{"id":3165,"date":"2005-08-31T02:19:17","date_gmt":"2005-08-31T02:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=3165"},"modified":"2019-07-20T08:59:21","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T13:59:21","slug":"how-do-i-answer-someone-who-believes-all-religions-are-equal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-answer-someone-who-believes-all-religions-are-equal\/","title":{"rendered":"How do I answer someone who believes all religions are equal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

One non-Christian I spoke with, a Unitarian, once said to me “No one has shown me anything that proves the Bible is more valid than any other holy book.” When I persisted he said, “How would you feel if a Muslim friend kept telling you that your soul was damned to hell if you didn’t follow the Qur’an?” How do I argue against that?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

My first response would have been, “Ah! So you don’t believe the Bible.” You see, the Bible does claim to be more than any other religion. It claims to contain words from the mouth of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God<\/em>” (II Timothy 3:16). The phrase literally means all the sacred writings are breathed from the mouth of God.<\/p>\n

The Bible is filled with evidence that it is the work of God. I don’t have time to make a complete listing as it would require writing a book, and several have been written on the subject. However, let me recommend reading over\u00a0the material filed under the topic of Apologetics<\/a>\u00a0as a start.<\/p>\n

God challenged people to present their case supporting their gods against Him. ““Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; Let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, And know the latter end of them; Or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, That we may be dismayed and see it together”<\/em>” (Isaiah 42:21-23). One of the strong evidence given in the Bible is the fulfillment of prophecy. No other religion has solid evidence that is recorded in the Bible. Other religious books show flaws and internal contradictions, but the Bible has stood the test of time. Hence, God concludes, “Indeed you are nothing, And your work is nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination<\/em>” (Isaiah 42:24).<\/p>\n

Actually, the Qur’an both supports and rejects Christianity. Its inconsistent stand on the salvation of Christians makes for interesting discussions. A person may express their belief, but I have the same right to tell them why their belief does not match the teachings of God. As a Christian, I have no reluctance standing behind the teachings of the Bible because I know they are vastly superior to the works of men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: One non-Christian I spoke with, a Unitarian, once said to me “No one has shown me anything that proves the Bible is more valid than any other holy book.” When I persisted he said, “How would you feel if a Muslim friend kept telling you that your soul was damned to hell if you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[628,361,362,1514,630],"class_list":["post-3165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-ecumenical","tag-islam","tag-muslims","tag-religion","tag-unitarians"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8372,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-convince-an-atheist-to-believe-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":0},"title":"How do I convince an atheist to believe in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I convince my friend to believe in the Bible, as well as God?\u00a0 My friend doesn't believe in God, Heaven, the devil, anything that the Bible teaches.\u00a0 This friend told me that, to her, the Bible is complete fiction.\u00a0 I know that I cannot even begin to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40211,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-found-your-answering-a-muslim-critic-offensive\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":1},"title":"I found your “Answering a Muslim Critic” offensive","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've noticed in your article 'Answering a Muslim Critic' you have made several attempts to disrespect our Prophet Muhammad SAW. Now I am not a good Muslim, nor am I a sinless human being, but to me that is wrong. You have made the Prophet sound violent and merciless\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42685,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hopefully-religion-will-be-forgotten-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":2},"title":"Hopefully, religion will be forgotten in the future","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can you possibly deny scientific proof? The Bible is like Mother Goose or fairy tales. If you actually believe in the stories of Noah or Jonah, then you should possibly commit yourself to a mental institution. I do believe that the Bible has done good for people. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":766,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-male-oriented\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":3},"title":"Is the Bible male oriented?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Of couse living in a world of patriarchy MAN wrote the bible !!!!! Hide behind your bible and justify mens disgusting behavior. I think your God is a sick one. If you think spousal rape is acceptable because \"God\" said women are to please her man and not \"giving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-practice-witchcraft-anymore-because-the-bible-says-it-is-wrong-but-i-still-feel-no-evil-acts-are-done-by-wiccans-am-i-wrong-to-feel-this-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":4},"title":"I don’t practice witchcraft anymore because the Bible says it is wrong, but I still feel no evil acts are done by Wiccans. Am I wrong to feel this way?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am struggling with a bit of guilt. And some indecisions in my life. I am at this point, committed to God and His unchanging word. I have been in this same place in my life before. The problem is that I have, in even the recent past, gotten\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dont-you-think-we-need-new-methods-to-interpret-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":3165,"position":5},"title":"Don’t you think we need new methods to interpret the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I think the reason that churches don't grow is that they are stuck in the past using outdated methods to interpret the Bible.\u00a0 What we need are some new methods.\u00a0 What do you think? Answer: Well, I don't have anything new - just some very old observations.\u00a0 In fact,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}