So many religions--why is yours right?

[prisonchaplain]

I considered putting this in the LDS Gospel section, because it could fit. However, my answer is broad, encompassing all Christian faith groups--so, here is my thought.

In today's world the only kind of God that might be relevant would be a single, universal one. Why?

If there are many gods, then they are not all-powerful. They are some kind of species or creature, and I can likely leave them to battle each other.

So, if there is only one God, and He cares to relate with his creation, this God would likely make himself known throughout his world. He would not, over time, limit himself to one people or language.

Yet, of the large monothesistic religions, only Christianity fits this mold. Judaism self-identifies as a religion for its tribe. Rabbis are actually instructed to initially dissuade proselytes three times. Islam, while it can be "missionary," can only be well understood in Arabic. One of the first tasks of a sincere convert to Islam would be to learn the language, so s/he could read the actual Qur'an. All "translations" are deemed paraphrases, and not considered actual scripture.

Yes, there are thousands of religions, and multiple thousands of sects and denominations. However, because of the its monotheism and its universal, missionary appeal, I quickly conclude that Christianity is the most likely expression of the Creator's appeal to his creation.

Thoughts?

[skalenfehl]

Respectfully, there are only two churches upon the face of the earth.

1 Nephi 14

10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.

Here's the shocker for many LDS: Not all who are LDS (I say this because this is an LDS forum) are members of the church of the Lamb of God. Being baptized into the "true" church does not guarantee anyone entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

[prisonchaplain]

Some here have further argued that not all who have not been baptized into the LDS faith will necessarily be considered outside the small-c church of the Lamb of God.

So...while a discussion of what, within Christianity, constitutes worthy and well placed worship might be interesting, I'm curious if there are flaws in my broad reasoning for the persuasiveness of Christianity in general.

I remember a few years back, in Miami, I had a shirt on that said, "God so loved the world." This message was repeated in about a dozen languages. What could be more non-offensive than that, right?

Well, this fellow comes up to me and says, "Why does it have to be one God? Why does it have to be your God? After, Hinduism is much more ancient than Christianity or Judaism. I've been to India, and they are some of the most wonderful people."

Ironically, he came across as rather angry and ridiculous. Nevertheless, his question was worth asking--why Christianity, and not Hinduism, Islam, etc.?

That was the question my OP was attempting to address.

[skalenfehl]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

...Well, this fellow comes up to me and says, "Why does it have to be one God? Why does it have to be your God? After, Hinduism is much more ancient than Christianity or Judaism. I've been to India, and they are some of the most wonderful people."

Ironically, he came across as rather angry and ridiculous. Nevertheless, his question was worth asking--why Christianity, and not Hinduism, Islam, etc.?

That was the question my OP was attempting to address.

Again, I will cite from the Book of Mormon for anyone to answer for himself or herself:

1 Nephi 15

8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

[prisonchaplain]

But how do you get to the place of inquiring of the Lord?

On rare occasions the missionaries show up, and the householder says, "Huh...never really thought about if there was a God or not. But, let me pray this prayer you are talking about. Why yes, now I see. Okay, let's do the studies and get my baptism scheduled."

More often people either grow up in their religion, or at some point, have a period of searching for spiritual truth. Some idea captures their thought. They may be impressed with friends or acquaintances, or by a book or movie or poem. It might be a fresh look at nature which makes them think of the divine.

Then what? To get to the place of asking of the Lord, they must first have the idea that there probably is one. My OP addresses the idea of why there is most likely only one God, and why Christianty would seem to be a compelling representation of that God.

Of course, that is not enough. But perhaps my line of thought might lead one to inquire of the Lord.

[skalenfehl]

PC, thank you for your genuineness and humility in your posts.

Alma 22:18 is but one example. A young missionary by the name of Aaron went before a mighty king, who had previously offered Aaron's brother, Ammon, half of his kingdom if Ammon would spare his life (the king has threatened his own son and Ammon, both their lives). He was a powerful king over many kings in the land. After Aaron had taught the king about the existence of a God and that this was the one true God, and after Aaron had taught him that he could be saved, here is what happened:

14 And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.

15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.

The commonality in all people who "get to that place" is humbling themselves before the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. When someone is truly ready to undergo a mighty change of heart and align his will with God's, when he is truly ready to follow Jesus Christ, then is he truly ready to be guided by Him. And only then will God, after testing him, answer him so that he may then follow.

