Finding The Way

There are many alternatives out there as we look for what is real and what or who can be counted on in this life. Jesus Christ made some startling claims. He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to be the only way to get to God and eternal life; “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me,” He said in John 14:6. He also made some startling demands. He said that whoever would follow him must “deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24), the follower giving control of his life to Christ. How can we know if Christ’s claims are true and his demands viable? These are absolute statements; he didn’t say, “I am a way,” he said, “I am the Way;” meaning that there is no other. How can we trust these claims? What about Muhammad and his teachings, or Buddha and his? Muhammad claims that Jesus was just a prophet, and that Islam is the only true way. Buddha claims that we ourselves are “God,” and we just haven't realized that this is true; there isn’t just “one way” to God, there are many ways. Millions of people follow each of these teachers; are they all wrong? Many people say that they can all be right; this line of thinking is often found in the eastern religions, such as Buddhism, or Hinduism. However, it is important to point out that because of the absoluteness of Jesus’ claims (such as that he is the only way to God), Muhammad and Buddha are necessarily wrong if Christ is correct. Others point out the seeming paradox of the cult leaders who lead their members to tragedy, while at the same time identifying with Christ and teaching from the Bible. A recent example of this would be Herf Applewhite, known as “Do,” and his Heaven’s Gate cult; Herf Applewhite claiming to be Christ in person, and echoing Jesus’ words, “Follow me,” while leading his followers to disaster. On the one hand, we find some leaders with teachings that are clearly not the truth, and yet we find people choosing to follow them nevertheless, such as these cult leaders. On the other hand, we find various other leaders that each have teachings that everyone would agree have at least some value and some truth, and yet at certain points are in complete conflict with each other, leaders such as Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha. Our question at this point is, how can we know who is right and what is the truth? This paper was written to answer this question and to furnish individuals with a reasonable basis for faith in Christ and His claims.

The Christian Message of Salvation

God's love, Our Need, God's Provision, Our Response

In order to accurately state the case for Christ and the Bible vs. other leaders and their teachings, it is necessary to first take a look at what Christians believe about God and salvation. As previously stated, Jesus made the startling claims of being the Son of God, and the only way to God. According to the Bible, Jesus makes these claims on the following premises: There is one God, he has always existed, and he created the entire universe and everything in it. He himself is not created. The following four points are

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1.   The one God who created all things loves us (Jn. 3:16).

2.   Each of us has gone our own way; we have committed sins, separating ourselves from God and an eternal relationship with him (Rom.3:23).

3.   Because of God’s love for us, although we are unable to earn or achieve salvation, God paid the price for our sins through Christ, who died on the cross and rose again; he offers this salvation to us as a free gift (Rom. 5:8, Eph. 2:8).

4.   This gift is received on an individual basis by receiving Christ as Lord of our life (Jn. 1:12).

These are some of the basic premises on which Christ makes his claims to be the Son of God and the only way to God the Father.

Some Background to Christ and Salvation

As we compare Christ and his teachings to other teachers, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of him and his background as the founder of Christianity. Jesus Christ was

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After teaching about the creation of the world and of man, the Old Testament of the Bible then teaches and shows how God reached out to man in general ways, such as through the wonder of creation, for example, and in more specific ways to a few specific individuals, usually called prophets. One of these prophets was a man named Abram. In Gen. 12:1-3, God speaks very specifically to Abram, giving him this command and accompanying promise (Gen. 12:1-3): "Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In Gen. 15:4 God adds to this promise that the nation which shall come from Abram will be taken through a son from his own body. So Abram was to be blessed by God, and a nation was to come from him, and this nation God would somehow use to bless the other nations of the earth. The Bible shows that after a time God appears to Abram and establishes a covenant with him (Gen. 17:1,2): "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly." God also at this point changed Abram's name to Abraham (meaning 'exalted father'). God then makes it clear that the covenant and blessing would be through Abraham's son, Isaac, who would be born to Abraham's wife Sarah, "...Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him" (Gen. 17:19). Isaac is then born to Abraham as promised. To Isaac is then born a son Jacob, who is known as Israel, who then has twelve sons, which become the twelve tribes of Israel, or the nation of Israel.

The Jews, as stated above, are of the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve sons of Israel, but this name has come today to refer to Israelites in general, and 'Judaism' is the faith of the Israelites. Israel was God's chosen nation (Gen. 17:19), and they were to be set apart to represent God to the other nations and to tell others of him; "I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations." God spoke to the Israelites through prophets, giving them his word (the Old Testament of the Bible, and later the New Testament) which contained commandments and histories, and which foretold of a coming Messiah ('Christ', or 'Anointed One'), who would bring a new covenant and be the Savior for Israel. "'Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His

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The New Testament tells of the arrival of this long awaited Messiah and the new covenant: "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also created the world" (Heb.1:1,2). God long ago promised Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. Although the Jewish people (Israel) had been called to share their faith about God with the nations around them and thus bless the families, or nations of the earth, Jesus, the Christ or Messiah, a Jew and a descendant of Abraham, came for the whole world and thus is God's ultimate fulfillment of his promise to Abraham. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). "And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (I Jn. 4:14). Jesus Christ, as the mediator of the new covenant, came first to the Jews, and then to the whole world, establishing His church with a historical background and foundation of Judaism and the Old Testament, but teaching a whole new revelation of God to mankind through the promised new covenant, this new covenant being a long established plan of God, foretold of in the Old Testament. This church soon became known as Christianity, which makes use of the teachings of God in the Old Testament, but in the context of the teachings of the new covenant of Christ in the New Testament.

To summarize, the Old Testament of the Bible tells of a God who creates all things and then reaches out and establishes a covenant with a particular individual, Abraham, making him into a great nation and promising he would be a blessing to the whole earth. God also promises to Abraham's descendents He will make a New Covenant with them, sending a Messiah to bring this covenant. The New Testament begins with the arrival of this Messiah, Jesus Christ, who establishes the New Covenant from God, offering salvation for the whole world through faith in Christ.

Jesus Christ vs. Muhammad and Buddha

The question remains how can we know that all of this is true, or that what Christ says in the Bible is right or reliable? What about other teachers, other religions, and other "holy books" or scriptures? This is an excellent question. In this age of instant information; the Internet, PCS’s, Direct TV, etc., we are able to be aware more than ever of and be informed on the teachings of many leaders and religions, with varied teachings from all parts of the world. While personal investigation is still the best method to learn the

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Muhammad and Buddha

Muhammad and Islam

Muhammad, the inaugurator of Islam (Islam means submission; i.e., to God), was born around 570 A.D. At this time in Mecca, Arabia, there was taking place the worship of many "deities". According to Islamic teaching Muhammad, at age 40, began receiving revelations and visions regarding the right way to live and regarding the one "true God," Allah (Arabic for God). ² Muhammad did not claim to be without sin. In fact, he viewed himself as an ordinary man, and claims he was doubtful when he first began receiving the visions. ³ Upon receiving these revelations, and continuing to receive them, Muhammad began to preach against the worship of these "deities" and began to preach a right life and that Allah was the only true God. The followers of Islam became known as Muslims. These revelations and visions were written down, and were later reassembled into the Qu'ran, Islam's chief holy book.

The Qu'ran, Muslims claim, while written down by a human (originally Muhammad), was authored word for word by Allah, and delivered to Muhammad by an angel. Taking the majority of the Bible as its roots, it teaches that Muhammad is the last and greatest of the prophets, beginning with Adam and Abraham in the Old Testament, and including Moses, David, and in the New Testament, Jesus Christ. Muslims do not follow the Bible and its teachings in an exact manner, however. Jesus is considered merely a human

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To attain eternal life in Islam, the individual must choose to lead a good life, doing good. The Five Pillars of Faith which the Muslim is to follow are: The profession of faith, prayer five times a day, alms to the poor, fasting, and, if possible, one pilgrimage to Mecca. ⁸

Muslims are judged by Allah on the Last Day and are sent either to eternal life, consisting of an eternity of sensual pleasures, or eternal hellfire, depending on whether they choose to follow the Law of Islam (performing the Five Pillars, and the rest of the teachings), or to lead a life of evil. "Muslim theologians explain that the way to salvation consists in the due performance of the five duties of Islam." ⁹ The resultant Islamic view from the Qu'ran of salvation is that it is determined by the good works vs. the bad (evil) works of the individual; it is based on how good a life the individual has led. "There is no assurance of eternal life until the Muslim reaches the day of judgment at which it is commonly understood that all will be made to walk over the thin edge of a sword stretched across a deep abyss. Those who succeed will enjoy an eternity of sensual paradise. Those who fail will be consigned to torment in the raging fires of hell. Faith

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At the core of Buddha's philosophy of human morality is his Four Noble Truths: Life is suffering; Suffering is caused by desire; Cessation of desire results in cessation of suffering; There is a path that leads to the cessation of desire. ¹⁷ This path that leads to cessation of desire is known as the Eight-Fold Path: Right views, Right purpose, Right speech, Right conduct, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right awareness, Right meditation. ¹⁸ Buddha developed this path to assist others in becoming a Buddha, which is the final life one spends as a human being; after this life one enters Nirvana, becoming one with God.

Hinduism explains this concept of the ‘truth’ of the divinity of human beings, and the path to arrive at oneness with God in this way: “Underlying man’s personality and animating it is a reservoir of being that never dies, is never exhausted, and is without limit in awareness and bliss. This infinite center of every life, this hidden self, or Atman, is no less than Brahman, the Godhead…The reason we don’t act or appear ‘Godlike,’ is due to the fact that the Eternal is buried under an almost impenetrable mass of false ideas and self-regarding impulses that comprise our surface being; in much the same way a lamp that is covered with layers of dust and dirt can be invisible.” ¹⁹ Hindus teach that we strive to be free from our ego and its false ideas and self-regarding impulses (these being the causes of evil) to reach our divinity by performing four yogas, or four types of exercises: Knowledge, Love, Work, and Meditation. ²⁰ These exercises, or disciplines, are comparable to Buddha’s Eight-Fold Path.

In both Buddhism and Hinduism, salvation, or reaching Nirvana, is purely an achievement of the individual: “Every individual must tread this path himself through his own energy and initiative. (Buddha said,) ‘Those who, relying upon themselves only, shall not look for assistance to anyone besides themselves, it is they who shall reach the topmost height.’ No god or gods can be counted on, not even Buddha himself.” ²¹

How Christ is Vastly Superior

As we have seen from our brief treatment of Muhammad and his teachings, and Buddha and his teachings, both have at least some aspects which most would argue as true and good and in agreement with some of the teachings of Christ. For example, Muhammad taught as of the Five Pillars of Islam to give alms to the poor, and Buddha, in his Eight-Fold Path, taught that right conduct was important, which would include giving to those in need. Jesus said "give to everyone who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you," Matt. 5:42. So these teachers and their religions, as well as most likely some of the teachings of other religions, such as Hinduism, do contain at least some teachings which most would agree are good and true. However, they also teach things which directly conflict with Christ and the Bible. For example, as we have

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Christ Fulfilled Prophecies

Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, is immediately set apart from Muhammad and Buddha, in a big way in that his coming, his manner and place of birth, his mission, his reception and treatment from men, the manner, cause, and purpose of his death, the fact of and length of time until his resurrection, and even the date in history of his arrival as Messiah were foretold, or prophesied, over a period of several hundred years in a single body of prophetic and historic literature, the ancient Jewish Scriptures, which is the equivalent to the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and were documented as fulfilled in the New Testament of the Bible. There were no prophecies concerning Buddha's coming or mission, and although some Muslims attempt to claim the opposite, there were no prophecies of Muhammad's coming or mission either. (This Muslim claim holds that certain Old Testament and New Testament prophecies apply to Muhammad, but this claim will be shown to be completely without substance at a later point.) The prophecies we are about to take a look at are astounding in the detail and accuracy of their predictions of Christ. But can they be trusted as evidence of a God who communicated to select men the details of a person and events of the future, hundreds of years before the fact, and therefore as evidence establishing Christ as a miraculous part of the plan of this God? To answer this, before taking a look at these prophecies and their fulfillments, it is crucial that we determine the validity, the trustworthiness, of the Bible.

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The Validity of the Bible

To determine the trustworthiness of the Bible, we must ask the standard questions for testing literature: What evidence do we have? Are there eyewitnesses, and do they seem to be credible as to their reputation and manner of reporting? How reliable are the modern-day sources; the manuscript copies on hand today? What kind of 'track record' does the body of work have? What do the unbiased experts say? Does it have any outstanding characteristics in its teaching which lend credence to its validity?

First of all, one strong evidence of the Bible's validity is the current existence in the world today of various key peoples and events. The Bible teaches about a Jewish teacher called Christ who founded the institute of Christianity which then began to spread rapidly in the world. Today we find the existence of the Christian church throughout most of the earth. The Bible teaches on, and the Old Testament is largely based on, the nation of Israel which came into being thousands of years ago and was located in the Mediterranean. We find a nation called Israel in the Mediterranean. The Bible teaches that most of the Israelites rejected Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. We find today the existence of both Christians and of Israelites throughout the world, and we find that the majority of the Israelites do not adhere to Christianity (although there are many who do). The beginning of this condition is faithfully recorded in the Bible in Acts; for example, where Peter confronts the unbelieving Israelites after healing a crippled man: "'...Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified His servant Jesus. You handed Him over to be killed, and you disowned Him before Pilate, though he had decided to let Him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You crucified the Author of Life, but God raised Him from the dead,'" Acts 3:12-15. The result of this speech is seen in Acts 4:1-4: "The priests and captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were still speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand." Additionally, as previously discussed, the Bible claims to be made up of two parts; the old covenant (Old Testament), or God's covenant with Isaac (and his heir Israel), and the new covenant (New Testament), or God's new covenant with Israel, not invalidating the old covenant but superceding it (Jesus said, "Do not think I came to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill," Matt. 5:17; Paul said "Christ is the end (goal) of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes," Rom.10:4). The new covenant actually fulfilled and extended the old covenant to include not only Israel as God's primary chosen people, but people from all nations who receive the messenger of the new covenant, Christ, as their Lord and Savior. The Christians we see today follow the new covenant, making use of both the old and new covenant as their Scriptures, and the non-Christian Jews we see today follow, to varying degrees, the old covenant as their Scriptures. This existence today of this Jewish faith, the body of Jews practicing to varying degrees the teachings of the old covenant (of the Bible), and to this day adamantly claiming it to be God's word to them, is overwhelming

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Second, also attesting to the validity of the Bible is its consistency in its teachings and its internal agreement of data. Written by 40 authors over a period of more than 1500 years, the Bible is perfectly consistent in its teaching of God, his attributes, and his plan of salvation by faith, from Genesis to Revelation. For instance, in regard to God's plan of salvation, at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 15:6 we read of Abraham and how he obtained a right standing before God (salvation) by faith (belief, or entrustment); “Then he believed in the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness." At the other end of the Bible, Revelation 1:5b says, "To Him [Jesus] who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood;" and Rev. 21:6 says, "And He said to me, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.'" These verses, one at the beginning of the Bible and two at the end, along with others in between, teach that God's plan is not by our achievement of a good life, through which we could then boast (hence, pride), but instead the righteousness required for salvation is credited to the account of those who believe, as with Abraham above, without cost to ourselves, because Jesus paid the price with his blood on the cross. As another example, the Bible teaches consistently that there is only one God, and that he created all things. In the Old Testament Isaiah 44:6 says, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his redeemer, the Lord of Hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me,'" and Gen. 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." In the New Testament, we read in I Tim. 2:5a, "There is one God..," and in Heb. 1:10, "And 'You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.'" Additionally, the Bible is internally consistent in its teaching of the life and message of Christ as well. The four gospel accounts of Christ, written by four different authors from 20 to 60 years after the events occurred, while giving very different viewpoints of the same events, do not contradict each other even in the details. "There are no contradictions in the gospels which would cause us to question their credibility. There are some mysteries, but no contradictions." ²² Apparent problems or contradictions can be virtually always cleared up by more in depth investigation. For example, one apparent contradiction frequently cited by scholars and others is that of the detailed genealogy of Christ in the last portion of Matt. 1:1-17 not matching up with the corresponding portion of the genealogy of Christ as reported in Luke 3:23-38. Taken at face value, there appears to be a problem. The names referred to do not match. But this problem is easily resolved when it is taken into consideration that one list is obviously calculated through Jesus' legal father, Joseph (traditionally the genealogy would be traced through the father's line), while because Jesus is God's Son physically and does not have a natural father (Matt. 1:25 speaks of Joseph taking Mary as a wife; "...and he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and He called His name Jesus.") the list in Luke is traced back through Jesus' mother Mary's line. By necessity these lists would vary, at least in the immediate ancestry. Both,

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Third, source reliability attests to the Bible's validity. As we have seen, the Jewish faith, the Israelites of today, and the Christians both consider what the Christians call the Old Testament as God's Holy word. Since the foundation of Christianity by Christ at about A.D. 30 to the present the Jews have had their Hebrew copies of the Scriptures, Old Testament, and Christians have had their copies (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and eventually English) as a rule separate from each other, (since the two groups are opposed in beliefs); yet today the Jewish and the Christian copies are the same, word for word. We have here in Christianity an amazing example that has taken place in history of a system like the business accounting ledger system, a system which acts as a verifying record in a business. In business accounting, in order to assure accurate record keeping, for purposes of elimination of error and/or dishonesty on the part of a clerk, the ledger is kept as a record to maintain and double check the accuracy of the other accountancy books. This is the same principle we see here with the Old Testament of the Bible! The Jews of Judaism (non-Christians) have themselves had a multitude of copies of the Old Testament for the last 2,000 years. Regarding these copies of their Bible as God's Holy word, they would never by any means allow people of another belief, such as Christians (or anyone else), to come in and change any parts of their Bible (say, for example, to rewrite a few prophecies of the coming messiah so that they might match up with the actual events of Christ's life - although, importantly, the concept of this type of behavior clearly has not been warranted by the founders of Christianity). They have for 2,000 years kept their Bible secure from any possible tampering of people of other beliefs. This Jewish Bible, which we have in existence today, is in a sense a ledger for the Christian Old Testament (and of course, the Christian Old Testament is a ledger for the Jewish Scriptures as well). And guess what: A perfect match! The Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Bible are the same, word for word! The Jewish Bible demonstrates the Christian Old Testament to be an exact account of the Scriptures, complete with messianic prophecies, back to the days before Christ; the Christian Old Testament is a remarkably reliable document; the Christians have not changed or altered the Old Testament in the least through these 2,000 years, but have faithfully preserved it complete even through the various language translations of the manuscripts: Perfectly accurate through the language translations, perfectly preserved through time. And as

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The Messiah (Christ) will be born of a virgin, and will be known as 'God with us.'

Is. 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." ('Immanuel' is translated 'God with us'!)

Fulfillment by Christ:

Lk. 1:26,27,31,32,34,35: "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in he said 'Hail favored one! The Lord is with you....Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. And Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.'"

The Messiah will be called God, and there will be no end to his reign.

Is. 9:6,7; "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us,...and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, and there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over His kingdom."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Jn. 20:28; "And Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and My God!'"

Heb. 1:1-4; "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high; having become much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they."

            Rev. 1:5a,17b,18; "...Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth...'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive again forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.'"

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The Messiah's mission will be to bring good news and proclaim freedom to the captives.

Is. 61:1,2a; "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord...'

Fulfillment by Christ:

Mk 1:15; "He came...saying, 'The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel."

Mk. 2:9-12a; "'Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk"? But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,' He said to the paralytic, 'I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go home.' And he rose..."

Mk. 5:28,29,34; "For she thought, 'If I just touch His garments, I shall get well.' And immediately the flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction...And He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your affliction."

Jn. 8:4,7b,9a,10b,11; "...they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.'...He said to them, 'He among you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' And when they heard it, they began to go out, one by one... Jesus said to her, 'Woman where are they? Did no one accuse you?' And she said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go your way, and from now on sin no more.'"

Mk. 10:45; "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

The Messiah will come humble, on a donkey.

Zech. 9:9; "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey..."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Mk. 11:7,9; "And they brought the colt to Jesus, and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it...And those who went before, and those who followed after were crying out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’"

The Messiah will inaugurate a new covenant.

Jer. 31:31-34; "'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the

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Fulfillment by Christ:

Lk. 22:19,20; "And having taken some bread, when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.'"

The Messiah, the founder and foundation of the new covenant, will be rejected by the leaders of his own people.

Ps. 118:22; "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Jn. 1:10-12; "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not receive Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name..."

Heb. 9:13-15a; "For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of flesh, how much more will blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant..."

The Messiah will be betrayed by thirty pieces of silver, which will be given to the potter.

Zech. 11:12,13; "And I said to them, 'If it is good in your sight, give Me my wages, but if not, never mind!' So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as My wages. Then the Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them...'"

Fulfillment by Christ:

Matt. 26:14-16; "Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, 'What are you willing to give to me to deliver him up to you?' And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.' And from then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Him."

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The Messiah will be struck down, his followers will desert him.

Zech. 13:7; "'Awake, O sword, against My shepherd, and against the man, My associate,' declares the Lord of hosts, 'Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.'"

Fulfillment by Christ:

Matt 26:55,56; "At that time Jesus said to the multitudes, 'Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.' Then all the disciples left Him and fled."

The Messiah will be mistreated.

Is. 50:6; "'I gave my back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck My beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.'"

Fulfillment by Christ:

Mk. 15:16-18; "And the soldiers took Him away to the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. And they dressed Him up in purple, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting at Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him."

Matt. 27:26; "Then he released Barabbas for them, but Jesus he scourged [whipped] and delivered over to be crucified."

The following prophecies, until otherwise cited, are exclusively from the two Old Testament chapters of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. Both of these chapters in their entirety are considered to be Messianic prophecies, i.e., prophecies of Christ, because of their predictive nature and the way in which their numerous descriptions and events were precisely fulfilled by Christ. Additionally, Christ quoted the first phrase of Psalm 22 when He was on the cross, and Ps. 22:16b says, "They have pierced My hands and My feet." Psalm 22 was written by David between 1100 and 1000 B.C., or about 1100 years Before Christ! And Isaiah was written between 740 and 700 B.C. All of Isaiah 53 is included below, as well as key passages of Psalm 22.

The Messiah will be acquainted with grief and sorrow, and will be despised and rejected, considered forsaken of God:

Is. 53:1-4; "Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and

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Fulfillment by Christ:

Lk. 22:63; "And the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, 'Prophecy, who is the one who hit You?'"

