One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.

There are only two kinds of religion in the world.

The first is the religion of human ability.

It contends that mankind has the ability, insight, holiness, and will to act on its own in order to provide a path to the spiritual. Be it infinity, cosmic oneness, karma, the 'Force,' heaven, or whatever the newest other-worldly phraseology might be at the moment, mankind can obtain connection to the spiritual by his own will and desire. Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, and the Eastern Mystic religions like Buddhism and Taoism are all examples of this type of religious thought. Our actions in life, our works, either morally good or bad, determine our ultimate destiny, whatever that may be.

The second is the religion of divine ability.

And there is only one faith in the world which exemplifies this view, that mankind is incapable of obtaining its own faith and spirituality and that only supernatural divine influence can accomplish such an outcome.

That faith is Christianity.

Only in the Christian faith is man rightly seen as incapable of finding the truth within himself and doing the good necessary to satisfy the law of a righteous and holy God. For mankind to achieve entrance into heaven, the work must be done for him by divine fiat. God must produce the faith necessary for spiritual fulfillment and salvation from the sinful dilemma man finds himself in, alienated from God and judged guilty in his sin. Worthy of damnation in an eternal separation from God, a real and eternal existence in hell.

Many of today's most widely known religious leaders argue that because all religions share such a common bond of spirituality and have such similar beliefs, no single religion or faith has a monopoly on the truth. With all faiths being equal and none defined or defended as the true expression of the spiritual condition of mankind, every one of us literally has the power to develop our own religious belief system if we so desire. Consider for example the relatively recent creation of the so-called Church of Scientology. To research anything about this organization, its 'theology,' or its founder L. Ron Hubbard is to clearly see it as man-made, humanistic, and highly narcissistic. Using pseudo-psychology to convince people of its effectiveness, the Church of Scientology has preyed on those seeking spiritual fulfillment, duping them into giving away much of their life savings or more into what amounts to an interstellar alien inspired, self-help clinic. It would be closer to the truth to view the Hubbard novel to film "Battleship Earth" (incidentally staring one of Scientology's more famous advocates John Travolta) as a true story and not pulp science fiction, than to call this 'religion' a church! To take a quick walk through any bookstore self-help, religion, or psychology section (or sadly even a modern Christian bookstore,) is to be bombarded with a similar myriad of resources from gurus, enlightened counselors, and 'evangelists' who promise much but deliver little.

If we view the more established religions under the lens of coexistent religious tolerance, we discover that stark doctrinal contrasts between the religions of the world don't allow for the peaceful unity that the optimistic and self-proclaimed civilized, modern man might desire. To hear anyone claim that all human religions can effectively 'coexist' together, you might be overly inclined to dismiss the fact that the people who would make such an arguement are unwittingly removing the core element of any religious belief inherent in its existence - faith in the truth. Not all religions are created equal. And only one has been revealed to us by God as exclusively true. And as the author of all that is true, what God says, goes.

The Hard Truth is that Christianity, revealed to us by God in his word called the Holy Bible, is unlike any other religious system because of its divine inspiration.

It's not a religion full of practice and piety, works and accomplishment, but instead a call for faith in the truth. A belief that only God has the power to do the work, and that we must depend on Him, and not ourselves for our salvation, redemption, and connection with Him.

All other religions who exalt man's ability over God's divine authority, even with all their good intentions, are lies.