by Dave Paulson

Created on: May 14, 2009

Can God inspire people? All religions will agree that the answer is "Yes." Can different people write different sacred texts? Well, the Holy Bible is of such origin, so at least all Christians and Jews would have to nod in assent. Though the authorship of the Quran is ascribed to Muhammad, practitioners of the Islamic faith also recognize the Bible as sacred, so they too must agree. All mainstream Eastern religions, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, are also based on multiple scriptures from multiple authors. So, the evidence seems clear: different people can be inspired by God, and different sacred texts can be written by different people, hence different sacred texts can be inspired by God. Case closed.

So, if the logical response to this question is so straight forward, why is it that, over the course of the history of our planet, millions of people have died in the name of their faith, died defending the holiness of "their" sacred texts? What is it about religion that creates such controversy and conflict? Why is it that in order for a given faith to be right, all others must be wrong?

If even within a given religion, such as Judaism or Christianity, scholars agree that many different authors made vital contributions to the scripture, then how can it be that they deny the possibility that God revealed his truth to others as well? Is God really so small? Is his ability to inspire and enlighten so limited?

Raised a Catholic, and later separating ways and becoming a Protestant, my religious upbringing was strictly Christian. We were taught of the Garden of Eden and the Parting of the Red Sea, of the Wisdom of Solomon and how David slew Goliath. We were taught of the Ten Commandments and to love our neighbor. With wide eyes and open hearts, we learned of the Christmas story and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We learned of the unconditional love of God and that the Bible was his inerrant Word.

Even as a child, I couldn't help but wonder why there were so many different churches, so many different faiths. If the Bible was without error, why wasn't there just one church - a Church of God? "Childish oversimplification," I was told. I was too young to understand the intricacies of faith. The Bible was indeed without error, but not all bibles were created equal, or so I was told.

You see, in order to understand the Truth of God, we must first know which bible contains that truth. And then, not only do we need to know which bible, but also which interpretation

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