The Pattern of All False Religions
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This document outlines the common pattern found in false religions: (1) a false prophet who writes a false authority, (2) the false authority is used to proclaim a false god, (3) the religion puts forward a false savior, and (4) it preaches a false salvation through works. Christianity appears to follow a similar pattern but can be shown to be true through fulfilled prophecies, miracles like Jesus' resurrection, and its foundation being the historical person of Jesus Christ rather than an idea. The document warns that false religions can imitate truth and it is important to carefully examine the evidence for Christianity's truth.
![www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org
A false god…Example
“She [Gaia] is the source of fertility,
endless wisdom and loving caresses…
She gives birth to abundance… Since
the Goddess is nature, all nature…She
is omnipresent, changeless, eternal.”* –
Scott Cunningham.
* http://tinyurl.com/mscnymg.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/thepatternofallfalsereligions-140322170131-phpapp01/85/The-Pattern-of-All-False-Religions-11-320.jpg)
The Pattern of All False Religions
- 1. The False P a t t e r n o f a l l R E L I G I O N S
- 2. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org What do all false religions… …have in common?
- 3. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org False prophet False authority False god False savior False salvation 1. A false prophet who writes/uses … 2. A false authority to proclaim … 3. A false god 4. A false savior 5. A false salvation
- 4. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false prophet… • Step one is a person who is either a willing deceiver or someone being deceived that proclaims themselves to be a prophet, offering no solid evidence to support their claims. • They purport to receive revelations from a deity or some supernatural messenger.
- 5. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false prophet…Example • Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, claimed that in 1820 he received special visions and visitations from multiple gods and angels. • They told him not to join any church; all taught abominations. • Smith founded the Mormon church and claimed to receive another vision from God that he was to be “a seer, a translator, a prophet, and an apostle.”* * http://www.josephsmithacademy.org/inspira/ebooks/history-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-vol-1/
- 6. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false authority… • Step two involves the false prophet(s) writing down supposed divine messages that were communicated via either visions or special books that are no longer available. • The writings are elevated to be either equal / superior to the Bible. • The ‘prophet’ and their followers then cast doubt upon the Bible’s accuracy and truthfulness.
- 7. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Authority…Example According to Joseph Smith, the book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book.”* http://www.josephsmithacademy.org/inspira/ebooks/history-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-vol-4/.
- 8. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Authority…Example “Who, in his right mind, could for one moment suppose the Bible in its present form to be a perfect guide? Who knows that even one verse of the Bible has escaped pollution?”* – Mormon Orson Pratt. * http://tinyurl.com/l6d46qg.
- 9. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false god… • Step three involves the false prophet(s) using their false authorities to proclaim a false god. • Some will repeat the enemy’s temptation in the Garden: “You shall be like God…” while others put forward a pantheistic deity. • Whatever god is offered up, it will not be the God of the Bible.
- 10. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false god…Example “God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar to that which we are now passing.”* – Mormon Milton R. Hunter. * http://mormonthink.com/QUOTES/natureofgod.htm.
- 11. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false god…Example “She [Gaia] is the source of fertility, endless wisdom and loving caresses… She gives birth to abundance… Since the Goddess is nature, all nature…She is omnipresent, changeless, eternal.”* – Scott Cunningham. * http://tinyurl.com/mscnymg.
- 12. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Savior… • Step four involves putting forward another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4) that is a counterfeit. • A counterfeit Christ is an incredibly important part of the enemy’s teaching because, in the same way that placebo medication can’t heal a real disease, a fake Jesus can’t save anyone from their real sin.
- 13. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false savior…Example “Jesus Christ attained godhood (see Christology) and he marked the path and led the way for others likewise to become exalted divine beings by following him.”* - Mormon K. Codell Carter. * http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Godhood.
- 14. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false savior…Example “. . . the true Scriptures speak of God’s Son, the Word, as ‘a god.’ He is a ‘mighty god,’ but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah – Isaiah 9:6.”* * http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/truthfree/truthfree3.html.
- 15. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Salvation… • Step five involves the preaching of a false salvation. • Almost universally, the path to salvation involves works in some way, although some false religions do their best to cloak that fact. • Grace alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone is not upheld as the way of spending eternity with God.
- 16. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Salvation…Example “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God, that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation.” * – Mormon Spencer Kimball. * http://www.ldsces.org/manuals/book-of-mormon-institute-student-manual/bm1996-03-2ne-3-6.asp.
- 17. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org A false Salvation…Example “Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy - They will attain salvation: But those whose balance Is light, will be those Who have lost their souls; In Hell will they abide” – The Koran, Sura 23:102-3.
- 18. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org False prophet False authority False god False savior False salvation 1. A false prophet who writes/uses … 2. A false authority to proclaim … 3. A false god 4. A false savior 5. A false salvation Review – The Pattern of all False Religions
- 19. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org Wait a Minute…! What About Christianity…?!
- 20. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org Doesn’t Christianity have… …prophets who write/use … …the Bible which talks about… …God …a Savior, Jesus …a way of salvation? What About Christianity?
- 21. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org True or False • Christianity does claim that certain persons have received revelations from God that were written down into what is now the Bible. • Christianity also says that Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior of the world and proclaims a salvation that is based on His work. • The question is how can you tell what’s true from what’s false? How can you detect an imitation from the real thing? Why is Christianity true and other religions false?
- 22. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org “So skilled is error at imitating truth that the two are constantly being mistaken for each other. It takes a sharp eye these days to know which brother is Cain and which Abel.” – A. W. Tozer
- 23. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org Test #1 – Fulfilled Prophecies • While the failed prophecies in false religions are legion, no prophet of God ever uttered a prophecy that failed to materialize, proving his claim that he spoke for God. • Many of the detailed prophecies (e.g. Daniel) have proven to be absolutely correct hundreds of years after they were written. • Moreover, New Testament prophecies such as those spoken by Jesus about the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 were accurate.
- 24. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org "I see many contradictory religions, and consequently all false save one. Each wants to be believed on its own authority, and threatens unbelievers. I do not therefore believe them. Every one can say this; every one can call himself a prophet. But I see that Christian religion wherein prophecies are fulfilled; and that is what every one cannot do." – Blaise Pascal
- 25. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org Test #2 – Miracles • If God did not provide his prophets prophecies that were fulfilled, then God enabled His servants to perform miracles that validated His Word. • No such things can be substantiated in other faiths, while in Christianity, the crowning miracle of all – Jesus’ resurrection from the dead – can be strongly argued for on historical, philosophical, and theological grounds.
- 26. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org “I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.” – Oxford Historian Tom Arnold
- 27. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org Test #3 – Foundation • Lastly, ever other religion in the world can be categorized in one of three ways: (1) epistemic: if I just learn something I’ll be better; (2) pragmatic: if I just do something I’ll be better; (3) existential: if I just experience something I’ll be better. • Christianity falls into none of those classifications. Instead, it is ontological – it is grounded upon a Person Who cannot be separated from the faith.
- 28. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org The Truth of Christianity Comes Down to… • Jesus! • If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then Christianity is a fraud and should be discarded. • The truth of Christianity is truly Christological – it all comes down to Jesus and the reality of Who He is and His resurrection.
- 29. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org The Warning of Christ About False Faiths • “if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” – Matthew 15:14. • Note that Jesus says that both the deceiver and deceived go into eternity lost. • This is why 26 of the 27 books of the New Testament warn against false teaching – there is nothing more important than the truth.
- 30. www.confidentchristians.orgwwwpowerpointapologist.org The False P a t t e r n o f a l l R E L I G I O N S