[Steve Myers] We recently did a Beyond Today program called "Mid-East Family Feud". It was a program that Darris hosted. And a question came in from one of our viewers because in that program we talked about Abraham and the roots of Christianity. And a question that came up from one of the viewers was this, they wrote in, "Why are you acknowledging and fostering the legitimacy of many faiths or other faiths?" So the question came up about the things that we said in the program, which actually is a little bit of a misunderstanding from what was actually presented. And I thought it might be helpful if we talked about it for just a moment.

[Darris McNeely] One of the statements that was made was  that  three of the great faiths of the world - Christianity, Islam, and Judaism - all owe their origins to Abraham because the individuals –Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and certain of the Jews - were all descended physical from Abraham. And of course, all of these faiths then have grown through the years.

[Steve Myers] And of course that's a fact. I mean it's a fact that these…

[Darris McNeely] Absolutely.

[Steve Myers]…faiths were outgrowths of Abraham and his family. You know, the Muslims, Islam, was from one side of the family, right. And the other side we have Isaac where Christianity claims, at least,  its origins from. So when you have Christianity, you have the Muslims tracing their roots in a different direction. It's fact that they all go back to Abraham. Now, the question is, are we encouraging that? Are we saying that these are legitimate faiths? And that's the real question, is that the case?

[Darris McNeely] We were not, obviously. We were not. We were actually showing that the one descendant of Abraham, Jesus Christ - if we want to put Him over here - is the one common factor here that in a sense judges all three of these because Jesus Christ in His ministry obviously took issue with the Jews of His day and the form of religion that it developed through Judaism. He founded the Church of God, the Church based upon His teachings, which we can say Christianity. But Christianity has taken different roads and different developments down through the centuries. The Christianity that we see today bears little resemblance to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the disciples and the Church in the book of Acts. Islam has come along and they certainly have a whole different approach, Muhammad is their prophet. Their view of Jesus Christ is that He is not divine. They do not look upon Him as the divine Son of God. And the point we were making in the program was that when Jesus Christ returns He is going to have issues with all three of these because they really do not, have not followed in the true spiritual faith first enunciated by father Abraham.

[Steve Myers] And so, what's legitimate? Is most Christianity today legitimate? The fact is no, it's not. Judaism - they don't accept Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior of the world. They don't even accept Him. Islam doesn't recognize Christ. They don't recognize the Word of God. So, we were certainly not saying that these are legitimate faiths. There's one faith and in fact over in Ephesians chapter 4 it talks about it very plainly. When you look at true, authentic, New Testament Christianity, the kind that Jesus Christ taught, the kind that the New Testament Church acknowledged and preached - that's what they talk about in Ephesians chapter 4. And it says there in verse 4, "There is one body, one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-5). You talk about legitimate. That's legitimate. When you're following the Word of God, the true gospel of Jesus Christ, that's the only thing that's legitimate.

[Darris McNeely] In John chapter 8, Christ said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). And so we were pointing to Jesus Christ in that program as the One who has the solution to the feuding in the Middle East and the entire world and all human conflict. When we acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then we're on the road to a peace that cannot be broken. That's the real point for all of us to understand I think out of that program and God's Word.

[Steve Myers] That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.