I have two pills. They look the same. They are both small and round. One is baby aspirin the other is nitro glycerin. Are they the same?

You're in an airplane headed from Chicago to Los Angeles. Thirty minutes into the flight the Captain says, "Hey, there is an airport that looks just like the one in L.A. It's St. Louis! What's the difference, an airport is an airport right? Besides, this one is much closer. I'm going to land there instead." Is that the same?

Your taking a test in college. The professor has been telling you that all truth is relative. What is true for you may not be true for me. There is no such thing as absolute truth. Then he turns around and gives you a failing grade on your paper. What's the problem?

In logic, the law of non-contradiction states that something is either true or it is not, it cannot be both in the same sense at the same time. The law of contradiction states that two antithetical propositions cannot both be true and false at the same time and in the same sense. Philip Johnson explains it this way, ... nothing that is true can be self-contradictory or inconsistent with any other truth. All logic depends on this simple principle. Rational thought and meaningful discourse demand it. To deny it is to deny all truth in one fell swoop.

There are five major religions in our world:

• Christianity
• Islam
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Judaism

For example, the Bible which was written by eye witnesses, teaches that Jesus died on the cross. Six hundred years later Mohammed (representing Islam) said that Jesus did not die on the cross. Logically, they could both be wrong, but they both cannot both be right. Because they are all mutually exclusive, followed through to it's logical conclusion either both of them are wrong or one of them is right and the other is wrong you can't have it both ways.

Another example of mutual exclusivity is Hinduism's teaching of karma and reincarnation. Hinduism teaches that after you die, you keep coming back again and again until you reach perfection. If you didn't get it right you come back as a lower form of life such as a cow or a fly. That is why they don't eat meat, because that cow might be one of their relatives! Buddhism also teaches reincarnation. The Bible teaches that we only have one life and after that the judgment. Logically, they could both be wrong but they both cannot be right!

Another excellent example of mutual exclusivity is found in Jesus' claim of divinity. All four of the other world religions freely admit that Jesus was a great moral teacher and a prophet. But, Jesus said He was God. That only leaves you with three choices. As C.S. Lewis, a professor at Cambridge University pointed out, "Either Jesus was God or He was a liar or He was a lunatic." Therefore, if Jesus was right, the other religions are wrong, and if Jesus was wrong, the other religions are still wrong because they say Jesus was right!

Buddha said, "I am a teacher in search of truth." Jesus said, "I Am the truth."

Confucius said, "I never claimed to be holy." Jesus said, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?"

Speaking of the afterlife, Mohammed said, "I do not know what Allah will do to me." Jesus said, "I Am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me. though he die, yet shall he live."

None of these other men ever claimed to be God. They all said God is this way, go this way. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by Me."