One view. Many views. No view. One religion. Many religions. No religion. One God. Many gods. No god.Which among each of these statements should we believe? It is a reasonable question that people sometimes ask. But how many actually go looking for the answers? And when they do, what sources do they actually look to?
Case in point. I was raised in a Christian home, albeit due to my mother having serious issues mentally, it was very dysfunctional. However, be that as it may, God and church was very much a part of our lives.
I had 2 older siblings and one younger than me. My older brother (now deceased and whom I will call Mike) was very intelligent. He was one of that kind of people that was smart and whose everyday speech could confound you because he often used words that others had no idea what they meant, and yet he often had problems relating to everyday events. He spent most of his younger life locked away in his bedroom reading and studying subjects he was interested in.
After graduation, Mike went to college in pursuit of a degree in English education to then teach high school students. But while there, he took some courses is other religions. And doing that set off the questions of whether what he had been taught about God was really the truth or not. It messed his mind up for years as he ended up getting into doing drugs and at one point, he married a woman who said she was a 'witch.' He was married and divorced at least 3 times during those years before his death and I am told that he had gotten back to God right before he passed but I am not really sure about that because I had spoken to him on the phone right before that point and it was questionable to me. At the time he lived in another state and so I had not really had any conversations save that one time, for the past couple years. I can only hope I was wrong but that is not the point of this blog today.
The point is, how did someone raised in a Christian home, believing in one God, turn him questioning the teachings of eastern and other religions that taught many gods or perhaps no god at all?
I never asked him about that. My life had taken on a different path and we were 8 years apart in age, so never that close. But I would venture to say that his problem started out because he had not compared those teachings he was learning about with the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. And so what were the teachings of Jesus concerning the worship of other Gods.
Well, let's start in the Old Testament with God. The True God, I might add, who had delivered his people out of the slavery of Egypt and the very first commandment that he gave Moses on Mt.Sini, was, "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3.
But what had the Israelites done while Moses was still up on Mt.Sini receiving the commandments from God? They were doing their own thing. As we would say today, they were 'partying.' And while they were engaging in much immorality. they had also made a "golden calf' as a god to worship. Next on God's list of commandments after the first one in Exodus 20:4, came "You shall not make for yourselves any carved image." Exodus 20:4. Umm. Well, strike that one down too. They had already committed both commandments. But the commandments did not stop people from worshipping pagain gods.
They are mentioned in many places in the Old Testament. Here are just a few and others are listed at: If there is only one God, why are there so many different religions? | CARM.org
Baal-Zebub (means Lord of the flies) 2 Kings 1:2
Ashtoreth (goddess of futility) 1 Kings 11:53
Queen of heaven known as Ishtar (love, war, fertility goddess) Jeremiah 7:18)
But these are just in the Old Testament. With the coming of Jesus, that should have ended the need for people to have gods other than the one true God. Because after all, Jesus was the Son of God. That should have been enough for them. Shouldn't it have?
But did it? Come back tomorrow to find out.
January 14, 2019 Promise: Do not fear. For I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:16
Thanks for coming today Friends. Be blessed and share your blessings with others. An encouraging word, helping an elderly neighbor, donating your time to church, or taking a meal to a sick friend. We all have something to give and the smallest gift can put a smile of thanks on someone else's face. Take care!
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