Lk. 23:33-37; "And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right, and the other one on the left. But Jesus was saying, 'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.' And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, 'He saved others, let Him save Himself, if this is the Christ of God, His chosen One.' And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, 'If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!'"

Jn. 11:32b-35; "Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.' When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in his spirit, and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept...And Jesus raised his eyes, and said, 'Father, I thank You that you heard Me...' And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go.'

The Messiah will be despised by and a reproach of the people, and considered forsaken by God:

Ps. 22:1,2,6-8; "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? Far from My deliverance are the words of My groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest...But I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All who see Me sneer at Me; they separate the lip, they wag the head, saying, 'Commit Yourself to the Lord, let Him deliver Him, let Him rescue Him, because He delights in Him.'"

Fulfillment by Christ:

Matt. 27:39,43; "And those who were passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads,...`He trusts in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

The Messiah will suffer abuse and will have his hands and feet pierced, his garments will be taken, and lots will be cast for them:

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Ps. 22:16-18; "For dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers has encompassed Me; they pierced My hands and My feet. I can count all My bones. They look, they stare at Me; they divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Jn. 19:23,24; "The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments, and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also a tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. They said therefore to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be;' that the Scripture might be fulfilled, 'They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.'"

We have gone our own way, but the Messiah is to be a sacrifice for our sins:

Is. 53:5-6; "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Jn. 19:17,18b; "They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. There they crucified Him..."

I Jn. 4:10; "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 

I Pet. 2:24,25; "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."

The Messiah will be silent before his accusers, his burial will at first be along with transgressors, but will have to do with a rich man ultimately, and he will be without sin:

Is. 53:7-9; "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for this generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of My people to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned to be with wicked men, yet with a rich man in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Jn. 19:8-9; "When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid; and he entered the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, 'Where are you from?' But Jesus gave him no answer."

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Mk. 15:27; "And they crucified two robbers with Him, one on his right, and one on His left."

Matt. 27:57-60; "And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance."

Jn. 8:46, (Jesus speaking); "'Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me?'"

Heb. 4:15; "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

I Pet. 2:21-23; "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you and example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously..."

Because the Messiah is to sacrifice himself even to the death, the Lord will prosper him and reward him (the resurrection in view here):

Is.53:10-12; "But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, my Servant, will justify many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Phil.2:5-11; "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men. And, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that

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Rev. 1:5b,6; "To Him [Jesus] who loves us, and has released us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

The Messiah will rise from the dead:

Ps. 16:10; "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Matt. 28:5-7; "And the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; behold, He is going before you into Galilee, and there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."

The Messiah will be raised on the third day:

Hos. 6:2; "He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Luke 24:15-32; "And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, 'What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?' And they stood still, looking sad. And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, 'Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of these things which happened here in these days?' And He said to them, 'What things?' And they said to Him, 'The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some of our women amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body they came, saying they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it exactly as the women had said; but Him they did not see.' And He said to them, 'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther. And they urged

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The Messiah will have the ultimate victory over all enemies, and his kingdom will not be destroyed!:

Dan. 2:44; "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Rev. 11:15b; "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."

Rev. 20:10; "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

Rev. 21:6,7; "And He said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.'"

The Messiah, the Son of Man, will have an everlasting dominion for every people, nation, and language:

Dan. 7:13,14; "I kept on looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Mk. 14:61b,62; "...Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, 'Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?' And Jesus said, 'I am, and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'"

Rev. 7:9, a vision of Heaven given to John; "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the

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The date of the Messiah's arrival is given in the Old Testament:

Dan.9:25; "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress."

Fulfillment by Christ:

This prophecy of Daniel was written in 530 B.C. Messiah the Prince refers to Christ. About 72 years after the book of Daniel was written, in 458 B.C., King Artaxerxes issued a decree, appointing Nehemiah to restore Jerusalem ³⁶ (Ezra 7:7,ff). Taking each 'week,' or 7 days, to symbolize 7 years in this passage (the precedent in the Bible for this 'weeks of years' symbolism, where a 7 day week symbolizes 7 years, comes from Lev. 25:8), the 7 weeks + 62 weeks, or 69 weeks total given in the passage would be a total of 69x7, or 483 years. According to the passage, the time of the issuing of the decree to restore Jerusalem, until the arrival of Christ (Messiah the Prince) would be 483 years from 458 B.C., which would be in the A.D. 25-26, the time of the commencement of Christ's ministry on earth!

The Messiah provides salvation as a free gift!:

Is. 55:1,2; "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance."

Fulfillment by Christ:

Rom. 6:23; "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Rev. 22:13,16,17,20,21; "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end...I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.' And the Spirit and the bride say 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."

Rev. 21:6,7; "And he said to me, 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.'"

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Fulfilled Types:

In Genesis 22, Isaac is a type of Christ. God has promised Abraham that from him he will make a great nation through his son, Isaac. God now tests his faith in this promise by asking Abraham to sacrifice his son as an offering:

Gen. 22:1,6-13; "Now it came about that after these things, that God tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham!' And Abraham said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I tell you.'...And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son!' And he said, 'Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' So the two of them on walked together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there, and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. But an angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Do not stretch your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son."

Analysis and Fulfillment by Christ:

Isaac was a type of Christ: Just as Abraham, a father, offers his only son Isaac as a sacrifice, so God the Father offered his only Son Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:32; "...but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time; sat down at the right hand of God," Heb.10:12.

The lamb is a type of Christ: Looking at the text we notice that Abraham said to his son, "God will provide for Himself a lamb..." John the Baptist in Jn. 1:29 says of Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" God fulfilled Abraham's word by providing Jesus, the ultimate lamb of sacrifice for all mankind.

The ram was a type of Christ: We see that the ram that was used as the actual offering in the Genesis narrative was caught in the thicket by its horns. This can be taken as a secondary type of Christ, in that Christ had on his head a crown of thicket, or thorns, by the soldiers just before his offering up of himself on the cross! "And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and arranged Him in a purple robe," Jn. 19:2.

In Exodus 12, the Passover lamb is a type of Christ, and the Passover itself is a type of the new covenant inaugurated by Christ and symbolized by the Lord's Supper; the new

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Analysis and Fulfillment by Christ:

The Passover lamb was a type of Christ: Every house in Egypt where a lamb was sacrificed in the manner prescribed by God escaped the judgement of the death of the first-born from the plague. Because by faith the Israelites offered the lambs, God accepted the lambs as symbolic sacrifices to him, and therefore accepted the Israelites; and the believing Israelites were saved from the death and destruction of the plague. In the new covenant inaugurated by Christ in the New Testament, Christ is the sacrificial lamb of God which was offered up by God himself for our sins, and which we, too, must personally acknowledge by faith as the one time sacrifice for our sins. As we place our trust in Christ the Lamb of God as the sacrifice for our sins, we will be saved from the judgment of eternal death and saved to eternal life; "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God," Jn. 3:18. The Egyptians were judged already, before the plague had even arrived; but the Israelites were not judged because of their faith in the lamb of God, a type of the true Lamb of God, Jesus!

The Passover was a type of the new covenant: Further confirming the above concept of the Passover lamb as a type of Christ, the New Testament tells how Christ established the Lord's Supper, which first took place on the eve of Passover: "And He said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to share this Passover with you before I suffer,'" Lk. 22:15. "And while they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it; and gave it to them, and said, 'Take it; this is My body.' And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank from it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many,'" Mk. 14:22-24. As we stated,

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The blood on the door posts was a type of the method of God's sacrificial offer for our sins: In the Exodus account above God tells the Israelites to put some blood on the two door posts and the lintel (crossbeam). Two swaths on the sides and a swath across the top would cross each other at the corners where they meet, forming a cross on each side of the doorway. Therefore each Israelite family had the sign of the cross on each side of the doorway of their house, foreshadowing the cross of Christ at His crucifixion.

 Muslim Claims of Fulfilled Prophecies by Muhammad in the Bible

As Christians claim, and as we have seen evidence for above, that prophets of the Old Testament prophesied of the coming of Christ, and that Christ did in fact fulfill these, so Muslims scholars claim that Old Testament prophets prophesied of the coming of Muhammad, that he would be a prophet of God, and that Muhammad also fulfilled these. These claims of the Muslims will first of all be dealt with in this paper because it is our goal is to see how Christ is different than these other teachers, and therefore by examining the Muslim claims of prophecy we can show that they are without substance, while those of Christ are quite substantial, and second of all they will be dealt with thoroughly because once these claims are examined it becomes so utterly apparent that they are totally in error as to make it within the scope of this paper to completely refute and put to

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With regard to every one of these supposed prophecies and/or Bible verses claimed by Muslims to be prophecies of Muhammad, either one or more of the following apply: 1) they have already been fulfilled in a more precise manner by Christ; 2) they are so vague and inspecific as to be applicable to just about anyone (contrary to what we have seen in the above prophecies of Christ), or are simply references to people and places and cannot really even be construed to be prophetic; or, 3) are completely misinterpreted.

Muslims present, as part of their argument for a true Biblical foundation and basis for Islam and its beliefs, a didactic argument regarding Abraham's son Ishmael, stating that the descendants of Ishmael (in a large part, modern-day Arabia) as God's nation of promise from the Old Testament in addition to Israel. However, there is no biblical ground for this argument; in fact, the Bible clearly teaches the opposite, that only Israel was God's chosen nation. To review, as stated at a previous point in this paper, Abraham had been given a promise from God to be blessed, to be a great nation through a son from his own body, and that through this promised nation, to somehow be a blessing to all the nations of the earth; Gen. 12:2,3b: "'And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing;...and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'" Muhammad's and the Muslims' didactic argument given above, that according to the Bible Isaac's descendants Israel, and Ishmael's descendants (now) Arabia, were both called as nations of God's above promise to Abraham, can be examined first of all by looking at the Bible text itself; it says, "a great nation," ‘a’ as in one; the promise is singular regarding the number of nations. In Gen. 17, God then makes it abundantly clear through which son will be the promise; his everlasting covenant with Abraham is through Isaac, as can be seen here, as God first initiates the covenant with Abraham, then specifies through whom it will be established: "Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and I will multiply you exceedingly.' And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I will make you a father of a multitude of nations.'...Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety

