So Many Religions!

IF THERE is only one God, why are there so many religions? Have you ever wondered about this? Most thinking people have. And the answer is not easy to find. The religious situation in the world is about as confused as it could be. Just consider some facts.

How Many Religions Are There? That is difficult to say. But there is a wide variety. Some native tribes worship local deities. Many Orientals worship their ancestors. Some have only one god; Hindus have millions. Most people in Christendom believe in a trinity​—three persons in one god. Some people are religious without having a positive belief in any god at all.

Are All Religions Different Ways of Worshiping One God? This is widely believed. But as the facts just presented show, this cannot be true. Besides, even the characteristics of the gods worshiped are different. Some religions have gods that are believed to be indifferent to mankind. Others have vindictive gods, and yet others view their gods as benevolent. Evidently, these religions are not all speaking about the same god.

Are There Things in Common Among All Religions? In spite of the differences, there are widespread similarities that we will discuss later. However, for now, let us just say this: Most religions teach that there is an authority above that of man (although they do not agree on what that authority is). Most religions offer guidance as to how to conduct oneself in this present life (although that guidance differs from religion to religion). And most religions teach some kind of “salvation,” or the hope of a life in which our present tribulations will be no more (although they differ as to the nature of that “salvation”).

Can We Learn Anything from This? Mankind as a whole evidently senses the possibility of enjoying a better kind of life than they have right now. However, individuals feel inadequate to face the problems that confront them and see the need of a higher authority to help them.

But with so many religions offering contradictory advice, where should a person go for this help that he obviously needs? Where did all these contradictory religions come from anyway? Is there any way of telling which one is right?

Where Did They Originate?

WHILE the religions of the world are very diverse, there are certain widespread similarities. For example, the voodoo religions of South America, the tribal religions of Africa, the great religions of the East, the aboriginal religions of Australia​—in fact, nearly all religions—​believe that there is a spiritual part of man that survives the death of the fleshly body. Also, most religions have beliefs about the existence of unseen spirits that can affect mankind for good or for bad.

Have you noticed, too, how widespread is the use of religious images? Also, many religions practice divination or astrology. And a surprising number of religions throughout history have had triads of gods, similar to Christendom’s Trinity.

Do you think it is possible that all these religions developed such similar religious practices independently of one another? Or is it more likely that they somehow got their ideas from a common source? Surely, this is more reasonable. But what was that common source?

To answer this, we have to discuss the question of where religion came from. This is a subject that students of history do not understand well. The World Book Encyclopedia states: “Certain scholars have developed theories on how religion began in prehistoric times. No one theory has been accepted by all scholars.” However, there is a good authority that tells us about the origin of religion. That authority is the Bible.

The Start of It All

As you know, the Bible is a book that at one time was widely respected. In these days, unfortunately, fewer and fewer people read it. Yet when we are discussing religion, we cannot do so in a satisfying way if we fail to refer to the Bible, because, religiously speaking, it has had more effect on mankind than any other book.

Also, apart from anything else, the Bible’s explanation of how religion started carries weight because it was recorded by men who lived at a time much closer to the actual events than we do. Let us consider what the Bible says and compare our findings with some of the theories of modern scholars.

The Bible tells us that man originally believed in only one God. This was not his own idea. According to the record, God revealed himself to man at the very beginning as the great Source of life. He offered help and guidance, so that man could make his way successfully in life. (Genesis 1:26–2:25) Hence, everything started with just one religion. How, then, did today’s confused situation come about?

According to the Bible, this stemmed from a rebellion against that one original Source. In a document that is more than 3,000 years old, a man named Nimrod is identified as initiating this rebellion. Nimrod became a city builder, constructing cities in the ancient region known as Mesopotamia. Today that area is a part of Iraq. Some of the cities that he built were named Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh.​—Genesis 10:10-12.

Dr. Robert M. Adams, writing in the magazine Scientific American, called the building of cities “the second great ‘revolution’ in human culture.” Since the cities that Nimrod built were among the earliest ones noted in the Bible, we can appreciate the influence this man must have had.

At what eventually became the greatest of these ancient cities, Babel (or, Babylon), the Bible tells of an effort to thwart God’s express will that mankind should spread around the earth and populate it. The people said: “Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth.” (Genesis 11:4) However, because of divine intervention they failed in their purpose and gradually dispersed to different parts of the earth. In doing so, they carried their rebellious religious ideas with them.

How does this compare with the current theories of scholars?

First: The Encyclopedia Americana says: “Scholars nearly all agree that the earliest civilization of which we have knowledge arose among the Sumerians in Mesopotamia.” Dr. Gideon Sjoborg, in an article in the Scientific American, agrees, saying: “As far as is known, the world’s first cities took shape . . . in the Fertile Crescent, the eastern segment of which includes Mesopotamia.” Hence, scientists feel that mankind started to build major cities in just about the same area where the Bible says they did.

Second: The names and locations of most of those cities that the Bible says were built by Nimrod are familiar to archaeologists.

Third: The inhabitants of Mesopotamia were known to build large towers for religious purposes. They called them ziggurats. Of course, the actual tower referred to in Genesis chapter 11 was not finished. But archaeologists have uncovered many completed towers that were probably similar to it.

Fourth: The name “Nimrod” has not been discovered outside the Bible itself, but some encyclopedias associate it with the name of the chief Babylonian god, Marduk. The letters “MRD,” which appear in each name, seem to be the root, or meaningful part, of both words. If this association is correct, then Nimrod eventually was worshiped as a god just as, in later years, the Caesars of Rome and the Pharaohs of Egypt were worshiped as gods.

