How can we be so presumptuous to say that we are right and all else is wrong? Are we actually saying that all those sincere well-meaning people of other faiths have no hope? Is God fair? After all, we all know a good and sincere person who is not a Christian? Can we really accept that he or she will go to hell? That seems so offensive. Many struggle with questions of faith such as these, offended at the exclusivity of the Christian claims. How can such exclusive claims sit compatibly with a loving God?
The starting premise in dealing with a thorny issue like this must be an objective and impartial search for the truth. We must recognise that truth may at times be hard to accept and even offensive. Telling someone he is dying is may be difficult but if it is the truth, to say anything else would be lie. To water down truth so that it becomes easier to swallow is to contaminate and pervert our search for truth. Consensus or social acceptability can never be a requirement for truth. We cannot reject truth simply because it does not sit with our preferences. That will only put us on the slippery slope to self-deception.
Secondly, any search for truth must be premised on the fact that truth is objective, that there is only one truth and that truth is similarly applicable to everyone. Two contradictory state of affairs cannot both be true at the same time. Something cannot be true for me but not necessarily true for you. For example, a pen in my hand exists for me. It cannot exist for me and not exist for you at the same time. We must recognise that there is only ONE TRUTH and anything that contradicts that one truth is untruth. If the pen exists, it exists for everyone. Looking at all the religions in the world, we observe that they each make different and contradictory statements about God and existence and salvation. Christianity speaks of salvation by grace because salvation by a moral does not work. Islam and Buddhism and other religions speak of salvation by obedience to a moral code. Either Christianity is right and Islam and Buddhism is wrong on this point, or Islam and Buddhism is right and Christianity is wrong. Christianity and Islam speak of one supreme God. Buddhism speaks of no God, but that reality is an illusion. Either Christianity and Islam are right or Buddhism is right. Both cannot be right. Christianity says that God created the world but is not part of it. Hinduism says that God is part of this world for all is God and God is all. Either Christianity is right or Hinduism is right. Both cannott be right. From the examples I have shown above, it is clear that only the ignorant would dare to assert that all religions are the same. Their inherent differences make them inherently contradictory. We are forced therefore to decide which is the truth to the necessary exclusion of the others. We cannot have our cake and eat it as well.
The question then becomes not whether the truth of the Christian assertions of exclusivity are socially acceptable or easy to swallow. The question becomes IS IT TRUE? That is something each of us must make a decision and choice on. We cannot abdicate or run away from choice. Each of us is forced either to accept or reject this choice. To not accept Christianity is to reject it. And either way, if this is the truth, then accepting or rejecting it brings with it consequences. If this is the truth, then our choice will determine our issue of heaven or hell. When we stand before God on the day of judgment, the fact that the truth was difficult to swallow and therefore we rejected it is not a defence that we can raise.