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There is no room for argument of interpretation here. The Bible clearly states that it is the descendants of Isaac, and not of Ishmael, through whom his covenant with Abraham would be and through whom are the promises of Gen. 12. Could it be eventually transferred over to Ishmael? Again, 'No,' as God says in v.13, this covenant with Isaac is "for an everlasting covenant for his descendants [Israel] after him." What Muslim scholars do here is attempt to blur this clear distinction by referring to Arabia (Ishmael's descendants, in part) also as the "called," or "promised" nation, implying equal footing with Israel. But if we look at the above texts, we see a vast difference. Out of love for Abraham God says he "hears him" in his plea, and promises to make Ishmael a great nation. However, the covenant nation, the nation of the promised blessing to "all the families of the earth" (Gen. 12:1-3), is Israel alone. Abraham, because he was ninety-nine years old and was doubting that God is able to give him yet another son, asks that the promise of Gen. 12 might be fulfilled through Ishmael, who was already born at that time. In v.19, what was God's answer? 'No.' Two nations were foretold of, but only one, biblically speaking was, or could ever be, the called covenant nation of the promise; Israel, from Isaac. God said, "Through Isaac your seed shall be called." Ishmael, and his descendants after him (i.e., Arabia and therefore Muhammad), did not have or receive any kind of special calling or covenant from God, nor was one implied in the future; in fact it was explicitly ruled out (except in the sense that, as with everyone else, being one of the "families of the earth," God's plan was and is to bless them through his chosen covenant nation Israel (Gen. 12:3)). Amazingly, Abraham had six more sons after Isaac, and some of these also became great nations (the Midianites, for example, from Abraham's son Midian)! But the fact that a nation comes from a son of Abraham does not qualify it to be the called, covenant nation. For a nation to be "called," someone has to "call" it. To be a "covenant" nation, someone has to establish a covenant with it. Paul says in Rom. 9:4,5, "…Israelites [descendants of Isaac], to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen." Isaac was the only one to be called and receive a covenant from God, and it was an everlasting covenant, meaning that God would never revoke it; it would always be with the Israelites. What about today, 4000 years later; is God keeping his part of the "everlasting" covenant? Jesus said, "'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you,'" Lk. 22:20b; he also said, "'Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them,'" Matt. 5:17; the covenant with the

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To more firmly establish this bedrock point, that a relationship with God is, and forever can only be, available through Christ, and that Muhammad is a false prophet and Islam is not from the God of the Bible, we will take a brief look at the chief prophecies of Muhammad which Muslims claim point to him in the Bible. To refute arguments that there are biblical prophecies about Muhammad's coming and mission, we will start with the Old Testament and move to the New Testament, examining the main verses Muslim scholars put forth as specifically prophetic regarding Muhammad. (It is interesting to note that Muslim scholars also point to prophecies about Muhammad in the Qu’ran supposedly spoken by Jesus, as supportive evidence for Muhammad and his mission; but since these prophecies were written by Muhammad (in other words, Muhammad prophesying about himself!) - as acknowledged by Muslims - it is impossible to consider these as acceptable evidence for our purposes here). With regard to every one of these supposed prophecies and/or Bible verses claimed by Muslims to be prophecies of Muhammad, as previously stated, either one or more of the following apply: 1) they have already been fulfilled in a more precise manner by Christ; 2) they are so vague and inspecific as to be applicable to just about anyone (contrary to what we have seen in the above prophecies of Christ), or are simply references to people and places and cannot really even be construed to be prophetic; or, 3) are completely misinterpreted.

Muslim scholars point to Deut. 18:15 as probably their chief example of an Old Testament prophecy of the coming Muhammad. Moses is speaking: "'The Lord your God shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your brothers, you shall listen to Him.'" Although many prophets have come after Moses, all scholars generally agree that in this prophecy Moses is foretelling of prophet who would be distinguished from others. Muslims argue that while the word 'brothers' here could refer to the Israelites' own people, it could also refer to the Arabs, descended from Ishmael, Isaac's brother, and that in this case it does refer to Ishmael and the Arabs. ³⁸ Also, Muslims state that when Moses states this prophet would be "a Prophet like me," that Muhammad was in fact like Moses, while Jesus was not, therefore this prophecy was speaking of Muhammad, and not of Jesus, as Christians claim. They state, for example, that both Moses and Muhammad brought a 'law,' Jesus did not; also, both Moses and Muhammad fought physical battles against their enemies, and both had a family with children; while Jesus did not experience either of these aspects; therefore, this coming prophet could only be Muhammad, they reason. ³⁹

Nevertheless, Muslims are greatly mistaken regarding all of these points and more. First of all, because Moses in this passage is speaking to the nation of Israel, which is made up of the twelve tribes, or sons of Israel, who were all brothers, the 'brothers' translation

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Taking these arguments one at a time, it is true that with the general language this passage could fit, to a small degree, Muhammad's accomplishments. Many would argue this passage could fit some of President Clinton’s accomplishments as well (stretching it a bit!). The language is very general; there are few specific events or characteristics, unlike what we have seen in various of the prophecies that Christ fulfilled. As stated, Muslims claim that the 'law' mentioned in v.4 was brought by Muhammad (the Qu'ran), but Christ brought no specific law, therefore, the passage could not be a prophecy of him ⁴¹ (as Christians claim). But Jesus did bring a law as we have seen, the law of Christ. Regarding v.10, where the prophecy speaks of singing a 'new song;' there is nothing to support the claim that this is referring to a new style of worship; the word in the text is 'song,' and 'song' actually fits best here. God is proclaiming a new work (v.9; "Now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you." Therefore God is encouraging his people to get excited about this new work, to have an excited attitude, with praising and singing; "Sing a new song, sing His praise!" And Christians all over the world do just this! Muslims state this is referring to the new style of worship that was introduced with the coming of Islam; specifically the chanting of the call for prayer. ⁴² But Muslim scholars acknowledge that the word 'sing' which is in fact used here in the text is not the same word as 'chant,' ⁴³ and that it is also against the Muslim faith to sing! ⁴⁴ Think about it: Would God give a prophecy commanding people to celebrate and sing about a new upcoming revelation He is to give forbidding singing!? Absurd! Christians, on the other hand, are exhorted to worship God with "psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody in your hearts to the Lord," Eph. 5:19. The Muslims would be better off not to even bring up this passage, it applies specifically to Christ and his church. The last issue is that Kedar, a descendant of Ishmael, is mentioned as one in a list of seven peoples and locations in this prophecy who should praise the Lord. There is nothing whatsoever in the text to link Kedar or any other

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Up to this point there is really nothing substantial to link this passage to Muhammad rather than to any number of great leaders, except possibly that he is known for bringing a 'law,' the Qu'ran, but Jesus brought the law of Christ. Now let us put this passage into proper perspective, and see who it is really about. The first line says it is about God's Servant. This passage is one of a series of Servant Songs in Isaiah, the others being in Is. 49, Is. 50, Is. 52, Is. 53 (which we looked at in detail above in the prophecies which Christ fulfilled: The Servant who was pierced through for our transgressions; his grave was assigned with a rich man in his death; there was no deceit found on his mouth; etc.). The number of prophecies fulfilled precisely by Christ in the Servant Songs firmly establish Christ as Isaiah's Servant of the Lord. "The messianic interpretation of the Servant Songs clearly follows the precedent set by Jesus and the apostles. The identification of the Servant of Yahweh (the Lord) with Jesus the Messiah is evident in a comparison of parallels between the accomplishments of Jesus and the Servant." ⁴⁵ The identity of the Servant of Isaiah's writings as the Messiah is firmly established in history, being the most common view even of the Jews before Christ’s arrival. ⁴⁶ Matthew, in the book of Matthew in the New Testament applies this prophecy to Jesus (Matt. 12:17-21). The new thing which God is going to do, and which he wants "the ends of the earth" to praise and sing about (v.9,10), is the good news of Christ, the coming Messiah and Servant. God wants everyone, far and near, to know about the Messiah, because he is to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Eight chapters later, in Is. 49:6, another Servant Song, God says, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light to the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." In Acts 13:42 Paul correctly applies this passage to Christ. Christ also received the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:16; "And He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming upon Him."), taught and brought justice, and did not raise his voice before his accusers (Matt. 26:62,63a). This is clearly a prophecy of Christ; Jesus has a clear historical precedent as the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah; Jesus was in fact the ultimate servant, dying for us, and Jesus fulfills it far more precisely than Muhammad (to whom it actually does not apply, since singing is against the Muslim faith), the entire message being an exciting announcement of Christ's coming, and one of a series of announcements by Isaiah of the coming Messiah, which are the Servant Songs.

A surprising argument that Muslims put forth as an indication of a prophetic connection of Muhammad with the Bible is that the repeated mention of the name of Kedar in the Bible, the people descended from the second son of Ishmael, coupled with the fact that

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Second of all, not only does the resurrection put Christ in a place of demonstrated authority in the area of life, death, and the hereafter, it virtually verifies all that he said; he claimed to be Lord, the resurrection verifies this; he claimed that his death would pay the price in full for our sins, satisfying God's wrath toward us; the resurrection verifies this. And specifically, from a biblical perspective, "The resurrection expresses God's satisfaction in what Christ has done. `The exaltation of the person is the vindication of the mission.’" ⁶⁵Jesus' resurrection assures us that his death for our sins was efficacious; that is, that God does in fact consider it as acceptable payment for our sins, and shows us that God is endorsing all of Jesus' claims including his claim of being Lord of all.

Evidences of the Resurrection

The resurrection has profound implications; it is the historical evidence of victory over death and the offer for us to share in this victory. For this reason, it is important for us to examine this resurrection evidence carefully. The validity of the Bible has been shown; it

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The first evidence we have for Christ's resurrection is the Old Testament prophecies. The Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which is equivalent to the Jewish Scriptures, the Tanach, was in existence since before the arrival of Christ on earth. In the above section "Fulfilled Prophecies by Christ in the Bible" are listed numerous Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would rise from the dead. Ps. 16:10, "For you, O Lord, will not abandon My soul to Hades, nor will You allow your Holy One to undergo decay," was written 1000 years before Christ, and demonstrates the coming Holy One would be raised back to life. Hos. 6:2 is an additional prophecy of the fact that the resurrection would occur on the third day, and Is. 53, written 700 years before Christ and foretelling his suffering, ends in v10-12, which foretells that after the Messiah has laid down his life for others he would "see his offspring," he will be "allotted a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong," demonstrating the resurrection. These historical documents, which we has already seen to be reliable, stated hundreds of years before the fact of the resurrection that it would occur, and are therefore a strong confirming evidence of the resurrection.

The second evidence we come across for Christ's resurrection is the eyewitness accounts of the New Testament. The resurrection appearances of Christ in Matthew's gospel are given below, and we saw a large portion of Luke's account of these appearances, as well as portions of the other writers, in the an earlier section of this paper; but it is recommended that the reader read the other three gospel accounts as well (Mark, Luke, and John); while some of the story is reported by all, each writer supplies at least some details unique to himself, and all tell an awesome story! The other gospel accounts can be referenced in Mk. 16, Lk. 24, and Jn. 20, 21. Matt. 28: "Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdelene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment was white as snow; and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like deadmen. And the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified; He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, and there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.' And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid, go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.' Now while they were on their way, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, 'You are to say, "His disciples came and stole Him away while we were asleep." And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over, and keep you out of

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As additional biblical evidence, The New Testament eyewitnesses and authors not only report the event of the gospel, but they also repeatedly refer to the fact of it and place it as a central part of Christianity. Luke, for example, restates the fact of Jesus' resurrection and its significance as he quotes both Peter and Paul in their discourses in Acts. In Acts 2:23,24a,25a,27, Peter in his first sermon says, "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to a cross, but God raised Him from the dead...David said about Him,...'You will not abandon Me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.' Brothers, I can confidently tell you that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day...Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay." Not only is Peter referring to the fact of Christ's resurrection to prove Christ's authenticity, Peter gives an example of where David of the Old Testament, who lived 1,000 years before Christ, prophesies that Christ will rise from the dead. As stated, the Old Testament, backs up the New Testament as additional biblical historical evidence, and not only that, but in the miraculous form of a prophecy; and the disciples, as we can see, readily make use of this evidence by quoting it! (See also Hos. 6:2b.) Additionally, and this is crucial, Paul demonstrates the resurrection to be a central tenet of the Christian faith in I Cor. 15:3,4; "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scripture,..." This is Paul's summary of the gospel

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In addition to examining the New Testament accounts of the resurrection and the New Testament and the other Bible teachings of the resurrection, we can also look at the people and events, surrounding and connected with the resurrection, inside and outside of the Bible, to see if we can discover supporting evidence. Taking a look at history, we do find this evidence. We find that eleven out of the twelve original apostles gave their lives to the death for Christ and the claim that he rose from the dead. This evidence, upon being shown to be reliable, is extremely compelling evidence. This represents eleven examples of the strongest convictions for authenticity of an event that human beings are capable of showing. And it represents yet another virtually undeniable evidence of the historicity of the resurrection. The are strong words, but this evidence, along with the Bible, has the strongest of implications regarding Christ and our relationship to him. To determine the reliability of this additional evidence of the resurrection, we will need to examine the surrounding details, as well as the hypothesized alternatives. The first step involves taking a look at three things: 1) The historicity of Christ, 2) The disposition of the apostles at the precise time of, and immediately following Christ's death, and 3)The historicity of the accomplishments and martyrdoms of the apostles.

