By Donna-Marie Rowe, Contributor 
Dr. Kroll
FOR MANY, the path to salvation abound with options galore, resembling a strip cluttered with fast food restaurants from which the hungry may pick, choose and refuse based on their particular tastes at any one time.
But in a recent 'Back to the Bible' programme entitled 'Can Christianity survive in a pluralistic world?' Dan Norton, presenter and interviewer said, "Some would claim Christianity is too exclusive that there are many roads to God."
In response, Dr. Woodrow Kroll, Bible teacher at 'Back to the Bible' asserted, "There aren't many ways to God. Now all religions don't lead to God. That's a lie of the devil." He continued, "Think about it this way. Supposing you had a hole in your heart, and you needed an operation to sew up that hole in your heart. I suppose the surgeon could come to you and say, 'Well, let's see, why don't we go through the hand today? Maybe we'll go through the foot. Or, I could go through the abdomen and fix that hole in your heart. What if I go through your ear? All roads lead to the heart, eventually.' See, that doesn't make any sense at all."
Quoting a fellow Bible teacher, Pastor John MacArthur, Dr. Kroll pointed out, "As far as the way of salvation is concerned, there are only two religions the world has ever known or will ever know: the religion of divine accomplishment, which is biblical Christianity, and the religion of human achievement, which includes all other kinds of religion, whatever names they may go under."
Dr. Kroll went on to say that the Lord Jesus Christ, in the scriptures, sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. "And that's pretty exclusivistic, isn't it?" he declared.
In his assertion that indeed Christianity is an exclusive religion, Dr. Kroll noted that there should be no question in people's minds that Christianity is the most exclusivistic religion in the world. Quoting a book by Ravi Zacharias, author of "Jesus Among Other Gods", Dr. Kroll said that the statement "There is only one way to God" shocks post-modern moods and mind-sets. Hinduism and Bahaism, he noted, have long challenged the concept of a single way to God. The Hindu religion, with its multifaceted belief system, vociferously attacks such exclusivity.
Having defended the exclusive nature of Christianity, Dr. Kroll offered five reasons why he believed Christianity would survive a pluralistic world.
HERE TO STAY
Christianity will survive because it passes the test of historicity, the Bible teacher outlined. "See, if Jesus is not God, then the cross would have been the end, He would have died there, they would have put Him in the ground, He'd have stayed there. But as many as 500 people saw Him at one time after His resurrection. They saw Him alive, up walking around. Now, do you think it would be possible for 500 people to be mistaken? Well, maybe, but hardly! Do you think these eyewitnesses were in a better position than we are 2,000 years later to judge whether or not Jesus is alive? See, we speculate. They saw. Christianity passes the test of historicity. There are historical eyewitnesses to the truths of the Christian religion. I think it's going to survive," he argued.
Building his case, Dr. Kroll said, Christianity passes the test of truth. "Nothing the Bible has said has ever been disproved. Even those so-called discrepancies in the Bible are genuinely explainable for people who have open minds and don't bring a bias to the issue. Archaeologists have discovered absolutely nothing in years and years and years of digging. They've discovered absolutely nothing that disproves the Bible. But they have thousands of finds that corroborate it. And with thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament, critics have [the] opportunity to check the validity of the very words of the Bible-Christianity passes the test of truth. That cannot be said of other ancient writings," the "Back to the Bible" teacher asserted.
Speaking of ethics, Dr. Kroll said Christianity has passed that test.
"A religion cannot be valid if it is not good. Christianity and the teachings of Christ are good. They're beneficial for mankind. The Bible teaches that we are to love one another. The Koran teaches that infidels are to be killed. The Crusades are often pointed to as proof that Christianity is not a good religion. But, friends, let's get real! The Crusades were the journeys and wars of Europeans who wanted to keep Middle-Eastern Muslims from taking their Christian Holy sites. These weren't Christians the way Christ taught us to live. These Crusades were clashes of cultures, not clashes between believers in the way, the truth, and the life, and those who followed Islam. Now, Christianity will survive because Christianity is a moral, ethical religion."
Christianity, Dr. Kroll continued, passes the test of time. The method God chose for salvation was not by killing, by confessing or by keeping the law, God chose to provide His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. And, finally, Dr. Kroll pointed out, Christianity passes the test of experience. "No life has more dramatically changed than the life that has come to faith in Christ".
( Courtesy: Back to the Bible Jamaica)
