From No Other Doctrine, the weekly radio and podcast Bible question show with Pastor Scott Thom. Episode: How Do We Know Which Religion Is True, and Who Is Melchizedek? (October 3, 2026).
Diane brought a friend to church. Afterward he asked her two questions: how did we end up with so many religions, and how do you know yours is the right one? She was honest. “I can’t answer that question other than that is how I was raised.”
Most believers have been in that moment. The faith is real, but nobody ever walked them through how to think it through. Here is how Pastor Scott answered it on the show.
Truth is not a flavor of ice cream
We have been told that truth is personal, like liking vanilla more than chocolate. But truth is what corresponds to reality. Nobody accepts “that’s your truth” at the bank. If your account holds $4,000 and the teller says it holds $40, you do not shrug and call it subjective. People only reach for that line when the subject is God.
Religions contradict each other, so they cannot all be true
It is popular to say every religion teaches the same thing. They do not. Christianity says Jesus is God and God’s Son. Islam says God has no son. Both cannot be right at the same time. Two contradictory claims can both be wrong, but they cannot both be true.
Logic narrows the field
The universe is running down, like a candle burning toward its end. A candle that had been burning forever would have gone out long ago, so it was lit at some point. The universe had a beginning, and things do not come into existence from nothing. That points to a Creator who is personal, eternal and not dependent on anything else. Religions with no personal God, or a god who is part of the universe, cannot explain that. Logic alone leaves only the faiths that point to one eternal, personal Creator.
Then look at the book
The Bible stands apart. It was written over about 1,500 years, in three languages, on three continents, by more than forty authors: fishermen, kings, priests, a shepherd, a fig picker, a warrior, an administrator. Many never knew one another. They wrote on the hardest questions there are, who God is and what sin is, and their message holds together, with hundreds of prophecies fulfilled, many of them about Christ alone. That does not happen by accident. It points to one Author behind the authors.
Also in this episode
- Bill asks why King Solomon reacted so strongly to Adonijah’s request in 1 Kings 2.
- Carol asks who Melchizedek really was in Hebrews 7, and why it matters that Jesus is a priest in his order.
- Tom asks whether the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is Jesus Christ before His birth in Bethlehem.
Listen to the full episode or find No Other Doctrine on Apple Podcasts. Have a question for a future show? Call 505-578-2040 and leave it for Pastor Scott.
Be ready for the next hard question
If you want to be able to answer questions like Diane’s friend asked, CCF College trains believers and leaders wherever they are, at their own pace, from a phone or a computer. Text COLLEGE to 505-375-6560 or see Shepherd School.