Taking a look at the historicity of Christ, from the New Testament documents we know that he was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1a; "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem...") taught in Galilee and surrounding areas (Mk. 1:14; “And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God.”). Reading the gospels we can find a vast amount of what he did, what he said and what he taught (and doing this is always a good idea for Christians and everyone). Finally we know that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate (Mk. 15:15; "And wishing to satisfy the multitudes, Pilate released Barrabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered him over to be crucified"), and as we have seen from the above Scriptures, he rose from the dead. Outside of the Bible, we find that there is indeed additional documented evidence of Christ's existence in history.

First, we have two accounts from Josephus, Jewish historian, in his Antiquities, A.D. 93; "'About this time there arose Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it be right to call him a man. He

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Jesus had related God's plan several times to them; the victory at this time was not to be a physical military victory for the nation of Israel (such as freedom from Roman oppressors), but it would be a victory over spiritual forces, and for all men. He said, "Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many," Mk.10:45. He also foretold his death and resurrection several times; for example in Lk. 9:43,44, Jesus, just finishing performing the awesome miracle of healing a boy of an affliction (knowing that he has their complete attention), teaches them as follows: "And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at what He was doing, He said to His disciples, 'Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men,'" Lk. 9:44. The following passage, Matt. 16:21,22, shows Jesus once again predicting his death, and Peter's reaction demonstrates his disciples' lack of understanding of the coming event: "From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took him aside to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'" The verses following in this passage tell how Jesus then rebuked Peter, telling him to set his sights on God's plan, not man's. Continually Jesus tried to change their view of the purpose of the Messiah, but their lack of vision and a lifetime of tradition and teaching of a military Messiah leading an earthly army was strongly engrained. As the events of the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death of Christ ensued, retreat and defeat is what we see. They abandoned him at his arrest; "they

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So to the disciples, the death of Christ, at the time of its occurrence and immediately following, was a devastating blow. The words of Christ's mockers while he was on the cross must surely have been ringing in their minds as well; "He saved others, why could He not save Himself?" Their own hopes and dreams of redeeming Israel at the side of the promised Messiah were shattered. Jesus Christ, the awesome Prophet who had raised dead people, healed the sick, cast out demons, who had taught with authority about God’s love for man, about loving God and one's fellow man, who had answered every one of the chief priests tests and traps; the supposed promised Messiah, had been arrested, tried in a mock trial, beaten, whipped, crucified, and had died, right before their very eyes; and it appeared Jesus had been powerless to stop it. And in fact it was almost certain at this point that God, too, had abandoned him; he had allowed him to be convicted by the Jewish synagogue, and had done nothing to intervene in Jesus’ execution. Their Scripture even said, "Cursed is every man who hangs from a tree," Deut. 21:23. There was no way a victory could come from this tragedy; or so they thought. Understanding this mindset of devastating defeat as the significance of Jesus' death for the apostles at the time of the event itself will help us to make upcoming points regarding the resurrection.

But what do the available reliable historical documents tell us actually became of these cowardly, disillusioned, and defeated men? Let us now take a look at the subsequent lives and earthly fates of these twelve disciples, beginning just fifty days after the crucifixion:

Peter, along with the other eleven disciples, fifty days after the Passover and Christ's crucifixion, was boldly preaching Jesus in Jerusalem, (Acts 2:14,22b,23,24,36b); "But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: 'Men of Judea, and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give heed to my words...Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know - this man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power...know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified.'" The book of Acts tells us that Peter continued preaching in Jerusalem and was arrested with threats several times (Acts 4:3; 5:18; 12:3). At one point after being arrested and threatened by the chief priests, Peter and John replied to them, "'Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you

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Alternative #1 Could the apostles have invented the story to somehow bring some post-humus glory to their Master and to themselves? This alternative is actually suggested by the Chief Priests as seen above in Matt. 27:63,ff. To answer, many men, as we have seen in history, will give their lives for something they believe to be true, such as a just war, or a heroic sacrifice for a friend, but no one will give their life for something they know to be a lie. If these New Testament authors had fraudulently altered the events of Christ's life, when the moment of truth came, where they were offered the opportunity to recant and live or to stand on their testimony of the risen Lord, they most certainly would have recanted. But history, both inside and outside of the Bible, tells us that they each, as well as many others, made the ultimate sacrifice for Christ. They all stood by their testimony, to the end - of this life! The resultant lives of the disciples, being of the highest moral caliber, and their unswerving commitment even to the point of death, does not allow for fraud to be a consideration. "But it is acknowledged even by those who are not believers that so pure an ethical movement as Christianity cannot have originated in deliberate fraud on the part of the disciples." ¹²¹ Looking at the facts, this hypothesis simply does not get off the ground.

Alternative #2 Could Jesus have somehow survived the crucifixion, revived himself and recuperated, and then returned and deceived the disciples into believing that he had risen from the dead as he had foretold? Roman crucifixion was brutal and thorough. It was the Roman centurions' job to be sure that the executed were dead, and they did. In the case of crucifixion, since the victim normally dies of suffocation due to the position of the lungs from hanging on the cross for a long enough period that the victim's legs are too tired to support the body, the centurions break the legs to expedite death ("The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him," Jn. 19:32.). If an individual already appears to be dead, another procedure is to pierce the side and check to see what comes out of the wound. If the blood has coagulated and separated from the body's water, then death has occurred. This is what they found in Jesus' case, according to John the apostle's gospel, with John testifying that he himself witnessed it: "...but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs; but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he [John] who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may also believe. For these things came to pass that the Scripture might be fulfilled, 'Not a bone of Him shall be broken.' And again another Scripture says, 'They shall look on Him whom they pierced,'" Jn. 19:33-37. With this stringent of procedures in practice by the Roman centurions, and John's testimony that He saw Jesus confirmed to be dead, the idea of Christ's surviving the crucifixion and returning to "rally the troops" is simply inconceivable. As confirmation, the execution of Christ under pilate is in fact taken to be a true event by competent scholars. Jesus did in fact die on the cross in the A.D. 30's.

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Alternative #3 Could the disciples have hallucinated that Jesus was risen? The psychological frame of mind necessary for this hypothesis did not exist. As we have seen above, rather than being confident and preoccupied with expectations of Jesus' resurrection, the disciples were dejected and fearful. Even after all the predictions Jesus made of his resurrection, and then some of the women coming and reporting to them seeing a vision of angels telling of his resurrection, they still thought it was nonsense. Thomas, being one of the last to see the risen Lord, gives the extreme example of this skepticism which to some degree they had all had in his reaction to the resurrection report: "The other disciples were saying therefore to him, 'We have seen the Lord!' But he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hand the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe,'" Jn. 20:25. When Jesus later appears in person and gives Thomas the opportunity to perform each of his detailed confirmations, Thomas does not take him up on it, but "Thomas answered and said to Him, 'My Lord and My God!'" Jn. 20:28. The hopeful attitude conducive for hallucinations was not there. Additionally, "the possibility of the occurrence of hallucination is lessened in inverse proportion to the number of persons to whom Jesus is represented as having appeared." ¹²² The idea that these eleven defeated, scared, and often stubborn men who had seen Christ's death first-hand to all have the same hallucination with the degree of confidence of its genuineness so that they would be willing to go and lead totally selfless lives for Christ and ultimately die for him, is utterly absurd.

The resurrection is the only acceptable explanation for the disciples' radical commitment to Christ and their willingness to lay down their lives for him. Additionally, the subsequent historical events of the writers of the New Testament, allows no possibility of fraud or falsifications in their writings and teachings. As stated, even those who are not believers recognize that so pure an ethical movement as Christianity cannot have originated in deliberate fraud on the part of believers.

And this is the final irrefutable evidence of the New Testament reliability referred to in “Christ Fulfilled Prophecies:” The changed lives and martyrdoms of the disciples who were the writers of the New Testament is the final confirmation of the New Testament writers, demonstrating they are absolutely reliable, and therefore confirming the New Testament itself is reliable, and thus the validation of the historical fact of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah by Christ as reported in the New Testament, a supernatural accomplishment made only by Christ!

What is more, to expand on a previous point and at the same time get a closer look at the disciples’ new post-resurrection mind-set, there was far more here than a demonstration of power over death. Jesus had told them many times ahead of time that the whole event of the crucifixion was going to happen, and that he would rise from the dead. The angel at Jesus' empty tomb had said, "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said," Matt. 28:6a. The disciples were seeing that once again, what Jesus had said would happen, did happen. This was an object lesson for the disciples which they should have learned by

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"Let goods and kindreth go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God's Truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever"

Martin Luther, from the hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

Where does this leave us? Jesus Christ did in fact rise from the dead. This is what the Old Testament predicted, this is what the New Testament confirms, this is what the disciples stated, and this is what the historicity of Christ, the confirmed disposition of the disciples, and the historically documented changed lives and absolute devotion of the disciples substantiate; being the only realistic explanation for the transformed lives, far-reaching ministries, and ultimate martyrdom of almost all of the disciples, resulting in the rapid spread and growth of the Christian church across the face of the earth. As we stated previously, the implications of this are profound: This verifies Jesus’ claims to be Lord and to be the only way to God. And Jesus' demonstration of control over the entire crucifixion and resurrection event, deliberately choosing to give his life for us to save us from sin and rising from the dead, clearly shows that he loves us, and he is from God; and as we have previously pointed out, if he is from God, then everything he has said is true: He is the only Son of God, and he is the resurrection and the life. There is no one better to place our trust in than the One who has proven himself trustworthy. Jesus has demonstrated that he is the Son of God, and that he loves us; and he offers us salvation. Please receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior now, if you have not already, giving him control of your life. At the end of this paper is a suggested prayer and guidance in this decision.

Christ's Life and Teachings Unparalleled in Human History

Jesus Christ has already been shown to stand on a completely different plain than Muhammad, Buddha, or anyone else because of the outstanding evidences of fulfilled prophecy and the resurrection. But there is yet another, equally weighty criteria that again sets Christ apart in a big way, his life and teachings. While it can be said that both Muhammad and Buddha had teachings some of which, as we have seen, were of moral value, and most would agree they each left (by many standards) an example of good ethical character for us, we will see that Christ does far more than this, since it is his goal to bring us into the most important relationship of our life.

