This document outlines the common pattern found in false religions: (1) a false prophet who writes a false authority, (2) the false authority is used to proclaim a false god, (3) the religion puts forward a false savior, and (4) it preaches a false salvation through works. Christianity appears to follow a similar pattern but can be shown to be true through fulfilled prophecies, miracles like Jesus' resurrection, and its foundation being the historical person of Jesus Christ rather than an idea. The document warns that false religions can imitate truth and it is important to carefully examine the evidence for Christianity's truth.

1. The
False
P a t t e r n o f a l l
R E L I G I O N S

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What do all false religions…
…have in common?

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False
prophet
False
authority
False
god
False
savior
False
salvation
1. A false prophet who writes/uses …
2. A false authority to proclaim …
3. A false god
4. A false savior
5. A false salvation

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A false prophet…
• Step one is a person who is either a willing deceiver or someone
being deceived that proclaims themselves to be a prophet, offering
no solid evidence to support their claims.
• They purport to receive revelations from a deity or some
supernatural messenger.

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A false prophet…Example
• Joseph Smith, the founder of
Mormonism, claimed that in 1820 he
received special visions and
visitations from multiple gods and
angels.
• They told him not to join any church;
all taught abominations.
• Smith founded the Mormon church
and claimed to receive another vision
from God that he was to be “a seer, a
translator, a prophet, and an apostle.”*
* http://www.josephsmithacademy.org/inspira/ebooks/history-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-vol-1/

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A false authority…
• Step two involves the false prophet(s) writing down supposed divine
messages that were communicated via either visions or special
books that are no longer available.
• The writings are elevated to be either equal / superior to the Bible.
• The ‘prophet’ and their followers then cast doubt upon the Bible’s
accuracy and truthfulness.

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A false Authority…Example
According to Joseph Smith, the book of
Mormon is “the most correct of any
book on earth, and the keystone of our
religion, and a man would get nearer to
God by abiding by its precepts than any
other book.”*
http://www.josephsmithacademy.org/inspira/ebooks/history-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-vol-4/.

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A false Authority…Example
“Who, in his right mind, could for one
moment suppose the Bible in its
present form to be a perfect guide?
Who knows that even one verse of the
Bible has escaped pollution?”* –
Mormon Orson Pratt.
* http://tinyurl.com/l6d46qg.

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A false god…
• Step three involves the false prophet(s) using their false authorities
to proclaim a false god.
• Some will repeat the enemy’s temptation in the Garden: “You shall
be like God…” while others put forward a pantheistic deity.
• Whatever god is offered up, it will not be the God of the Bible.

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A false god…Example
“God the Eternal Father was once a
mortal man who passed through a
school of earth life similar to that which
we are now passing.”* – Mormon Milton
R. Hunter.
* http://mormonthink.com/QUOTES/natureofgod.htm.

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A false god…Example
“She [Gaia] is the source of fertility,
endless wisdom and loving caresses…
She gives birth to abundance… Since
the Goddess is nature, all nature…She
is omnipresent, changeless, eternal.”* –
Scott Cunningham.
* http://tinyurl.com/mscnymg.

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A false Savior…
• Step four involves putting forward another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4) that is
a counterfeit.
• A counterfeit Christ is an incredibly important part of the enemy’s
teaching because, in the same way that placebo medication can’t
heal a real disease, a fake Jesus can’t save anyone from their real
sin.

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A false savior…Example
“Jesus Christ attained godhood (see
Christology) and he marked the path
and led the way for others likewise to
become exalted divine beings by
following him.”* - Mormon K. Codell
Carter.
* http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Godhood.

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A false savior…Example
“. . . the true Scriptures speak of God’s
Son, the Word, as ‘a god.’ He is a
‘mighty god,’ but not the Almighty God,
who is Jehovah – Isaiah 9:6.”*
* http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/truthfree/truthfree3.html.

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A false Salvation…
• Step five involves the preaching of a false salvation.
• Almost universally, the path to salvation involves works in some
way, although some false religions do their best to cloak that fact.
• Grace alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone is not upheld as the way
of spending eternity with God.

