With so many religions claiming to be true what is a seeker of the truth suppose to do? Well one place to start is to examine the sacred books that these religions claim are inspired by God and therefore present us with divine truth. For this devotion we will examine three holy books, the Bible, the Quran (or Koran), and the book of Mormon; and the three religions they represent: Christianity, Islam, and Mormonism respectively. Each of these three holy books claim to be inspired by God. The question before us is should we accept their self-claims? Let’s look at the evidence.
The first thing we can do to see if any of these three books is trustworthy is to test their reliability historically. On this score the Bible passes with flying colors since archaeology has validated hundreds of Scriptural accounts as historically accurate. According to Dr. Jason Lisle: “There is no historical evidence that anything described in the Book of Mormon actually happened. Moreover, there is no archeology to verify these stories. Archeologists consult the Bible when they want to know where to dig. They do not consult the Book of Mormon”1
A second area that separates the Bible from all other holy books is in the area of prophecy. The Bible is the only book that contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies (predictions about the future that came true). No other religious book can make this claim; not the Quran or the book of Mormon.
Thirdly, eyewitness verification to the events that are described in these sacred books is clearly on the side of the Bible and not the Quran or book of Mormon. Again, Dr. Lisle states the case quite well: “These books are strikingly different from those that God inspired. As one example, consider the way in which these books were written. Recall that God used primarily eye-witnesses to historical events recorded in Scripture, and He used multiple authors so that their writings would corroborate each other. However, the information in the Quran is the work of one man, Mohammad, who did not witness the events the book describes. Likewise, the book of Mormon is apparently the work of one man, Joseph Smith, who did not witness the events described therein.”2
And one final fourth key again is summarized nicely by Dr. Lisle: “First, note that both the Quran and the book of Mormon endorse the Bible, or at least parts of the Bible. This is significant because the Bible itself provides tests by which we may judge if any particular book really is divine. One of those tests is that further revelation must be consistent with previous revelation.”3
Here is where we see glaring contradictions between both the Quran and the book of Mormon with the Bible. For example, the book of Mormon teaches that little children cannot sin because they do not have a sin nature. This contradicts the Bible which states all people are born with a sin nature. In addition, Mormons deny the Trinity and believe in multiple gods. Since the book of Mormon clearly both affirms and denies the Bible it cannot be inspired by God; who never contradicts Himself.
In the case of the Quran, it not only denies the existence of the Trinity but denies that Jesus is God. In addition, the Quran denies that Jesus was crucified thus contradicting the clear teaching of Scripture. Since the Quran endorses much of the teachings of the Bible it again fails to be a divine book because of its clear contradictions with the Bible. If the Bible never contradicts itself and the Quran both affirms and denies the Bible then logically it is not inspired by God.
In conclusion, both the Quran and book of Mormon clearly appear to be the works of one man, Mohammad in the case of the Quran, and Joseph Smith in the case of the book of Mormon. Neither were eye-witnesses to the events that they describe, and archaeology doesn’t confirm any of their so-called historical events that they purport to be true. There are also no fulfilled prophesies in these two books like there are in the Bible. In addition, the Bible always verifies scientific knowledge that men hundreds and even thousands of years later discover. Both the Quran and book of Mormon are full of scientific errors.
The Bible, is by far the most unique, amazing, influential and transformational book around. It also has the best worldview fit to explain many of our most perplexing issues of life such as the existence of evil in our world. All three of these holy books claim to be inspired by God but the evidence, in my opinion, leaves us with no doubt that only one – the Bible – is a divine book!
1 The Bible vs. other Holy Books | Biblical Science Institute
2 The Bible vs. other Holy Books | Biblical Science Institute
3 The Bible vs. other Holy Books | Biblical Science Institute
When I quoted a verse in the Bible…Hebrews 13:8, and asked Jesus to heal my eye…He DID!!