Atheists turn to evolution to explain religion. As monkeys evolved into men, they were amazed by the world they found themselves in. They invented the notion of gods to explain life’s mysteries. Why does rubbing sticks together make sparks and start fire? We don’t know. There must be a god of fire giving this gift to us. In time, the gods imagined became more and more sophisticated. Eventually, the Hebrews imagined the supreme God of the Bible, a deity with absolute power, all knowledge, eternal nature, and so forth.
This belief flies in the face of the evidence. World history points to a clear pattern of religious deterioration. Consider Christianity, for instance. Jesus established one church. There was no Catholic Church, Baptist Church, Methodist Church or any other common denomination in the first century. The original church splintered over time. The same sort of thing happened in Islam. After Muhammad died the religion was divided by a leadership succession disagreement into two major denominations—Sunni and Shia. Shia Islam has three main branches. And so on.
Contrary, then, to what atheists say, religious factions point to a pure original. And this is exactly how the Bible explains it. In the beginning Adam and Eve were sinless. The first couple enjoyed intimate fellowship with God. In Eden Yahweh walked with our first parents in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8). That access to God ended when Adam and Eve sinned. Sin is a personal choice to disobey God, a violation of his commandments (1 John 3:4).
But why did Adam and Eve sin? First, Satan tempted them, made sin look appealing. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). The devil (a fallen angel with great power) hates God. The first words out of his mouth tempt Eve to question God’s word. Did God really mean what he said? Second, Adam and Eve sinned because in their human weakness they wanted to. The serpent persuaded the woman that God was cheating her. In the perfection of Eden something was missing. If she would just eat the forbidden fruit, she would become a god herself. What a fantastic idea! She loved it. So do we. We are all tempted to resist God’s will and seat ourselves in his place. Every time we choose to do something contrary to scripture, we are implying that in our particular situation, we know more than God does.
The aim of biblical religion is to restore lost fellowship with God. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. The Lord asked them to bring a sacrifice to him in worship. Abel did just what God had said. But Cain’s offering was displeasing. He had a bad attitude, and he may have offered something God had not asked for. Anyway, Cain’s unacceptable offering is the first biblical instance of corrupted religion. Cain worshiped in the way he wanted instead of the way God had commanded.
This pattern of corruption is seen repeatedly in the pages of the Bible. God rescues Israel from Egyptian slavery and brings his people to Sinai, where he makes a covenant with them. But while Moses is on the mountain receiving the law, his brother Aaron is below leading the people to worship an idol (Exod. 32:1-30). Joshua leads Israel into Canaan and dispossesses its wicked inhabitants. The people are faithful to God during Joshua’s lifetime, but soon afterward they are abandoning the Lord and serving “Baals and the Ashtaroth” (Judg. 2:13), Canaanite gods and goddesses. King David is a man after God’s own heart. He is a one-God man. His kingship is a foreshadowing of the reign of the Christ, the second David. But the king’s own son Solomon forsakes God in his old age and worships idols of all kinds (1 Kings 11:9).
Jesus of Nazareth, the second David, is the full realization of access to God. In him God becomes flesh and reveals himself. And in him sinners are fully forgiven and brought into God’s eternal presence. This is the glorious point in the book of Hebrews. The author says, “Since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22). The writer of this letter emphasizes that Jesus is better than anything or anyone. He is superior to all other prophets (1:1-3). He has a better name than the angels (1:4-14). He is better than Moses (3:1-6). Jesus has a better priesthood than Aaron (5:1-10). His priesthood has a better order (7:1-28), a better covenant (8:6-13), a better sanctuary (9:1-28), and a better sacrifice (10:1-18).
Although God’s plan to save sinners through the sacrifice of his own Son is perfect, even some people in the earliest days of the church thought they could improve on it. The Bible says that “men came down [to Antioch] from Judea and were teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved'” (Acts 15:1). Here we go again! In Christ, God has released the Jewish people from the rules and regulations of the old law. But these false teachers couldn’t let go of it. They wanted to mix together the law of Moses and the good news of grace. But the two don’t mix.
The introduction of new religious groups is part of a long history. People abandon God’s way for a variety of reasons—ignorance of the truth, rejection of the truth, and the greed for power that inventing a new religion can offer. Consider, for instance, the emergence of the Catholic Church, one of the biggest denominations in the world. Where did it come from?
Jesus built his church to be a brotherhood of independent congregations led by local leaders, men known as elders, overseers, or shepherds (Acts 20:17-28; 1 Tim. 3:1-7), Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). The original church had no earthly headquarters and no human supreme leader. The church’s headquarters was in heaven, and the Head was Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). But over time the leadership structure of the church was abandoned. Individual elders (or bishops) assumed more and more power. One man ruled over a small district of churches. Then one man ruled over a large district of churches. In time one man considered himself ruler of all churches everywhere in the world. The pope.
God ordained for churches to be independent for an excellent reason. The Seagoville Church of Christ belongs to no association or convention. We don’t pay dues to anyone. We don’t send delegates to vote on church doctrine. No one from outside comes to tell us what to do or teach. This independence protects the congregation from external pressure to do wrong and protects other churches from our mistakes. If we stop preaching the truth of scripture, we may fall away from God but our disloyalty doesn’t bring other churches down with us.
But the consolidation of power forces an entire denomination down the same road. This explains the great apostasy in the Catholic Church. Catholics call their preachers (or priests) “Father,” a practice flatly condemned by Jesus (Matt. 23:9). Catholics forbid their preachers to marry, a prohibition condemned as demonic (1 Tim. 4:1-3). Catholics bow down to images and worship Mary as a goddess (1 John 5:21). Catholic preachers molest little boys and the scandal is covered up by the highest authorities.
About five centuries ago reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin revolted against all the abuses in the Catholic Church. They didn’t really plan to start new denominations. They hoped to push the Catholic Church in a more biblical direction. That effort failed. But new denominations emerged that were more biblical. Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist churches all formed as a result. Unfortunately, these newer denominations in time imitated some of the Catholic Church’s mistakes. For instance, power in the Lutheran Church was so consolidated in 1930’s Germany that Hitler was able to take charge of it and make it a tool for the Nazi regime.
The introduction of Islam has a different history. It’s the same story, though. Muhammad felt rejected by Christians and Jews. So he created a religion just for Arabs. But his claim to stand in the line of biblical prophetic tradition is his downfall. For two reasons.
First, he plainly contradicts the writings of the inspired men he claims to honor. Here is a very accurately translated text from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: ” Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:5-11, NIV). If Jesus is in very nature God, if he is exalted to the highest place, if he is Lord, then how can Muhammad possibly be the supreme prophet? And how could Muhammad dare to say that honoring Jesus as God’s Son is blasphemy?
Second, Muhammad produces a religion markedly inferior to its supposed predecessor. Biblical religion becomes increasingly beautiful as God becomes better known. This is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is superior to the law of Moses. As John puts it, “And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17). And Paul says, “God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3).
The moral and ethical standards of Jesus cannot be improved on. He taught his disciples to treat women and children kindly, to serve others humbly and selflessly, to be free of hypocrisy and self-righteousness, and even to love your enemies. Why would God reveal perfect love in Jesus and then later “improve on the gospel” by introducing the Quranic barbarism responsible for so much misery and death?