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A false Salvation…Example
“One of the most fallacious doctrines
originated by Satan and propounded
by man is that man is saved alone by
the grace of God, that belief in Jesus
Christ alone is all that is needed for
salvation.” * – Mormon Spencer
Kimball.
* http://www.ldsces.org/manuals/book-of-mormon-institute-student-manual/bm1996-03-2ne-3-6.asp.

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A false Salvation…Example
“Then those whose balance (of good
deeds) is heavy - They will attain
salvation: But those whose balance Is
light, will be those Who have lost their
souls; In Hell will they abide” – The
Koran, Sura 23:102-3.

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False
prophet
False
authority
False
god
False
savior
False
salvation
1. A false prophet who writes/uses …
2. A false authority to proclaim …
3. A false god
4. A false savior
5. A false salvation
Review – The Pattern of all False Religions

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Wait a Minute…!
What About Christianity…?!

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Doesn’t Christianity have…
…prophets who write/use …
…the Bible which talks about…
…God
…a Savior, Jesus
…a way of salvation?
What About Christianity?

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True or False
• Christianity does claim that certain persons have received revelations
from God that were written down into what is now the Bible.
• Christianity also says that Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior of the world
and proclaims a salvation that is based on His work.
• The question is how can you tell what’s true from what’s false? How
can you detect an imitation from the real thing? Why is Christianity true
and other religions false?

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“So skilled is error at imitating
truth that the two are
constantly being mistaken for
each other. It takes a sharp
eye these days to know
which brother is Cain and
which Abel.” – A. W. Tozer

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Test #1 – Fulfilled Prophecies
• While the failed prophecies in false religions are legion, no prophet of
God ever uttered a prophecy that failed to materialize, proving his claim
that he spoke for God.
• Many of the detailed prophecies (e.g. Daniel) have proven to be
absolutely correct hundreds of years after they were written.
• Moreover, New Testament prophecies such as those spoken by Jesus
about the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 were accurate.

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"I see many contradictory
religions, and consequently all
false save one. Each wants to be
believed on its own authority, and
threatens unbelievers. I do not
therefore believe them. Every one
can say this; every one can call
himself a prophet. But I see that
Christian religion wherein
prophecies are fulfilled; and that
is what every one cannot do."
– Blaise Pascal

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Test #2 – Miracles
• If God did not provide his prophets prophecies that were fulfilled, then
God enabled His servants to perform miracles that validated His Word.
• No such things can be substantiated in other faiths, while in
Christianity, the crowning miracle of all – Jesus’ resurrection from the
dead – can be strongly argued for on historical, philosophical, and
theological grounds.

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“I have been used for many years
to study the histories of other times,
and to examine and weigh the
evidence of those who have written
about them, and I know of no one
fact in the history of mankind which
is proved by better and fuller
evidence of every sort, to the
understanding of a fair inquirer,
than the great sign which God hath
given us that Christ died and rose
again from the dead.”
– Oxford Historian Tom Arnold

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Test #3 – Foundation
• Lastly, ever other religion in the world can be categorized in one of
three ways: (1) epistemic: if I just learn something I’ll be better; (2)
pragmatic: if I just do something I’ll be better; (3) existential: if I just
experience something I’ll be better.
• Christianity falls into none of those classifications. Instead, it is
ontological – it is grounded upon a Person Who cannot be separated
from the faith.

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The Truth of Christianity Comes Down to…
• Jesus!
• If Jesus was not raised from the
dead, then Christianity is a fraud
and should be discarded.
• The truth of Christianity is truly
Christological – it all comes down to
Jesus and the reality of Who He is
and His resurrection.

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The Warning of Christ About False Faiths
• “if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit” – Matthew 15:14.
• Note that Jesus says that both the deceiver and deceived go into eternity
lost.
• This is why 26 of the 27 books of the New Testament warn against false
teaching – there is nothing more important than the truth.

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The
False
P a t t e r n o f a l l
R E L I G I O N S