Salvation by Faith, Not Good Works

What Christ taught about how man is to relate to God, and God's plan of salvation for man is so child-like in principle as to appear obvious once fully grasped, and yet is so profound that no other teacher of any other religion has even coming close to matching it: A relationship with God and salvation by grace (unmerited favor) through faith, not by works (i.e., leading a good life). "For by grace you have been saved through faith; not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast," Eph. 2:8,9. Jesus, when asked by some Jews what good works they must do to be saved, put it

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Why, we may ask, is the teaching of salvation Jesus' way, as a free gift through faith, superior to the teachings of the way of salvation according to Muhammad or Buddha, both based on individual human achievement or good works? To answer this, we will give an imperfect, but sufficient, illustration: A child in a healthy, well-relating family knows that he is loved and accepted for himself, and he knows that when he has done wrong that love and acceptance is still there (although some correction may follow). He does not have to earn or achieve his relationship in the family; by faith (trust and belief) he knows he has value as a human being and is part of that family. His membership in his family is a free gift he obtained at birth. He knows there are certain things he should and should not do (behave, not misbehave), and certain responsibilities he has (school, chores, using his talents, etc.), but these are because he is a member of the family, not so that he can become or remain a member. As much more mature as this child is who sees his family relationships as by faith compared with the child who feels he must earn his place in the family, or earn the approval of his family, so much more morally mature is the teaching of salvation by faith over any teaching of salvation by good works, the latter of which every other religion besides Christianity espouses. As the child of faith above, a Christian does not do good deeds in order to attain to salvation, a Christian does them because he or she has been saved. They are the result of the changed life of a believer, done in thankfulness, love, and obedience. In fact, the Bible actually uses "family" terminology to explain becoming a part of God's people, the family of God. Just as the child above received his place in his family as a free gift simply by being born into it, so also Jesus said we "must be born again," Jn. 3:3. John says, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," Jn. 1:12,13. Paul says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise," Gal. 3:26-29. The New Testament also speaks of God as Father. Importantly, when studying the texts, we find that Jesus never refers to the Fatherhood of God in connection with all humanity. He only spoke of

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The above concept of Jesus' righteousness being credited to the account of those who believe as a free gift sounds almost too good to be true, but it is true! The word "gospel" means "good news," and Jesus Christ is the Good News! The Bible says that if we have received Christ, salvation is a promise from God! "We know we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers..." I Jn. 3:14. Jesus says, regarding believers in him, "My Father, who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand," Jn. 10:29. Christians have crossed over from death to life, and are children in the family of God, safe in the palm of their Father's hand. This is strong language! God uses language like this to assure believers in him of their eternal security, because of the Good News: The price has been paid, in full!!! When God's children know for certain that their eternity is secure, this emboldens them to live excited, courageous lives for God, bringing Him more glory!

The Golden Rule

Not only in Christ's superior teaching of salvation by faith does Christ show himself superior, and distance himself from Muhammad and Buddha, but in many individual teachings as well. For example, what is commonly called today the Golden Rule, is from Christ. It states, "Therefore whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them..." (Matt. 7:12a). Most regard this to be the highest of all moral teachings on man's relationship to his fellow man, as we pointed out in the section on the validity of the Bible. The commandment closest to Jesus' Golden Rule in the Old Testament is from Lev. 19:18, "Love your neighbor as yourself," which most understood to mean love for one's fellow Israelite. The Golden Rule, however, implies love and concern for all men, exercised without reserve. Jesus Christ gave us this teaching; Muhammad didn’t, and Buddha didn’t. If we want to know who has the truth, look to the one even most non-Christians acknowledge has the truest statements. Christ is without peer!!!

Christ's Perfect Example, Enabling a Relationship with God

Ultimately, the greatest teaching of Christ came from the way he lead his life. What he taught, he lived, perfectly, in fact, according to the Bible, which says he was without sin (Col. 5:21.). He said, "Follow me," and gave the perfect example. "There are few men who can follow an abstract ideal; all men are capable of devotion to a person. It was the supreme accomplishment of Jesus as a teacher that he exemplified in himself all that he taught." ¹²⁶ As we have seen in the section “Christ Fulfilled Prophecies,” the Biblical evidence contains both Old Testament prophecies and New Testament eyewitness accounts of Christ’s sinless life (see, for example, Is. 59:7-9, and I Pet. 2:21-23). Jesus provided the perfect example by committing no sin. This is a perfect example of obedience.

But with Jesus, this was only the beginning. He also taught about and gave the perfect example of love; loving others, and loving God. He taught about loving others, saying, "...love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you..." Matt. 5:44, and

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Being the perfect example not only involves perfectly loving others, it involves telling the whole truth; therefore much of Christ’s teaching involved who he is: The Son of God. Demonstrating who Christ is, God’s own Son, assures that God gets the glory and credit for Jesus’ perfect example. There is a down side to this: Christ’s claims to be the Son of God, while being the truth, continually caused controversy for him, and as we will see, are one of the factors that resulted in his crucifixion. Taking a look at these claims, Jn. 5:18 says Jesus was "making Himself equal with God," Jn. 5:18. In John 8 the Pharisees accuse Jesus regarding an implication he made to have seen the patriarch Abraham (of the Old Testament, who lived almost 2000 years before Christ’s earthly mission); "The Jews therefore said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am,'" Jn. 8:57,58. Jesus did not say “I existed,” or “I was,” as might seem more appropriate for the context, but "I Am." "I Am" was God's covenant name given to Moses on Mt. Horeb; "Then Moses said to God, 'Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you." Now they may say to me, "What is

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So is Jesus the Son of God, equal with God, as he claimed, and as the Old Testament indicated the Messiah would be? Two accomplishments would say definitely yes. His first accomplishment is that after making these claims of divinity, as we have seen in the section on the resurrection, Jesus was then put to death in the presence of many witnesses,

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Leading a morally perfect life, according to the Bible, would demonstrate Christ to be the Son of God, since mankind is sinful at birth, and has fallen short of the glory of God; therefore this is something which only the divine Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary and conceived of by the Holy Spirit, could achieve. Even from an extra-biblical perspective; there has been no one in history apart from Christ whose life has demonstrated the moral character and reputation to be able to make the claim to be completely without sin and to be able to historically develop a widespread allegiance of others to this claim, as Christ did in Christianity. ¹²⁷ But amazingly, this allegiance to, or belief in, Christ's claim to be without sin is not limited to the Bible and Christians! The well-known, and in many ways admirable, Hindu teacher and social leader Mahatma Ghandi said of Christ's spotless life, "The gentle figure of Christ, so patient, so loving, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck but to turn the other cheek - it was a beautiful example, I thought, of the perfect man." ¹²⁸ To add to this, as previously pointed out, Muhammad and the entire Islam faith, as stated in

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We have been investigating and confirming Christ’s character, his perfect life. However, we have in the process discovered something even more important than what he has accomplished; and that is, who Christ is: The Son of God, equal with God himself! Why is it so important that we realize that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God? The answer lies in the deeper meaning to Christ’s coming to earth and becoming a man. His initial objective is to save us from our sins, but He has a deeper objective: So that we might know him. He became one of us and came to live among us so we can see his life and get to know him personally. God greatly desires a relationship with each one of us; a relationship that starts here on earth, and continues into eternity! We can see the event in John 1:1-14, where Jesus is referred to as the “Word:” "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And all things came into being by Him. And apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, who came to us and lived among us, dying for us and then rising from the dead, enabling us to know God: Do you want to know God? Get to know Jesus, and you’re getting to know God! God greatly desires this relationship with us; this is his ultimate desire for us. The intensity of God's love for us and his desire for this relationship with us is demonstrated in his willingness to become a man in the person of Christ and to give his life for us. And it is through this demonstration of love that God is able to reach through to the thick and hard hearts of we human beings, softening our stubborn self-will, and enabling us to enter a relationship with him. It is when we human beings realize who it was that gave his life for us on the cross, spiritual regulation- and rule-following can be done away with and an obedience and a trust out of love coming from the heart can begin. Through Christ, the Word of God made flesh, and his great act of love at the cross, God breaks through the barriers and speaks to the human heart, establishing this personal relationship which is by faith. God is the God of relationships; he invented relationships. Most people readily agree that relationships, people, are more important than possessions, pleasure, or achievements. The Bible states that this is because God made us this way; the second half of the greatest commandment in the Old Testament is "You Shall love your neighbor as yourself." These relationships are horizontal relationships - with other people; God wants more for us than just these horizontal relationships with others, he wants a vertical

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Our goal in this part of this paper was to see how Christ is different from Muhammad and Buddha. What we have seen is not only substantial, but profound. As shown in this last section, while Muhammad teaches of a distant God who merely gives commands to be followed and rules to be obeyed, such as repeating a prescribed prayer five times a day and fasting at prescribed times, Jesus teaches of a God who is close by, who makes "his dwelling among us," and who makes possible obedience from the heart, coming from knowing him as a friend and Father; while Muhammad reveals the ultimate goal of life to

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Jesus Christ Vs. Religious Cult Leaders

We have examined the teachers of other religions, using Muhammad and Buddha as examples, to see how Christ is different. But some claim a difficult seeming inconsistency arises with regards to those who come in Jesus' name, identifying themselves as Christians, or even identifying themselves as Christ Himself returning as Biblically foretold, and typically incorporating moral and religious teachings into their message, but whose actions and morality turns out to be an atrocity, and the ultimate outcome of themselves and their followers often is a tragedy. An example of this would be the Heaven's Gate cult, whose leader convinced thirty-nine of its members to commit suicide in 1997. ¹³⁰ While the deception and corruption of the cults and their leaders are usually quite obvious once the occurrence of an event such as the above mentioned tragedy has taken place, the fact that they use the name of Christ and his teachings, or other moral teachings as part of their deception, brings up some tough questions: How could this happen? These cult members had the Bible; where was God, could He not have helped them? And additionally, how can we know if an individual is teaching the truth? And in this manner, how can we know that Christ taught the truth?

As we begin to deal with this issue, it should be noted that this problem of corrupt and deceptive teachers aligning themselves with a particular religion resulting in disaster is by

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The Authority of the Bible

Since we are primarily dealing with individuals who are misusing the Bible and its teachings, individuals basing their identity, authority, and claims in part or in whole on those teachings, our first step is to establish the authority of the Bible. This will enable us to put false teachers, and their false claims, into proper perspective, bringing the false into

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The Old Testament clearly places God's word, the Scriptures, as our highest authority. Is. 8:20 says, "To the law & to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no light in them." The 'law' in both the Old & New Testaments is the Law of Moses (the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy), the 'testimony' is the testimony of the prophets (the remainder of the Old Testament); since this Scripture is from the Old Testament, it is referring to the sum total of God's word as revealed up to that point, demonstrating it to be authoritative; this also being the regular practice of the faithful high priests & prophets. Even more absolute though, Psalm 138:2 says, "I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth, for You have magnified Your word above all Your name." This is a profound statement; God has lifted his word above his name! A name represents the character, reputation, attributes, the very identity of an individual, including his position of power & authority; God's word, his revelation to us, is of higher authority than his name! How can God's word be of higher authority than seemingly God himself? As discussed previously, God's word is equated with God himself: Jesus, the eternal Word of God, is God (John 1:1,14)! God, who "calls those things that do not exist as though they did" (Rom. 4:17b), foresaw that Christ, the eternal Word of God, would come & live the perfect life, fulfilling perfectly all of God's commands; therefore instead of merely symbolically representing God's character, nature, & authority, as God's name does, Jesus, the Word of God, is God, being "the brightness of His glory & the express image of His person," (Heb. 1:3). The undeniable conclusion according to the Bible is that to give any command or teaching from any source other than the Bible a higher place of authority than God's word is to elevate such a command or teaching above God himself, which is idolatry!

