Chapter 2

How Can You Identify God’s Truth?

How can we distinguish the word of God from the word of men—the true from the false? Well, in any dispute over a merchant’s weights, would we not check the weights’ official seals to determine the matter? Likewise, if we are to worship our Maker in love and in truth, we need to check the basic credentials of holy writings.

² As we have seen, only God can satisfy our spiritual needs, so we can expect scripture from him to magnify God and answer our questions about him, such as, Who is God? Why did he create us? How should we worship him? Why is there so much suffering, and will the human family ever live together in lasting happiness? These basic questions affect each one of us. How does God answer them?

³ Loving parents never overlook the needs of any of their children. Similarly, we would expect God to make his holy writings available to all members of his human family. If those writings were available only in Sanskrit or Gurmukhi, for example, not all people would be able to benefit, would they?

⁴ A kind father, even if highly educated, always speaks to his children on their level of understanding. Likewise, scriptures from God must be easy to understand. Says Paul, a preacher of the first century of our Common Era: “I would rather speak five words that can be understood, in order to teach others, than speak thousands of words in strange tongues.”—1 Corinthians 14:19, Today’s English Version.

⁵ We resent being deceived and told lies. Rather, we are drawn to people who speak the truth. Honesty conveys a feeling of trust and confidence. Since our sense of right and wrong originates with our Maker, he cannot speak falsehood. We expect him to teach true doctrines and morals and to be accurate when referring to historical events.

⁶ How, then, should we view scriptures that present myths as history? As we shall see, myths, unlike  truth, differ widely and sometimes portray God as being weak or immoral. God’s word has to be free from myths.

⁷ Many people today look for omens, cast spells, and consult spirit mediums. The spirits secretly invoked by such practices often harm innocent victims, including children. Since God is not evil, can scriptures having connections with such forms of demonism originate with him? All revelations of the true God will be free from demonism.

⁸ We can also tell whether scripture is from God or from men by observing the fruits it produces in the lives of those who follow its teachings. Are they clean, honest, and hardworking, or are they deceitful, dishonest, and corrupt? Do they enjoy warm, loving family relationships, or do they accept the mistreatment of women and other people as normal? Are they people who know God personally, as a friend, or are they guided solely by religious leaders? A book of divine origin should provide solutions for our problems and have a good effect on our lives.

⁹ These seven requirements, taken together, provide the standard by which to test all holy writings. When a book meets all of them, surely it comes from God!

¹⁰ Let us now examine together different sacred writings and see how each measures up. Remember, we are interested in receiving divine guidance. Our Maker, like a caring father, also wants us to know his will so that we may love and worship him.

[Box on page 7]

Questions for Examination

As you read through this brochure, check to see how the religious writings measure up to all or any of these seven basic criteria:

They should:

1. Magnify God and answer our questions about him

2. Be available to all

3. Be easy to understand

4. Teach true doctrines and morals

5. Be free from myths

6. Be free from demonism

7. Provide solutions for our problems and have a good effect on our lives

[Picture on page 6]

In any dispute over a merchant’s weights, we check the weights’ official seals. What will identify scriptures as being from God?