By Jonathan L Perz (jperz@new.rr.com)
i. We live in a very diverse religious world…
· There are a variety of “world religions” (Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Pagan, Scientology, Shino, Unitarain, Voodoo, Wiccan, etc.)
· Some of these are monotheistic, others are polytheistic (some professing to worship Jehovah)
· Some of these utilize the Bible as one of their books of faith, others solely utilize their own books
· These very facts raise many questions for one seeking God!
ii. The purpose of this lesson is to answer one such question, IS THE BIBLE GOD’S ONLY BOOK?
iii. Though we will speak briefly about various other religions and their texts of faith, this lesson will not serve as a treatise on these other books or the bodies that espouse them for three reasons:
· I am not an expert on these matters
· There simply is not enough time allotted to do so
· While this lesson will be objective in its nature, it is not intended to be apologetic (i.e., give a defense) of these various other religion’s claims to the inspiration of their text. It is my unashamed view
iv. As indicated, our aim is to answer the very important question, IS THE BIBLE GOD’S ONLY BOOK?
This we will do forthrightly! However, before we answer the question of the hour, for reasons that will become apparent momentarily, let us first answer the question (as promised in the advertising for this study)…
DISCUSSION:
I.
WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHER BOOKS?
A. Mormons and the Book of Mormon
1. Founded by Joseph Smith in the early 1800’s (they boast 11 million members on their website)
2. Not only do the Mormon’s believe that the Book of Mormon is inspired by God, they consider it, both in word and in practice, more than the word of God
a. In its introduction, it says of itself, “Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
b. When pressed, any Mormon missionary will admit that they believe this statement, in that they believe the Bible is incorrectly translated, and has suffered through the years because of various translations
3. The Book of Mormon is subtitled “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” This presents some of the book’s greatest problems.
a. The Bible denounces such by only describing two testaments – Heb. 8:7
(1) If the first was faultless and there was need for a second
(2) It can only be assumed the Book of Mormon renders the second faultless
b. The Bible warns against the reception of any “other” Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9)
4. The Book of Mormon’s very own prescribed test denounces it as the word of God for some very undeniable reasons. The text comes from Moroni 10:3-5 and reads…
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how amerciful• the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and bponder• it in your chearts•.4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not btrue•; and if ye shall ask with a csincere heart, with dreal• intent, having efaith in Christ, he will fmanifest the gtruth• of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may aknow• the btruth• of all things.
a. The Bible asks no such subjective (i.e., relative to an individual) test of its verity – ask a variety of Mormons regarding their experience after praying this prayer and no two accounts will be alike. It asks you to base your faith in it on a better felt than told experience rather than the verity of the text itself!
b. Contrariwise, the Bible simply asks you to accept it based on its own merit – cf. Acts 17:11; 1 Thess. 5:21; 1 John 4:1
c. The trap of such a test is that in order to pray this prayer, you must already accept as fact that the Book of Mormon is true.
(1) Otherwise, such a prayer would be vain and a farce (faith is prayer’s prerequisite) – Jas. 1:5-8
(2) Otherwise, you are praying for that which you do not really believe anyway!
5. It should not go without mention that there are two other books the Mormons hold in high esteem, both as divinely inspired revelations, authored by Joseph Smith…
a. The Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
b. The Pearl of Great Price
6. There is much more than can be said about the Book of Mormon, both from an internal perspective and external perspective. Suffice it to say that none of it testifies it as the word of God!
B. Muslims and the Koran
1. Round about AD 570, the prophet Mohammed began receiving “revelations” from Allah (“God”). These revelations were compiled into what became the Holy Koran.
2. The interesting thing about the Koran is that it supposedly shares our same God, finds its origins in the Old Testament of the Bible and often references the New Testament of the Bible (there is even a chapter named after Mary, the mother of Jesus)
3. However, one of the greatest problems with the Koran (and there are several, both in contrast and comparison) involves its treatment of Jesus. It does not treat Jesus as The Messiah or as The Son of God, but as a mere messenger, or prophet, of God (like Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.). For example, in Koran 4:171, it says,
“O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allâh aught but the truth. The Messiah 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a Messenger of Allâh and His Word, ("Be!" - and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rûh)[] created by Him; so believe in Allâh and His Messengers. Say not: "Three (trinity)!" Cease! (it is) better for you. For Allâh is (the only) One Ilâh (God), Glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allâh is AllSufficient as a Disposer of affairs.”
