Veroni's Views

Is there really only one way to get to God?  And is that way Jesus Christ?

There are obviously many ways of getting closer to God.  To begin with, there is something of God in every culture.  This finds rapport with that part of God that is built into every human being.  Having been created “in the image of God”, we possess certain characteristics of God that distinguishes us from other animals.

Whether we admit it or not, something in us calls for God, as God calls for us.  “Deep calls unto deep” is one way the Psalmist expresses this, saying “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.  I thirst for God, the living God” (Ps 47, New Living Translation).

Another, more modern, songwriter says “I looked for Him in the heart of a friend and He was there”.

One does not have to be pantheistic to experience God in nature.

Greek philosophers discovered another way to God.  Many of them were earnestly seeking the truth.  They found themselves on a journey that started with polytheism, that is, believing in many gods.  This was probably due in large part to an effort to account for natural events that they had no other explanation for than to ascribe them to some divine intervention.  Over many years the journey led to their recognizing that there is only one god.  Finally, one of them said “We have now come to realize that there is only one god.  However, we will never know him until he comes to us.”

And then he came!  He did something that no other “god” had ever done, that is, to become a human being, living as an ordinary human being among other human beings.  He identified Himself absolutely with us at our worst.  So absolutely did he identify Himself with us that He even died.  And then, big surprise – he rose again from the dead!

For two thousand years people have been trying to disprove these facts.  It is ironic that, even as they try to prove that he does not exist, they cannot get away from Him, and use his name when they don’t quite know how else to express what they feel.  In a strange way “Jesus!” is the answer, even to the unbeliever!

But to get back to our initial question:  Is there really only one way to get to God?  And is that way Jesus Christ?

It depends on what you mean “get to God.”  If you mean search for truth with all your heart, then there are many ways.  Serious scientific work is one of these ways.  If you mean “experience something of the divine”, then there as many ways, e.g. listening to good music.

If you mean “enter into a personal relationship with God, thereby discovering your self in the truest sense of the word, and experience the wonder of this life together with the expectation of an eternal life hereafter” … Well, then I have to tell you that no religion can offer that.  And yes, in that sense, I believe there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.