on christian superiority Jun 28, 2026

It used to bother me when, in the book of john, jesus says, "i am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to god except through me." This statement has been weaponized by christians to assert the superiority of their religion over others.

In the past year and a half, in studying the bible with friends in my quaker meeting and on my own, i have learned about a deep connection¹ between the book of john and the book of proverbs in the hebrew scriptures. Particularly proverbs 8, in which wisdom is personified as a woman. She walks in the way of righteousness. Her mouth speaks the words of truth. All who find her find life. These are the words of the book of proverbs. The way, the truth, and the life.

Now, when i hear jesus say "i am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to god except through me," i no longer hear someone asserting his own superiority; i hear someone who was doing his best, in his own tradition, to communicate his experience of god as honestly and directly as he could.

1. See john 1:1--5 and proverbs 8:22--31.

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on christian superiority

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