Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

For Reading and Meditation:     Galatians 5:1-15

Permit me to pause in our meditations on the chief differences between the Christian faith and non-Christian religions to turn our eyes inward to the state of affairs within the church. We have not been as careful as we might in relation to this matter of vertical conversion. Oftentimes we have been more interested in...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Corinthians 6:1-11

In his book Conversion - Christian and Non-Christian, C. Underwood says that the future of religion lies with the religions of the East, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, where conversions seem to occur. He hears followers discussing such things as self-sacrifice and the practice of good works and labels that as...

For Reading and Meditation:     Hebrews 7:11-28

Is it possible to know without any shadow of doubt that one is saved and ready to meet God? This question, says one writer, goes right to the roots of religious experience. Christianity says "Yes." Other religions are not sure. Without exception they will tell you that it savors of presumption to say one is certain...

For Reading and Meditation:     Hebrews 10:19-25

In every religion in the world apart from Christianity there is a note of uncertainty concerning this matter of personal salvation. Many modern religious attitudes are expressed in the limerick: For as much as without Thee We are not able to doubt Thee, O grant us Thy grace To inform the whole race That we know...

For Reading and Meditation:     2 Timothy 3:10-17

The next aspect of Christian uniqueness we consider is the Holy Scriptures, which we call the Bible. Nearly every brand of religion is based on a book. Whether ancient or modern, mystical or historical, ceremonial or ethical, it is almost certain to follow the teaching of some allegedly sacred volume. The Hindus...

For Reading and Meditation:     Mark 1:1-12

We continue with the thought that what makes the Bible unique is its Author. Some years ago a cartoon appeared in a Christian magazine depicting a woman at the counter of a lending library asking for a copy of the Bible. "Bible?" muses the attendant. "Bible! Never heard of it. Who's the author?" But don't other religions...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 3:1-17

Yesterday';s point about God finding great pleasure in His Son is worth pursuing as so much hangs on it when contrasting the Bible with the sacred books of other faiths. It seems strange to me that God should have so much to say about His Son in the Bible and yet ignore Him when...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 20:10-18

Some non-Christian religions claim that God is the Author of their sacred writings as well as of the Bible, but the god they talk about is not the God who has revealed Himself in the Person of His Son. The true God is a Father - the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mohammed wrote in the Qur'an (as we saw): "Allah...

For Reading and Meditation:     Luke 24:13-35

The Bible is unique in its varied penmanship. The Scriptures were written over a period of some fifteen hundred years by about forty different penmen, and yet although of such composite character, the book displays an amazing and essential unity. The most wonderful thing about the written Word is that woven through it...

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 40:1-11

What do we mean when we say that the Bible is "inspired"? There are various views. One is natural inspiration - that the Bible is inspired in the same way that any work of genius is, like Pilgrim's Progress for example. Another view is of partial inspiration, which claims that the Bible is not a scientific textbook...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 10:1-18

I said yesterday that I subscribe to the supervisal inspiration of the Bible. I believe God led the minds and hearts of the writers of Scripture to go to the right sources for information, to come up with the required data, and in the process protected them from exposure to error, deceit, or imposture. He supervised...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Another of the chief differences between Christianity and the world's religions, and something which adherents of other faiths find a major stumbling block, is the cross, which humbles all pride and dashes all hope of self-salvation. It also speaks of the tremendous and uncalculating generosity of God in...

For Reading and Meditation:     Galatians 6:1-18

Whenever I hear a person saying that all religions are the same, my mind runs immediately to the cross. If what is found here is true (and I believe it is), and represents the meaning of life, then clearly all religions are not the same. No authentic note of divine self-sacrifice comes from other faiths. The cross...

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 5:6-21

An ancient theologian - St. Augustine - suggested that "the answer to the mystery of the universe is God and the answer to the mystery of God is Christ." If this is so then I would like to make a further suggestion: the answer to the mystery of Christ is to be found in His sacrificial spirit, the supreme evidence of...