Mr. Applegate's Pop Quiz

School is back and it is time for mean Mr. Applegate’s first pop quiz of the school year. You have had countless Sundays to study so you are without excuse! Put your notes under your desk, shut off your cell phones, and get out a single number two pencil. Here we go.

1. True or False All religions, if the believer is sincere, lead to the same place.

2. True or False Jesus Christ was a great moral teacher, on the level with Gandhi, Siddhartha Gautama (of Buddhist tradition) and Mohammad.

3. True or False While the Bible has good moral teachings, it is full of mistakes.

4. True or False It’s narrow-minded to consider Jesus as the only way to God.

5. Short answer So what that the early followers of Jesus were killed for their faith; isn’t that what Muslims do today?

6. Bonus short answer question. Which religion is right?

So, how’d you do? Let’s find out. Here are the answers...grade yourself on the honor system.

1. True... Hebrews 9:27a (NASB) says “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”. All religions lead to exactly the same place...in front of God at judgment. At that point we will be given an opportunity to plea our case of why we should get to enter Heaven. If we had accepted Jesus Christ’s substitution penalty on the cross for the death sentence our sin had led to (see Romans 6:23), and let Him be the boss of our life knowing we were powerless to get forgiven without Him, we enter into Heaven. If not, we don’t. In other words, if we stated in our lives that we wanted to be separate from God by word and deed, God grants us our wish and at our figurative request grants us Hell... an eternal separation from Him. God wants no part of dragging people kicking and screaming into Paradise.

2. False... While Jesus was a great moral teacher, there is a crucial difference that places us in what CS Lewis calls in his incredible book “Mere Christianity” a trilemma (dilemma plus one). Jesus was not only a great moral teacher. He said in John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” If Jesus claims to be the only way to God he is one of three things. 1. He is a Liar. Can there be someone as evil as someone who claims He is the only way to God if He is not? Satan was not as exclusionary. 2. He was a lunatic. Maybe He was crazy. A delusion of grandeur doesn’t look good on a resume. 3. He was (and is) Lord....exactly what He claimed to be! Drop the milk toast garbage of Jesus being a great moral teacher. That is a big, fat minus five on your test if you picked true.

3. True... The Bible is a great moral teaching and is full of mistakes. Its mistakes, for example, include King David, perhaps the greatest king in the history of Israel, committed adultery with one of his troop’s wives then tried to cover it up repeatedly. Another was Jonah trying to hide from God only later to be found praying for a favorable escape route (other than out its stern side, for you boating enthusiasts) from the belly of a big fish. Lots of people made mistakes, but the Bible expresses them in a mistake-free way. I am available for emailed questions if you find mistakes you can’t reconcile at markapplegate@alltel.net.

4. True... Matthew 7:13-4 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Sometimes narrow-minded makes sense if there is only one way to do something.

5. No one would willingly die for a faith they know is wrong. If Jesus’ disciples thought He was dead, they clearly would have dejectedly gone back to work and to the temple to beg for forgiveness. Their hope would have died with their non-savior. They, instead, all were persecuted and killed for their faith with the message of the cross on their tongue to their last day. Sure people die for their faith today, but they die hoping they were right with good intentions (?) and bad results.
6. Bonus. Religion is man’s attempt to reach to God through our efforts. All religions come up short and are equally wrong. Biblical Christianity is a relationship with the Creator of the world who cared enough to reach down from Heaven and enough to die for us before we ever knew Him. Religion is about our work, Christianity is about God’s work for us.
I hope you did well on our little quiz today. If you have questions or things you disagree with me about, email me. You owe it to yourself to investigate the claims made in the Bible. If the Bible’s claims are wrong, you have wasted some time reading an incredible book (we waste time every day). If they are right you’ll be eternally glad you did! Take this quest seriously and contact me with questions! God bless you and your careful studying of the truth.