The False Doctrine Of “Easy Believism”

The False Doctrine Of “Easy Believism”

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, September 15, 2026 (Donate)

Easy believism is a false doctrine that makes its way into churches far too easily. And it means the mission field is often sitting in the pew! Some of you might be asking…what is “easy believism”? that is because it isn’t talked about very often!

Easy believism refers to the idea that someone can make a momentary profession of faith in Jesus. Perhaps they repeat a prayer, call themselves "a Christian", or intellectually agree with certain facts about Christ. But they continue living their sinful life. Can they be assured of salvation regardless of whether there is repentance, perseverance, or any subsequent change of their life? 

Image requested by Bodie Hodge*

Basically, easy believers continue living their life and acting as if they were an unbeliever. In other words, there is no “fruit” or reason to think this person is saved when looking at their life or in the heart. When analyzing this idea against Scripture, there is a misunderstanding concerning the vital concept of saving faith.

Saving Faith Is More Than Intellectual Agreement

Merely believing facts about God is insufficient. There were unbelievers in ancient times that knew that Jesus resurrected, but they weren't saved (e.g., the guards at the tomb, Josephus, etc.).

One might suggest that demons and Satan know Jesus resurrected but that doesn’t save them. The Holy Spirit through James writes,

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! (James 2:19, NKJV).

However, demons and Satan aren’t eligible for salvation so it wouldn’t matter anyway. Only man is eligible for salvation in Jesus Christ who became a man to rescue man who is made in God’s image. Fallen spiritual beings like Satan and demons can’t be saved because it isn't offer to them—they tasted the heavenly gift in the presence of God and still rebelled.

Nevertheless, demons possess accurate information about God, but they are obviously not saved. Biblical faith for man, though, involves more than just acknowledging that God and Jesus exist or acknowledging the resurrection.

This is where saving faith is key. It is a faith where one surrenders to Christ and receives Him for who He is and what He did. Essentially, we must be sincerely humbled to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Repentance Accompanies The Gospel

Jesus preached for sinners to repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15). Peter similarly commanded his hearers to repent (Acts 2:38) once they believed by being cut to the heart (Acts 2:37). Paul proclaimed repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). Repentance doesn’t save you (e.g., John the Baptist has a baptism of repentance) but it is something granted by God to understand the truth (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

As a caveat, repentance doesn’t mean achieving sinlessness, perfection, or earning salvation through good behavior. It involves a genuine turning to God that accompanies saving faith—it’s the fruit of salvation to understand the truth about what Christ did.

Works Don't Save, But Saving Faith Produces Fruit

God’s Word teaches salvation is by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yet the very next verse says believers are created in Christ Jesus for good works (Ephesians 2:10).

You need to understand that good works are expected—were made in the image of a God who does perfectly good work—every time! We, as man, echo Him, but sin has left us doing works that are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Filthy rags can never save us. Works are, therefore, not the cause of salvation but a consequence and evidence of it in that our works are now done due to a us being new creations in Christ and renewed for good godly works.

In James, he makes this distinction when he says that faith without works is dead (James 2:20, 26). So, when someone has a profession in Jesus that has no subsequent fruit, this should be a red flag as to whether someone is saved—especially if they are living in unrepentant sin. If you recall, Jesus taught that trees are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:16-20) and those with saving faith are obvious to spot.

Image requested by Bodie Hodge* 

True Believers Persevere

Jesus warned about people who initially receive the Word but later fall away because they have no root (Matthew 13:20-21). Consider the Parable of the Sower.

Mark 4:13-17, (NKJV) says:

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? “The sower sows the word.

“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.

Easy believism is essentially those who hear the Word of Christ and receive it joyfully but it gets immediately choked out—either by Satan or by the fact they have no root and no growth.

1 John 2:19 similarly describes people who departed because they weren't of us—they left the fellowship of believers because their heart was elsewhere. Jesus said that he who endures to the end shall be saved (Matthew 24:13), while Colossians 1:23 commands us to continue in our faith."

Again, perseverance doesn’t earn salvation. Rather, continuing faith shows the reality of one's saving profession and submission to  Christ—as that is fruit of salvation.

Not Everyone Who Says "Lord" Is Saved

Perhaps the strongest warning against easy believism comes from Jesus (Matthew 7:20-23, NKJV):

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Some people outwardly profess Christ without truly belonging to Him. And sometimes they do great things. The gospel is certainly simple enough for a child to understand: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But this belief must be a saving belief and this is often evidenced by repentance and growing in your faith and trying to be obedient because you love Christ. Salvation is entirely by God's grace and can’t be earned.

