How Do Other Religious Books Compare to the Bible?

 

Big Idea: Most religious holy books reference the Bible, however the Bible singularly points us to Jesus as God who came to make us right with Him.

Question asked recently by a friend: How does the Bible compare with other religious holy books, such as the Talmud and the Koran?

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“Ask Anything About the Bible” has been the current blog series. From her on, the scheduled weekly blog will be discontinued but there will be an occasional posting. The website, scripturespy.com will contine to be a resource on the Bible. 

What’s Unique About the Bible?

There are a number of religious holy books that have been written. The question of the day is, how does the Bible compare to them?

Here is a quick reference chart of five religious groups that have writings read by their followers for wisdom and instruction.






The Buddhist Tripitaka is the only religious body of writing not considered by their followers as a holy book. Rather it is a reference and compendium of reflections about the teachings of Buddha.

Jews consider the Talmud as lesser holy than the Old Testament, but it is widely read for advice on spiritual and practical everyday matters.

All of the books except the Tripitaka reference the Bible and most even recommend reading at least parts of the Bible.

But only the Bible claims Jesus is God

While Muslims consider Jesus as a good prophet that preceeded Mohammed, and the Book of Mormon promotes Jesus as important for life, neither the Koran nor the Book of Mormon sees Jesus as anything more than a man who is a really good man to be admired and studied.

But the Bible shows us that Jesus is God.  While on earth he was equally God and equally man in substance.

On earth, Jesus was a man who lived a sin-free life who died and sacrificed Himself for our sins. 

Because He was and is God, He demonstrated His victory over death.  He took on our sin and became the antidote for them.

There is no other religious book but the Bible that shows us this powerful reality.

To be made in right standing with God because of what Jesus did for me is mind boggling. I am eternally grateful. 

That is how the Bible compares with the other religious books. 



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Previous: What makes one sin greater than the other Part 2
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What Makes One Sin Greater than Another? Part 2

 

Big Idea: Clarifying degrees of sin and where sin rules are in the Bible.

Question asked recently by a friend: What makes one sin greater than another? In the Bible, there are so many things that are considered sins, even wearing fabric that isn’t natural is blasphemous! So where are the rules of sin laid out?

“Ask Anything About the Bible” is our newest blog series

Speaking plainly about the question

All sin reflects a violation against God’s purity.

Some sins are more serious because they are more damaging to our inner being. The seriousness also ticks up with sins seriously damaging to others.

In our justice system we have tiers of crimes. Causing accidental death is treated very differently than a pre-meditated violent murder.

The second is more damaging to the inner soul, leading one to dwell more on evil, in increasing intensity. It is also more damaging to another person and those around them.

Intentionality and continual contemplation, whether against God or in the human experience, is the difference in degrees of sin.

 

An example

Consider the difference between these two stories. The 1st grader who was told not to eat cookies before dinner, but did and disobeyed his mom.

Man of us remember the news story in August of 2023 of a 1st grader who, angry with his teacher, made a plan to go into the top drawer of his mother's dresser, take her gun to school and shoot his first grade teacher.

One was a careless incident of disobedience. The other was planned with malicious intent.

Where are sin rules found in the Bible?

The Old Testament books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy talk a lot about rules/laws and sins. They also talk a lot about how to be forgiven for sin.

As noted in last week's blog, the Ten Commandments is the ultimate standard and guide for rules regarding God and our fellow man.  But there were over 600 other rules/laws given.

The other rules/laws were for different reasons. 

• Some were for health purposes, especially important for them as nomads in the desert with no hospitals.
•  Some were to prevent problems with their fellow travelers, and take care of the most needy. 
• Some rules were about attitudes toward God, about guarding the value of life, and to keep marriage pure.

Some rules, related to murder and other crimes had stronger punishments.

That was the Old Testament. It was to establish a way to live with God and live with others. And there is no denying sin needed to be addressed. 

Other societies dealt with violations similarly. Other kings and emperors of the ancient near east expected a life for a life, blood for a violation; blood sacrifice for indiscretion against him and his people.

Groups that followed pagan gods used sacrifices of food and blood to appease the gods or for forgiveness.  The problem was, they never were sure what the gods wanted and it seemed never enough. 

For the Hebrews, God made the rules and the way for forgiveness very plain. It had a lot to do with blood sacrifice, though there were other kinds of sacrifices and offerings. The blood of an animal was considered a covering over sins. Death for what deserves death. (Leviticus 17:11 NLT, Hebrews 9:22 NLT)

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By the way, all the verses in my articles are Bible references. If you hover over the references with your mouse you should be able to see the verse hover in the article even if it is not written.  

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What about the New Testament?

By New Testament times some Israelites, most notably the Pharisees, were very vigilant sticklers about the rules and laws of the Old Testament.

Jesus acted in ways that seemed to the Pharisees like he didn’t care about those laws. He healed on the Sabbath, which Jewish laws would consider work, for example.

But He explained He did not come to do away with the laws, but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17 NLT).

