Religious Symbols   First, the bad news. There are so many religions in the world today that they can hardly be counted, but the best estimates put it at 4,200. When we just look at religions that claim to be Christian, we find about 33,000 denominations (different groups of churches), and that number includes 244 Roman Catholic denominations.

   With so many religions (each one claiming to be the right one), how can we possibly know which one is correct? Or, if any of them are correct, for that matter. Some people try to solve this problem by claiming that all (or most) religions have truth. They attempt to put together the best of all of the religions. That doesn’t really solve the dilemma because all they have done is add a new religion to the long list of religions—and it is of their own making.

   Another solution is to follow a religious tradition. In other words, believe what other people have believed. That sounds simple, but what if the people who started the traditions were wrong? Other people aren’t perfect just because they lived a long time ago or just because they hold an important sounding religious office today.

   With so many ways of thinking about God, it would appear reckless to claim to know which one is true, or to even declare that they are all false. Who is to say?

   The Bible warns us about these two problems.

   It is dangerous to trust in our own thoughts. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

   It is also dangerous to trust in the thoughts of others. Here are two different warnings about that from the Bible. In the Old Testament God condemned the Jews because, “This people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13). Later Jesus gave us a similar warning. “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

   Now, for the good news: God did not leave us on earth to wander through life blindly bumping into different ideas about God and wondering what He is really like. God has gone through the trouble of revealing Himself to us in written form! I know what you’re thinking: “How do you know that the Bible is better than other religious literature?”

   I can’t answer that question completely in this short article, but here are a couple of helpful thoughts.

   The Bible boldly claims to be a book inspired by God Himself. “The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting” (Psalm 119:160). This is significant because the writings of Confucius, Buddhism, Hinduism and the Koran make no such claim.

   Notice what the great Apostle Peter said about the Bible, “We have the prophetic word

[written word] made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place…. But know this first of all, that no prophecy [divine proclamation] of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:19–21). The Apostle Paul adds that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

   It is also very significant that Jesus believed the Bible to be inspired by God. Let me show you some examples of what Jesus thought about the Old Testament.

   In Matthew 23:35 Jesus said that the Old Testament began with Genesis and ended with Zechariah (the same books in our Bible today). Sixty-four times Jesus either quoted from or alluded to Old Testament Scriptures, but He never referred to any other documents. Jesus even went so far as to say that all the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to Him: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).

   If Jesus believed that the Old Testament was God’s Word, then why should we believe Jesus? There are many reasons, but here is the biggest one: Jesus predicted His own resurrection (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22), and then raised Himself from the dead. “… I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father” (John 10:17–18).

   It is NOT reckless to accept the Bible as God’s Word. It is our ONLY reliable source of truth. Don’t just follow a religion or a person; discover what God has to say for yourself. If you would like a Bible to read or you would like to attend a Bible class, just let me know.