Salvation is a free gift. But free doesn’t mean superficial. Saving faith trusts the true Christ, and is therefore accompanied by repentance, and then we live a changed life as its fruit (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Conclusion

Thus, easy believism errs when it reduces salvation to a mere verbal profession, superficial prayer, intellectual decision, or general acknowledgment while separating genuine faith from the heart receiving Christ. When one neglects repentance and ignores obedient to Christ (this doesn’t mean we are perfect and still fall short) but it shows the heart of the person.

If one refuses to follow Christ and His commands after they make a profession in Christ, then genuine believers have the right to question if that person is truly saved. Instead, it could easily be a situation where the seed get choked out—easy believism.  

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.

*Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge

 

 

False Doctrine Of Bible Contradictions

False Doctrine Of Bible Contradictions

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, September 10, 2026 (Donate)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13, NKJV)

Critics often claim that the Bible contains “contradictions”. If even one genuine contradiction existed in Scripture, it would be a serious problem because two contradictory propositions can’t both be true at the same time and in the same sense.

However, alleged Bible contradictions quickly disappear once the passages are carefully examined in their context or with a little research. Furthermore, there is a deeper presuppositional problem for the critic: the critic must borrow the biblical worldview's foundation for reason, truth, knowledge, and specifically, the law of non-contradiction, in order to argue that the Bible is allegedly contradictory! In other words, they must argue that he Bible is true to argue that the Bible isn’t true—hence, the logic dilemma for the unbeliever.

Logic, truth, knowledge, and reasoning are predicated on the truthfulness of God and His Word. Image requested by Bodie Hodge*

What Is A Contradiction?

The law of non-contradiction is a fallacy where something cannot be both A and not-A at the same time and in the same relationship. For example:

"The door is open."

"The door is not open."

If both statements refer to the same door, at the same time, and in the same sense, they contradict one another.

But differences aren’t necessarily contradictions. Matthew 8:28 mentions two demon-possessed men, while Mark 5:2 and Luke 8:27 focus on one. There is no contradiction. If there were two men, there was obviously one man. Mark and Luke simply focus attention on one of them. It is similar with the cock crowing where Mark mentioned two cocks crowing (Mark 14:68-72) and the other gospel accounts (e.g., Matthew 26:34, 26:74-75; Luke 23:34, 22:60; John 13:38, 18:27) mentioned one—if there are two, then there is one. The other gospel accounts focus in on the final one that was the important one. Mark simply gives more detail leading up to it—again, not a contradiction but complimentary.

Many alleged Bible contradictions involve similar mistakes. Critics may overlook context, assume that "one" means "only one," confuse complementary accounts with contradictory accounts, misunderstand ancient customs or figures of speech, or occasionally encounter a translation or manuscript question rather than a contradiction in the original text.

Why Should We Expect The Bible To Be Non-Contradictory?

The Bible reveals that God is the absolute source and ultimate foundation of truth and knowledge because God is the truth. Jesus says God's Word is truth (John 17:17) and He (the Son of God) is the truth (John 14:6). Colossians 2:3 says that in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." God can’t deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13), and God doesn’t lie (Titus 1:2).

Therefore, genuine contradictions would be contrary to God's nature. The laws of logic aren’t autonomous authorities standing above God that He must obey and submit to. Instead, logical consistency reflects God's perfectly consistent nature and thus are tools by which we can use to examine various matters as well as universe. This is because a logical God created and upholds all things in a logical fashion.

But Here Is The Deeper Problem For The Critic

Suppose an unbeliever says:

"The Bible can’t be true because it contains contradictions."

That statement assumes several things:

1. Truth exists.
2. We can know truth.
3. Laws of logic exist.
4. The law of non-contradiction is universal.
5. Contradictions are necessarily bad or false.
6. Man has reasoning capabilities.

But what worldview accounts for those things? Not the unbeliever’s worldview! The biblical worldview does.

God is eternal, immaterial, universal in His sovereignty, unchanging/invariant in His nature, truthful, and logical. Humans are made in God's image (Genesis 1:27), which explains why we can use reason to understand His creation—even in a sin-cursed and broken world since Genesis 3. Thus, universal, immaterial, invariant laws of logic make sense within the biblical worldview.

A materialistic worldview fails miserably! If reality is ultimately matter in motion and human brains are merely the products of unguided chemical reactions, why should immaterial and universal laws of reasoning exist? And why should someone's particular brain chemistry establish what must logically be true everywhere in the universe? The fact is that truth and logic, and any other immaterial concept can’t exist in the materialistic worldview (e.g., atheism, naturalism, secular humanism, etc.)

Calling logic merely a “human convention” or a “human invention” doesn’t solve the problem either. If people invented logic, another person or culture could invent different logical laws. Yet the materialistic critic doesn’t treat the law of non-contradiction as a personal preference. He assumes that it is universally binding, even when attacking Christianity. If the materialists did think this way, then why not wake up in the morning and intentionally stub your toe on the corner with hopes that today it is going to be great, wonderful, and happy sensation!

I don't suggest trying it! Image requested by Bodie Hodge*

The Critic Must Borrow From The Bible

This exposes the self-defeating nature of the objection. To argue that the Bible is false because it supposedly contradicts itself, the critic must first assume the validity of the law of non-contradiction. But from the presuppositional understanding is that the biblical God is the ultimate basis to provides the necessary foundation for universal laws of logic in the first place.

It is like arguing that air doesn’t exist while using air to speak the argument. The person's argument depends upon the very thing being denied. I would suggest further that other worldviews must "borrow" the preconditions of intelligibility—truth, knowledge, logic, and rationality—from the biblical worldview in order to argue at all.

So, the Christian should certainly examine alleged contradictions carefully and show where the critic has misunderstood the biblical text. But we should also challenge the critic at the worldview level:

By what standard do you know that contradictions are necessarily wrong?

The critic can’t logically attack Scripture without attempting to use logic, truth, knowledge, and rationality. Yet these very things make sense because the God revealed in Scripture exists—whether they profess to believe it or not.

Therefore, alleged Bible contradictions don’t overturn biblical authority. Ironically, the critic must stand on ground supplied by the biblical worldview in order to launch the attack. If the biblical worldview weren’t true, universal and invariant laws of logic would lack a rational foundation (i.e., be self-refuting from the start!). Yet laws of logic are meaningful and necessary.

Thus, the Bible isn’t merely something we test using autonomous human logic. The truth of the biblical worldview is the necessary precondition that makes logical reasoning, truth claims, and the identification of contradictions possible in the first place.

So there are no contradictions in God’s Word since God is the truth and the absolute standard of non-contradiction (I know that’s deep!). For critics to attempt and argument against God and His Word, they must appeal to a lesser authority (i.e., themselves) and thus commit the faulty appeal to authority fallacy right from the start!

From there, they must borrow truth, logic, knowledge, reasoning, and so on just to try to argue against Bible by suggesting there are contradiction in His Word. But upon basic research each of these alleged Bible contradictions wither up and the Bible repeatedly stands true against all opposition.

Whole books have been published refuting the specific instances (I’ve been on some). I would direct your attention to these resources for refutations to pointed alleged contradictions.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.

*Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge

 

Denial Of God In The Flesh—A False Doctrine

Denial Of God In The Flesh—A False Doctrine

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, September 9, 2026 (Donate)

Many cultic groups (e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, Judaism, and Mormonism, etc.) hold positions that the Creator God did not take on flesh and become a man (while remaining fully God). Jehovah’s Witnesses, for instance, hold that instead, a created angel, Michael, took on flesh and became the man Jesus Christ.

The nature of the Babe in a manger is essential; Image requested by Bodie Hodge*

The 66 books of the Bible reveal that salvation is predicated on true identity of Jesus Christ. A person can’t reject the biblical Christ, and then substitute a different Jesus, and still expect true salvation.

God’s Word says that denying that Jesus Christ came in the flesh as a mark of false doctrine and antichrist teaching (1 John 4:2-3; 2 John 7). Thus, they don’t follow the true Christ and don’t have the true Christ. When cultic groups deviate into this false doctrine, they have blatantly denied Christ who is God.

Jesus Christ Came In The Flesh

John gives Christians a straightforward test:

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 John 4:2-3, NKJV).

Simply put, every spirit that doesn’t confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh "is not of God" (1 John 4:3). John identifies this with the spirit of the Antichrist.

This doctrine appears throughout Scripture. The eternal, uncreated Word "became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14). Jesus’ physical body was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:30-35).

