Page 54 - Advanced Apologetics and World Views Revised

together for the Spirit’s clarity and help, and discuss it. In other words, challenge others to join you in
searching for the solution to a questionable of difficult passage.

Ultimately, the secret things belong to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29). We won’t be able to grasp
everything we read fully, nor will all our questions be answered. If we could wrap our minds around
God—all He is, all He’s planned, and all He’s said—He wouldn’t be worthy of our worship. His ways and
thoughts are infinitely higher than ours, and this is the way it should be (Isaiah 55:9)!

So, at the end of the day, when we can’t fully understand what we’re reading, we choose to trust the
One who speaks without error. We trust His invitation that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we
will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). We trust in Christ’s promise to give us the Helper, the Spirit of truth, who
will guide, counsel, and lead us into truth (John 15:26).

And the more we hunger to know Him more and treasure the infinite depths of His Word, the more we
will worship.

What about other religious books, like the Qur’an or the Book of Mormon? Aren’t
they just as significant as the Bible?

The problem with other religious books such as the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon is
that they contradict the Bible in what they state as truth. If one believes the Bible to
be the Word of God, then those books that contradict the Bible cannot be the Words
of God, because they do not agree. Both cannot be God’s Word as they disagree in
several ways.

For example, the Qur’an states that Jesus did not die on the cross. The Bible clearly
states that He did so that He could pay the penalty for our sin. The Qur’an repeatedly
denies the core Biblical concept that Christ is the incarnate eternal Son of God,
affirming instead that He is only a messenger or prophet. The Qur’an denies the doctrine of the Trinity.
The Qur’an states that the Old Testament foretold of a prophet, namely Muhammad, whom Allah would
send to confirm the Torah. One will search in vain, however, to find any mention of Muhammad in any
Biblical text.

The Qur’an contains many contradictions in its teaching. For example, the Qur’an states there should be
no compulsion in religion (2:256) but also says to “Fight those who believe neither in Allah nor the last
Day…nor acknowledge the religion of Truth” (9:29). The Qur’an states that man was created out of a
clot of congealed blood (96:2), then from sounding clay (15:26), from the dust of the ground ( 3:59),
then out of nothing (19:67 and 52:35). All cannot be true. The Qur’an states that Pharaoh who chased
Moses to the Red Sea was saved from death (10:90-92) yet died by drowning (17:102-103). Some verses
in the Qur’an state that God created the heavens and earth in six days (7:54, 10:3, 11:7) while others
state that God created in two days (41:9) or four days (41:10). If you take the time to study the Qur’an,
you will find dozens of inconsistencies and contradictions. xxxvi

Joseph Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as “the most correct of any book on earth and the
keystone of our religion,” but its flaws run the gamut from the serious to the silly. xxxvii In the category of
serious, the Book of Mormon contains language that militates against the biblical doctrine of the Trinity

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