In the New Testament, Christ is our perfect example, what place did he give to the Scriptures (i.e., the Bible)? Jesus taught that the Scriptures are our ultimate authority. When debates arose regarding religious matters, Jesus always referred to the Scriptures as the ultimate authority to resolve the issue. For example, when being questioned regarding the way to eternal life, he refers to Scripture (Luke 10:26): "What is written in the Law, how does it read to you?" He clearly places Scripture over any teachings of elders and religious authorities in Mk. 7:9b, and in many other places, where He rebukes the scribes & Pharisees for placing their traditions above God's word: "Jesus rebuked them, saying, 'You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition....Making the word of God to no effect through your tradition which you have handed down...’" Mk. 7:9b,13a. He also quotes the prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament (Is. 29:13) to rebuke them: "'In vain does this people worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men,'" Mk. 7:7. See also Mk 12:24, Matt. 12:3-5, Matt. 4:4. And in correcting the Jewish teachers regarding his identity as prophesied in the Old Testament, Jesus says "the

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Importantly, while as pointed out above that the validity and the authority of the Bible are not the same, they are interconnected. Since we have established that the evidence indicates the Bible to be a valid and trustworthy document, that is, that it is true and accurate, therefore its authority in truth extends not only over Christians, but over all humanity. The Bible says there is one God, and that he has fixed a day when he will judge all humanity according to what they have done with his Son, Jesus, the Word of God. Jesus made it clear, God’s Word is the standard of judgment for all men. Occasionally individuals, when confronted with this message, reply, "Oh, I don't believe in God," as though that settles the issue; since they don’t believe in God, then nothing the Bible says applies to them. But our decision to not believe in a truth does not affect in any way its truthfulness. God will still judge humanity on the last day, including those who chose not to believe in him. Therefore those who did not choose to place the Bible in authority over their lives in this life will find that it is authoritative over their lives at

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Since therefore, the Bible is the Christian's highest authority, all professing Christian leaders and teachers and their teachings need to be held up to the Bible and its truths: "The word of God is living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword, it pierces to dividing joints and marrow, soul and spirit; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart," Heb. 4:12. Jn. 1:1,14 tells us that Christ is the Word of God; he is the only one who lived out and followed God's commands precisely. Therefore we compare everything to him; he is our ultimate authority. Teachers and leaders identifying themselves with Christ and Christianity who conflict with Christ and the Bible in what they teach or do, and continue in this manner even when confronted with their error, are to be rejected as false teachers.

The Bible vs. Do and The Heaven's Gate Cult

Do founded the Heaven's Gate cult in 1993 in Southern California. Do claimed himself to be Jesus Christ (i.e., a re-manifestation of the actual person of Jesus Christ). ¹³¹ He taught that modern religions had been taken over by rebel souls (the Devil and his legions), and were using Christianity to enslave the would-be "children of the light." Only by grafting themselves onto Do could they escape. The flesh was seen as merely a vessel. Do claimed that since Christianity was corrupted by these rebel souls, he was now the only true way; "Leave all behind," he said; "Come, follow me," echoing the words of Christ. ¹³² Amazingly, he openly associated himself with other self-appointed and deluded and false "messiahs" and cult groups such as David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, the Unabomber, the Freemen, and the Solar Temple - a cult group that has conducted three mass suicides since 1994, a total of seventy suicides. ¹³³ Searching for signs of "higher life," he soon heard over the internet that a UFO four times the size of the earth would be coming in the wake of the Hale-Bopp comet which was regularly appearing in the night sky during the Spring of 1997. ¹³⁴ Do decided that this was the sign he had been waiting for; that this ship was coming to collect them and take them to a “higher place.” He instructed his followers that the way to join with the ship was to leave all behind and commit suicide. Tragically, this lead to the mass suicide of almost the entire group. So once again, we want to find out how where God was in all this; how could something like this happen, and how can we know if we are following a trustworthy leader? In answering these questions, we will show that God was in fact faithful to these cult members, we will show how the members themselves repeatedly fell short of making wise decisions, and we will show that Do was clearly a false teacher; we will do all of this by observing and applying the tools and the methods God has given us to recognize these teachers.

In examining Do and the Heaven's Gate cult, as in just about any other cult, we find the membership to be made up of individuals purportedly seeking truth, the meaning of life, and a way out from a corrupt world and from their own problems. First of all, and speaking objectively to begin with, when seeking truth, especially as new seekers, most

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Our first point above regarding investigating the Heaven's Gate cult began objectively, because we were speaking, to begin with, of people who were not necessarily Christians to begin with, but were seekers in general; as we began to discuss their membership with the Heaven's Gate cult, we were able to begin speaking subjectively regarding Scripture, since the Bible was to some extent regarded as their guide. From this point on we will be speaking subjectively regarding Scripture; this is a group claiming in one form or another to be Christians, therefore the Bible applies. Second of all, then, to reiterate what Christ said above, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits." Jesus states that their fruits (deeds, their values, the type of life they lead), will reveal the truth about them. This allows us to compare the character of the teacher with what the Bible teaches that makes a follower of Christ. John says in I Jn. 2:7b,8, "By this we know that we are in him: The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked." Our life should reflect that of Christ's; one of love and purity. Did the Heaven's Gate leader Do fit this criteria? Do openly associated himself and his cause with suicide, and with other cults which practiced suicide. In fact, while on the internet (for the business which the cult operated), his followers were instructed to actually market suicide as a positive alternative to the people of internet suicide prevention groups! ¹³⁵ This belief of Do’s was no sudden surprise to any of his cult members. Suicide is the murder of one's self. The Bible teaches that all life is valuable; "For You created my innermost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well," Ps. 139:13,14; and that murder is wrong: "...and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him," I Jn. 3:15b (although a penitent murderer will be forgiven by God, I Jn. 1:9). Do's fruit was bad, through and through. His continual teaching and his final act and the final act of his members, as taught by him, was murder! He fails John's test of being in Christ (a Christian) - he was clearly not walking as Christ walked - he was not a Christian at all according to the Bible's standards, let alone a Christian leader. Once again, the members of the cult had this standard, the Bible, available to them; and surely they had at least heard the Ten Commandments in their lifetime, including, "You shall not murder," (Ex. 20:13), this Biblical command being well-known to pagans as well as Christians in this society, and also most other world societies today. They failed to take any wise action, but continued following a leader whose teaching was in direct conflict with what at least most of them would have known to be the teaching of the Bible, which they were professing as their guide. At the point they became aware of Do's pro-suicide beliefs, this is where, for most of them, they made a voluntary choice to be deceived. The Bible speaks of this very occurrence: "For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away from the truth, and will turn aside to myths," II Tim 4:3,4.

Regarding Do's specific teachings about having this "knowledge" about the Christian church in general being corrupted by evil rebel souls from the devil, and of following himself, Do, as being the only way to reach the next life, amazingly, we can see in the Bible teachings against a first century cult with almost identical teachings! ¹³⁶ I & II John

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Do, in claiming to be Christ, advocating murder, and teaching a completely errant doctrine was self-conflicting and corrupt from the beginning. Despite general wisdom which says to be careful and do some investigation on whom or what you devote your life to when seeking the right path, and despite these above teachings and clear warnings, and many others, from Jesus and John and many others in the Bible about false teachers and true vs. false doctrine, and some clear methods of distinguishing and discerning them, these members either disregarded these teachings, or did not bother to make the small amount of effort required to seek them out. The Bible itself was either not consulted for wisdom to take the right path, or else if it was, no one had the courage to assert themselves and take a stand against a clearly false teacher. And as previously stated, most would have been aware of the commandment against murder in the Bible even without seeking it out. Therefore wisdom to attain to the right path was not only not

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Contrast their outcome with the promise to those who truly set their hearts on genuine wisdom: "How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast." Prov. 3:13-18

By comparing the teachings of our leaders with God's word, as Jesus did and as the Bible instructs us to do, and by comparing their lives and their "fruits" with the standards for a Christian leader which we find in God's word, and by desiring the truth with all our hearts and having the courage to stand up for the truth, we can avoid being deceived by false teachers, and have the long life and happiness the above proverb describes.

Christ's Leadership vs. the Leadership of Do and Typical Cult Leaders

Taking a look at the typical profile of a cult leader, typically the cult leader will claim a special status or qualification that makes a distinction between himself and others, including other religious authorities; putting that leader and his teachings as “not to be questioned.” How can they do this? Very simply; usually the leader will have a somewhat charismatic personality, but the important thing is that since it is the leader's group, he makes the rules. This is part of the criteria of joining, and membership is usually at will, so members by joining agree to this stipulation. Do claimed to be the Christ who had returned with new information (that is, that religions, and Christianity in particular, had become corrupted by the devil, and that only through him could individuals escape this corruption). Cult leaders also typically isolate their membership from society, breaking their ties of family and friends. This greatly strengthens their leader's influence, control, and authority. Do demanded that all Heaven's Gate members sever relationships of family, friends, and community, and as we have seen he did not submit himself to Scripture, and his teachings either twisted the Scriptures or were in complete contradiction to it. He also did not obey the governmental "law of the land;" he was openly promoting suicide and ultimately committed it himself, and caused it to be committed by others. Cult leaders, rather than being law-abiding good citizens and good examples, often defy and break the law.

