Thank you for your engaging and provocative questions. They are among the most-important questions the church must answer!

Let's examine your questions in two groupings: we'll consider the first two together and then explore the final question, because its resolution depends on the first two answers.

How can we be certain that the Christian Scriptures are the Word of God while the texts of other religions are not? There are a host of reasons why you and I should accept the Bible's claim that it alone is the Word, or revelation, of the one, true God. One such reason is that the Bible makes such a remarkable claim for itself. Now, before Christians are accused of "circular logic" in this matter ("We know the Bible is God's Word because it says so, and we accept this as fact because, after all, it *is* the Word of God"), consider your own everyday reactions to other people's claims. When a man introduces himself to you as "Bob Smith," you (generally, anyway!) don't ask for his ID; you accept his claim at face value. It seems random and somewhat inconsistent, then, suddenly to question the Bible's claims about itself if one is not equally skeptical about *every* claim made in life.

Second, the Bible's content not only distinguishes it from every other religious text in the world; it also reveals the hand and mind of God Himself. Other texts tend to focus on one's inner self for information (those, for example, of Eastern religions) or to extol physical combat in the advancement of said religion (such as Islam). The Bible, meanwhile, contains clear, if infinitely profound, doctrine about the triune God. Really, the Bible claims to be something no other text quite claims: the revelation (literally "pulling back the veil") of the invisible God concerning Himself and His creation. Just read the Bible in all its profundity for yourself and compare it to other religious texts -- they are vastly different.

Consider also the astounding fact that the Bible agrees in all its parts and doctrines from Genesis to Revelation; yet Moses and John (and Solomon and Ezra) never knew one another personally. In fact, Moses (a Jew) and Luke (likely a Gentile) had little in common, and they certainly lacked theological training or literary "savvy" -- yet their doctrines match up and reinforce one another perfectly. The tree of life in Genesis, which God shuts off to Adam and Eve after the Fall? We see it again at the end of Revelation, which tells of the New Heavens and New Earth that will ensue because Jesus Christ has dealt with the effect of the Fall in believers' souls. The sacrificial animals without blemish from Leviticus? They were fulfilled perfectly in the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, about whom St. John writes *hundreds* of years after Moses. No other religious text in the world rightly can claim such consistency in teaching -- all the more amazing in light of the lack of education of most of the authors of Scripture!

(Interestingly, one current Web site specializes in identifying "inconsistencies" in modern-day movies produced by the world's leading writers and directors: even the most-gifted humans make mistakes in terms of consistency within their works. But God's Word doesn't have any such inconsistencies of substance!)

Still another argument for the Bible being the Word of God is its effect through the centuries. Men and women of all ages, abilities, mental and cultural backgrounds, and time periods have read the same Bible and been converted to the same Lord. Merely human writings often must be tailored to suit certain audiences, and no merely human document has changed masses of people's lives for eternity. It is a testament to the divine character of the Bible that a white man in New York and a Japanese woman in Chiba -- for all their tremendous differences -- agree wholeheartedly in the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture.

Related to this question is your assertion that if someone today claims that God has spoken to him, other people will question his sanity. Ponder for a moment those who today claim to have had a revelation from God, and think about the content and the effect of their statements. Invariably, such "revelations" are disjointed and incoherent streams of thought that sometimes serve malicious purposes ("God told me to kill so-and-so"). St. Peter, meanwhile, in his second epistle (1:20-21) says that the Christian Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments came about as holy (not deranged or malicious) men were moved by the Holy Spirit of God to write His Word. It's no surprise, therefore, that Christian ministers preach logically developed, coherent, understandable and edifying sermons based on the revelation of God in Scripture, while lunatics murder innocent people based on their "revelations."

From the Word of God, you and I learn some valuable truth about the nature of God and man. In particular -- and in response to your third question -- we discover that God is holy (set apart from all sin) and cannot allow sinful man into His presence as he naturally is. As you and I live in the world, we observe ourselves doing (and thinking and saying) some wicked things toward others, such as stealing from, gossiping about and frequently hurting our fellow man. The Bible calls these actions "sin" -- literally, "missing the mark" God has set for us in His Word -- and teaches that a holy God can't just let our sin slide. Just as you and I have to punish our dearly beloved children when they disobey, so God has to punish all those who break His moral law. And all humans break His law every day in thought (lust, for example), in word (such as saying something hurtful) and in deed (loafing at work and thus cheating your employer out of labor). God, therefore, rightly punishes unrepentant sinners by giving them what they want: eternity apart from His presence. Only in this life, by His common grace, they never fully knew how awful it is to be apart from the presence of God.

The most-glorious aspect of Scripture is that it reveals to you and me the One whom we never could meet apart from the Word: Jesus Christ, our Savior. In the Bible we learn that Jesus bore the punishment of hell for all who believe in him as Savior, and he offers you life -- and life more abundant -- now and forever. That's why the Bible is vital to you and to me: in it, we learn of our God, of our problem (sin) and, thankfully, of God's remedy for sin in the death and resurrection of His Son, the Lamb of God.