- About the Bible -
Jesus answered:
"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6
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.
