With a few thousand religions preaching about God, could they all be true? Could no religion be true? Or, could some, or at lest one religion be true. At lest we know that not all religions are true’ for they contradict themselves. That leaves us with the possibility of them all being false; or some, or at lest one religion being true. However, we must remember that normally each church preaches some truths; including churches based as enterprises. The aspect of true or false is based on the concept of God’s purpose that each person has the opportunity to return to him.
The scope is wide. When we try to look into religion, we see that it would be impossible to focus on all religions at this level. From the 15 main religions and predominant churches in the West, we are mentioning only three here: Christianity, Jewish, and Muslim; not focusing on the sects that run into the hundreds. Therefore this article is general, except in the predominant area of Christianity; for, most of this audience is Christian.
There are possible obstacles. Your scriptural knowledge is your map to navigate among the thousands of religions. Also, you need to be aware of the possibility of being fooled, because: Some professional spiritual leaders are 100% fraud. Some religions are offshoots of other religions, thus they carry many parallels with their origins. Some religionists use scripture to terrorize people. The task is not easy, but anyone can do it, and it takes more than a few months, unless you get Godly revelation about your inquiry.
It is easy to over react. Be careful with spiritual experiences, or revelation. A revelation is something personal; and it may fool you. According to scripture, not all spiritual experiences are from God. Poets and others also claim having spiritual experiences. So, it is a good idea to keep a journal to review your progress. Remember that the prophets had specific instructions from God. And Moses did not take the Angles’ word lightly. He reasoned with God.
Also, at times there were false prophesying according to the bible, and Jesus said that more false prophets would come. So don’t think that because you may get a spiritual experience that you are prophet. Many people have hear voices and have dreams and see the supernatural, however that does not give them the authority from God to claim prophetship.
Danger in expectation. There is another danger in asking God for something and expecting the answer to come to you according to your plan. Balaam had his greatest spiritual experience in the most unexpected way. When Jesus appeared to his apostles after his resurrection, it was not buy appointment, it was when they did not even expect Him.
God wilt not guide you or anyone against the scriptures. Even tough times have changed God is still the same, it is people that wish God to be different, to suit their needs. The key to your progress in knowing if your religion is true or false, is based on your understanding of knowledge from your Bible, Koran, or Torah, or all of them.
Confusion can cause drags and detours. Some areas cause confusion because of similarities in churches such as the Catholic Church and its offshoots. The difference among some of these religions or churches is very small, because their rituals and believes are identical. In the protestant religion the same is true. The Muslim and the Jewish religions also have offshoots from their main believes.
The numbers are obscure. We hear of Muslim Shiites and Sunnis, but there are more than a dozen more Muslims sects. Likewise the same is true of the Jewish religion with its Orthodox and liberal ideologies with at least 10 different groups. Mormons too have Dozens of offshoots based from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
You need to have an organized plan. You need full access to your source book and write notes on it, and underline or highlight it as you need to, for reference. The book is not sacred, rather it is the information contained on the book that is sacred. Afterwards, analyze why you participate in your religion. Remember that your focus is your spiritual salvation.
If you have a social cause for church going, such as to make friends and to form a habit, any entertaining church will do. However, there are repercussions with such entertaining churches; because, in entertaining churches, the focus is not God or your life after death.
The drawback. Such social churches are just like trivial clubs, in the name of God. The friends you make in a smooth congregation are not focused in the spiritual search for truth and integrity. That is why we see so much crime from false religious leaders. In other words, social churches do not have a priority of guiding you to find your way to your Heavenly Father.
On the other hand, if your purpose to attend your religious services, is because you believe in the Creator, or you are concerned with your eternity, than you need to take your research seriously, and be ready to change. Otherwise you will never find your inner peace. The key is wanting to change, or repenting from worldly habits and traditions.
• Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Some steps. Based on the scriptures, you may want to make a list of what you expected God to be like, and what would God want you to learn to return to him. There has to be preparation and a process; otherwise, God would be a hypocrite. Afterwards, you can evaluate the church that you attend, and see if your church is focusing on your eternal salvation. If the focus in that church is in anything else other than God and your eternal salvation, that church is off the mark; its time to search in another church.
Also, schedule a personal daily reading of your religious source—avoid the modern versions, because the more rewriting of any old record, the worse it gets. For Christians, the source would be the bible; starting at the Old Testament and going forward into the New Testament.
It can be a bit of a challenge. At the beginning of your scriptural reading, it seems a bit confused because you are reading from the perspective of other cultures of long ago, and under different conditions than we have today. After a while it all starts to make sense to you.
Do as the prophets did. Talk to your Heavenly Father and ask Him about what is in your heart, and be ready to listen to the arriving thoughts. After a bit of trial and error, you will recognize your feelings, and you will be able to identify if it is inspiration or temptation.
Be aware. Remember that the Devil can use the scriptures to tempt people as he tempted Jesus, according to Mathew 4: 5-6
“5a Then the devil taketh him up into the bholy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6aAnd saith unto him, bIf thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
If what you hear is inspiration, the feeling is in parallel to the holly book, for you to live, and to help others, and to be kind, and be in control of your destiny, and have peace and self control. In temptation the feeling or thought can be anything and it is accompanied by an emptiness feeling, rather than pleasant, and it is without God’s qualities.
Change and perimeters. Be ready to make changes in your life. Each change you make is a steppingstone into your next phase. If you read the scriptures you will see God’s personality as being full of forgiveness and love, waiting for His children to repent, and learn how to return to Him. Remember, violence, illegal behavior, self hurting, or self destruction is not of God.
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Clues
Look for clues in mundane and spiritual activities in the church that you attend. If you read the bible you will notice that professional preaching is not of God:
Mathew 10:8
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
Jesus here is talking to His apostles. It is obvious that the only thing that the apostles received freely and can freely give, is knowledge and understanding about eternal life and how to get there to the Father. Such knowledge and the preparation for eternal life is what preachers, pastors, priests, and every other spiritual leader is supposed to do for each person in his congregation without money. Salvation is free.
Nevertheless spiritual leaders are human, thus they need food and clothes and have other needs. Such need is no excuse for salaries and luxury as many live on. For humble living, Jesus said:
Luke 22:35
“… When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.” Therefore spiritual leaders ought not to live off their congregations.
The Obvious clue: Some churches charge for services such as baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Their religious leaders say it is free; but, they also say you can make an offering. They are selling the work of God by using euphemism. Some churches use the hat or basked during the service to have you give them your money. Tithing is differently, it is a commandment from the scriptures.
I attended a church that collected tithing; and also, had at least two collections during the services; sometimes three collections. “For different charities,” they said. I know of people who were told that their church would not participate in their relative’s funeral because the dead person had not paid tithing. Ironically, the same church preached that each person at his or her funeral needs such services for salvation.
The rose-garden clue: It happens when the preacher only teaches pleasant things—what the congregation wants to hear. That is an obvious hint that the preacher is protecting his or her job. Some preachers have been fired for preaching against the congregation’s desires. The spiritual leader’s job is to help people to help themselves in finding their way to God.
The classism clue: Some churches want to keep the audience in ignorance by teaching the congregation not to read the source—the bible; the congregation “would not understand to evaluate the bible”, they leaders said. A friend of mine a few years ago was escorted out a cathedral in NY in New York City because he did not have appropriate attire. He did not have a jacket on. He told me.
Political clue: When spiritual leaders get involved from the pulpit, in persuading people to vote for certain candidates or political parties.
Hate clue: It is when a church directly or indirectly instigates hate or violence. Pulpit-hate, is common, especially against other churches. It is used as protection to retain membership, thus retaining employment insurance.
From basic clues, you may have enough evidence to evaluate your religion, and determine if it is actually true or false. One essential part of your investigative work is to check the origin of your church. A church’s history will give you clues on how that church started, and why, how it evolved. Also, you can compare the doctrines being taught in comparison with the scriptures. Make a list of your findings, compare them with the scriptures, and see how that church functions based on the focus of God and your salvation.
Look for omission, and also look for additions that are not related to scripture. Learn how the decisions are made. Be aware of decisions made to sustain that church or its leaders rather than supporting the cause of God and the salvation of your soul. After all, remember that Jesus teaching was based on quality in the source choices. And if a church is not focused in on guiding the congregation to find God, then that church is not helping you or its members. If the source is not good the outcome cannot be good.
Luke 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Before you decide on any church, study it in your mind and ask for the Creator’s guidance.
If you decide in not deciding on anything, you have given yourself understand to be a better person, thus having better self control, and feel more confident of where you are, and where you are going.
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