the way God wants everyone to enter it in this age is through Baha’u’llah.

Hi Trailblazer. Good afternoon. Thank you for elucidating. You have said and agreed that Yahweh is unchanging, yet because humans and the world changes over time, so you have said Yahweh's will changes over time. Why would Yahweh's will change if He does not change? He still wants all to keep His commandments in the Bible. That has never changed. You limit Yahweh's power. If you've ever read the Bible, you'll see that Yahweh has foreseen all the changes that this world will go through to the very last moments of the age of man. That's why the Bible contains prophesies regarding the future all the way to the return of Yahshua the Messiah and beyond. I remember reading about the King Josiah, how he was prophesied to come and destroy the high places of Baal and burn the bones of those wicked people upon the altar (1 Kings 13:2) many years before he was even born. The Bible is a book that is everlasting. As I quoted from Isaiah 40 saying the Word will remain forever, that means it can indeed be applied to every age.

If the Word is forever, then it should apply to every age. The world is different to how it was thousands of years ago, but the same fundamentals are still there. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that there is no new thing under the sun. Yahweh foresaw the changes in this world and His Word still remains just as active now (Hebrews 4:12) than it did back then. This world needs the Word of Yahweh more than ever as it degenerates in to licentiousness and sin.

I agree that Chr-stianity is one of those broad roads, partly to the reasons you say (they are one of the largest religions) but they're large because to make the message palatable for as much people as possible, they have rejected the Law of Yahweh, the Name of Yahweh and His Son Yahshua, despite the scriptures in nearly every book of the Bible calling for us to use His Name and to keep the Law.

I do not believe everlasting life comes through Baha’u’llah. Matter of fact, it was Yahshua our Messiah that said to beware of false prophets (Matthew 24:11) who will arise and lead many astray. We have everything we need for salvation in the Bible. Many of the teachings espoused by your faith are not compatible with the Bible. Baháʼu'lláh was in my opinion a false prophet. We have Yahshua. He was the Son of Yahweh and a perfect and upright individual. There is no-one that will exist or has existed that was more righteous than he. And he said he would be with us to the end of the age: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

 

[Pete in Panama]

Because I think it is common sense

That's fair & I can respect that. Of course let's keep in mind the fact that "commone sense" is like "common law marriage". They both have the word "common" & they're both pretty rare & hard to come by.

My personal take is that God never tells me what he wants, tho I suppose He could if he decided to --but the thing about multi-religions is that this was our idea not His & we're doing what we think we need to do. So God created us w/ free will, he's all-seeing & knows what the future is so ur right.

I don't have to like it tho...

 

[Deeje]

Evidence in the Bible that many religions leads to the one God. Evidence that christianity is not the only way to God:

God is love, whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him, 1 John 4:16

To whom was John speaking in that verse? Only to those who worshipped the true God. According to Jesus, his Father was “the only true God” (John 17:3) and he did not include himself in that description.....and he said that if we want everlasting life, then we had to get to know his Father and the one he sent forth as their Savior.

Making God into someone acceptable to “us” is why we have so many fragmented approaches as to who God is. Many have created their own version of God without letting Him speak for himself. Anyone can take verses out of context and make them fit into their own version of God......but that doesn’t make him into what we want him to be.

Look at the laws that God gave Israel, especially the 10 Commandments and you will see clearly who he is and what he wants and expects from his human children.

Exodus 20:2-17
“2 “I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must not have any other gods besides me.

4 “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them nor be enticed to serve them, for I, Jehovah your God, am a God who requires exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing loyal love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave unpunished the one who takes up His name in a worthless way.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it sacred. 9 You are to labor and do all your work for six days, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You must not do any work, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your slave man nor your slave girl nor your domestic animal nor your foreign resident who is inside your settlements. 11 For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and he began to rest on the seventh day. That is why Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you.

13 “You must not murder.

14 “You must not commit adultery.

15 “You must not steal.

16 “You must not testify falsely when you are a witness against your fellow man.

