Question: Dear Greg,

I am a Sergeant of Police in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Articles from your magazine have been posted on the New South Wales Police Christian Bulletin Board. I have been asked to pose this question to you: If I cannot trust Genesis as a literal account of God’s creation of the universe then can I trust the New Testament accounts of the miracles performed by Jesus or of his death and resurrection or of God’s love and forgiveness?

Alos, a friend asked me to ask you if you knew the times and dates with references for the following:

  1. The time of the original formation of the Koran.
  2. The same for the Hindu "Vedas."
  3. The Book of Mormon.
  4. Information concerning the writings about "Zoroaster."

Love in Christ,

Jeff

Answer: Dear Jeff,

A few thoughts for consideration of you and your friend:

1. No "holy" book claiming to be the revelation of God to humanity can begin to be compared with the scrutiny modern scholarship has subjected the Bible to, and no book has "survived" such a critique as the Bible. More books have been written trying to undo the Bible that all other "holy" books combined – no other "holy" book can claim the antiquity, the accuracy, the authenticity with historical records, the prophetic claims that occurred, the support of the relatively new science of archaeology. Many books that been written to give background here – a good book on the subject is by Paul Wenger (published in 1999) titled The Journey from Texts to Translations – the Origin and Development of the Bible.

2. As for comparing other works, one can only note that – the Koran dates from the time of Mohammed (570-632), the Hindu Vedas from 1000 BC, the Book of Mormon from the life of Joseph Smith (1805-1844 – Mormons believe that Smith translated the book from ancient golden plates), and the writings of Zarathustra (founder of Zoroastrianism) about 1000 BC. The Bible’s antiquity goes back further – and if your friend wants to debate antiquity, the Law Code of Hammurabi and its comparison with Moses is usually a more fertile field for those who wish to debate the Bible.

Big subject, Jeff – but I hope this gives you some thoughts to ponder. I hope all is well with you "down under" as those of us in the Northern Hemisphere refer to your beautiful country. G’Day!

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht