“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

(John 14:6)

In the upper room, just prior to Jesus’ passion, Thomas had said to his master, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Verse 6, cited above, gives us the Lord’s famous answer to that all-important question: The destination is God the Father, and Jesus Christ himself is the way into his presence, now and forever.

But notice something special: Jesus not only told Thomas that he was the way, but also that he was the truth and the life. Why did he add these extra words?

Speaking as one who studied and practiced eastern religion for many years, my thought is that Jesus was no longer speaking just to Thomas, but to the whole wide world, and in particular to seekers everywhere who are longing to experience the ultimate spiritual reality for themselves.

Here in northern California where I live, such folks are legion. Some practice Zen, others yoga, others Wicca, others Tai Chi, and so on. Though their practices differ, they all are seeking the same thing. Jesus tells us what that is:

The way: the door through which they might enter into an abiding experience of the ultimate spiritual reality.

The truth: the one true worldview, by which they might come to see all reality as it really is, do what it requires, and so be reconciled to it once and for all.

The life: the divine life, come to live within them once and for all, so that death itself becomes but a doorway to further life, eternal life, life to the full.

The way, the truth, the life. What big big words these are, so big they can overshadow the whole wide world, giving hope to all who seek!

He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man,

and every man’s hand against him. He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

(Genesis 16:12)

In the film version of Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, there is a memorable line that is much to my purpose in this post.

Weary with toil, sick with grief, heart stretched to the breaking point between the call of fear and duty, Frodo is standing alone beside a river, rehearsing the words of a recent conversation with Gandalf.

“I wish the ring had never come to me; I wish none of this had ever happened,” said Frodo.

To which Gandalf replied, “So do all who live to see times like these. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

And so it is today.

Though we could wish it otherwise, once again the spirit of Ishmael is abroad in the world. Wild, angry, hostile to every man, it requires, alas, that every man of good will should respond and raise his hand against it.

I wrote the following essay to help Christians do that very thing. For again, the battle is upon us, and like it or not, we must equip ourselves to fight: for the souls of Muslim people, for the souls of those whom they seek to enslave, for the preservation of our way of life, and for the glory of the one true and living God.

Hopefully, we will not have to fight with bombs and bullets. But most assuredly, we will have to fight with truth, spoken in love.

Here, then, is a brief summary of the Islamic worldview. I offer it to assist you in understanding the gist of Islam, and also to suggest some ways in which we all might be able to help our Muslim neighbors experience the glorious liberty of the sons of God . . . and peace in the presence of those who would dearly love to dwell with them as brethren.

To read the essay, please click here

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