Thus, he attained genetic material from Mary as well as via the power of the Holy Spirit. By emptying Himself, He experienced human limitations such as hunger and thirst (Matthew 4:2; John 19:28), suffered physically (1 Peter 2:24), died (1 Corinthians 15:3), but due to His infinite godly attributes, He physically rose from the dead (Luke 24:39). Consider this emptying as described in Philippians:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV)

As a point of clarification, Christ becoming man and taking on flesh didn’t mean that He ceased or stopped being God. He is fully God and remained so, though He emptied Himself, and also became fully man.

Jesus is Immanuel, meaning "God with us" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Thomas called Jesus “God” directly in John 20:28. Colossians 2:8-9 (NKJV) says,

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

Jesus is God in the flesh according to Scripture. The biblical Christ is therefore entirely God and became entirely man—your and my relative!

A Different Christ Can’t Save

Salvation doesn’t come merely from believing in someone named Jesus. Salvation comes through the actual Jesus Christ revealed by God.

Paul warned about those preaching another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). Jesus likewise warned that "false Christs" would arise (Matthew 24:24). The Bible even records one of these false Christs—Bar-Jesus, which means false Jesus in Acts 13:6!

Someone could therefore use the name "Jesus" while believing in a fundamentally different person. A Jesus who is merely a created being, an angel, a spirit pretending to possess flesh, or merely an ordinary man isn’t the Jesus revealed in Scripture.

The Islamic Jesus is just a mere created being who is a prophet (demoting His Godhead); the Mormon Jesus is a man who became one of many gods (polytheism) who is lesser than the universe; those holding to Judaism believe that Jesus isn’t God in the flesh either and denies the Son of God. Consider what the Holy Spirit says about denying and hating the Son:

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:23, NKJV)

"He who hates Me hates My Father also" (John 15:23, NKJV).

It is a serious matter with eternal consequences.

And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24, NKJV).

Acts 4:12 similarly says that salvation is found in no other. Salvation requires the biblical Christ, not a counterfeit or false/bar Christ.

Therefore, a person can’t biblically say, "I worship the true God, but I reject Jesus as God." Rejecting the Son revealed by the Father is totally rejecting the Father.

Why False Christs Negates Salvation

The issue becomes especially clear in 1 John 5:11-12:

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (NKJV)

This isn’t presented as a minor theological disagreement—but an essential one! Eternal life is found in the Son of God who is God in the flesh. Remove the true Son, and the biblical basis for salvation is removed with Him.

2 John gives a warning. Those who deny Jesus Christ coming in the flesh are called deceivers and antichrists (e.g., 2 John 7), and whoever doesn’t abide in the doctrine of Christ doesn’t have God (e.g., 2 John 9). Again, this is serious.

Conclusion

Therefore, according to Scripture, denying Christ's incarnation, deity, or true identity as fully God isn’t simply getting a secondary doctrine wrong—it replaces the biblical Jesus with a false Christ. And a false Christ can’t save.

The biblical confession is that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who truly came in the flesh, died for sins, bodily rose again, and is Lord. To reject this Christ is to reject the Son; to reject the Son is to reject the Father; and to be without the Son is to be without eternal life.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.

 *Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge

 

The False Doctrine Of Addition And Subtraction To Scripture

Can Churches Add Or Subtract Scripture?

Beware Of This A False Doctrine

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, September 2, 2026 (Donate)

I’ve previously discussed the false idea of the “open canon”. That was the idea that the canon of Scripture is still open and alleged new prophets could potentially add new book to the Bible. Now I want to address the greater issue behind this idea—dealing with both alleged additions and subtractions to the Bible—this is still a false idea!

Christians need to be discerning in a culture (and church) that pulls people away from the 66 books of the Bible; Image requested by Bodie Hodge*

Throughout the 66 books of the Bible, God repeatedly warns people not to add to, subtract from, or alter what He has revealed. This principle is important when evaluating alleged prophets, additional Scriptures, new revelations, and modern claims that God is giving inspired messages.

God's Word Mustn’t Be Altered

The warning appears early in Scripture:

·       “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2, NKJV).

·       “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, “and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’  — which you have not known —  ‘and let us serve them,’ “you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 12:32-13:3, NKJV)

·       Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6, NKJV).

