I remember a missionary from another religion saying that 10 million people can’t be wrong in their belief in (his religion), to which I responded, “Well going with that logic, I could say 1 billion people cant be wrong about Islam.” In the case of his religion he said the members “feel” their religion is correct. But don’t most people who follow other religions feel that they are correct? They might even get dreams and visions telling them their religion is right.
The only conclusion one can draw from this is that you cannot base your belief on feelings. So how are we to believe then. Logic? Knowledge? Just because? With something as important as our salvation, are we supposed to believe not using our feelings? I hope you are able to provide some insight on this.
I agree. Feelings are almost never good indicators for decision making. And 10 million or even 1 billion people can be wrong. But there is one fool proof way to tell if you’re right about what you believe and that’s to open your Bible. It turns out that the Bible is the only so-called Holy Book that authenticates itself, and the way it does that is through prophecy. Isaiah 42:8-9 is one of the clearest passages on this issue.
“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”
Here the Lord is telling us that everything He said would happen in the past has happened. And He’s already told us the things that will happen in the future. Only someone who knows the end from the beginning can do that. It’s the way the Lord authenticates Himself for us.
To prove this, compare Old Testament prophecy with history. It’s not as hard as you think. One chapter, Daniel 11, contains over 100 historically validated prophecies in just the first 35 verses. Compare them with a 200 year period of world history that begins with the death of Alexander the Great and ends with the arrival of the Roman Empire on the world scene. To make it even easier, use a study Bible that has already made the comparison in its study notes and confirms their accuracy with history.
If you’re still not convinced, compare the study Bible notes with the historical record for yourself. In a short time you’ll have 100 pieces of proof that the promises God makes come true. Only the Bible can do this. Your study Bible will also show you where to find numerous specific details of the Lord’s first coming that God foretold in the Old Testament hundreds or even thousands of years before the fact.
If you do this, you’ll come away convinced that believing in the God of the Bible is the only logical thing to do. You’ll also conclude that if He could predict all those things correctly, it makes sense to believe that He’s accurate in His predictions of our future as well.