17 “You must not desire your fellow man’s house. You must not desire your fellow man’s wife nor his slave man nor his slave girl nor his bull nor his donkey nor anything that belongs to your fellow man.”

What do you see as the first and most important commandment there? Now, how can you think that Jehovah could possibly tolerate the worship of other gods when in actual fact they are non-existent. Jesus said there is only one “true God”, which makes all the others, false gods.

None of God’s laws were negotiable....but they were only binding on God’s worshippers....his chosen nation, Israel. He did not impose them on other nations unless a person of another nation wanted to become a worshipper of Jehovah. In that case a person had to learn what God required of them, and to come into his nation and be treated as a “brother”.....but unless a person was born Jewish, they were never considered “Jewish”. Despite that fact, God welcomed ‘foreigners’ into his spiritual family....but only on his terms.

God’s laws to Israel were clear.....there could not be any other gods worshipped and any who formerly worshipped other gods were to put away all vestiges of their former worship and all mention of other gods.....and follow Jehovah’s laws exclusively.

 

[Trailblazer]

What do you see as the first and most important commandment there? Now, how can you think that Jehovah could possibly tolerate the worship of other gods when in actual fact they are non-existent. Jesus said there is only one “true God”, which makes all the others, false gods.

The context of those verses is that there should be no idol worship because there is only one true God. (Exodus 20:1-5)

It is true that there is only one true God which means all other gods or things that people worship are false.

Moses heard the voice of the one true God and passed that message to the Israelites.

Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

After that Jesus revealed the one true God, and Jesus said it is life eternal to know the one true God.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Now, in this new religious cycle the Bab revealed the one true God once again:

"Verily, the One True God beareth Me witness that in this Day I am the true mystic Fane of God, and the Essence of all good. He who doeth good unto Me, it is as if he doeth good unto God, His angels and the entire company of His loved ones. He who doeth evil unto Me, it is as if he doeth evil unto God and His chosen ones." Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 15

The Bab made it clear that there is only One true God that has existed throughout all eternity.

"THROUGHOUT eternity Thou hast been, O my Lord, and wilt ever remain the One true God, while all else save Thee are needy and poor." Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p. 194

Nine years later, Baha'u'llah declared that His Revelation was the Ocean out of which all former seas have proceeded.

“O people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which all seas have proceeded, and with which every one of them will ultimately be united. From Him all the Suns have been generated, and unto Him they will all return. Through His potency the Trees of Divine Revelation have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent down in the form of a Prophet, bearing a Message to God’s.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 104

My point is that Jews and Christians do not own the one true God. God reveals Himself in every age and God is not the private property of any religion.

 

[Trailblazer]

Hi Trailblazer. Good afternoon. Thank you for elucidating. You have said and agreed that Yahweh is unchanging, yet because humans and the world changes over time, so you have said Yahweh's will changes over time. Why would Yahweh's will change if He does not change? He still wants all to keep His commandments in the Bible. That has never changed.

By God’s will, I meant what God wants for humans as it is revealed through the Messengers of God. God’s will has never changed because God is omniscient so God has always known what He wanted for humans, but god did not reveal that until the time was right… Humanity was not ready to hear everything Jesus had to say 2,000 years ago and that is why Jesus said:

John 16:12-13 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

I agree that God still wants us to keep certain commandments in the Bible as some commandments are eternal so they never change, although the same commandments have been reiterated since the Bible was written, restated in a language that was understandable for people living in subsequent ages. Also, God has revealed additional commandments since the Bible was written, commandments that humanity was not ready to hear when the Bible was written.

You limit Yahweh's power. If you've ever read the Bible, you'll see that Yahweh has foreseen all the changes that this world will go through to the very last moments of the age of man. That's why the Bible contains prophesies regarding the future all the way to the return of Yahshua the Messiah and beyond.

