Page 50 - Apologetics Student Textbook (3 Credits)
P. 50

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 a
               number of 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) but 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.  (https://carm.org/contradictions-quran)

               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. In the category of
               serious, the Book of Mormon contains language that militates against the biblical doctrine of the Trinity


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