1. Religions Provide the Way of Salvation
World Scripture
“Men, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 16.30-31
Seek refuge with the Lord alone, with your whole being, Bharata. By His grace, you will reach supreme peace, an everlasting estate.
Bhagavad-Gita 18.62 (Hinduism)
Surely the [true] religion with God is Islam [the Surrender]. Those who formerly received the Scriptures… if they argue with you, [O Muhammad], say, “I have surrendered my purpose to God, and so have those who follow me.” And say to those who have received the Scriptures and those who have not read [them], “Have you also surrendered?” If they surrender, then truly they are rightly guided.
Qur’an 3.19-20
To many a refuge fear-stricken men betake themselves—to hills, woods, groves, trees, and shrines. Nay, no such refuge is safe, no such refuge is supreme. Not by resorting to such a refuge is one freed from ill. He who has gone for refuge to the Buddha [the teacher], the Dhamma [the teaching], and the Sangha [the taught], sees with right knowledge the Four Noble Truths: Sorrow, the Cause of Sorrow, the Transcending of Sorrow and the Noble Eightfold Path which leads to the Cessation of Sorrow. This, indeed, is refuge secure. By seeking such refuge one is released from all sorrow.
Dhammapada 188-192 (Buddhism)
Surely, the path that leads to worldly gain is one, and the path that leads to Nibbana is another; understanding this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of the Buddha, should not rejoice in wordly favors, but cultivate detachment.
Dhammapada 75 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Why throughout history have people needed to improve themselves through morals, ethics, and religion? Why should we observe them? It is because we sense something is wrong with us, and we desire to return to our original standing before God.
(205:8, July 15, 1990)
However hard the original mind may struggle to attain goodness, we can hardly find any examples of true goodness in this world under the sovereignty of evil. Human beings have thus been compelled to seek the source of goodness in the world transcendent of time and space. This necessity has given birth to religion. Through religion, fallen people mired in ignorance have sought to meet God by ceaselessly striving toward the good. Even though the individuals, peoples and nations that championed a certain religion may have perished, religion itself survives.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 2.3)
God, the Parent of humankind, cannot remain aloof when He sees His sons and daughters in their fallen state. They are like broken radios, so God created repair shops to fix them. These repair shops are religions. Seeing the many traces of these repair shops down through history, we cannot deny the existence of God.
(54:102, March 20, 1972)
If God used His almighty power, He could easily save all humanity. Then He wouldn’t need religion. But why does God need religion? God wants the enemy to surrender willingly. When that happens, God can become the center and heal all beings. That is God’s strategy.
(207:21, October 21, 1990)
Religion does not have humankind as its primary object. Rather, religious teachings establish God, the Parent, as foremost. A life of following God’s will is a course to establish and mature in a relationship with God. Therefore, holy men and women invariably support the will of Heaven and declare the heart of Heaven.
A true religion should teach people about God. A true religion should not have some vague ideas about God; a true religion should be able to give a clear picture of God so that people can understand Him. A religion that compromises with the world cannot be called a higher order religion. That kind of religion will ultimately decline.
A true religion should teach people the path to know God clearly, to become one with God, and finally, to reestablish the world that God originally intended at the creation. After all, the purpose of religion is to seek for the ideal world: a world without sin, a world where all people enjoy the original relationship with God.
(February 6, 2003)
We know that the main problem here is not which denomination,
which religion or which group we belong to.
The viewpoint of truth—the entirety of truth—
is to have an inward heart that Thou canst recognize,
and to go forth with an earnest heart that can experience Thy heart.
O Father, grant us to know Thy heart!
(4:236, May 18, 1958)