The good news and bad news of Jesus and contemporary religions
Belief in God or gods is not the issue. Jesus is the issue!
If I want to see God, I look at Jesus!
John 14:9

    No credible historian denies Jesus lived and was crucified by the Romans. There is no historical doubt that it was rumored Jesus appeared alive to his followers, and there was a group of disciples called Christians. But, the only reliable details of the life and teachings of Jesus are in the Bible.
Since Jesus is considered a wise teacher and prophet in every major contemporary religion, if Jesus was not who he claimed to be...not only Christianity, but every major religion is in jeopardy.

What did Jesus say about himself?
    He claimed to be the bread of life, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, the vine, a king, the Lord of the Sabbath, the good shepherd...and was before Abraham. He boldly claimed that his word would save, and he would be glorified. By his silence, he allowed people to worship him as he entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. His followers said he was God!
    This evidence is enough for us to make a judgment about Jesus, but there is more. Jesus told his disciples he would be rejected, killed and come out of the grave alive on the third day. This was a serious, unique, dangerous claim.

But, there is more!
    Josephus, the greatest Jewish historian of the time, wrote that Jesus was the Jewish messiah and did marvelous deeds. He also mentioned the fact that Pilate condemned Jesus to death, but Jesus appeared to his followers on the third day after his crucifixion just as the Jewish prophets had predicted.
    Thallus, a Roman who wrote less than twenty years after the death of Jesus, wrote about the unusual darkness associated with the death of Jesus...verifying the crucifixion happened.

But, there is more!
    In the wisdom of God, the written record of these events was circulated during the time of those who could personally verify or falsify what was being said. This is called the Acid Test!
    If these accounts were not historically accurate, the enemies of Jesus had the opportunity to stand up and say...This is not true! I was there and saw what really happened. It did not happen!

There is one more important factor!
    Jesus could not possibly be considered a wise teacher...if he based his credibility on an impossible resurrection! He would be a fool!
    All his bitter enemies would have to do is kill him, bury him, put an official Roman seal on his tombstone and make sure the tomb was guarded by a group of tough Roman soldiers...whose life depended on the body of Jesus being in that tomb on the fourth day.
    On the fourth day, the Jews could claim the body and parade it through the streets of Jerusalem...proving Jesus was an amazingly stupid liar, not who he claimed to be...the Son of God. The Jews understood that when Jesus claimed to be the Son of God...it meant he was God.
His enemies did their best...but the victory parade did not happen!

If we are honest, we are now faced with a critical choice:
    Either Jesus was who he claimed to be, or he was a hideous, murderous, pathetic, cruel, lying, not-to-bright ego-maniac. Why would we give credibility to any religion that claims such a dumb, hideous person as one of their prophets...including Christianity? Remember...every major religion claims Jesus was a wise teacher...but do not recognize his claim to be the Son of God!

The Bad News

    This conclusion is politically incorrect, but Jesus was not concerned with political issues. Because Jesus is who he claims to be, those who depend on any other religion are lost...without hope.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
(Acts 4:12)