A common question I hear is, "how do you know your religion is the only way?" I also frequently get comments like, "Who are you to say how a person gets to heaven?" or "Who are you to say what is right and wrong?" or "all religions are the same. It is just different ways to get to the same God." Let me start by saying that I have no say. I teach what the Bible teaches. The real question is one of credibility. What evidence do I have that my way is right? The Bible is quite clear that other religions are not acceptable. The Bible can’t be right and other religions right also. Jesus put himself to the ultimate test when he said that he is the only way. The Bible teaches that the God of the Bible is the only god, all other religions are an abomination and Jesus Christ is the only way. Either these claims are true, or the entire Christian faith is a lie. There is no middle ground. I hope to clarify exactly why I believe what I believe.

I don’t believe in blind faith. I don’t think the Bible teaches blind faith either. The Bible teaches that God gives us clear evidence and based on that evidence you have to choose to believe or not to believe. If you believe and act faithfully upon that belief you will obtain the promise, if you disbelieve you will be judged for that disbelief. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Hebrews 11:1 says, "faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen." You can’t see God with your eyes. We believe that heaven is real and our place in eternity is real. Why? Blind faith? No. We believe because of the evidence of what we cannot see. I can’t see, but I know it is real because of the evidence. God teaches that He provides enough evidence to clearly show us that what He said was true and based on the evidence of what He has done, He requires us to believe what He says He will do. Faith is acting upon that belief based on the evidence we have been given. Blind future maybe, but not blind faith.

So what is the evidence that validates our faith? As I said, it is one of credibility. Put God to the test. We do that by putting His word to the test. We should do that with all religions. The Bible tests a prophet by His words. God commanded that any prophet who made a prediction that was proven false, would be put to death. Even if he is 99% accurate, if one false prediction is made, he is not of God. God makes the unique claim that He will never lie. The religion of Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith (who is identified by the Mormon church as the last of the great prophets and more honored that Jesus Christ). Joseph Smith and Brigham Young are on record as teaching that we would one day find a race of men on the moon who dressed like Quakers. There is also a race of men living on the sun. The book of Mormon also gives accounts of two civilizations in North America with a population of people as many as the sands of the seas, with buildings, armor, weapons, etc.. There has not been one single trace of archeological or historical evidence that these people existed(See Mormon 1:17). Even the described land geography does not exist. The biggest error of the Mormon religion is the atonement of Christ and the clearly taught doctrine in the Bible that there is only one God. The book of Mormon teaches many gods exist and that we will become gods of other worlds. The common fall back that I hear is that the Bible hasn’t been translated correctly. This is ironic. The book of Mormon has had over 3900 corrections made since 1830. The Bible has had zero changes. There are many translations of the Bible, but they all originate from the same source. The Bible is translated from the original Hebrew (Old Testament) and original Greek (New Testament). Upon discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the early part of this century, we have found that the Bible has virtually zero errors. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to the first century and are the oldest known manuscripts. These scrolls prove the accuracy the copied manuscripts that were passed down to our modern Bibles.

Jehovah’s Witnesses or Watchtower Saints. Jehovah’s witnesses used the King James version until it was retranslated by the Churches biblical scholar Fred W. Franz. By Franz own admission, he could not read Hebrew yet he translated the entire Old Testament. The biggest difference between what the Christian church believes and the Jehovah’s witnesses believe is the foundational doctrine of Christ. They do not believe that Jesus was God and they do not believe in the atonement for sins that Christ provided on the Cross. They believe he paid for Adam’s original sin. The acid test is their own God inspired words -
"In this chapter we present the Bible evidence proving that the full end of the times of the gentiles, i.e., the full end of their lease of dominion, will be reached in A.D. 1914; and that the date will be the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men. And be it observed, that if this is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures, it will prove; Firstly, that at that date the Kingdom of God, for which our Lord taught us to pray, saying, Thy Kingdom come, will obtain full, universal control, and that it will then be set up, or firmly established, in the earth, on the ruins of present institutions."

Repeated similar predictions were made. The end of all earthly governments would take place in 1914. There were atleast six different dates predicted by the leaders, the last of which was 1975. That did not happen therefore it could not be of God.After 1975 came and went, they stated that they were not sure when it would happen.  Welcome to the club.  They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had read Matthew 24:36, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

Buddhism is a highly flexible religion that allows people to integrate it with cultural beliefs. The clearest evidence against Buddhism is the denial of a living personal God and the idea of self-salvation. Even Buddha himself stated that he did not know if God existed and that he was still searching for truth. How can we base our eternity on a man who did not know the truth when he died?

Islam teaches that Arabic people descended from Abraham (as they did) and that they are the chosen ones. They acknowledge Christ as a great teacher, but not as savior and not as God. They do not believe in the atonement of Christ. Muhammad said in the Quran that he was in need of forgiveness. Can a man who admits he needs forgiveness of sins be able to save you from your sins?

Jesus said that he had the power to forgive sins and that no man could approach God but through him. So do we believe in Jesus because of these claims? Of course not. David Koresh made similar claims before he died in his fortified compound. He also claimed that he would return from the dead and gave a date. If my memory serves me, it was December 14, 1989. Not one person even claimed to see David. Over 500 people claimed to see Jesus Christ. Does that claim in itself prove Jesus rose from the dead? I think it still goes back to a question of credibility. I have seen no evidence that any ‘holy book’ carries any credibility other than its testimony of itself. I propose that only the Bible makes the claim of credibility and backs it up with consistency within itself, historical evidence, prophetic evidence, physical evidence and archeological evidence.