Jesus talked about sin being more than what we do, it starts with what we think and dwell on in our heart. (Mark 7:15 NLT)

He also plainly stated that He came to serve others and give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20: 28 NLT, Mark 10:45 NLT).

To give one’s life implies death. To ransom implies a rescue.

His death on the cross was the sacrifice in place once and for all.  (See below Hebrews 10:10 NLT) His resurrection from death as God was the final victory over sin and death. (I Corinthians 15:56-57)

Romans and Hebrews

Two New Testament books that talk a lot about sin are the Epistles to the Romans and to the Hebrews. There are so many clear verses of God’s solution to sin, it is hard to narrow down examples!

No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.  Romans 3:20 NLT 

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  Romans 3:23-24 NLT

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT

I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:19-20 NLT 

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4  NLT

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.  Hebrews 9:13-14 NLT

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. By that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.  Hebrews 10:10, 13a-14 

In last week’s blog I mentioned that our sin is like a toxin in our body, and we need a toxic cleanse from God. This is it. The pure unselfish blood sacrifice of Jesus who represented God Himself, given freely for the benefit for us of being cleansed from our sin once and for all.

This is His gift to us. The rescue, saved as it were, from our sinful separation from Him and inner darkness. We just need to accept the gift.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

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1. Can you think of an example from your own life with two different levels of wrong? Perhaps something your mother dealt with or at work or in your own family now?

2. Does this help you understand better the idea of Jesus dying on the cross? This is a lot to take in and sometimes takes a while to process. You can also ask God to give you understanding.  Also please feel free to write to me with questions or thoughts dianewido@scripturespy.com.

What Makes One Sin Greater Than Another Part 1

Big Idea: Sin, a major Bible theme, is a flawed relationship with God firstly, but with our fellow man too. All sin pollutes us but some are worse.

Question asked recently by a friend: What makes one sin greater than another? In the Bible, there are so many things that are considered sins, even wearing fabric that isn’t natural is blasphemous! So where are the rules of sin laid out?

“Ask Anything About the Bible” is our newest blog series

Sin at the Core

Human rebellion and separation from God is at the core of the Bible message.

Sin shows up very, very early in the first book of Genesis (Genesis 3).

It is mentioned quite often in the Bible, in some books more than others. See this chart for where the word “sin” is used the most.

Where are the sin rules laid out?

The early chapters of Genesis up through the flood address the beginnings of sin. Then God starts laying out a plan to reestablish the partnership relationship He wants with human beings that began in the Garden of Eden.

From paradise lost God works to communicate and lay out a plan that will eventually connect with all the ethnic groups of the world.

God begins again in a sense, with the man, Abraham.

Abraham’s family is established and the ensuing nation (later called Israel) will represent an example of a people group’s special relationship with God, whether it is deserved or not.

The Ten Commandments and the other 613 laws

Through Abraham’s offspring, rules get established how to live with a holy powerful deity who resides in the middle of their camp. Think Charlton Heston and the pillar of fire in the encampment in the movie, “The Ten Commandments.”

The Ten Commandments (1956)

These commandments and the following 613 rules are not only about a right relationship with Almighty God, but also for a right relationship with those living around us.

Referring to the above chart, notice a lot about sin in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Ten Commandments are found in both of them.

Also, that rule my friend, who asked the question, mentioned, about being blasphemous to wear mixed woven cloth instead of natural fiber, is found in both Leviticus (Leviticus 19:19 NLT) and Deuteronomy (Deut. 22; 9-11 NLT).

That which is most important

A Jewish person recently said the Ten Commandments are really the core, the most important instruction.

The first four commandments are about our relationship to God, and the last six are about living right toward mankind.

Jesus pretty much summed this up too in the Gospels. Love God, love others.

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 36-40 NLT

Is one sin greater than another?

Sin can be in the eye of the beholder. When I lived in West Africa I discovered that a Christian’s idea there of terrible sin was a little different from the way my American friends perceived it.

Yes, people do that!

I believe different generations and different eras of time have viewed sin differently too.

The Bible’s different degrees of sin

In keeping with the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ summary, there are sins against God and sins against our fellow man which are considered worse.

In sins against God, willful intentional defiance repeatedly against Him is considered very grave.

Mankind doing atrocities against fellow human beings breaks God’s heart. Honestly, it should break our heart too.

The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. Genesis 6:5-6 NLT

Oppressing defenseless widows, children, and those destitute is considered pretty terrible too.

All sin puts us at odds with God

It is true that any sin, any violation, makes us guilty. It is like a legal moral standing before God.

Sin in the world, the bent toward rebellion that unchecked turns violent, is like a poison.

If you were offered a glass of water and you noticed a drop of a toxin fell into it, would you drink it?

Probably not. It does not take much to pollute. In the same way, it does not take much sin to pollute.

Everyone is in need of a toxic sin cleanse from God.

That is the thing. We are all legally sinners in comparison to a pure God. And I, as good as I try to be, am unable to make myself perfect.

That is why all need God’s cleansing solution. He made a way so we can stand as if we are pure in His presence. That is mind boggling.

Stay tuned for Part 2 for the rest of the story!

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Reflection: