In Isaiah 40:18, 40:25, and 46:5, when God says, “To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?”, is He referring to idols or humans themselves who think they are or have the likeness of God?

Sincerely,
Without Comparison

Dear Without Comparison,

Isaiah 40 and Isaiah 46 are both dealing with idolatry, a rampant problem in Isaiah’s time.  If you look at the surrounding verses (such as Isa 46:6 and Isa 40:20), God mocks the man who makes an idol out of gold or wood and then worships what he has created with his own hands.  God is not made with hands and doesn’t need us to build Him or create Him (Acts 19:26).  Isaiah is ridiculing the idols and showing how foolish it is to worship them.

Does the Bible ever say we're made in God's physical form, or could He mean we're made in the likeness of Him via emotions, not physical… love, hate, anger, jealousy, revenge, etc.?  Thanks.

Sincerely,
Want To Be Like Him

Dear Want To Be Like Him,

We are made in God’s image – but it is our spirit that is crafted in His image, not our bodies.  Jhn 4:24 says that God is spiritual, not physical.  God existed long before the physical world ever did (Gen 1:1).  Our spirits are fashioned after our Heavenly Father, and long after our bodies decay, our spirits will live on.

In what are we supposed to put our hopes in society?

Sincerely,
Eager To Invest

Dear Eager To Invest,

We are told that the hope of heaven and the promise of God’s Word is the anchor for a Christian’s soul (Heb 6:17-19).  Christianity is built upon the faith found in God’s Word (Rom 10:17).  If we seek to find happiness through the passing pleasures of sin, or if we place our trust in mankind, we will be disappointed (Heb 11:25).  God tells us to live down here with our hearts and minds fixed upward toward our heavenly home (Col 3:2).

      Isaiah 43:27, Romans 5:12, 14, and 19 all say that sin started with Adam. But 1 Timothy 2:14 seems to say that Eve started it first.  So who is to blame?

Sincerely,
Is It Her Fault?

Dear Is It Her Fault,

Well, if you asked Adam and Eve, it was the other one (Gen 3:11-13).  Though Eve was the first to eat of the fruit (Gen 3:6), Adam was the patriarch and the first created human.  Rom 5:12-19 is simply saying that from the generation of Adam until the days of Christ, sin reigned.  The sins of Adam and Eve were so tied together that you might as well say that they sinned at the same time.  Like two robbers in the same heist – their sins are intertwined.

Why is Christianity the right religion?

Sincerely,
Which Way?

Dear Which Way,

The best way to show Christianity is the right religion is to show the uniqueness of the Bible.  If the Bible is from God, then Christianity is right. The writers of the Bible admit that it is their hands that wrote it (Gal 6:11), but they also explain that God’s Spirit guided those hands (Eph 3:3-4). If that is true (and it is!), then the Bible would show signs that it was written by God and not man. Here are some simple reasons that the Bible is unique from every other book:

1. It is 100% scientifically accurate. Isa 40:22 mentions the earth being round. Job 36:27-28 explains the water-vapor cycle. These and other verses mention scientific principles that were not understood until centuries later.
2. It never contradicts itself. Over 40 different writers penned the pages of the Bible. They came from different walks of life and different eras, yet no one has ever found a contradiction from Genesis to Revelation.
3. It has been perfectly preserved throughout history. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint are copies of the Bible written 1,000 years apart, and yet, there is no difference in the text.
4. No book is as widely distributed as the Bible. Written in over 2,500 languages and sold by the billions, the Bible is the most published book on the planet. No other book comes even close.
5. The Bible is accurate in prophecies. The prophecies of Tyre (Eze 26:3-21) and Babylon (Isa 13:19-22, Isa 14:23) give specific, detailed accounts of the fall of those cities. Those prophecies were written many years before the events took place, and yet they came to pass exactly as the Bible foretold.

These are only short answers to the question ‘Why is the Bible unique?’, but they are a good start when discussing the issue with someone. If you want a more detailed answer, I recommend Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell and Has God Spoken? by A.O. Schnabel as great reference material on this topic.