Letter: Which religion is the true religion?

Rod Shaw asks a very valid question, Star letters May 5, when he wants to know which of all the religions is the true one and how does one know. (I think this question has been asked before on these pages some years ago!) A full answer would take a very long letter and probably put it outside publication in this newspaper. However, here are a few pointers.

1. Uniquely, the Bible was written over about 1,900 years by nearly 40 writers, many of who did not know the others and some did not even know what the others had written, but they corroborate each other as it tells the same story from end to end. It is the story of man’s relationship with God, how it went wrong and how it can be put right.

2. Almost all the other major religious scriptures were written by one person without any corroboration.

3. The Bible contains a colossal amount of prophecy of what is going to happen in the future from the date of that writing. For example, Isaiah 53 tells the story of the birth, life and death of Christ and was written more than 700 years before the event. Daniel Chapter 8 tells of the invasion of Persia by Alexander the Great but was written more than 300 years before the event. There are many hundreds of more prophecies – all have come true in their time. How could this be without divine guidance?

4. The Gospels are written statements by men who lived at the time of Christ’s birth, life and death. They were witnesses of the events and testify to what they saw. Luke was a doctor, so well educated in his day. You have to decide whether to believe them or not.

5. After Christ rose from the dead and ascended into heaven the Christian church came into being. The early members would have known of, even some seen, the events of the time. They would not have joined a church on the basis of information they knew was false.

6. Historians of the time (Josephus and Tacitus) wrote of Jesus Christ and his life and death.

If Rod researches these and other events with an objective mind, and compares the Biblical scriptures to other religious scriptures, he may reach the conclusion that the truth lies in the Bible and the other scriptures are therefore false.

Richard Camp, Wellington