THE MISSION: Bring Great Glory to a Great Savior by telling people what Jesus did for great sinners and inspiring others to do the same.

March 25, 2016

Blind Faith vs. Rational Evidence-Based Faith

I met her at Sports Clips.  She's a Mormon.  She didn't know Muhammad made the same claim as Joseph Smith.  Like Jo, Mu claimed to receive divine revelation from God. Jo claims the Book of Mormon is the real deal.  Mu claims the Quran is the real deal.  I asked her how one is to decide which is true.  She gave the typical Mormon response.  "I prayed and got the feeling that it's true.

But the Bible never says go by your subjective, whimsical feelings.  Jesus never said determine truth by your feelings.  Both say look at the evidence to determine what's true.

In the Old Testament, "The LORD said to Moses, 'How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? (Nu. 14:10-12)"  In other words, God asked Moses, "how much evidence will it take to make believers out of them?!"

Similarly, in the New Testament, Jesus appealed to the evidence of His divinity when challenged by the religious leaders, declaring as follows:  "But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish--the very works that I do [referring to His miracles]--testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me (John 5:35-37)." Later, "Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me (John 7:7)."

The Apostle Paul appealed to the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus when encouraging people to repent and believe the Gospel, emphasizing as follows:  Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born (1 Cor. 15:1-8)."

The Apostle Peter also appealed to evidence, his own eyewitness testimony and the evidence of fulfilled prophecy: "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.  We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 1:16-21)."

There is a tremendous amount of evidence to support the divinity and reliability of God's Word.  But there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.  For a great explanation of the evidence for the Bible and the complete lack of any for the Book of Mormon, watch Bible vs. Book of Mormon, which includes some Mormon and other scholars.  

And truth of the Bible should lead you to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.  "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:31)."

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