The book of Revelation has an especially serious warning concerning it. Anyone adding to "the words of the prophecy of this book" faces God's plagues, while anyone taking away from it faces God's judgment (Revelation 22:18-19). Of course, that is discussing that specific book.

The point is that fallible, sinful man doesn’t have authority to rewrite, add to, “correct”, or remove what God has spoken. For instance, if you hear someone say that a translation corrects the original Greek or Hebrew manuscripts, then that should be an immediate red flag.

False Prophets And New Revelations

Scripture repeatedly warns about people who claim divine authority for words God didn’t give them. God condemned false prophets who said, "He says," when God hadn’t spoken (Jeremiah 23:21, 25-32; Ezekiel 13:6-9). Deuteronomy 18:20 says that a prophet who presumes to speak something in God's name that God hasn’t commanded is a false prophet.

There is a biblical test for anyone claiming to be a prophet. The question isn’t merely, "Does this person sound spiritual, or nice, or learned, or clever, or godly, or kind?" Instead, we must ask whether the person's teaching 100% agrees with God's previous revelation and whether alleged prophecy actually comes from God (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Isaiah 8:20) and does the New Testament expect more?

Paul likewise warns that even if "an angel from heaven" proclaimed a different gospel, that message must be rejected (Galatians 1:8-9). So, the discerning Christian should be aware.

What About Alleged New Prophets?

Any alleged new prophet/prophetess must be evaluated by the same biblical standard as everyone else. Their claims can’t be accepted merely because they claimed new godly revelation, prophetic insight and wisdom, angelic communication, or special interpretation.

In other words, you don’t use alleged new revelation to judge the previous revelation—don’t be deceived into thinking that! You must use previous revelation to judge any alleged new revelation.

Muhammad's later teachings deny basic biblical doctrines concerning the Son of God—this contradicts God’s previous revelation (e.g., unitarian). Joseph Smith introduced additional alleged “scriptures” and “revelations” and taught another conception of God (e.g., polytheism) and then changed thousands of verses in the Bible (JST). Ellen G. White claimed prophetic visions that must likewise be tested rather than assumed to be divine (e.g., vegetarianism, denial of eternal conscious torment in Hell). Charles Taze Russell's teachings associated with the early Watchtower movement rejected essential biblical teachings concerning Christ's identity (e.g., unitarian, etc.) and then changed Bible passages to conform to their new beliefs (NWT).

From the standpoint of the 66 books alone, none have the authority to correct or supersede Scripture. A later messenger who contradicts what God has already revealed can’t be accepted as God's prophet.

Galatians 1:8 is particularly powerful. Even alleged supernatural appearances don’t outrank God's already-revealed gospel. An alleged angel or person bringing another gospel or a denial of it, must be rejected. Remember demonic and satanic influence could be involved…masquerading as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

What About “Modern” Prophecy?

The same principle raises an important question about modern claims such as, "God told me," "The Lord says," or other alleged prophecy in the New Tongues and New Prophecy movement.

If someone claims that God has actually revealed previously unknown words to him or her, then the claim is much more serious than giving advice, preaching, interpreting Scripture, or expressing an impression.

If God actually spoke the words, then those words are “God's words”. Writing them down would then causes a dilemma. If they truly came from God, they possessed divine authority before being written. Biblical prophecy was God's revelation whether spoken or subsequently recorded (2 Peter 1:20-21).

This creates a serious problem for someone claiming prophecy. If a message is genuinely from God, God can’t lie (Titus 1:2), and His words can’t be treated as potentially erroneous human opinions. But if portions of an alleged prophecy are indeed false, don’t come to pass or inconsistent with God’s previous revelation, those portions didn’t originate with the God of truth—and that person is a false prophet and has been deceived!

Scripture therefore commands, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and we are to test these things against God’s Word (1 John 4:1). Test it against God’s previously revealed Word.

Furthermore, there is another hurdle. Based on the New Testament concept of a now-closed canon, we shouldn’t expect any new revelation.

What About Tongues?

Biblical tongues were miraculous languages gifts given by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4-11). When tongues operated in the church, interpretation was required; otherwise, the speaker was commanded to remain silent (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).

Furthermore, genuine prophecy and tongues weren’t uncontrolled spiritual experiences. "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Corinthians 14:32), and God required worship to occur "decently and in order" (1 Corinthians 14:40).

If someone claims that an interpreted tongue contains a new message directly from God, the same issue arises as with prophecy: either God said it or He didn’t. If God said it, it is true and authoritative. If God didn’t say it, it mustn’t be attributed to Him.

