World Religions

[Anonymous]

Hello all! I just joined this site, so if I repost a question that has already been answered, I'm sorry.
Okay.. so I grew up in a family that had always believed in God and are Christians. We don't go to church often, because where I live, our church is closed for the winter (we don't have heating and only a few people come to the service anyway). But I still always had faith. Just a year ago, I met some great friends that I have now, whom are very religious and have taught me a lot about the Lord and the bible. Though, just last night, me and my friend were talking. He is taking a class, 'Religions of the World' and was telling me what all they believed in (like Hinduism, Judism, etc.) I never really knew that other religions also had their own scriptures, like we have the bible. So, that made me think.. how is the bible different from other religions bibles? And are theirs right? Or are ours right?

[Deborah]

how is the bible different from other religions bibles? And are theirs right? Or are ours right?

you must decide that for yourself, best way is the check all as god instructs us in his word,

1 thess 5:21 tells us to Prove all things.

1 john 4:2 & matt 7:15-16 tells us to test what it says.

The bible speaks truths that were unknown to sciencists until centuries after it was written.
We also have history and Geography,
The bible mentions the anchient Hittite nation, (2sam11:3: Gen 15:19-21: numbers 13:29: Josh 3:10) Sceptics believed the bible was wrong for many years, until Hugo Winckler excavated Hattusa, the Hittite capital in 1906. (biblical world pp 29off)

The bible says that Israilite slaves built Pithom and Raamses using bricks of clay mixed with straw, then clay and stubble, then clay alone. (ex 1:115:10-21)Neville examined the ruins of Pithom and found all three types of brick. (biblical world pp 458,459)

Sir William ramsey tried to disprove Acts by tracing pauls journey, by retracing the journey he instead became a firm believer when he found that contary to what scalars believed, the bible was right when it implied leomium was in a different region from Lystra and Derbe (acts 14:6) ( Archaeology and bible history, free. p 317)

and there is more where that came from, one just needs to do what God instructed us to do in his word and prove all, and test what is said.

Other books of faith do not stand up to the scrutiny the bible does.

[Poetic_Soul]

One of the things that I've discovered was that majority of scriptures from different religions are similiar stories that are familiar to the bible. Some religions don't stand up to facts. For example: the Koran describes the earth being flat. But the main signifigance is the relationship that we have with God. The bible explains in detail how God loves us and how He becomes so personel in our lives. Other religions show how their god separates himself with his creation.

[August]

Christianity is unique since this is the only religion where the God became man, to share and carry our suffering. Apart from that, there is no corraborated history for any of the other faiths.

[Poetic_Soul]

I co-sign

[Anonymous]

thank you guys very much.

[Kurieuo]

So, that made me think.. how is the bible different from other religions bibles? And are theirs right? Or are ours right?

First, you don't need to test other "religious" books, to know whether your own is true. You could focus simply on the Bible, taking the time to understand how it came to us, how we can be sure it is reliable to the original text, and seeing whether what it says has a ring of divine authorship. The latter is based on its trustworthiness, insights people could not have known back then (e.g., medical, prophetic), and other things.

Once you have developed a faith in the Bible from having tested and understood it, then you can begin to use it as a standard to test other things, and if those other things differ, then "red flags" should go up. When a "red flag" goes up it does not necessarily mean the information you're being presented with is wrong, rather it could mean your interpretation of Scripture is wrong and so you need to revisit Scripture to see whether your interpretation is causing an unnecessary "red flag." So I think there is always this testing and resorting of beliefs that should go on. Just remember the main things are the plain things...

Kurieuo.

[Mastermind]

A better way to figure out if the Bible is divine is to look for the actual meaning of the words. For example, many people who read through the first few chapters of Genesis come out thinking it is about the creation of the universe. The creation itself is not important. The point of the verses is the fact that we fell into sin before God. It is better, in my opinion, not to focus on the parts that are useless to our spiritual development. Look for the reasons of why things are done. When you read about an event, try to make, in your mind, an analogy of that event. For example, let's take genesis again. Rewrite it in your mind and see if you can keep the main point. This is especially important if you're not scientifically inclined, as you'll likely face much opposition from skeptics who will try to destroy your faith. Point out to them that they have the reading comprehension of a five year old. The events themselves are not important as long as you understand their meaning. If you use this method to study the bible, it will all make so much sense in the end that you will realise it HAD to be divinely inspired.

[Poetic_Soul]

Mastermind;...as you grow more in your christian walk, the events will start to be of importance. I understand that you are explaining the fundamentals to the one that asked the question but eventually the events and surroundings of the biblical stories will become of significant and relevent.