What evidence do we have of credibility in the Bible?

Science verifies the Bible. Previously I gave a detailed account of the incredible evidence against evolution so I will not go into that here. I will mention that at the time of the Roman Empire there were around 4,000 known stars and each one was charted and detailed. Yet in 600 years before Christ and before the Roman Empire, Jeremiah wrote the words of God that the stars in the heavens are too many to be numbered. As early as Genesis were are told that the stars are as many as the sands of the seas. Consider that 4,000 sand grains would be surpassed just by one handful of sand. Yet now astronomers have found that we haven’t even touched the surface of the number of stars that are out there.

Sanitation was taught in the Bible before man ever had an idea of germs. Moses was raised and trained as an Egyptian prince. The Bible says that He was trained in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians. At that time the Egyptians were the most advanced civilization on earth. The Egyptians medical practices are on record today. Almost all medicines and ointments contained unsanitary things such as aged meats, fats, animal and human dung and crushed flies and worms. Yet in the 5 books that Moses wrote, not one of these Egyptian practices were included even though Moses was taught these things since he was a child and so were the enslaved Israelites. Over 200 commands written in these books of Moses are basic sanitation that protected God’s people from germs and unsanitary practices. Germs were unknown until the 1890’s. At the turn of this century, most medical doctors did not have any concept of the need of these practices but the Bible commanded that the Jews practice as part of their law thousands of years ago.

The scientific world believed the world was flat until a few years ago. Yet the Bible claimed that the world was round over 2200 years before Columbus set sail to prove it was round. In the Bible, Isaiah’s claim in the earth was round inspired Columbus to make his historic quest to sail around the world.

Next lets look at the biblical setting. Everything is verifiable. For example, you can take out a map and find mountains, cities, rivers, geographical references that verify that the place the Bible tells us does in fact exist. Archeology verifies that the people did in fact exist. Money used and referenced in the Bible did exist and we have it today. Destroyed cities matching the geographic location given for Sodom and Gomorrah have been located by satellite under the Dead Sea along with surrounding cities exactly as the Bible explains. The city of Jerico has been located and the dig revealed that the city walls fell outward which verifies the biblical account that the walls fell flat. The city of Ur was found and has an archway with the inscription ‘Abram’. If you are familiar with the story, Abram was called out of the city of Ur by God and renamed to Abraham. Archeology continues to support the Bible. William Albright one of the foremost modern archeologist, began digs with the mindset that the Bible was fiction. The finds he discovered convinced him of the Bible’s truth and he committed his life to Christ.

Even the crossing of the Red Sea has been proven by science. I watched a scale model of a wind blowing the sea back to reveal a natural bridge that was submerged under 1000 feet of water exactly where the Bible indicates. Explorers have found gold plated chariot wheels lodged in the coral reefs of this natural bridge which verifies the biblical account of the crossing in Exodus 14:24-25 when the Lord said he troubled the hosts of the Egyptians and took off their wheels to hinder them.

The lists of incredible claims of the Bible proven by archeology were not enough, I would like to focus on history. Precluding my look at history, lets look at what the Bible said would be history. Look at Isaiah 45:1-5, 12-13;
Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
‘I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
For Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
I have created the earth,
And created man on it.
I -My hands- stretched out the heavens,
And all their host I have commanded.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build My city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward,
Says the LORD of hosts.

This was written 740BC, approximately 140 years before the birth of Cyrus, the first Achaemenian Emperor and the one who united the Medes and Persians. Now to history. Babylon was a world wide power and defeated Israel and took them captive as slaves. According to the Bible, this was a judgment. Babylon was a great city with walls estimated to be over 200 feet high and almost 90 feet thick. It was surrounded by a moat equaling the cubit feet of the wall. Gates of solid brass protected the city. The Euphrates river filled the moats and ran under the wall and through the city. To protect against siege, the Babylonians had 20 years worth of provisions stored and internal gardens. The city could be completely self-sufficient. Where the river ran through the city, there were huge walls built and covered by huge brass gates. This well fortified city was completely impenetrable.

On the night of the pagan feast, Cyrus (unaware of any prophesy) planned a surprise attack knowing the king would be at the festival. He redirected the Euphrates River into a flood plain and went under the wall through the dry moat. Inside the walls, Belshazzar king of Babylon was inside praising the gods of his pagan world when the wonderful idea struck him to mock God. He took the dedicated cups taken from the Jewish temple to use to toast his gods as being triumphant over the God of Israel. While he made merry, a hand appeared and wrote on the wall in a language that he did not understand. He shook with such fear that the Bible describes it as "so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another."

Daniel was called and interpreted the writing. "God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. You have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting. Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."

As Cyrus entered the city he found the great brass gates were unlocked and left open. Prophecy was fulfilled to the exact letter and the biblical account harmonized perfectly with history. Once on the throne of Babylon, Cyrus was shown the prophecy in Isaiah that mentions him by name. He saw one prophecy was in his hand to fulfill – it was a command directly to him. "Let exiles go free, without price or reward, says Lord of hosts." Cyrus signed a degree and did the unthinkable. The victor never frees slaves. He uses them, sells them or allows them to pay him tribute for freedom. But Cyrus set Israel free. This is verified by the text engraved in the Cyrus Stone found in 1879.Name any book other than the Bible that can produce such historically accurate and verifiable facts.