Buddhism
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism...

There are many smaller religious groups that attract followers:

Mormonism
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Bahai...

There is a widespread interest in spirituality:

Spiritualism
Occultism
New Age movement...

Most people still claim to believe in God; this is in spite of:

Communism
Atheism
Science...

Why should this be so?

There is a sense of dissatisfaction with material things. People feel there is no meaning to life. People feel in need of help from outside themselves. There is the problem of guilt. People have a sense of the ‘other’. People have a sense of God.

The sense of God arises from two factors:
We were made in God’s image [Genesis 1:26,27]
Creation bears witness to God [Romans 1:20]

There are three impulses in us all

To seek for a god -
"…so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for him and find him, for he is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:27). This seeking arises because we have a sense of God, yet also a sense of being estranged from God.

To worship -
"…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator." (Romans 1:25). If people do not worship God they worship s omeone or something else, a god-substitute, either a different god, some part of creation, or fellow humans.

To make God what we want him to be -
"…and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping thing." (Romans 1:23). We want a God, but one whom we can manage and control, not one who makes demands from us.

It is these three factors together that mean there is so much religion and so many different varieties. Human nature and human desires have not changed in the new millennium.

How do we know what religion or religious ideas are right?

Many people today say that in the end all religious ideas are right; we all seek God in our own way. But - how do we know this view is correct? Suppose it’s wrong? Some religious ideas are contradictory; e.g. if there is only one God there can’t be many gods

Where can we find knowledge of God?

• The human mind; but thinking people disagree.
• Human feelings; a sort of religious or 6th sense. But people have different feelings and feelings are notoriously unreliable.
• Revelation; i.e. God reveals himself to us. The 3 religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity are all based on what is believed to be revelation from God.

• Creation - "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge." (Psalm 19:1,2).
• The Bible - "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16; see also 2 Peter 1:21).
• Jesus Christ - "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." (John 1:18)

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God to us?

This is what the Bible says about itself: "Then the LORD put forth his hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.’ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, “Thus says the LORD’”" (Jeremiah 1:9; 2:1,2). Jeremiah wrote what he had first spoken; and he spoke what God put in his mouth

This is what Jesus recognised the Old Testament to be: "And he [Jesus] answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read what he who made them said to them at the beginning… said “For this reason a man shall leave …”’" (Matthew 19:4,5). ‘He who made them’ is God, but what he said was simply what is written in the Bible.

Though there are difficult passages in the Bible it has never been proved incorrect. Prophecies in the Bible have come true. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah… out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel." (Micah 5:2). The fulfilment of this is seen in that Jesus was born at Bethlehem; see Matthew 2:5,6.

The Bible has a way of speaking to us as God’s Word: "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:7-11).

The right approach is to let the Bible speak and see what it has to say. This is what we are trying to do in these outlines.