Isn’t it arrogant and intolerant to believe that Christianity is the only way to heaven? 

Your underlying assumption is that all religions lead to heaven. If you believe there is a heaven, then you must exclude Buddhism as a religion that can take you there. There’s no heaven in Buddhism, just Nirvana, which is the elimination of suffering and desire, as well as the individual. In fact, there really is no God in Buddhism. So by doing a quick comparison between Christianity and Buddhism, without much effort, we can clearly see the difference (major differences like this can be found in other religions too). We then have a choice to make. We can say they’re both right, but that would be irrational; how can God both exist and not exist at the same time?  We can say they’re both wrong—or one is right and one is wrong—but, that would be intolerant. We’re now left with a choice to be either irrational or thought to be intolerant. Since faith and reason are divorced in the minds of many, and intolerance is the last remaining sin in America, many simply choose to be irrational.

Some philosophers have distinguished three different kinds of tolerance. There’s “legal” tolerance, which is the recognition that everyone has the legal right to believe in whatever religion they choose. There’s “social” tolerance, which recognizes that everyone should be treated with respect no matter what their religious beliefs. Finally there’s “uncritical” tolerance, which means that no one should evaluate any religious claims—all religions should be given equal status as a claim to truth. With these distinctions, we can say that everyone should practice legal and social tolerance, but uncritical tolerance is too high a price for Christians to pay. However, it’s not just Christians. Anyone who chooses a particular religion does so because they think it’s true, not because they think it’s false.

So if a person sets out to find a religion that’s true, what should he/she look for? Well, truth by its nature is exclusive. If I say something is true, I’m excluding other possibilities. For example, if I say that it is true that my Chevy Blazer is black, I’m excluding the possibility that it’s red, white, or any other color. That may sound intolerant of other colors, but it happens to be true. Also, anyone can see that I drive a black Blazer, so truth must correspond to reality, which means that truth is independent of personal opinions or feelings.

Christianity is exclusive because Jesus was exclusive. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus’ exclusive claim is exactly what we should expect to find if Christianity is true. And the biblical worldview—out of all other religions—best describes the world that we live in. But don’t just take my word for it; study it for yourself.

Jesus claimed that He was the only way to heaven and yet He was the very opposite of arrogant. May God help every true Christian to be like Him (Philippians 2:3-11)..