Is Christianity The Truth? What Makes It Different From Other Religions?

Jenn Kokal
Aug 26
4 min read

Updated: Aug 28

For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily. Colossians 2:9

An old adage says, “There’s your side of the story, there’s my side of the story, and then there’s the truth.”

There are a lot of places of worship out there. A lot of religions. A lot of philosophical beliefs. They all claim the same thing: “We have the truth.”

But it’s factually not possible for all these religions to be true since there can only be one truth.

So, which one is the truth?

Let’s start by analyzing the most common world religions, excluding Christianity.

Every religion teaches at least one of four things… or all four simultaneously:

That people can earn their way to the afterlife by how good they are on earth. Think Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormons), and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
That people are or will someday become gods. This includes LDS, Scientologists, and New Ageists.
That there are many gods. Hindus, Shinto, Sikhs, Wiccans, Taoists, LDS all have multiple deities.
That Jesus is not God - all of the above (excluding LDS), and also Atheism - OR that Jesus is one of many gods (LDS.)

Notice that these religions are very similar. They have much in common. There is only one religion that stands out as completely different from the rest - Christianity. Christianity teaches against every point that all other world religions believe. Christianity holds that good works can never save, that humanity can never become God, that Jesus is God, and that there is only One God existing as the Trinity.

1. Christianity is the only religion that is different

The fact that Christianity is so wildly different should make people take notice. There is something special and unique about Christianity that you can’t find anywhere else.

Paul says in Colossians 2:9, “For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,”

This one little verse nullifies every common belief of all other world religions. In layman’s terms, this verse means that deity lives fully with Jesus. Jesus is not one of many gods. There aren’t any other gods. Neither can we become a god. Jesus is the only God… which means that people cannot get to heaven based on their own works.

Since Jesus (who is God) resides over heaven, that means He set the rules of how to get into heaven. So how can we possibly get to heaven on our own terms? We’d have to literally become gods ourselves to bypass the rules Jesus put in place. It is impossible to become a god, so it’s also impossible to get to heaven on our own. Which is why Scripture teaches that we need a Savior – who happens to be Jesus.

Paul continues in verse ten: "and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.”

2. Christianity is the most hated religion

If you need more proof, the other thing that makes Christianity stand out as different is that it is the most hated, mocked, and persecuted religion in existence. You can look the stats up, but to start, check out some of these websites:

https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/

https://www.cato.org/commentary/christianity-worlds-most-persecuted-religion-confirms-new-report

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48146305

https://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/the-ottoman-christian-genocide

(Interestingly enough, Judaism - the religion that Christianity is founded from - is the second most persecuted religion in the world.)

Paul discusses the hatred of the Christian faith in Colossians 1:21,

“You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds,”

Those who refuse the message of Christianity are natural enemies of it. Notice the verse says they are “enemies” of it “in their minds.” What’s interesting is that these same people are not enemies of other religions, but support and defend those religions.

I recently found a testimony of a man who gave his life to Jesus. He told his story of how his friends all abandoned him when he became Christian. He said something along the lines of, “The same people who were so supportive of my witchcraft are now against me for my faith in Jesus.” (Not a direct quote, but you can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/vew3YEwEY80?si=7Y1llKCEzlgvNj9c&t=427 )

No matter what people say, there is something special about Christianity that other religions just don’t have. If you need more proof, you can look up testimony after testimony of people who found Jesus and completely turned their lives around as a result.

Paul stresses this to the Colossians in his letter to them:

“You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.”

Regardless of who you are, everyone starts out as an enemy of Jesus and of Christianity. But Jesus pulls us toward Him in spite of all this. Without Him, we wouldn’t be able to get into heaven. We cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior.