Is Christianity’s View of Human Life Unique?

Last year Answers in Genesis hosted a world religions conference, and as I pondered potential topics for this year’s Answers for Women conference on life, I was struck by the thought of how other religions view life. Is Christianity unique? If so, how can we use that in our apologetic arguments for life? The perfect person to answer those questions is Answers in Genesis speaker and author Bodie Hodge. Bodie served as a general editor (along with coeditor Roger Patterson) of the three-volume set of books World Religions and Cults. He has written and coauthored a variety of books including The Fall of Satan and The War on Christmas and is active in speaking at the Creation Museum and on the road for Answers in Genesis.

Rather than just give me a short blog post, Bodie decided to write a whole article on the topic! I decided to include an excerpt below and encourage you to read the whole article to get a taste of what Bodie will be presenting at the Answers for Women conference in April of 2018.

Bodie Hodge

In these eastern mystical religions, spirit is all that exists. The Ultimate Reality of Taoism or Brahman of Hinduism is the impersonal god with which all is one.

But what about the mystic’s view of human life? If all is one, then a person is no different from a rock. In Eastern Mysticism, there are still concepts of good and bad, although they are arbitrary. They are not revealed by the ultimate being (Brahman, for instance), but instead are merely suggestions from man. It is presumed that if one does better in this life (by that arbitrary standard), then they climb the karma chain or go down it; but ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. The hope, if this is really hope, is to go back to nothingness or “nirvana.” The human life doesn’t really exist, just Brahman or Ultimately Reality.

With this view, why care about anyone else, even children? If these religions are taken to their logical conclusion, why not just murder people if you want to, since they don’t really exist. Not much of an uplifting view is it? It is far different from the high value of human life as given in the Bible. . . .

Finally, there are religions that mimic or “counterfeit” Christianity—but then deviate. Religions such as Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Judaism borrow extensively from the pages of the Bible, and most of them agree that at least portions of the Bible are true. However, they proceed to change the Bible in light of their new alleged revelations and interpretations (how convenient and errant)—which come from man (hence the humanistic element).

But where do these counterfeits get their view of human life? Largely from the Bible. They are open about it. This is why many of the people in this group of religions often agree with biblical Christianity’s view of life. However, there are exceptions.

One cannot help but recall the bloody history of the early Mormons with their wars in Illinois, Missouri, and Utah in the 1800s. And the history of Islam, Christianity’s largest counterfeit cult, is plagued with bloodshed, Jihad (holy wars), a view of Muslim superiority, terrorism, and female degradation. A deviation has indeed occurred from biblical truths regarding the value of human life. The key for these religions is how much of the Bible are they still going to borrow? I encourage them to borrow all of it.

Plan to attend to hear more from Bodie about how other religions view life and how only Christianity provides a basis for the value of all human life made in God’s image. Be sure to register today (February 1) to take advantage of the early bird deadline.

Keep fighting the good fight of the faith!