While in Taiwan, I eventually realized that the main difference between Christianity and eastern religions was the idea of a savior. This may sound self-evident to you, but it took me a while to understand that this was the crux of the issue. All religions point us to do good, but it seems that most other religions have no need for a savior; man doing noble things on his own is sufficient.
Recently, I have had some discussions with one of my friends who considers himself agnostic. He doesn't believe a savior is necessary, and he had many questions in this regard. Why do we need a savior? Why can't we cleanse ourselves from sin? Why is absolution from sin necessary? Because it is natural for all humankind to make mistakes, why is heaven reserved only for those without sin? Why will good people who don't believe in Christ go to Hell?
One of the core ideas that allows us to understand why a savior is needed is our purpose in life. Why are we here and what is our ultimate goal? As latter-day saints, we have a clear picture of this. Our goal is perfection. Just as parents strive to help their children grow up into mature adults, our Father in Heaven strives to help us to grow and become like him. We will never replace him, but as his children we have the potential to become like him, and nothing could make him happier than us accomplishing this goal. How, then, can someone who has sinned achieve perfection? It is too late. Anyone who has ever done anything immoral automatically falls short of perfection, and no amount of good things they do can ever erase the fact that they have lied, hurt someone, stolen, etc. Just as a criminal who serves his sentence in jail and successfully pays the punishment for his crime will never be on the exact same standing as someone else who has not committed that crime, once we commit sin it is permanent. We need a savior! He takes our sins upon him, and we are made clean. Pure. It is only with a savior that perfection is possible.
Good people who do not believe in a savior are not doomed to Hell. This is an abominable idea and is damning to the souls of those who believe in it. A loving God does not send his good sons and daughters to burn in Hell forever just because they don't believe in Jesus. As latter-day saints, we understand that there are three different kingdoms in heaven, and all are glorious. Serious sinners, after they suffer for their sins, will go to the lowest kingdom called the Telestial kingdom. Good poeple who don't believe in Christ will go to the Terrestrial kingdom. Good people who are cleansed by Christ will go to the Celestial kingdom and live with God, ultimately becoming like him. Only the worst of people who have known the truth and fallen to complete denial will not inherit a kingdom of glory, and these people are relatively few. When I told my friend about this idea, he said it made way more sense than the simple idea of Heaven and Hell. I agree. It explains how God is loving and just and also why it is fair and essential that we must believe in Christ. After we die, but before we are judged, all souls reside in the spirit world where they will have a chance to receive Christ, even if and especially if they never had a chance to accept him while they were alive.
The reason it is necessary to be cleansed from sin to live with God is also resolved with knowledge as latter-day saints. The Book of Mormon teaches that, when we are brought into the presence of God to be judged, it will be our own guilt about our sins and impurities that will cause us to be in torment in God's presence. Being in his presence would be sheer misery, so God prepared other, glorified kingdoms for such people where they do not have to abide the radiant presence of God. We used to have a very naughty dog that would always find ways to get into the trash or eat things in the kitchen when we weren't home. He always knew what he was doing was wrong, but it just seemed he couldn't help himself. When we got home and saw a mess in the kitchen, we knew that the dog was in a distant room in the house, under a desk, hiding. When we would approach him, he wouldn't look at us, but only shamefully thump his tail a few times to acknowledge our presence. We would never physically punish him, so I know it wasn't that he was afraid of being beaten. He was simply feeling awfully guilty, and being in our presence was misery. While guilt can help anyone to change, it is only when we have changed and had the savior cleanse our sins that the guilt will completely disappear. Thus, to live with God, it is both necessary to be cleansed from sin and to have a savior help us do that.
Another crucial reason to have a savior is that it makes life fair. Christ lived the perfect life, and because of his sacrifice he is our savior that deeply understands us; he is our master teacher. He has suffered for
our sins and can thus give us personal guidance that no one else can! He knows best how to pull us up to his level. Also, besides taking upon him our sins, Christ also took our weaknesses and pains upon him, and if we turn to him those may all be swallowed up in joy. I have seen pain turn to joy as people turn to Christ. I have also seen people struggling with addiction suddenly find strength to overcome when they turned to Christ. It is in this manner that life becomes fair. How does one account for a God that allows some people to be born into such a painful and harsh life? The only thing I have ever seen that answers this question is that God sent his only begotten son to suffer for our sins AND our pains and infirmities. Everything that is unfair in life can be made up by the atonement. No matter our situation, Christ understands us because he has literally felt what we are feeling, and he has power to lift us out of whatever misery we may be in. Without this sort of savior, it is impossible for any sort of fairness to be achieved.
One last reason I will mention about why we need a savior is that without him we could never conquer death. What is our history? Where did we come from? I believe that the story in Genesis is true. While I believe that much of it is symbolic, I believe we did indeed have primordial ancestors Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve were created, they were immortal. They were God's literal creation; thus, they were perfect and could not die. Because of transgression, they fell from God's presence and became mortal. Death came into the world.
Death came into the world because of transgression. As children such as us descended from Adam and Eve, we were born as mortals and doomed to die at no fault of our own. Many children have died without ever committing sin. Every man is punished for their own sins, but death comes to us because of Adam and Eve. This disparity must be made up for. It took the sacrifice of a perfect savior to make this right. Because of Adam all die, and because of Christ all are made alive. All men will be resurrected before they are judged. We will all have our bodies again, but perfect and immortal. The union of body and soul are required for true joy. Only a savior who paid the price of the world's transgressions could break the bonds of death.
How will we conquer death? What do you believe happens after we die? Will we simply live as spirits? Is it important that we have a body? Where did we come from? These are questions that don't have multiple answers. My friend continues to believe that we are both right. He maintains that both of our paths will take us to the same place, that it is fine for me to believe in a savior, but he will be just as fine without believing in one. I think it is important to acknowledge that some things are either right or wrong. Someone who says death is the end is either right or wrong. Reincarnation is either right or wrong. What I have said above about resurrection is either right or wrong. While I can understand (but don't necessarily agree with) the point of view that there are many different ways to find God and do what he wants us to do, the fundamental questions of where we came from and where we are going are not arbitrary. Can believing in something make it true? If I believe my glass of water won't fall if I drop it, will that change anything? When we die, something will happen, and the laws that determine what happen do not change according to one's religious belief. Everyone from every different religious viewpoint will, in the end, be subject to the exact same laws. What are these laws? What will happen? It must be admitted that different religions have different ideas about this, and their contradicting ideas cannot all be right. Respect for all beliefs are essential, but I cannot accept the idea that everyone is right. With this same logic, all roads cannot lead to Rome. If belief cannot change the the ultimate laws that determine what will happen to us, then believing we don't need a savior does not determine whether we do or do not, in fact, need a savior.
I believe that all mankind is totally dependent on Jesus Christ as our savior. I am either right or wrong, and the last thing I want to hear is someone who doesn't believe in a need for a savior telling me that we are both right, that it doesn't matter what your beliefs are as long as you are true to them. I do not seek confrontations, but I deplore the trap that says left and right are the same thing.
