How do various world religions view the Bible?

The Bible – consisting of the 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments – is an important part of various world religions.  The basic world religions are Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity.  In addition, there are many offshoots of these religions, to include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the New Age movement, The Baha’i Faith, the Church of Scientology and many other religions.  Do all religions view the Bible in the same way?  Several of these religions view the Bible, or portions thereof, as a basis for their religious tenets.  The very first verse of the Bible…Genesis 1:1… tells us God created everything.  Which religions believe that a god or a creator formed our universe?  What are the major distinctions between the various religions?

There are several religions that disregard the Bible as the Word of God, because they do not recognize the existence of a god or a creator who is separate from the creation itself?  Buddhism denies the existence of a god, since it teaches that people can become one with the universe by removing the karma from their lives.  Hinduism teaches that god is part of everything – not separate from the creation – and that people’s souls may be reincarnated into new human bodies, animals or plants.  Atheism, though not deemed a religion, denies the existence of a god (unlike Agnosticism which highly doubts there is a god).  There are also many other religions and movements which believe that god and creation are one, to include the New Age movement (a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism), Transcendental Meditation, the Church of Scientology, Christian Science, Hare Krishna, and the Unification Church (aka, the “Moonies”).     

What are the religions that believe in a god or creator?  Judaism, Islam, Christianity, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Baha’i Faith all believe in the existence of a god separate from the creation.  What do these religions have in common?  Basically, they all use the Bible, or portions thereof, as a source of their faith and they believe in a god separate from the creation.  However, not all of these religions use the Bible as their key source.  Many of these religions believe that the Bible is corrupted and they use other writings as their main sources, while others believe that the Bible is inerrant and the sole source for their faith. 

What are the major differences between the religions that teach the existence of a creator and use the Bible as a source for the tenets of their religion? 

Judaism believes that only the Old Testament portion of the Bible is the inerrant inspired Word of God for their faith since they are still waiting for the Messiah to return, which they believe the New Testament teaches to the contrary. 

Islam teaches that the Bible is corrupted as they depend primarily on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad found in the Quran, although they reference the Old Testament to support the prediction of the prophet Muhammad. 

Christianity believes that the original text of the Old and New Testament portions of the Bible are the inerrant inspired Word of God and the sole source for their faith, with nothing added or taken away. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believes that the King James Version of the Old and New Testaments is the inspired Word of God, however, they believe the Bible is a “living document” which is superseded by the Book of Mormon with the teachings of its founder Joseph Smith, Jr. as well as any new prophecies revealed to the church by its denominational presidents. 

Jehovah’s Witnesses also use the Old and New Testament as a source of their faith, but they believe the Bible has been corrupted by improper translations and they have rewritten the Bible according to their prophetic leaders at the Watchtower Bible & Tract and called it the New World Translation of the Bible.

The Baha’i Faith teaches that the Bible must be interpreted spiritually according to the key writings of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the religion in the 1800s, who taught that god was revealed through such religious leaders as Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, the prophet Muhammad and ultimately Baha’u’llah himself.    

In summary, most of the religions that are “creator” based use the Bible, or portions thereof, as a basis for the tenets of their faith.  The question remains, if God is capable of creating a universe out of nothing, would He use additional writings from men who believe that there are discrepancies found in His original, inspired Word?  Or would God reveal Himself through an inerrant, infallible text that could pass the tests of time – the Old and New Testaments of the Bible?    

What does science say about God and creation?

What difference does it make if God is the creator?  Or just part of the creation we see around us?  Or does not exist at all?  Most of us take for granted that God has created everything, but what drives us to believe this notion?  Is it faith?  Or is it common sense?  Not everyone believes this though.  There are many scientists who try to prove God does not exist.  However, the only thing science has proved is that there has to be a god who created everything. 

For starters, look at Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.  In simple terms, the theory teaches that we evolved from apes prior to evolving from lower life forms, which originated after our world was formed from massive concentrations of energy floating around the universe (the Big Bang Theory).  These theories are great explanations, but they still have information gaps nonetheless.  For example, people have always had difficulties trying to explain where all of that energy came from that has been endlessly floating around the universe, especially the concept of how that same energy has been able to exist for infinity without ever running out of usable energy.

According to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the Big Bang Theory has a flaw in that it contradicts the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  What do the Laws of Thermodynamics have to do with science?  Basically, they are proven laws of science that have maintained true through the tests of time. 

The original law, better known at the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics, was established in the 1600’s.  Prior to this time, the measurement of heat was estimated by the touch of the finger.  This law proved that instruments, such as a thermometer, could accurately and consistently measure the amount of heat in any given object or space.  Today, we still use the thermometer as an accurate way of measuring heat.  Thus, the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics has passed the tests of time and modern technology.

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.  However, energy can be transferred from one form to another (e.g., kinetic, potential, etc.).   This law has definitely passed the tests of time.  During the past century, Albert Einstein has proved this law true with his formula – "E=mc2" (Energy = Mass times the Speed of Light squared).  He also proved that you can split apart atoms and bring about nuclear fission – better known as the “atomic bomb.”

The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that the amount of usable energy in a closed system, such as our universe, will slowly be transferred into unusable heat.  This is why it is impossible to create a perpetual motion machine, since there will always be a small portion of usable heat that becomes transferred into unusable energy or heat causing the system to wear down.  This law has been proven by the Third Law of Thermodynamics, known as the Law of Entropy. 

In summary, if the energy floating around our solar system has always existed and never had a beginning, then why, after an infinite amount of time, does our solar system still have such vast amounts of usable energy?  The Laws of Thermodynamics prove themselves true in our universe as people continuously find innovative ways to conserve our limited resources of energy.  Deductively, science guides us to the fact that there has to be a creator involved in the creation of our universe.  Likewise, this creator would have to be separate from the creation, as well as being infinite in that the creator has no beginning or end.  The very first verse of the Bible summarizes this same concept – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 NIV)