A Dilemma
The more I read about spirituality, after-life communication, and see glimpses of how all the things we believe as part of organised religion could actually make sense as descriptions of a wider universe in which our temporary physical world is embedded, the more I come up against this problem:
1. Christianity teaches that God is love; that we are all children of God, created by the Father's love; that what is not love is not God; that the Father delights to fulfil our prayers and knows what we want before we ask, so that even to desire something is to receive it; and that it is perfectly safe to ask anything because the Father will never give us anything that is against His wider purpose for our lives.
2. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the only Son of God, the only mediator between God and man; that believing this is the chief, perhaps only means of salvation; that 'no man comes to God except through Him'; that we must be exceedingly careful how and where we pray because there are many false Christs and false spirits who could lead astray 'even the very elect'; that opening our hearts and minds to the spiritual dimension through any methods except those sanctioned by the Church is very dangerous because the Father refuses to communicate with anybody except 'in the name of Christ'; that 'broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it', so we must be on guard the most fiercely against teachings which are the most similar to Christianity, because even if they teach in large measure what Jesus taught, if they do not speak His name then these could be wedges to drive us away from the Light.
The dilemma can be summed up as: Can a universal Christ, and a unique Christ, coexist in the one faith?
(I think the answer is yes, but I think there are many Christians who would disagree.)
Edit: Perhaps a clearer way of putting the dilemma is this: 1) God is love, so all we need to do to approach Him is to wish to do so in our heart; 2) Christ is the only way to God, so we cannot approach God without getting Jesus' permission first.
If I had to choose based on what I actually believe, I'd pick (1) and reject (2), but I'm not entirely sure how to justify that from the Bible.
