God is not a Christian?

I came across an excerpt from Desmond Tutu’s new book 'God Is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations.'

In the article posted on the Huffington Post, Archbishop Tutu makes the point that all world religions contain truth, and that we as Christians should not claim that “we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.”

I cannot deny that the non-Christian religions have truthful beliefs in as much as they agree with Christian teaching and practice. Also, since God created each of us in his image, he dwells in each living person. However this universalism the Archbishop preaches forgets that God the Father makes a strong claim to his people.

In Deuteronomy 6:13 God commands the Hebrew people, “"You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who all around you.” The God is Abraham, Isaac and Joseph is the one true God

In the 32^nd chapter of Exodus, after the Hebrews make a golden calf to worship, God is ready to consume them with his wrath. Only after Moses pleads with the Lord, does he relent.

Finally in Exodus 20, God tells the children of Israel, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,"

In addition, Archbishop Tutu ignores the unique role of Jesus Christ in humanities redemption. He states, “…the eternal word, the Logos of God, enlightens everyone”. However that was not Jesus primary mission. Among other things, Jesus came to show us the way to God the Father and states he is the only way, (John 14:6, Luke 13:24). In addition Jesus does not provide any other remedy for salvation than trusting in his saving work on the cross (Hebrews 10:10).

It is only on those who receive Jesus that God grants adoption into the kingdom of God (John 1:12). Those religions who only recognize Jesus as a prophet, or as one possessing the Christ consciousness leave out key pieces of the puzzle. Jesus came to show us the way to God the Father by his live and ministry. He also came to redeem the world by paying the price for our sins on the cross. There are many prophets, true and false, but only one Savior.

While the Spirit of God may have“…existed long before there were Christians, inspiring and nurturing women and men in the ways of holiness, bringing them to fruition, bringing to fruition what was best in all.”, as Archbishop Tutu claims, the Holy Spirit was given particularly to the Christian church to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).

Finally, the archbishop cites the “conscientiously held beliefs” of non-Christian believers. However, because a belief or opinion is held sincerely, does not make it true.

• Many people believed Harold Camping that the rapture would take place on May 14. That day has come and gone and the Church is still on earth.
• A number of people are still convinced that President Obama is not an citizen of the United States even though he was released his long form birth certificate.

There are people committed to these beliefs, even though they have been proven false. No matter how much people wish these beliefs to be fact, it does not make it so.

So then what is the Christian response? We are to love the non-believer, and pray for them. If we happen to visit one of their holy places, be respectful.

Most important, we need to follow Peters admonition to “be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15)