Subtraction Of Scripture

There is one prominent religion that subtracts Scripture. Judaism. Talmudic (Rabbinic) Judaism developed after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70 and differs extensively from biblical Christianity. They have entirely subtracted the New Testament and deny all 27 books about the Messiah and Passover Lamb Jesus Christ.

Then they added the alleged traditions of the fathers through commentary notes (and commentary upon commentary) of the Old Testament books of the Bible. This was actually done twice and so, there are two different sets of these commentaries—the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. Both were written well after the New Testament (first century AD) where these were written over a long period of about AD 200-500.

From a Christian perspective, the problem is one of subtraction and replacement of authority. They have blatantly denied the authority of God in the New Testament. The Old Testament anticipated the Messiah and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:24-27).

Those promises culminate in Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection. This is revealed by God in the New Testament, completing the 66-book biblical canon (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16). The New Testament is 100% consistent with the Old Testament and fulfillment of what the Old Testament looked forward to.

The religion of Judaism, sadly, rejects Jesus as the Messiah and consequently rejects the New Testament as the Word of God. Thus, from the Christian standpoint, 27 inspired books are effectively removed from religious authority in the eyes of those following Judaism.

At the same time, Judaism gives enormous authority to traditions preserved in the Talmuds. These works contain generations of discussion by rabbis (teachers) and interpretation concerning the Hebrew Scriptures, Jewish law, customs, ethics, and religious practice.

Christians can therefore argue that Talmudic Judaism commits two similar errors: it rejects later divine revelation in the New Testament while elevating later rabbinic traditions as authoritative.

Jesus had already warned against allowing human religious tradition to supersede God's written revelation (Mark 7:13, NKJV; see also Matthew 15:3-9). This distinction is important. The Old Testament itself isn’t Talmudic Judaism—this was a later development.

We, as Christians, accepts the Old Testament as God's Word but maintains that its promises and prophecies find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ and are authoritatively explained in the New Testament (Luke 24:25-27, 44-47; Hebrews 1:1-2). In the same way the book of Isaiah was recognized and authoritative Scripture alongside Moses, so the New Testament book stand equally revealed next to the Old Testament books.  

Scripture Is Sufficient

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that Scripture equips the man of God "for every good work." Jude 3 speaks of "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints", thus the Bible is complete and sufficient. Christians are repeatedly directed back to the written Word as their standard (Acts 17:11; Isaiah 8:20).

Therefore, Christians don’t need Muhammad, Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, modern prophets, new “scriptures”, the Talmud, subtracted Scriptures, or additional revelations to complete what God supposedly left unfinished.

The proper response is to receive what God has revealed, test every religious claim by Scripture, reject anything contrary to it, and refuse to place man's words alongside God's Word.

God's revelation isn’t ours to edit, subtract from, or supplement. We are called to believe it, obey it, defend it, and faithfully proclaim it.

Apocryphal Additions?

Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Oriental Orthodox churches grant full scriptural authority to a few books that between the Testaments (when there were no prophets). These writings that Protestants classify as the Apocrypha rather than inspired Scripture.

Roman Catholicism formally affirmed its “new” Old Testament canon at the Council of Trent (1546), including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1-2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel. Catholics formerly call these apocryphal books "deuterocanonical," which meant useful but not Scripture (this was the view of Jerome who translated the Latin Vulgate and was the dominate Catholic view for over 1,000 years). But Rome accepted these old books as canon Scripture as of Trent as a response to the Reformation.

Eastern Orthodoxy generally accepts a broader Old Testament canon, including the Roman Catholic deuterocanonical books and, depending on the Orthodox tradition, additional works such as 1 Esdras, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, and the Prayer of Manasseh.

Oriental Orthodox churches vary considerably. Some, especially the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, possess an even broader canon that includes books such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees.

Thus, each of these add alleged different Scripture! From the 66-book Protestant position (which has been recognized early-on and even in the days of Jerome about AD 400), the issue isn’t merely preserving ancient books for historical or devotional usefulness. These traditions elevated additional writings, that aren’t Scripture, to canonical or scriptural status. Protestants instead distinguish useful ancient literature from the inspired canon, recognizing only the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books as Scripture.

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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.  

Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.

Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.

His love of science was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.

*Image by generative program as requested by Bodie Hodge