What makes Christianity different from all other religions?

Some say that it is the doctrine of grace. All other religions teach that a person must do something to inherit eternal life. Only biblical Christianity teaches that God has done it all, and he credits everything that he has done to us through faith in his promises, culminating in Jesus. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Grace is truly amazing. But each religion has doctrines that are unique to it. What else makes Christianity different?

Some say that it is the unique origin of the Bible. All other religions have holy books that were set down in a short period of time by just a few people. The Bible has 66 books written over 1,500 years by more than 40 authors, most of whom did not know one another personally. In every detail its original text has no error. Its central message, Jesus as our Savior, is the most powerful message ever written. And God gave the Scriptures a role in the life of every Christian: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Bible is truly awe-inspiring. But many religions have holy books with some special characteristics of their own. What else makes Christianity different?

Christianity is the only religion whose leader has risen from the dead. All other religions have founders who, no matter how charismatic they were, died and stay dead. Jesus died and rose from the dead. His resurrection proved that what he said about life and death was true. When he rose from the dead, he proved that he had power over death. He really is who he says he is. "[Jesus Christ our Lord] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).

The resurrection is a fact of history. We do not base our faith on cleverly invented stories or powerful philosophical speculation. We trust historical facts, the mighty words of God. Skeptics who read the accounts of the resurrection in the gospels realize that there was no conspiracy among the writers to present a powerful myth.

In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis writes, "I was by now too experienced in literary criticism to regard the Gospels as myths. They had not the mythical taste. And yet the very matter that they set down in their artless, historical fashion was precisely the matter of the great myths. If ever a myth had become fact, had been incarnated, it would be just like this. . . . Here and here only in all time the myth must have become fact; the Word, flesh; God, man."