The Bible And The Religious Writings Of The
World
Many people agree that the Bible is the inspired
Word of God, but is it exclusively inspired? What about the Upanishads?
Or the Koran?
If the Bible is truly inspired by God, then
it follows that it is trustworthy and authoritative in every area it
covers (including matters of history and theology). It simply doesn't
make any sense to acknowledge that the Bible is God's revelation to
mankind and at the same time hold that its message is unreliable.
However, if we're to take the Bible very seriously,
we also need to realize that its claims conflict with other works that
many people deem to be inspired as well. For example the Upanishads
- which are part of the Hindu scriptures - teach that the world is God,
of course the Bible says exactly the opposite. Also, while the Tripitaka,
the sacred writings of Buddhism - prescribes morality, meditation, and
wisdom as solutions to suffering, the Bible points to Jesus Christ and
His finished work on the cross as the only real answer to man's deepest
problems including suffering. And while the Bible centers on Christ's
death on the cross and resurrection, the Koran for example - Islam's
holy book - denies Christ's crucifixion.
As it stands, the Bible is clearly at odds
with the sacred writings of the world's religions. And while, of course,
it's logically acceptable for someone to believe that one of the writings
is inspired, it makes absolutely no sense at all to believe that they're
all inspired, since their claims and statements are in many cases mutually
exclusive. If we are to regard the Bible as being truly inspired by
God, we can only conclude that he had no hand whatsoever in these other
writings. To profess otherwise is to mischaracterize God as someone
who Himself is full of contradictions and inconsistencies.
Now, I want to make it absolutely clear that
the Bible alone gives us the answer for living successfully in this
life and the life to come. In fact the Bible says, "These things are
written that you may know that you have eternal life." The Bible is
the only answer, and the Bible alone is the inspired Word of God.
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