The Bible: one story of redemption
The Hindu texts are many voices that never agree. The Bible is one finished book that tells one story, from the first page to the last: man's sin and constant rebellion, and God's and mercy in His plan to rescue. The link between its two halves is Jesus.
Sixty-six writings, one story
The Bible is one finished text, compiled from 66 writings in the Protestant (39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New), written by about 40 authors over roughly 1,500 years. The follows one royal family and its war. The Bible follows something far larger, and through all those writers and centuries it tells the same story.
From the first page, people turn from God again and again.
He never gives up on us, and He keeps His promise to rescue.
The path of redemption
- Law · Genesis to DeuteronomyRedemption promised
ManTurns from God in the very first rebellion, and the world breaks.
GodPromises a rescuer who will crush the serpent (), rescues a nation from slavery, and shows what rescue costs in the blood of the lamb ().
- History · Joshua to EstherRedemption needed
ManPeople and kings rebel again and again. The problem is deeper than any leader.
GodStays faithful, and promises David a descendant whose kingdom will last forever ().
- Poetry · Job to Song of SolomonRedemption longed for
ManCries out in guilt, in grief and in doubt.
GodAnswers with mercy: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (). "I know that my Redeemer lives" ().
- Prophets · Isaiah to MalachiRedemption foretold
ManRebellion ends in exile, and the warnings go unheeded.
GodPromises a servant "pierced for our transgressions" (), a ruler from Bethlehem (), and a new : "I will forgive their iniquity" ().
- The link between the twoJesus
Everything before Him points forward to Him. Jesus said "all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled" (). The Old Testament is the promise. The New Testament is the Promised One.
- Gospels · Matthew to JohnRedemption accomplished
ManRejects Jesus and crucifies Him, the worst sin of all.
GodGives Him as the of God who takes away the sin of the world (). Jesus dies to forgive sin and rises from the dead. The cross is man's greatest sin and God's greatest .
- ActsRedemption proclaimed
ManResists, and persecutes the first believers.
GodSends the Holy Spirit, and the good news goes out from Jerusalem to every nation ().
- Letters · Romans to JudeRedemption explained
Man"All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" ().
God"Justified freely by his through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" ().
- RevelationRedemption completed
ManRebellion is finally ended and judged.
GodDefeats sin and Satan and death, makes all things new, and lives with His people ().
Side by side: where the Hindu texts go wrong, and where the Bible stands firm
You have now seen each Hindu text and the Bible's one story. Ask the same questions of both.
NoThey differ on who God is, how the world began and how to be saved. The three main Hindu schools read the same texts in opposite ways.
One storyOne God and one plan of rescue, from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus said all of it speaks of Him ().
Work it off, wash it off, or know past itPay it back over many lives, remove it by ritual, bathing or chanting, or see it as ignorance. None says how justice is satisfied.
God pays it HimselfAt the cross God is "just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus" ().
Avatars who come and goGods come down again and again to destroy the wicked, and the cycle never ends.
One Rescuer, once for allJesus came once to die for the wicked, and rose ().
It does not, or you disappearThe ages turn forever, and the highest goal is for the self to dissolve into .
God with His peopleA new creation, where God lives with His people and wipes away every tear ().
Keep this in mind for every step that follows: the is a conversation inside a battle. The is not one conversation in the Bible. It is the plot of the whole Bible.
Every story ends somewhere. The Hindu texts end in an endless cycle or in the self dissolving away. The Bible ends with Jesus Christ, the who was slain, honored by all creation (). He is the point of the whole story.
The Bible is one finished book with one story: man's rebellion and God's rescue, joined by Jesus. Side by side, the Hindu texts disagree and leave sin unpaid, while the Bible's one God pays for sin Himself.
Why the next step followsNext, how the texts were made: who wrote them, when, and whether they can be checked.How the texts are built →Where do you see yourself in the Bible's story: rebelling, longing, or rescued? What does it mean to you that God never stopped reaching for His people?