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?
I want to believe the bible is the inerrant word of God. I look at nearly all of the characters in the bible, save Jesus, and while they were doing God's work didn't do so to perfection and nearly all of them messed up royally along the way, as we all would. With that in mind, why would we assume that God controlled the people writing the bible to a level of perfection that He didn't require of anyone else?
ReplyDeleteAwesome Response.
DeleteAwesome Response.
DeleteGood question! One major distinction between God and people is just that - God is equated perfection, while people have imperfections. God has never required perfection from His followers. Instead, he desires that they have a broken humble heart to always try doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteEven in the Old Testament, under the law, God always desired humble hearts over burnt sacrifices.
"For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17 KJV)
In other words, believers and followers of God are not God or gods...but rather they are imperfect people with God working through their broken humble hearts.