This is not related to God’s power, it is related to what humanity was ready to hear by way of scriptures. Of course God foresaw everything that would happen in this world from beginning to end, and that represents God’s Purpose for humanity. God knows everything that will ever happen to humanity because God is omniscient, but everything that will ever happen to humanity is not in the Bible because the Bible only prophesies what will happen through the end of the Messianic Age, which is not the final stage of human existence.

The second coming (return) of the same man Jesus that walked the earth 2,000 years ago was never prophesied in the Bible; not in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. One reason Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah is because Jesus did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies at His first coming, and that is not going to happen in the future. Not only dod Jesus say that His work was finished on earth and He was no more in the world and His kingdom was not of this world (John 14:19, John 17:11, John 17:4, John 19:30, John 18:36, John 18:37) there is not one since verse in the New Testament wherein Jesus said He was going to return to earth, and that’s because Jesus never planned to return to earth.

If the Word is forever, then it should apply to every age. The world is different to how it was thousands of years ago, but the same fundamentals are still there. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that there is no new thing under the sun. Yahweh foresaw the changes in this world and His Word still remains just as active now (Hebrews 4:12) than it did back then. This world needs the Word of Yahweh more than ever as it degenerates in to licentiousness and sin.

The fundamentals of the Word still apply, what I refer to as the eternal spiritual verities, because spiritual truth is eternal and it will never be abrogated; it is faith, knowledge, certitude, justice, piety, righteousness, trustworthiness, love God, love your neighbor, benevolence, purity, detachment, humility, meekness, patience and constancy.

However, I believe that these spiritual truths are renewed in every age because the human virtues disappear and only the form of religion subsists.

“These divine qualities, these eternal commandments, will never be abolished; nay, they will last and remain established for ever and ever. These virtues of humanity will be renewed in each of the different cycles; for at the end of every cycle the spiritual Law of God—that is to say, the human virtues—disappears, and only the form subsists.” Some Answered Questions, p. 47

Whenever I say I believe that religion has to change in every new age to suit the times I am referring to two things:

(1) The primary message God reveals in every age which is correlated to the mission of the Prophet/Messenger.

Jesus focused on a high standard of morality and discipline into man, as the fundamental unit in human society. Muhammad focused on nation building, and Baha’u’llah focused on world unity and the oneness of mankind.

2) The social teachings and laws that pertain to the material world.

The second part of the religion refers to material things and it is different in each religion. It changes in each prophetic cycle to accommodate the needs of the times.

“The second part of the Religion of God, which refers to the material world, and which comprises fasting, prayer, forms of worship, marriage and divorce, the abolition of slavery, legal processes, transactions, indemnities for murder, violence, theft and injuries—this part of the Law of God, which refers to material things, is modified and altered in each prophetic cycle in accordance with the necessities of the times.” Some Answered Questions, p. 48

I agree that Chr-stianity is one of those broad roads, partly to the reasons you say (they are one of the largest religions) but they're large because to make the message palatable for as much people as possible, they have rejected the Law of Yahweh, the Name of Yahweh and His Son Yahshua, despite the scriptures in nearly every book of the Bible calling for us to use His Name and to keep the Law.

I do not believe everlasting life comes through Baha’u’llah. Matter of fact, it was Yahshua our Messiah that said to beware of false prophets (Matthew 24:11) who will arise and lead many astray.

Everlasting life did come through Jesus during His dispensation, but I believe that everlasting life is now conferred through Baha’u’llah. What Jesus once said, Baha’u’llah reiterated.

“O My servants! Whoso hath tasted of this Fountain hath attained unto everlasting Life, and whoso hath refused to drink therefrom is even as the dead.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.169

“No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation.” Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 183

You are free to believe whatever you want to believe. Of course Jesus warned that there would be many false prophets and that is because many false prophets have come.

List of people claimed to be Jesus - Wikipedia

But Jesus never said that no true prophet would ever come and in fact he implied that there would be true prophets (Matthew 7:16-20)

We have everything we need for salvation in the Bible.

