Pope Francis has been the subject of intense backlash following controversial remarks made during a three-day visit to Singapore. The Catholic leader claimed that “all religions are a path to God.” Francis made the remarks during an inter-religious meeting with a group at a Catholic junior college.
“If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t,’ where will that lead us?” he asked, before adding, “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].”
Following the comment, many have asserted that the Pope’s claim is a direct contradiction of scripture, which maintains that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. Countless times in scripture, Jesus affirms that He is the only way to the Father and that no other paths will lead to salvation.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” according to John 14:6. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5 reads. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” John 3:16 maintains.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture, according to John 10:9. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9″
Bishop Joseph Strickland called out Pope Francis, urging for Christians to pray for him to see the truth that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation. “Please pray for Pope Francis to clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only Way. To deny this is to deny Him. If we deny Christ, He will deny us, He cannot deny Himself,” Strickland said.
“Pope Francis is not acknowledging the truth or evangelizing others. Only one path to God the Father is through His Son our Lord Jesus Christ! Otherwise the church been duping us forever. Come Holy Spirit and guide us. Jesus have mercy on us,” another person commented, echoing the same sentiment.
The Pope has drawn criticism regarding other comment he made when asked during an interview what gives him hope. Francis claimed that good works done by humanity are evidence of man’s inherent goodness. However, this seemingly contradicts the biblical belief that man is inherently bad due to original sin.
“You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things,” he said. “You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men who have hopes and dreams, women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live. People forge ahead. And people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”
Featured image credit: Casa Rosada (Argentina Presidency of the Nation), CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_Francis_in_March_2013.jpg