All religions lead to God?

When I was younger, I heard an RE teacher use this explanation:

“Life is like a mountain, and around it are many paths, and each path is like one of the different religions in the world.  They are all very different, follow different routes, different terrain, but in the end they all get to the top – God.”

Since then, I have heard this many times and in many contexts because there is an attractiveness to this story.  If true it means that:

• If I follow any religion, ultimately I will find God.
• If I choose a religion of my own making – a bit of this,  a bit of that – I will find God.
• God is not tied down to the narrowness of our thinking and that many will find him on their own.
• We no longer need listen to the ‘exclusive’ claims of each individual religion, they are no longer valid.
• We should stop trying to convert people to what we believe because what they have is just as good.

So quite a powerful argument . . . . . or is it?

If we think about it and look more carefully at the argument, there is one big flaw to this thinking.

If all paths lead to the top of the mountain, if all religions lead to God, where on the mountain do you have to be to make that claim.

After some thought to this, one young lady once replied “You have to be on top of the mountain!”

“Is that right?” I asked “When you are stood on the top of a mountain, you can clearly see that all the paths that started at the bottom actually end up here?”

“You have to be above the mountain!” Chipped in one young guy.

“Like in a hot-air balloon – hovering high above it?”

“YES!” was the joint agreement from all.

“So who does that make you?” I asked.  “If God is at the top of the mountain and all religions lead to him, who are you that looks down over God and make this claim on his behalf?”

In the Bible, Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me!”  You may not believe that claim, but it is one God makes for himself.

Therefore, if you make any claim about how to reach God, you are not only taking a god-like position yourself, but as we see above, you can be putting yourself in a position that is even above God.

Psalm 8:4 “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”