Jesus conferred individual salvation but now the world needs more than that and that is why Baha’u’llah came. I consider the Christian belief that personal salvation is all that matters to be selfish.

Many of the teachings espoused by your faith are not compatible with the Bible. Baháʼu'lláh was in my opinion a false prophet. We have Yahshua. He was the Son of Yahweh and a perfect and upright individual. There is no-one that will exist or has existed that was more righteous than he. And he said he would be with us to the end of the age: "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

Believe whatever you want to believe, it will not make your belief true. With Christians it I always about Jesus and Jesus is always better than anyone else who ever existed. Baha’is do not say that about Baha’u’llah or any of the other Manifestations of God. Rather, we believe they are all equal in standing although Jesus and Bahaullah had a greater mission and more perfections than any other Manifestations of God.

“Know that the attributes of perfection, the splendor of the divine bounties, and the lights of inspiration are visible and evident in all the Holy Manifestations; but the glorious Word of God, Christ, and the Greatest Name, Bahá’u’lláh, are manifestations and evidences which are beyond imagination, for They possess all the perfections of the former Manifestations; and more than that, They possess some perfections which make the other Manifestations dependent upon Them. So all the Prophets of Israel were centers of inspiration; Christ also was a receiver of inspiration, but what a difference between the inspiration of the Word of God and the revelations of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elijah!” Some Answered Questions, pp. 149-150

It is clear what Baha’u’llah believed about Jesus from how He glorified Jesus as the Son of Man in this passage:
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 85-86

There is no way to meet Christians halfway since they believe that they have the only truth from God and Jesus is the only way to God. I guess they do not realize how that sounds to people who have different beliefs or they don’t care. Needless to say there is no place for any conversation to go when people cannot see it any other way except one way.

Good night and have a nice life.

 

[Truthseeker]

That was written and applied only to when Christianity was the narrow gate that led to life, when there were very few Christians in the first centuries, but Christianity is no longer the narrow road that leads to life because about 30% of the world population is now Christians. Given that Christianity is the largest religion in the world, Christianity is now the broad road.

Interesting take, but I have another. The people of any religion are not monolithic, so isn't it possible that only a few of that religion achieve that narrow gate? Perhaps that's not well said. How about this, at any time in history only a few people achieve that narrow gate, and they could be of any of the religions.

Intellectual assent to a creed does not make a man a Bahá’í, nor does outward rectitude of conduct. Bahá’u’lláh requires of His followers wholehearted and complete devotion. God alone has the right to make such a demand, but Bahá’u’lláh speaks as the Manifestation of God, and the Revealer of His Will. Previous Manifestations have been equally clear on this point. Christ said: “If any man come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” In different words, all the Divine Manifestations have made this same demand from Their followers, and the history of religion shows clearly that as long as the demand has been frankly recognized and accepted, religion has flourished, despite all earthly opposition, despite affliction, persecution and martyrdom of the believers. On the other hand, whenever compromise has crept in, and “respectability” has taken the place of complete consecration, then religion has decayed. It has become fashionable, but it has lost its power to save and transform, its power to work miracles. True religion has never yet been fashionable. God grant that one day it may become so; but it is still true, as in the days of Christ, that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The gateway of spiritual birth, like the gateway of natural birth, admits men only one by one, and without encumbrances. If, in the future, more people succeed in entering that way than in the past, it will not be because of any widening of the gate, but because of a greater disposition on the part of men to make the “great surrender” which God demands; because long and bitter experience has at last brought them to see the folly of choosing their own way instead of God’s way.
John E. Esslemont, "Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era", 5.7

Not an infallible source, but this expresses what I want to say.

 

[Skywalker]

God does not want all people in the world to have the same religion:

The tower of Babel
11Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Some of the Abrahamic religions say "We are the only true religion". Many christians say "jesus is the only way to be saved", and many muslims say "only muslims go to heaven". This is false. The evidence is from the Bible itself.

God created different cultures of people and different nations and nations have their own boundaries and languages. That has nothing to do with belief systems that reject Jesus.