Just Another Book?

by Dr. Jason Lisle on May 15, 2009

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Other religions claim that they have the true written word of some god. What makes Christianity different? Dr. Jason Lisle, AiG–US, answers this common question.

First let me make it clear that I am a Christian and do enjoy reading your site. However, I do have a question in regards to your feedback written on February 13th. In your answer you made a good case as to why believing in God is correct and why evolution is wrong. However, you did not address why the Christian bible is trustworthy and the written word of God, while other religious books of worship are not. I thing Muslims, Mormons, or people of other faiths could use your same arguments. Thus, using your argument, Muslims could say that proves the Koran is the written word of God. The Koran certainly says it’s author is God, just like the bible does. So, can you please do a follow up and explain how we know that only the Bible is the written and actual word of God? I think such a follow up would help those who question why Christianity is correct, while other religions are wrong. Thanks.

—J. J., US

Upholding the Truth

Thank you for the great responses to the skeptics and taunters. Where do these people come from? There must be a small handful who have nothing better to do than surf the web looking to spout their irrational views. They certainly do not represent most mainline Americans. In most cases you cannot reason with them even from scientific point of view. It seems that many of them are inadequately educated from a scientific viewpoint. It is apparent that this is a volitional issue and not a intellectual persuit of truth for these few people. In many cases they are attemmpting to rationalize some immoral or perverted lifestyle and AIG just stepped on their toes.

I understand that you must take time to give a reasonable answer to some of these folks. Psalm 119:41–43 admonishes us to answer those that taunt because we trust in His Word.

Thanks again for delightful reading as AIG upholds the truth of both Scripture and true science.

—Dr. B.G., U.S.

Thanks for this question; I am happy to clarify. Remember, the argument is not “The Bible is the Word of God because it says it is.” Rather, the argument is “The Bible is the Word of God because it says it is and any alternative leads to absurdity.” It’s this last part of the argument that closes the loopholes and provides the proof that the Bible really is what it claims to be, whereas counterfeit religious books fall short.

If the Bible were not the Word of God, we would have no foundation for all the things we take for granted, such as laws of logic, uniformity of nature, and morality. The law of non-contradiction, for example, is based on the self-consistent nature of the biblical God (2 Timothy 2:13). The Bible itself tells us that all knowledge depends upon God (Proverbs 1:7; Colossians 2:3). Most other religious books do not make the claim that all knowledge is deposited in their god; and if they did, they would not be able to make good on the claim. Therefore, the argument will only work for the Bible.

For example, it is the Bible that tells us that God will uphold the future as He has the past (Genesis 8:22). All science depends upon such uniformity. The biblical God is beyond time (2 Peter 3:8), and, thus, only He is in a position to tell us that the future will be like the past.

This is not true of the Mormon conception of God. The Mormon gods change with time; as such, they are not beyond time and are not in a position to tell us anything about the future. There is no basis for uniformity in Mormonism. Nor can Mormonism (or any polytheistic religion) account for a universal objective moral code. Which god’s rules should we follow if there is more than one god?

Perhaps most importantly, Islam and Mormonism both endorse the Bible (or at least portions of the Bible), but then they contradict it. For example, the Koran teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God (Surah 4:171), but was merely an apostle and that He was not crucified (Surah 4:157). This clearly contradicts the gospel accounts, yet the Koran endorses the gospel of Jesus (Surah 3:3).

The Bible teaches that subsequent revelation from God must be consistent with previous revelation (Deuteronomy 13:1–6). Therefore, Mormonism and Islam must be rejected on their own terms. These religions cannot be correct because they are intrinsically incoherent; they contradict the Bible while simultaneously endorsing the Bible. It is also worth noting that since the god of Islam contradicts himself, there is no basis for the law of non-contradiction in the Muslim worldview.

This relatively short response is not meant to be a thorough refutation of all non-biblical religions. But hopefully it does give you the flavor of the argument. The biblical God alone provides the preconditions for knowledge in a way that is consistent and non-arbitrary. The gods of other religions are always revealed to be mere idols that cannot do what the biblical God does.