BIBLE LITERACY


WHY TRUST THE BIBLE OVER OTHER RELIGIOUS WRITINGS?


■ by Edley Moodley


RENCH ARTIST Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) painted what some consider being the world’s most mysterious painting. He painted people of various ages, all Tahitian, in a primitive setting. Some are standing; oth- ers are sitting. The title of the painting is a series of questions: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? These questions relate to the meaning for our existence, the question of our mortal- ity, and our ultimate destiny.


F


Sacred texts offer us responses to these important questions. What is the test for authenticity, reliability, and the endur- ing value of sacred writings that guide the masses in their quest for spirituality, piety, and devout living? Do some of these writings have priority over others? I will offer a brief discussion of Hinduism (a polytheistic faith) and Islam (a mono- theistic faith) before concluding with a brief defense of the Bible regarding its truth claims.


Hinduism and the Vedas


Hinduism is the most diverse and eclectic of all religions. Its superstruc- ture—polytheism and pantheism, coupled with the invasive caste system—is built on the foundation of the oldest of Hindu scriptures, the Vedas. The Vedas have no explicitly named author and are said to have been “heard” by holy men called rishis, who transmitted them orally to later generations. The Vedas are a collec- tion of four basic texts that contain reci- tations and chants used during sacrifices, a musical handbook for Vedic chants, a book of practical prayers, and accounts of creation.


Salvation in Hinduism is attained through good works—karma. Karma is


20 EVANGEL • AUG 2010


the moral law of cause and effect, the belief that every action has moral con- sequences for the next life. The soul of a person is reborn into another being after death. This is the doctrine of reincarna- tion, where a person is caught in an endless cycle of births and rebirths until finally reaching oneness with the divine


“


claimed that the Koran is God’s final revelation to all of humankind delivered in a series of encounters between the angel Gabriel and Muhammad, the last of God’s prophets. The word Islam interpreted in the Ara- bic means “submission” or “surrender.” Muslims must surrender to the will of


THE HINDU SCRIPTURES DO NOT ARTICULATE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PURPOSE OF LIFE AND THE ULTIMATE DESTINY OF HUMANKIND IN ANY COHERENT WAY.”


or becomes a god in a p


or becomes a god in a pantheon of gods. At the heart of Hinduism is the quest for self-deification, and salvation is earned by good works through ritual and sacrifice. The Hindu scriptures, however, do not articulate a clear understanding of the purpose of life and the ultimate destiny of humankind in any coherent way.


Islam and the Koran


One summer I was at Rome’s Leonar- do da Vinci International Airport wait- ing for a connecting flight to Atlanta. To redeem the time I got a journal from my case and settled down to read. As I began reading, three Muslim men came and sat across from me. We exchanged formalities. The conversation soon moved to questions relating to our respective faiths—Christianity and Islam. Among the disagreements between us was the question of the composi- tion, nature, and content of the Koran (meaning “recitations”) as contrasted to the Bible. My counterparts emphatically


Allah contained in the Koran. It contains 6,000 verses collected into 114 suras, or chapters. The Koran begins with the longest sura (286 verses) and ends with the shortest (three verses) and is not orga- nized in any chronological sense. Muslims believe the words of the Koran are God’s words, dictated to Muhammad via Gabriel in Arabic. All over the world, non-Arabic-speaking Muslims recite the Koran and pray in Arabic. Any translation of the Koran into another language is deemed inauthentic and invalid; consequently, the only way to understand and rightly interpret the Koran is to read it in Arabic. If, as Muslims claim, the Koran is the inspired word of God, the last and final revelation given by Allah for all of humanity, one wonders why God chose to confine this final revelation to one linguistic group out of several thousand, thus denying the final revelation to all of humanity. The Koran portrays its inconsistency when, on one hand, Jesus


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32