Do all religions worship the same God?
"Connecting with the Divine"
by Marilyn Adamson from www.leaderu.com
Hinduism
Most Hindus worship a multitude of gods and goddesses, some 300,000 of them. These various gods all converge into a universal spirit called the Ultimate Reality or Brahman. Brahman is not a god, but more of a term for ultimate oneness.
Hindus see their position in life as based on their actions in a previous life. If their behavior was evil, they might experience tremendous hardships in this life. A Hindu's goal is to become free from the law of karma...to be free from continuous reincarnations.
There are three possible ways to end this cycle of karma:
1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses;
2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness)...to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real;
3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.
A personal benefit of Hinduism is that a person has the freedom to choose how to work toward spiritual perfection. Another plus is, Hinduism has an explanation for the suffering and evil in the world. In Hinduism, the suffering anyone experiences, whether it is sickness or starvation or a disaster, is due that person because of their own evil actions usually from a previous lifetime. Only the soul matters which will one day be free of the cycle of rebirths and be at rest.
New Age
New Age promotes the development of the person's own power or divinity. When referring to God, a follower of New Age is not talking about a transcendent, personal God who created the universe, but is referring to a higher consciousness within themselves. A person in New Age would see themselves as God, the cosmos, the universe. In fact, everything that the person sees, hears, feels or imagines is to be considered divine.
Highly eclectic, New Age presents itself as a collection of ancient spiritual traditions. It acknowledges many gods and goddesses, as in Hinduism. The Earth is viewed as the source of all spirituality, and has its own intelligence, emotions and deity. But superseding all is self. Self is the originator, controller and God of all. There is no reality outside of what the person determines.
New Age teaches a wide array of eastern mysticism and spiritual, metaphysical and psychic techniques, such as breathing exercises, chanting, drumming, meditating...to develop an altered consciousness and one's own divinity.
A benefit of New Age is that anything negative a person experiences (failures, sadness, anger, selfishness, hurt) is considered an illusion. Believing themselves to be completely sovereign over their life, nothing about their life is wrong, negative or painful. Eventually a person develops spiritually to the degree that there is no objective, external reality. A person, becoming a god, creates their own reality.
Buddhism
Buddhists do not worship any gods or God. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) never claimed to be divine, and Buddhists reject the notion of any supernatural power. The universe operates by natural law. Life is seen as consisting of pain: pain in birth, sickness, death, and continuous sorrow and despair. Most Buddhists believe a person has hundreds or thousands of reincarnations, all bringing misery. And it is the desire for happiness that causes a person's reincarnation. Therefore, the goal of a Buddhist is to purify one's heart and to let go of all desires. A person must abandon all sensuous pleasures, all evil, all joy and all sorrow.
To do so, Buddhists are to follow a list of religious principles and intense meditation. When a Buddhist meditates it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god, it is more of a self-discipline. Through dedicated meditation a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire.
The personal benefit of Buddhism is something true of most religions: Buddhism provides disciplines, values and directives for the person to live by. Some of these Buddhist guidelines are: Do not destroy any living creature; abandon all sensual pleasures; abandon all evil qualities, and both joy and sorrow.
Islam
Muslims believe there is the one almighty God, named Allah, who is infinitely superior and distant from humankind. Allah is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah's will. He is a powerful and strict judge, too great to be approached by people. So it is impossible for individuals to have a relationship with Allah or know much about him.
Though a Muslim honors several prophets, Muhammad is considered the last prophet and his words and lifestyle are that person's authority. To be a Muslim, one has to follow five religious duties:
Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad;
Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day;
Give to the needy;
One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex and smoking from sunrise to sunset;
Pilgrimage once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca.
At death -- based on one's faithfulness to these duties -- a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise, a place of sensual pleasure. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell.
The benefit of being a Muslim is that it matches many people's expectations about religion and deity. Islam teaches that there is one supreme God, who is worshiped through disciplined religious rituals. He is seen as a powerful God vastly remote from humankind, who does what he pleases. Then after death a person is rewarded or punished according to their religious devotion.
Christianity
Christians believe in a loving God who has revealed himself and can be personally known in this life. In Christianity the person's focus is not on religious rituals or performing good works, but on enjoying a relationship with God and growing to know him better.
Faith in Jesus Christ himself, not just his teachings, is how the Christian experiences joy and a meaningful life. In his life on earth Jesus did not identify himself as a prophet pointing to God or as a teacher of enlightenment. Rather, Jesus claimed to be God in human form. He performed miracles, forgave people of their sin and said that anyone who believed in him would have eternal life. He made statements like, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Christians regard the Bible as God's written message to humankind. In addition to its being an historical record of Jesus' life and miracles, the Bible reveals God's personality, his love and truth, and how one can have a relationship with him.
The benefit of Christianity is that whatever circumstances a Christian is dealing with in their life, they can confidently turn to a wise and powerful God who genuinely loves them. They believe that God answers prayer and that life takes on meaning as they live to honor him.
