The Book
The Bible (meaning "the Book") is not only the greatest and most widely read book ever written, but it stands in a class altogether by itself in several critical respects:
Unity in Diversity. Consisting of 66 separate books written by about 40 different authors over a time span of at least 2,000 years, brought gradually together into one volume by a process which no one has ever been able to describe in full, the Book presents a marvelous unity and a magnificent development of its great themes from beginning to end, with no errors and no internal discrepancies. There is nothing remotely comparable to this among all the millions of books written by man.
Fulfilled Prophecy. There are hundreds of prophecies recorded in Scripture which have been meticulously fulfilled, often hundreds of years later. This is a unique characteristic of the Bible, not found in the Vedas or the Koran or any of the other "scriptures" of mankind. The so-called prophecies of Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, Jeanne Dixon, and others of like kind are of a completely different order than those in the Bible, always dark and ambiguous and, much more often than not, later proved wrong.
Accuracy. Not only has the Bible proved accurate in its prophecies, but also in its very frequent references to matters of history and principles of natural science. Although some problems remain, it is still true that not a single uncontroverted fact of history or science refutes a single statement in the Bible. It is also true that archaeological and historical research has confirmed the biblical references in hundreds of instances and that scores of now-known facts of science were written in the Bible long before men recognized them in nature. Once again, there is no other book ever written of which the above things can be said.
Unique Preservation. No other book has ever been the object of such antagonism as has the Bible. In both ancient and modern times, kings and priests have tried desperately to destroy it and unbelieving intellectuals to ridicule and refute it. Untold numbers of copies have been burned and mutilated, and hosts of its advocates persecuted and killed. But it has only multiplied the more, and today is read and believed by more people in more nations and languages than ever before, continually remaining for centuries the world's best seller.
Claims of its Writers. The writers of the Bible maintain again and again that their writings were inspired by God, often even consisting of the directly recorded words of God. Although other writers such as Mohammed have claimed divine inspiration for their writings, the frequency and variety of such assertions are unique to the Bible. And, still more remarkable, in the same Book and often in the same contexts in which such statements are made, the writers condemn falsehood and hypocrisy in terms of burning fury. It is inconceivable that writings with claims to divine authority could be intertwined with such exhortations to holiness and condemnations of deception unless either the writers truly were writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit or else were themselves monsters of hypocrisy and evil. The latter alternative, however, is utterly inconceivable in view of the unique character and history of the Book which they produced.
Salvation by Grace
The final proof of uniqueness to be offered in this section is that of the all-important teaching concerning salvation. The Bible uniquely teaches salvation through faith alone. All other religions teach salvation through faith plus works.
Of course, the specific objects of faith and the specific list of works required for salvation vary widely from one religion to another. But the basic principle is universal.
Biblical Christianity alone, among all the religions of mankind, teaches that eternal salvation is the free gift of God's grace, to be received by faith alone, apart from works of any kind. The watchword of other religions is "Believe and do"; of Christianity, the word is "Believe and live."
This does not by any means imply that Christianity has a lower or easier standard than other religions. To the contrary, the standard of works in Christianity is so high as to be unattainable by the natural man, so that no man could ever earn salvation by his own good works. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4).
Nor does it imply that Christian salvation is cheap, for the price of redemption was the blood of Christ. "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold …But with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
Although the idea of salvation by grace goes against the grain of human nature, since man's pride is at stake here, it clearly must be of divine origin. Man would never invent a standard of righteousness which he could never hope to attain. It is significant that every one of the standards of works required in the many religions of men is quite capable of accomplishment by human effort. This fact clearly indicates they were originated by human ingenuity. Only God would ever prescribe a standard which could be attained only by God himself. The uniqueness of salvation by grace through faith alone clearly stamps the Christian gospel as divine in origin.
The World's Religions
In the same ways that Christianity is unique, the other religions of the world are homogeneous. Each was founded by men who were, unlike Jesus Christ, sinful men. These founders are all in their graves, defeated by man's last enemy. Christ alone rose from the grave and defeated death.
Similarly, there is a vast contrast between the Bible and the sacred books of the other religions, and between the gospel of grace of Jesus Christ and the dead works of other religions. A brief survey of the chief features of these religions will help emphasize these contrasts.
Though reliable statistics are impossible to obtain (who, for example, really knows the present population of Red China or the religious beliefs of these people?) the following tabulation will give at least an approximate idea of the religious complexion of mankind.
| Christianity | 1,000,000,000 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholic | 600,000,000 | ||
| Eastern Orthodox | 150,000,000 | ||
| Protestant | 250,000,000 | ||
| Islam | 500,000,000 | ||
| Buddhism | 200,000,000 | ||
| Hinduism | 450,000,000 | ||
| Confucianism | 400,000,000 | ||
| Animism | 750,000,000 | ||
| Shintoism | 75,000,000 | ||
| Taoism | 50,000,000 | ||
| Judaism |
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