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I told someone the other day, much to his surprise that I was a Christian. He asked whether I though my religion was the only true religion to which I replied yes. He seemed somewhat 'offended' by this and sneered at me, strange given that he's a staunch atheist but I guess that's the nature of the world today.

But I wondered, what is the best response to give when someone asks if you think that your religion is the only one.

Shazoo
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  • can you specify which denomination you'd like an answer from? There is a Jehovah Witness answer, I could give you an LDS/Mormon answer. – depperm May 14 '18 at 12:12
  • I think what you mean to ask is this: "What is the best response to give when someone asks you if you think your religion is the only true one?" The word "true" makes all the difference, in my opinion. Obviously there are many, many religions. Which one is true (or truer than all the rest) is the sticking point for many people, atheists included. – rhetorician May 14 '18 at 12:19
  • @rhetorician fair point, I've edited the question – Shazoo May 14 '18 at 12:20
  • https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/. This would actually be a good question on the interpersonal skills site. You are really not looking for a denominational POV but a skillful way of answering an awkward query – Kris May 14 '18 at 15:52
  • @Kris In my experience asking religious questions on a non-religious forum just causes arguments and a reason for people to get nasty. I wanted to ask on here to get the perspective from someone who is a Christian – Shazoo May 14 '18 at 15:55
  • @Shazoo but this really is not a religious question at all. But a how do I say X in the least offensive way question – Kris May 14 '18 at 15:58
  • @Kris I respectfully disagree, I am asking how to say x but it has a religious context to it. So I would say this is a better forum to pose the question – Shazoo May 14 '18 at 16:00
  • Maybe specify your religious affiliation and ask for a response from their POV. I think my answer would work well for any denomination that believed they have the one true religion. Just insert your religion in place of JWS. But that is primarily my opinion based. – Kris May 14 '18 at 16:34
  • Unless you subscribe to the idea of relative truth (which is inherently illogical), every belief you have, religious or not, you believe to be "the only true belief"--if you felt otherwise, you would no longer believe that. – Flimzy May 14 '18 at 17:28
  • There is a lot of stuff online, I like John Piper, but most pastors have something available. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-do-you-think-christianity-is-true One key phrase is, Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. – Adam Heeg May 14 '18 at 20:29
  • Welcome to Christianity.SE. When you have a moment, please take our [tour] and visit our [help] to better understand us. This is important, because we study Christianity (the believes of denominations) and that means that many questions require identification of the denominational POV you're interested in. This would be a fair question if you ask, "How does [my denomination] answer people who ask about...." – JBH May 15 '18 at 02:56

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Jehovah’s Witnesses are often asked this question. In fact it is a FAQ on our official website.

The answer given here may be helpful to anyone trying to formulate a polite response to such a question.

Those who are serious about religion should think that the one they’ve chosen is acceptable to God and Jesus. Otherwise, why would they be involved in it? Jesus Christ didn’t agree with the view that there are many religions, many roads, all leading to salvation. Rather, he said: ““Narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.”” (Matthew 7:14) Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that they’ve found that road. Otherwise, they’d look for another religion.

Kris
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