a. Consider this in light of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-24
b. Consider this in light of the test by which we can know the Spirit is of God – 1 John 4:1-6
4. The very spirit, tenets, morality, principles, nature and fruits of the Koran express it is contrary in so many ways to the Bible. Such a text does not find itself in harmony with the Bible, but in competition and at war with the Bible. Consider the following…
“Fight those from among the people of the Book, who believe not in ALLAH, nor in the Last Day, nor hold as unlawful what ALLAH and HIS Messenger have declared to be unlawful, nor follow the true religion, until they pay the tax considering it a favour and acknowledge their subjection. And the Jews say, `Ezra is the son of ALLAH,' and the Christians say, `the Messiah is the son of ALLAH;' that is what they say with their mouths. They only imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before them. ALLAH's curse be on them! How they are turned away. “ (Koran 9:29-30)
5. Indeed, there are many irreconcilable differences between the Bible and the Koran that express them as coming from different sources, with different agendas, and different messages. This serves as some of the irrefutable evidence to suggest that the Koran is not God’s book!
C. Jews and the Talmud
1. Indeed, we know the origin of the Jews and their religion, for it is shared in our Old Testament of the Bible—their primary (???) book of faith
2. However, in the tradition of the Pharisees and Sadducees of the first century, the Jews of today cling to another set of instructions (writings, now bound in a book) which shares, not only in its practice, but in its reverence, equal place with the Old Testament writings. These writings are now known as the Talmud (or Oral Law)
3. They find their origins in that which Jesus condemned as nullifying the word of God – cf. Mark 7:1-12
4. Indeed, besides their obvious denial of Christ as The Messiah, the traditions of men they hold to in many ways negate the word of God in their lives. The truth is most modern Jews do not keep even the Old Covenant, which has no power to save anyway – Gal. 5:3-4; Heb. 10:1-4
D. Adventists and the “prophecies” of Ellen White
1. Based on the Adventists own views, as recorded here, the Adventists do not believe in word, that Ellen White’s writings replace or ascend to the level of The Bible, but in practice they elevate her prophecies and interpretation of Bible prophecies to the level of inspired. Note this quote from the Ellen White Estate website (www.whiteestate.org), which not only speaks from the estate’s perspective, but also from that of the Adventists…
“Seventh-day Adventists believe that Mrs. White was more than a gifted writer; they believe she was appointed by God as a special messenger to draw the world's attention to the Holy Scriptures and help prepare people for Christ's second advent. From the time she was 17 years old until she died 70 years later, God gave her approximately 2,000 visions and dreams. The visions varied in length from less than a minute to nearly four hours. The knowledge and counsel received through these revelations she wrote out to be shared with others. Thus her special writings are accepted by Seventh-day Adventists as inspired, and their exceptional quality is recognized even by casual readers.
As stated in Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , “The writings of Ellen White are not a substitute for Scripture. They cannot be placed on the same level. The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be subject” (Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Washington D.C., 1988, p. 227).
Yet, as Ellen White herself noted, “The fact that God has revealed His will to men through His Word, has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour to open the Word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings” (The Great Controversy, p. vii).”
2. What more can be said, except that it is not a mystery that many of the writings of Ellen White are certified plagiarisms from various other authors and previously published minor works (see www.bible.ca or www.ellenwhite.org for more information).
E. Denominations and Creeds
1. Time would fail to cover the variety of creeds that have, in practice, become more important to many denominations than the very word of God which supposedly inspired them.
2. Jesus warned against any and all such creeds in Matt. 15:7-9
Having briefly considered these various religions and
their texts, we want to spend the remainder of our time answering our primary
question. The fact of the matter is, in order to answer the question of the
hour, it is not essential to know every other false religion and their text of
choice, it is only essential to know the truth! Like counterfeit money, the
average person need not know every counterfeit (because there are hundreds,
maybe thousands of conceivable possibilities), it is only necessary to know what
the real thing looks like. With this thought in mind, let us ask God if the
Bible is His only book!