Is there a difference?
In looking at these major belief systems and their views of God, we find tremendous diversity:
Hindus believe in 300,000 gods.
Buddhists say there is no deity.
New Age followers believe they are God.
Muslims believe in a powerful but detached God.
Christians believe in a God who is loving and approachable.
Are all religions worshiping the same God? Apparently not! New Age wants everyone to come to center on a cosmic consciousness, but it would require Islam to give up their God, Hinduism to give up all their gods, and Buddhism to establish that there is a God.
The world's major religions (Hinduism, New Age, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity) are each quite unique. And of these only one affirms that there is a personal, loving God who can be known, now in this life. Only Christianity talks about a God who welcomes us into a relationship with him and comes along side us as a comforter, counselor and powerful God who loves us.
In Hinduism a person is on their own trying to gain release from karma. In New Age a person is working at their own divinity. In Buddhism it is an individual quest at being free from desire. And in Islam, the individual follows religious laws for the sake of paradise after death. Only in Christianity do you see the person in relationship with God.
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"Why did God..."
By Trip Uhalt
© 2003
If God can see into the future, why create a utopia that he had to know would fail?
God IS perfection. Nothing and nobody can achieve perfection BUT God. He gave us, and more importantly His angels the gift of "free will", to make their, and our own decision of what we like and don't.
God's most prized and favorite angel was His worship leader, Lucifer. Lucifer is/was a creation of God, not an equal. Lucifer decided he did not want to be middle management, he wanted to be top dog, over God himself. That's when God cast Lucifer and a third of the angels in Heaven who wanted (chose) to follow Lucifer out of Heaven.
Lucifer then became the enemy of God as satan and the author of all evil, bringing his own desires, outside the will of God, to eternity and the universe. satan is VERY powerful but not omnipotent. He is not the equal of God either. He is the equal of Michael the Archangel or the angel Gabriel, but is not as powerful as God. There are many instances in the Bible where Satan asks God's permission to do things (esp. Job).
At this point because of free will there is imperfection and evil in existence. God created Adam and Eve perfect, like the angels, but slightly lower, also giving them the choice to follow Him and His plan or not.
What kind of love would it be if a person is forced or commanded to love? That would be a prison too! I know I don't like being told what or what not to do.
Adam and Eve were of course tricked by satan into choosing to go against God.
Lucifer/satan with his blessing of life in eternity with God and the gift of free will, not mandated, or imprisoned, which would be cruel, proved that ONLY God is perfect and holy. The fall of mankind from utopia because of Adam and Eve's choice had to happen to show man there is no way possible of ever being close to God's perfection without someone or something paving the way and bridging the gap. That one thing was/is God's free gift, the sacrifice of Himself, in His Son's death, paying the debt of everyone's evil, past, present and future.
So you see, God's plan isn't a failure, it's proof of His love and evidence of His wisdom!
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"What 'IS' Truth?"
By Trip Uhalt
© 2002
I am tired of the "tolerant" and "enlightened" Left calling me a hate mongering bigot because I choose the absolute TRUTH of God and do not approve of homosexual behavior. I have no problem with homosexual individuals. I grieve for them because "The god of this age (satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers..." (2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV) and they can't see the TRUTH. They will not listen to God's Word nor the pleas of their Christian brothers and sisters trying to warn them of the consequences of their sin.
Now the whole debate starts: Who's truth?! "How can DISSAPPROVING of something that makes people happy and doesn't hurt anyone be good?" I feel this is one of, if not THE biggest problems we face today: moral relativism-everyone doing what "they" think and feel is right. And be forewarned, if you don't support and are not on society's bandwagon for whatever en vogue issue it may be at the moment you'll be seen as a hate mongering bigot.
During the WWII if you were living in the U.S. and not in the military chances are the war did not "directly" affect you. Adolph Hitler was doing what he not only thought, but believed, was the righteous and morally responsible thing to do, to rid the world of Jews. Was he right? Or are you right in your condemnation of him? It depends on where you get your TRUTH from. Is it based on public opinion? Is it based on majority decision? Is it based on other influential factors?
That's the problem. If Truth and judgments are based on CHANGING factors then TRUTH itself is not really truth. That is why ONLY God's Word can be relied upon. His Word doesn't and hasn't changed since the beginning.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."(John 1:1 NIV)
Jesus said, "I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 NIV)
Unfortunately what HAS changed is (and has been) man's interpretation of God's Word (e.g. the Crusades, the Holocaust, etc.). This is why so many people view Christianity as unpleasant, even objectionable, not because of God, but man. Of course there are multitudes of people who only want to live by their own means and pleasures. They will not submit to an all loving God, JEHOVAH, who only wants the best for them, His creations; leaving us laws, commandments and guidelines to live by thus saving us from ourselves.
"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."(1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV)
Jesus said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you (Believers) do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:18-19 NIV)
Well, at least I'm in good company!
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