In a Year 8 Bible class Charlotte (an avowed agnostic) put up her hand and asked the following question: “How can you know that the Christian writings (the Bible) are any better than the writings of other religions.” This was a very good question and before we move on to some of the most astounding ‘Evidence’ it would be good to pause and consider this question.

We have spent weeks considering the evidence for God as for example in the fine tuning of the universe that is supported by recent discoveries in Science. Or the staggering complexity of life and even the mind-boggling intricacy of the human cell and its biochemistry. This all leaves me dumbfounded. However, beyond all that, I discovered in my journey to God in the 1970’s that the Bible had a provable foundation that no other ‘holy writings’ do. God, or the Yahweh of the ancient Jewish writings (the Old Testament) revealed himself by stating that He alone knows the future. I learnt that in my comparison with other writings, that none of the Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Islam etc had any predictive or prophetic claims. There was no provable foundation, just a blind faith in their teachings. Of course, much of their teachings were good and sound philosophy for life. But you cannot prove that Brahma, Laozi, Krishna, Baháʼu’lláh, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Ramanujah and a whole plethora of Gurus and religious founders were anything more than men and that they are now dead and buried. In contrast, we can prove that the God not only exists but that His word provides proof for that. God (Yahweh) invited us to test the claims that He is the creator because He knows the future (e.g. Isaiah 41:21-23, 44:7). He stated, “I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.” Isa 46:9-10.

You might now be asking, what about the prophecies of clairvoyants like Nostradamus from the 16th century. The beauty of his alleged predictions for those who make fat profits writing about them, is there utter ambiguity. You can read whatever you like into what he wrote. Rather than me bore you with the details here are two web sites you can consulate: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/jul/05/guardianleaders
Nostradamus became famous in his own lifetime for publishing a long series of prophecies which continue to mystify, intrigue and (frankly) exasperate us to this day. The fact that he wrote in enigmatic poems, or quatrains, means that his words can be endlessly reinterpreted to fit historical events. This makes trying to assess his ‘accuracy’ a notoriously tricky thing to do. But what if we really squint and give him the benefit of the doubt? Did Nostradamus get anything right? The answer is no! Check this site out:

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/nostradamus-which-of-his-predictions-came-true

God’s prophecies are specific, clear and have stood the test of time. God’s challenge is “why consult mediums and wizards who chirp and mutter? Should not a people consult their God?… to the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, there is no light in them!” Isaiah 8:19-20.)

The word of God is sure, testable, and trustworthy. On our journey of evidence to God, I am about to show you the crem-de-la-crem.