Jesus, while asking for personal allegiance from his followers, as we have seen, still submitted himself to the Scriptures. God's word was his ultimate authority. He did redefine certain ceremonial and dietary laws, such as in Mk. 7:18,19, pertaining to foods,

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And rather than setting himself up as the unquestioned and unquestionable leader, as cult leaders as a rule do, Jesus always encouraged honest and sincere questions and seeking. At the beginning of Mark 4 Jesus teaches a parable (a story to demonstrate a spiritual or moral principle) to the people, and then ends with "'He who has ears to hear, let him hear,'" Mk. 4:9b. Some of the people then come up to Jesus to ask for understanding: "And as soon as He was alone, His followers (lit., those about Him), along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He said to them, 'To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, in order that while seeing, they may not perceive; and while hearing, they may not understand...'" Mk. 4:10-12a. Here Jesus not only encourages questions, but teaches the people that the key to spiritual growth is to come forward and ask when something is not understood. Those who ask learn the truth, but those who do not bother coming forward to ask, remain imperceptive and without understanding, by their own choice of inaction. And with regard to challenges to his teachings, "traps," or debative questions from his enemies, Jesus never avoided these, but remained in the "public arena" to demonstrate that he had nothing to hide and was not afraid of the opposition. In fact, in just about every synagogue, as well as other places, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes questioned and confronted him. For example, from the first three chapters alone of the book of Mark, representing the first year of Christ's three years of ministry, we find the following far from all-inclusive list of confrontations of Christ by his contemporary religious counterparts: Mk. 2:6b,7a, "...scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,

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Jesus' practice was clearly to remain integrated and involved in society. Where were the disciples and Jesus every Sabbath and many times during the week? In the synagogue! Luke 4:16 says, "...and as was His custom, He entered into the synagogue." Jesus' integration and involvement with the communities around him is further demonstrated by his statement at his arrest (Matt. 26:55): "At that time Jesus said to the multitudes, 'Have you come out with swords to arrest Me as though I were a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.'" While Jesus, having nothing to hide, operated in public in daylight, it was his enemies who came out at night to arrest him. And while there are exceptions, it was not a pre-requisite that Jesus' followers cut ties to families or friends. While Peter, James, John, and the others had to leave their families temporarily in order to travel around with Christ; "Then Peter answered and said to Him, 'Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will their be for us?'" Matt. 19:27; "Jesus answered, 'And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life,'" Matt. 19:29; this was for the logistical purposes of travel and effective ministry, not for isolation; in Mk. 1:30a,31, for example, Jesus and the disciples are at Peter's home, and Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law; "Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick with fever...And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them." and we also learn from Paul that all the disciples had been reunited with their wives once Jesus' earthly ministry was complete: "Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas [Peter]?" I Cor. 9:5. So in following Christ, then and now, the occasional call to leave family is usually due to logistical constraints, and not for isolation or deliberate separation, although there are exceptions to this. The fact is, Jesus was so integrated and involved in society that it sometimes got on his disciples' nerves; but when it did, it always turned out that it was their own short-sightedness that was to blame. For example, at one point when the disciples are sick of all the crowds being around them and they ask Jesus to send the crowds away, partly for lack of food, Jesus first feeds them, 5000 men, plus women and children, and does so miraculously from a total of five loaves of bread and two fish; "and they all ate, and were satisfied," Mk. 6:42,44. The disciples learned a lesson of servanthood, and to depend directly on God to meet the need. Jesus also was a good example in society, obeying the governmental "laws of the land," rather than disregarding them and committing crimes, as cult leaders often do. As previously mentioned, the Bible exhorts to obey all governing authorities. Jesus never committed, nor advocated committing, a crime; he even paid his

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In summary, Christ's leadership example was to fully submit himself to Scripture, to permit and even encourage honest questions, to be continually available to challenges and confrontations, to be high profile and involved in society and in the church, to be a law-abiding citizen, and instead of having anything to hide, to be a good example to all, relating the exciting message of God's love and salvation openly to as many as possible. Do and typical cult leaders are quite different, picking and choosing the Scriptures they wish to submit to (if any), while ignoring, twisting and concealing the rest, and, as stated, they are separate from society and are the unquestioned leaders, avoiding confrontation because they know their deeds are evil. Jesus said, "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God," Jn 3:20,21. God was faithful to those cult members in leaving them the example of Jesus, the perfect leader. We can use Christ's example of leadership as well, as a means of testing our leaders and determining if they are genuine, and thereby avoiding the deception of cult leaders. Are they themselves fully submitting to all of God's word, and honestly, without twisting it? Are they integrated and involved in society, unafraid of questions, law-abiding, and openly living a good example, excited about God's love and desiring to share it with others? The answer should be yes to all of these if they are claiming to be followers of, and especially leaders for, Christ.

God's Universal Provisions

We are going to finish this second part of this paper, "Jesus Christ vs. Religious Cult Leaders" by focusing on the specific situation of people who have joined a cult who have little or no benefit of a Christian background or exposure to the Bible; the question is: These people appear to have at least made an effort to move away from ignorance and rebellion against God, and toward Christ and the Bible, by joining a leader of a group

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First, God has given all men a conscience. As stated, cult leaders typically isolate the cult, placing themselves as the unquestioned ultimate authority. Because the members have placed themselves in this position of submission to one individual as the ultimate authority, they are greatly disadvantaged in doing what is right. While they have a conscience, the very fact that they have made commitment of submission to their cult leader quite often has compromised the operation and effectiveness of their conscience, in part because they would have already ignored the witness of their conscience’ warning against unwisely submitting to an individual with unconfirmed integrity, and in such an absolute manner. That we have a conscience is evidenced both inside and outside the Bible. Paul says in Rom. 2:14,15, referring to non-Christians and non-Jews (Gentiles), and taking the "law" to mean the Old Testament moral law given to the Jews, "For when the Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing them or else defending them..." As far as Christians are concerned, Peter says, in I Pet. 3:16, "...Keep a good conscience..." The conscience, therefore, is a tool God has given us to keep us on the right path. Outside the Bible there is further clear evidence of the existence of the conscience distinct from animal instinct. "Historically, almost every culture has recognized the existence of such a faculty. Ancient Egyptians, for example, were urged not to transgress against the dictates of the heart, for one 'must stand in fear of departing from its guidance.'" ¹³⁷ But while the concept of the moral conscience is so established in history and cultures, the recent "new age" movement has made arguments against the concept of existence of the human conscience, and its distinctness from mere animal instinct.

The typical argument against the existence of the conscience and its distinctness from instinct says that there is really no distinctive difference between the two; the conscience is really no more than a highly developed set of instincts. Webster's dictionary defines instinct as "a complex response to environmental stimuli without involving reason," and adds that it is "inheritable and unalterable." ¹³⁸ The goal of instincts is to both preserve the individual and the group or species. ¹³⁹ The "new ager" argument says that the conscience, being a merely a more developed set of instincts, is therefore merely a more sophisticated tool for the preservation of the individual and species. But Webster's defines conscience as a knowledge by one's inner self of the moral right and wrong of one's own

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Second, arising from our God-given conscience and reason, we have governmental laws, which is the criminal and civil justice system, which each society establishes, creating along with this the "laws of the land;" our societal standard of right and wrong from a standpoint of keeping the peace and allowing the society to function safely and be productive. These laws serve as reminders to do what is right, deterrents against doing wrong (forms of punishment back up these laws), and as correction when the law is broken (punishments). A typical cult leader will often place himself above the law of the land, rather than submitting to it, and as the absolute leader, will usually insist the cult members do the same when so directed. As pointed out, the Bible teaches we are to submit to governing authorities, and it is only in rare instances that the Bible will advocate breaking a governmental law, and this is only when it is in clear violation of a crucial principle of the Bible, such as preservation of human life, or the spread of the gospel. The law is there to remind everyone what is right in society.

Third, God reveals himself through creation: Rom. 1:18-20: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." Creation makes manifest to all human beings that there is one God, that he is all powerful, that he created us and loves us. This as well is the Bible's response to those who say "What about those who have never heard?" i.e., about Jesus or the gospel message. Paul says, "They have heard," (Rom. 10:18); this sounds like a pretty bold claim, but he then refers to the beginning of Psalm 19 to prove this fact: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world," Psalm 19:1-4. This is a profound assertion of the Bible: Wherever there are human beings with speech or language, the message has reached them; the gospel message is the good news that the One true God who created all

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Subtle Cults

While we have been focusing on the extreme types of cult leaders and cults who are typically anti-social, committing illegal and dangerous acts, as well as being unscriptural in their teachings and practices, such as Do and the Heaven’s Gate cult, there are cults that are far more subtle in there deviations from the truth, yet as the Bible says, they are “having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” II Tim. 3:5. These cults can appear much like a Christian church, and they and their leaders can even be integrated in society (unlike the typical extreme cult leaders), and yet still be false teachers. These cults can be recognized and avoided using some of the same methods as for the extreme cults; when joining any group or institution claiming to be Christian, its leaders’ character and teachings should be tested and compared with Christ and the Bible, as demonstrated in this section. In regard to these subtle cults, the best strategy is to specifically focus on their teachings about God, Christ, and salvation in the Bible, determining whether or not they line up with God’s word, as well as the leaders’ integrity in following what they teach. A common characteristic virtually all cults share, both extreme and subtle, is that they deny the Deity (Godhead) of Christ. As we have seen, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is the Lord of All; he is the Creator God (as the Bible says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,” Col. 2:9). Since the Christian’s goal is to know Christ, a basic and necessary step to knowing Christ is first of all knowing who He is. These cult groups have ‘a form of godliness,’ appearing like a regular church, but in denying Christ’s Deity, they are ‘denying its power,’ because they are denying the power of the life-changing message of the true gospel, that the Lord of All himself gave his life for us, the ultimate demonstration of love enabling a personal relationship with the Lord; therefore they prevent the possibility of a true relationship with Christ for the cult’s members. Therefore if the group or institution and its leaders do not teach that Jesus is equal with God, or if they contradict the Bible in other areas, they are a cult of false teachers, and as the Bible says, “from such

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God has given tools to all mankind, demonstrating his faithfulness to everyone in giving guidance to everyone to choose wise paths, and to stay away from foolish and destructive teachings, such as those of cult leaders. As we have seen, people who end up in these disaster-prone cults are largely responsible for, if not completely responsible for, their own predicaments and resulting tragedies. They did not just suddenly find themselves in their dangerous environments, as much as some would like to make it sound was the case; they were not just "ordinary folk" who were all of a sudden "innocently duped," nor were they honest seekers, searching with all their hearts for the true God; if their were, as we have seen, God is faithful, and would have rescued them. Instead they were almost always individuals who deliberately made one unwise decision after another, turning away from the true faithful God's provision of the individual conscience, societal encouragement, societal standards, and cultural moral codes, compromising these for a new thrill or adventure, or an easy form of acceptance.

Most importantly, God has given us Jesus, who gave his life on the cross and rose again. Jesus said, "'When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as my Father taught Me, I speak these things,'" Jn 8:28b. When we focus on Jesus, his perfect example of obedience to God and his demonstration of total love for us, and we compare the teachings and lives of our leaders and ourselves to Christ and his word, and then do our best to seek and follow Jesus courageously and with all our heart, and to choose Christ-like leaders, we will have no need to fear, for God's guidance is sure: "The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them his covenant. My eyes are continually toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net," Ps 25:14,15.

The Way

In answer to our question in the introduction to this paper, "How can we know who is right and what is the truth?" We can know because God demonstrated it in Jesus with irrefutable proofs. The truth is, no one can compare with Jesus. Jesus is the only one who fulfilled prophecies, having his coming, identity, and accomplishments a fore-ordained plan of God verified by documented history; he is the only one who rose from the dead, demonstrating his absolute authority over man's most feared and certain earthly outcome, and affirming his claim to be the source of all life; he is the only one who led a perfect life, demonstrating the authority of his moral teachings, never doing anything wrong and always showing perfect love and compassion to those in need, being the perfect example as a human being and a leader, to show us how to stay on the right path and free from deception, but more than that, as the perfect example of love Jesus served

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To receive Christ and become a Christian, pray to God:

"Lord Jesus, please forgive me for my sins, and forgive me for doing things my own way all of my life. Thank you for dying on the cross paying the price for my sins, and rising from the dead. Please come into my life, and take control of the 'throne' of my life, and make me the kind of person you want me to be. Thank you for saving me. Amen."

If you prayed this prayer, and it represents the desire and decision of your heart, Christ has come into your life, as he promised, and you have been saved for eternity. He is your Master and your best friend, and he will never leave you (Josh. 1:5). Do your best from now on to follow him with your life. Find a Christian, and tell them of your decision, then find a church which preaches God's word, and attend it regularly.

Below is a 'GROWTH' tool to help you grow in your relationship with Christ:

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Go to God in prayer daily

Read God's word daily

Obey God moment by moment

Witness for Christ in word and deed

Trust in God for every detail of your life

Holy Spirit: Allow him to empower and guide you

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