The Difference Between Christianity and Other Religions

Herman Bavnick:

"Buddha and Confucius, Zarathustra and Mohammed are no doubt the first confessors of the religions which have been founded by them, but they are not the content of these religions, and they stand in an external and to a certain extent accidental relation to them. Their religions could remain the same even though their names were forgotten, or their persons replaced by others....Christianity stands to the person of Christ in a wholly different relation from that of the religions of the peoples to the persons by whom they have been founded. Jesus is not the first confessor of the religion which bears His name. He was not the first and most eminent Christian, but He holds in Christianity a wholly different place....Christ is Christianity itself; He stands not outside of it but in its centre; without His name, person and work, there is no Christianinty left. In a word, Christ does not point out the way to salvation; He is the Way itself."

Source: Quoted by B.B. Warfield, "Christless Christianity", Christology and Criticism, Volume III, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1932, reprinted 2003), 367

They Have Healed the Brokenness of My People Superficially

The prophet Jeremiah:

"Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying , 'Peace, peace,'
But there is no peace." (6:13-14)

Any brokenness that is healed without the person and work of Jesus Christ is a superficial healing. The answer to human brokenness--be it in marriage, sexuality, child-rearing, friendships, drugs, etc.--is always Jesus. To withhold Jesus as the answer, or to make Jesus peripheral and something else central, even if that something else is a good thing, even a biblical thing, is to heal God's people superficially.

Pastors--priests and prophets--who leave out Jesus or who just tag him on the end of sermons and books and counseling sessions like a bumper-sticker are superficial pastors healing God's people with superficiality, which is no healing at all.

This breaks God's heart. God sent his Son to heal the brokenness of His people. Jesus is sufficient for every level of human brokenness.