II. IS THE BIBLE GOD’S ONLY BOOK?
A. There are a plethora of internal and external evidences supporting the Bible as God’s only book!
1. Time would fail to cover all evidence securing the Bible as God’s ONLY Book…
a. The miracles, signs and wonders of God bear it witness – Heb. 2:3-4
b. It’s prophecies have all come to pass – Deut. 18:15-22; 2 Pet. 1:16-21
c. Archaeological evidences – many discoveries testify to the verity of the Bible
d. Scientific evidences – as evidenced by the foreknowledge of God
(1) The earth is round – Isa. 40:22; Prov. 8:27; Luke 17:34-36
(2) The water cycle – Eccl. 1:7; Amos 9:6; Job. 36:27-28
(3) The earth in space – Job 26:7
(4) The paths of the sea – Psa. 8:8
e. Historical evidences – Kings, Chronicles, Acts, etc. are all accurate and true
f. Some have suggested that truths such as its complete unity, its unparalleled impartiality, its manifest universality, it unsurpassed morality, its wonderful brevity, and its undeniable influence for good testify it as God’s only book.
2. You might be thinking, “Yes… these support God’s word as inspired, but how do they corroborate the Bible as God’s only book?” ANSWER: No other religious text claims such an expansive and extensive amount of evidence. The Bible has a divine fingerprint, whereas the others do not!
B. The greatest evidences supporting the Bible as God’s ONLY book are by its own admissions as such!
1. In addition to its inspiration by God, the Bible claims itself as complete, which is able to make its readers complete – 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Col. 2:10; 4:12
2. Prior to Jesus death, He professed that the Spirit would guide the apostles into ALL truth – John 14:26; 16:13 (cf. 2 Pet. 1:2-3)
a. When the apostles ceased writing, revelation ceased – Eph. 3:3-4
b. Otherwise, the apostles died without having been guided by the Spirit into ALL truth!
3. The Bible testifies that prophesy would cease when that which is perfect has come – 1 Cor. 13:8-10 (cf. Jas. 1:25)
4. The Bible warns against going beyond its writings – 1 Cor. 4:6; 2 John 9; Rev. 22:18-19 (cf. Deut. 4:2: Prov. 30:5-6); Gal. 1:6-9; 1 Tim. 1:3
5. The Bible’s own inspiration declares it once for all delivered and confirmed – Jude 3; Heb. 2:3-4
6. The Old Testament of the Bible testifies of the New Testament (Jer. 31:31-34) and the New Testament testifies of the Old (Heb. 8:7-13), but neither testify of those other books and religions except as false, hedonistic, and pagan.
C. Some arguments against the Bible answered!
1. The Bible is not adequate to the task of being God’s only book because of translational errors, mistakes, etc. and the lack of original copies available to verify it!
a. This test does not bode well for those other books…
(1) Where are the original copies of the Koran, Book of Mormon, and the Talmud?
(2) It is a known fact that the majority of Ellen White’s writings are plagiarized
(3) Denominational creeds are admittedly written by men
b. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting the lower (textual) criticism of the Bible, whereas the textual support for those other books is either non-existent or unconvincing!
2. The Catholic Church is responsible for the giving of the Bible and it is neither fallible nor representative of God’s church on earth!
a. God has used a variety of things considered evil to bring about His own good end in a variety of ways (i.e., Babylonians and Assyrians to judge Israel; Joseph’s slavery to save Israel, Jesus’ death to save mankind, etc.)
b. In each case, the evil entity that did God’s good was still judged for their own evil!
c. God is able to keep and preserve His word from corruption until that last and very notable day of the Lord (i.e., The Judgment) – cf. 1 Pet. 1:22-25; John 12:48
3. The Bible cannot be God’s only book since there are so many translations available!
a. The truth is that many translations are not true translations (e.g., NIV, NCV, Living Bible, etc.)
b. A translation is merely taking the words of one language and writing them in another language, as is the case with the KJV, NKJV, NASB, ASV1901, etc.
c. While each translation might have its own merits and shortfalls, the word of God underlying each remains the same and can be summarily affirmed in a multiplicity of manuscripts!
Indeed, let us conclude with the following thoughts…
CONCLUSION:
i. To accept the Bible as the Word of God, one must accept it as God’s ONLY inspired book! It’s very own writing demands as much!
· You either believe the word of God as it is written or you don’t!
· You either believe its claims of sufficiency and singularity or you don’t!
· You either believe it for its own merits or you don’t!
ii. To accept any other book, text, writing, or inspiration from any other source on the same level as that of the word of God is to deny some of the most fundamental and essential truths revealed in the Bible!
iii. With this fact in mind, we close with the words of Paul in Eph. 3:1-12…
"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." (Ephesians 3:1-12)
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