Furthermore, many in the Book of Mormon, and in the Bible, prayed mightily and fasted much, wrestling with the Lord. We ought to not simply say a quick prayer as we would call a friend, but rather, as many did, spend hours and days in prayer and fasting until we have opened the lines of communication. Alma prayed and fasted for many days. Even Jesus Christ, the Son of God fasted for 40 days.

Moroni 7

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.


Moroni 10

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

[SightByFaith]

I think that to begin to address the question of the OP we, as Christians, must go back to a very simple, but profound truth. When Adam and Eve left the Garden there were no false gods. There were no misconceptions of God. There were no disputes about His character or attributes. None. God was known to man as man knows himself. It was only as men began to serve the "prince of this world" that God's true identity began to be lost. In other words, while God cannot be truly known except as what He truly is, the gods that men have come to serve—at least those gods in the precepts of religion of whom it can truly be said are greater to some degree in knowledge, power, and morality than man himself—are themselves partial images of the God of Adam and Eve. For there is nothing good that does not come from Christ—and ultimately, therefore, the Father. (Moro 7:16) And to punctuate the all-inclusiveness of that doctrine, "we may know with a 'perfect knowledge'" that the good in the varied gods worshiped by man is no more or less than an actual glimpse of the identity of the true God.

That said, it would seem that our task as human beings, which beings are driven from birth by an inner light to reach for and reclaim perfect knowledge of our eternal Parentage, would be to never be satisfied until we knew without doubt that we had, in fact, reclaimed that knowledge of Him. For that is why were are here—to obtain eternal life, which is to know (again) the Father, and his Son. (John 17:3)

So while, on a certain level, I am inclined to agree that the God of Christianity (as understood generally) fits the mold of an all-interested and widely-known God better than any other in the religious world, that image of God—that knowledge of God—yet falls short of that which God desires for us. It is not enough—for Him or for us—that we satisfy ourselves with what is generally known of Him which, while significantly more than the knowledge of Him offered by many other religions, is still but an incomplete portrait of the God known by the first of men. That is one purpose, above all, of the Restored Gospel—to reintroduce man to the full knowledge of God. (D&C 84:19) For we are saved no faster than we acquire this knowledge (Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings, p. 217) and we are saved only to the degree that we possess it (D&C 131:6) and are faithful to it (Mosiah 4;12).

That is why LDS missionaries preach the Restored Gospel. If it didn't matter...if what the world—even the Christian world—knows of God were good enough, God wouldn't send them.

[Vort]

Originally Posted by SightByFaith

I think that to begin to address the question of the OP we, as Christians, must go back to a very simple, but profound truth. When Adam and Eve left the Garden there were no false gods. There were no misconceptions of God. There were no disputes about His character or attributes. None.

Not to nitpick, but I suggest that this is untrue. False gods have been before mankind since the very beginning. You could make a strong argument that false gods existed before the foundation of the world, resulting in the premortal destruction of Satan and his angels. Adam and Eve had a veritable procession of false gods paraded before their eyes from the very moment of their fall. False gods are what this life is all about. From the moment we are born, we are exposed to one false god after another. Will we find and choose to follow the true and living God? That's what we're finding out.

[SightByFaith]

Originally Posted by Vort

Not to nitpick, but I suggest that this is untrue. False gods have been before mankind since the very beginning. You could make a strong argument that false gods existed before the foundation of the world, resulting in the premortal destruction of Satan and his angels. Adam and Eve had a veritable procession of false gods paraded before their eyes from the very moment of their fall. False gods are what this life is all about. From the moment we are born, we are exposed to one false god after another. Will we find and choose to follow the true and living God? That's what we're finding out.

In saying that there were no false gods, I am not suggesting that absolutely no false gods of any kind existed for, as you point out, mortality is full of them—luxury, comfort, possessions, even man himself. But in the context of the OP, I am suggesting that after the Fall, Adam and Eve knew and knew of but one God—the one whose voice they heard "from the way toward the Garden of Eden," and unto whom they built an altar and made sacrifice. (Moses 5:4-5) To them there was no Buddha. No Allah. No Ra. These were future fabrications of man—by-products of man's eventual straining to see through the spiritual veil separating him from his Creator, which veil is made more opaque through sin. These gods are constructs made from remnants of the God Adam and Eve knew—the pieces which man could yet recall. That and bits and pieces of his own imagination. And they are gods which would not be known in the individual or collective human mind for centuries or millennia from Adam's day, although there were, no doubt, earlier false gods among men than these, Satan himself being the first (Moses 5:13,18,28).

