REGARDING THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

 

You will probably regard this essay as highly offensive, perhaps even arrogant in its dismissal of the religions of others. However, let me assure you that I have struggled to make this critique as Biblical as I can. Of course, this assurance will not satisfy many . Therefore, if you are not interested in what the Bible claims about other religions and philosophies, I would advise you to read another article.

 

First, I am not saying that we cannot learn from the followers of other religions and philosophies. We certainly can, because we have all been granted the knowledge of the truth from the One who created us. We have His Owner’s Manual written within: 

·       For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them. (Romans 2:14-15)

Consequently, we all know about the importance of love and even forgiveness. This is because God has inscribed His laws upon our conscience. Therefore, we have no excuse when we violate these laws:

·       Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

This means that we can never be good enough to earn anything good from God. If we are willing to listen to our conscience and to soberly observe our moral performance, any boasting about our moral worthiness should be silenced. We should also realize that our behavior places us under the judgment and condemnation of God. This knowledge should drive us to seek His forgiveness, which is available without limit.

However, the history of humankind gives us ample evidence that we ordinarily deny our moral culpability and, therefore, refuse to come God by confessing our many sins and seeking His mercy. Instead, we have decided in favor of the lies of the darkness, repress our guilt and shame, and wear a mask to hide this reality from others, even from ourselves. Jesus diagnosed our rebellion against the light of truth:

·       And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

 No one wants to be exposed, but our embrace of the darkness is ultimately self-condemnation. Our rejection of God’s light and our flight to the darkness of denial has separated us from the mercy of God and the light, which exposes who we really are.

 Instead of exposing the truth of our hatred of the light and our love of the darkness, the religions of the world enable us to find comfort in the darkness, assuring us that they have a proven method to attain a sense of worthiness and significance, either by doing

good (dharma – following the dictates) or by believing in a set of “truths” (enlightenment). New Age Guru, Eckhart Tolle, promoted the comforting “truth” that all we are Gods: “The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I Am!”

“I Am” is the way that both the Father and the Son, Jesus, had termed themselves, perhaps indicating that they are beyond human definition. However, while this term described the Trinity, it cannot describe us. We fail in so many ways. Instead, we recognize that we need the mercy of God if we can honestly see ourselves.

 Yes, temporarily, it is gratifying to regard ourselves as God. However, by taking on this identity, we have created a wide chasm of tension between the real me and the grandiose me, a chasm that can only be bridged by a denial of reality. For instance, we convince ourselves that we are always right, at the expense of separating us from friends and family. Proverbs 21:2 declares, “All a man's ways seem right to him.”

 Self-righteousness, conceit, and arrogance are inseparable. Jesus told a parable about two men who had entered the temple to pray. The self-righteous Pharisee lived in the darkness of self-delusion, convinced that he was more worthy than others. The other was a hated tax collector, who realized that he was a sinner who needed the mercy of God. He could offer no reason for God to forgive him and simply prayed for His mercy. This tax collector was ready for a relationship with God. Therefore, Jesus concluded:

·       "I tell you that this man, rather than the [Pharisee], went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14)

To humble ourselves is to acknowledge our need and unworthiness before God. Oprah Winfrey put a slightly different spin on Tolle. According to her, salvation was about what we feel:

·       “God is about a feeling experience, not a believing experience…A mistake we humans make is believing that there is only one way…There are many paths to what you call God…There couldn’t possibly be just one way…Do you think that if you never heard the name of Jesus but lived with a loving heart…you wouldn’t get to heaven?...Does God care about the heart or if you call His Son ‘Jesus?’” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGLNbiw1gk

Oprah believes that we can earn salvation with a loving heart but doesn’t rule out other ways. However, even having a loving heart is a massive requirement that none of us selfish beings can bear:

·       There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)

If we are honest with ourselves, we should perceive that we are in a hopeless state:

·       If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3)

We are in denial and so are the religions of this world. Andrew Murray was a South African writer, teacher, and Christian pastor, who wrote eloquently about our dumping ground, the unconscious, where we bury our unwanted thoughts:

·       "There is not a more difficult lesson in the Christian life than to come to a true knowledge of what the flesh is. Its terrible power, its secret and universal rule, and the blinding it exerts in keeping us from the knowledge of what it is, are the cause of all our sin and evil."

Murray’s observation is not limited to Christian theologians. Many have pointed out how our unconsciously suppressed material rules our lives, like a toxic dump filling its surroundings with deadly vapors. Therefore, our dark-side must be exposed, accepted, and integrated into our lives. However, religions and therapies are unable to do this. This material is too threatening, since it warns of the eternal judgment, which each of us deserve (Romans 1:32; John 16:8).

Therefore, the world religions offer us various solutions to live comfortably in the darkness. They insist that there are ways that we can make ourselves acceptable to the gods, whether through good deeds, good thinking, or good relationships. Other religions teach that we can buy-off the gods through various offerings or even self-affliction. However, it is all about our performance, climbing the ladder of spiritual success to earn the merit of one or all of the gods.

There are other religions like Voodoo, where, instead of climbing up to the attain worthiness, these religions bring the gods down to our evil level. Consequently, they are just like us. In effect, their followers placate their conscience: “Look, I am no worse than the gods, and I don’t need to be better than they.” Therefore, if the battered wife complains, her husband can merely say, “I’m no worse than the gods.”

Other religions take this strategy one giant step further. Either we do not have freewill, and could not have done otherwise, or else, everyone will be saved. In either case, we are not truly guilty and responsible. Consequently, they have a license to do whatever.

However, the Biblical faith is vastly different. It does not deny our guilt but insists that there must be a just payment for sin. Therefore, instead of climbing the ladder of success to God, Jesus descended to meant us in our hopeless condition, paying the price incurred by our sins.