But in addition to knowing the true God, Adam and Eve were taught the way back to Him (Moses 5:6-11) and they, in turn, taught it to their children (Moses 5:12). So not only was the true God known, but His true Gospel as well. It was not until man began to sin against God that he began to lose his knowledge of God. (Moses 5:13-16) And hence we have Cain saying, "Who is the Lord that I should know him?" (Moses 5:16) And many men have groped in darkness as to the knowledge of God, to one degree or another, ever since.

So my point is only that when Adam and Eve fell, there was no confusion on the earth on the subject of who or what God was. He was known, and man knew no other god. All the false gods which followed came to be as man sought for that knowledge which he had originally possessed, but which had been lost through sin. (Alma 12:10-11)

[Vort]

Thanks for your clarifications. I appreciate it. It makes discussion much clearer.

Originally Posted by SightByFaith

So my point is only that when Adam and Eve fell, there was no confusion on the earth on the subject of who or what God was. He was known, and man knew no other god. All the false gods which followed came to be as man sought for that knowledge which he had originally possessed, but which had been lost through sin. (Alma 12:10-11)

And it is exactly this point, which you have expressed so clearly, with which I disagree. There was confusion on earth from the very beginning. I realize that you are talking about from the literal moment of Adam's and Eve's Fall, but since we know almost nothing about what that event entailed or the timeline involved, I don't think it's a very profitable area for discussion or speculation. But we do know the short-term conditions after the Fall of Adam.

Moses 5 details how Adam sacrificed according to God's commandment for "many days" before an angel appeared to him to give him more teachings. At that time, the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, and he and Eve rejoiced in the fact of the Fall. At THAT point -- note, this is WELL AFTER Adam and Eve had already had many children -- they "made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." And immediately -- that is, from the very moment that Adam and Eve taught their children the revelations of God -- Satan came among them spreading false gods and deceptions. It appears that few or none of their children received the word of God.

It was after this point that Cain was born, to much rejoicing, where his mother exclaimed, "I have gotten a man from the Lord; wherefore he may not reject his words." But Cain had other ideas, eventually leading him to murder his younger brother Abel. Afterward was born Seth, the father of the faithful. It is of Cain's and Seth's lines that we read, and we may assume that Abel's progeny went along with righteous Seth's. But of the previous children of Adam and Eve and of their descendants, we read nothing more. Our scriptures tell us only of the descendants of those who came after the lies of Satan were well spread throughout the earth.

Maybe I'm saying this in the wrong forum. This is for non-LDS Christian beliefs, so my notes may be misplaced here. My point is not to criticize, but to clarify by providing my understanding of some LDS doctrines. If I am coming across as critical, or if my musings are out of place here, please forgive me.

Originally Posted by SightByFaith

In saying that there were no false gods, I am not suggesting that absolutely no false gods of any kind existed for, as you point out, mortality is full of them—luxury, comfort, possessions, even man himself. But in the context of the OP, I am suggesting that after the Fall, Adam and Eve knew and knew of but one God—the one whose voice they heard "from the way toward the Garden of Eden," and unto whom they built an altar and made sacrifice. (Moses 5:4-5) To them there was no Buddha. No Allah. No Ra. These were future fabrications of man—by-products of man's eventual straining to see through the spiritual veil separating him from his Creator, which veil is made more opaque through sin.

Let me point out here that Allah (الله) is just an Arabic word meaning "God". I see no reason to believe that the God worshiped by the Muslims is not the same God that I worship. And I believe that Buddhists do not worship the Buddha, but view him somewhat like Latter-day Saints view prophets. Hugh Nibley has suggested that even Ra and Set and other Egyptian gods, as well as European gods such as in the Greek and Roman pantheons, might be misunderstandings of the true God -- though in that case I would agree with you that they are false gods. I would not say that Ra or Zeus are representations of the true God in any meaningful sense, the way I maintain that Islam's Allah is an attempt to worship the true God.