Of course, archaeologists are limited in what they can discover about things that happened so long ago. Many of the ruins that they dig up are in poor condition, and it is difficult to interpret them correctly. Doubtless much important evidence has been lost forever. Hence, a Bible student does not rely on archaeology to prove the truth of the Bible record.a Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that this science has confirmed the general outline of the events recorded in the Bible.

It is also noteworthy that this ancient history helps us to understand features about the religious scene of the world today. How? In that the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were very religious after that original rebellion. They believed that there was a spirit part of man that survived death. They had a strong belief in demons. They used images. They practiced divination and astrology, and they even had triads of gods. These are some of the same beliefs that are held in common by so many today.

Does this mean that the religion of ancient Mesopotamia spread and influenced religions around the world? Many scholars have come to that conclusion. In Handbooks of the History of Religions, Prof. Morris Jastrow spoke of “the profound impression made upon the ancient world by the remarkable manifestations of religious thought in Babylonia.”

In the book The Worship of the Dead, Col. J. Garnier wrote: “Not merely Egyptians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, but also the Hindus, the Buddhists, . . . the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Druids, Mexicans and Peruvians . . . must have all derived their religious ideas from a common source and a common centre. Everywhere we find the most startling coincidences in rites, ceremonies, customs, traditions, and in the names and relations of their respective gods and goddesses.” Evidently, when those early Babylonians were forced to migrate around the earth, they carried their religious ideas with them to their new homes.

But can this information help us to locate the right religion today?

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 5]

Triads of gods. Use of images. Astrology. Existence of unseen spirits. A spiritual part of man that survives death. These beliefs are common to religions in most lands

[Pictures on page 4]

ANCIENT BABYLON

Mayan Pyramid

Hindu Trinity

Christendom’s Trinity

Adoration of Mary

Ancestor Worship

Can We Find the Right One?

WHEN we know where all this religious diversity started, it becomes easier to answer this question: Which is the right religion? Clearly, the true religion is the one that cannot be traced back to that ancient rebellion against the true Source of life.

The Encyclopedia of World Religions makes an interesting comment that can help us here. It says: “The religions of the world may be roughly divided into two types​—the prophetic and the mystical. . . . the prophetic [ultimately derives] from the Jews.”

According to the Biblical record, the ancestors of the Jews did not join in the rebellion at Babel against the true Source of life. Their ancestral line includes such men as Shem, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who were known for sticking to the pure worship of God. In fact, Abraham is called “Jehovah’s friend.” “Jehovah” is the name of the true God, as specifically stated in the Bible. (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; James 2:23) Do any people today worship Jehovah in the way that Abraham did?

A Line of True Worshipers

Because of Abraham’s faithfulness, Jehovah God promised that his descendants would eventually become a special nation in His eyes. This promise was fulfilled in the ancient Israelites. They heard God say: “If you will strictly obey my voice and will indeed keep my covenant, then you will certainly become my special property out of all other peoples, because the whole earth belongs to me.”​—Exodus 19:5.

For many years the worship of Jehovah was kept alive on earth by means of the Jews, although they often fell into sin and apostasy. Nevertheless, Jehovah repeatedly told them that he was going to send a special messenger who would bring salvation to mankind. After 1,500 years, this one appeared. He was Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, by the time Jesus arrived, the Jews had strayed a long way from Jehovah. They still claimed to worship him, but, as Jesus told some of their religious leaders: “You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.” (Matthew 15:1, 6) Because the Jews opposed Jesus, they were rejected by God. Jesus warned them: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.”​—Matthew 21:43.

Christianity

That “nation” turned out to be the Christian congregation. These were the ones who accepted Jesus Christ when the Jews, as a whole, rejected him, and God blessed the loyal ones for their faith. Not long after Jesus’ death, God miraculously empowered Jesus’ true followers to speak in foreign tongues​—not in senseless gibberish, but in actual languages that others could understand. Healings, resurrections and other miracles added weight to the fact that here, indeed, was the “nation” that God was using.​—Hebrews 2:4; compare Acts 2:1-4; 3:1-10; 9:32-41; 20:7-12.

‘But surely,’ you might say, ‘Christianity is as confused today as the rest of the world’s religions. Hundreds of groups call themselves Christian, yet they all differ from one another and contradict one another. How did this come about?’

History shows that many Christians did exactly the same as the Jews had done. They apostatized. They mixed Jesus’ message with doctrines from other religions. Thus they started to teach doctrines, such as three persons in one god (the Trinity), that originated from non-Christian and non-Jewish sources.

From where, actually, did those teachings come? Regarding the Trinity, one scholar wrote: “Nowhere in the New Testament does the word ‘Trinity’ appear. The idea was only adopted by the Church three hundred years after the death of our Lord; and the origin of the conception is entirely pagan.” (The Paganism in Our Christianity, by Arthur Weigall) The same can be said for the doctrine of the immortal soul, the widespread use of images, the popularity of astrology and many other familiar teachings and practices of Christendom. They can be traced not to the original worship of the true Source of life but to that ancient religious rebellion in Mesopotamia.

However, not all Christians were corrupted. Jesus himself warned of this very apostasy, but promised that true religion would survive right to the end. (Matthew 13:18-30) How, then, can we locate it today?

Finding the True Religion

Jesus gave a rule for recognizing true religion. He said: “Every good tree produces fine fruit.” Bad fruitage would identify the false religion, and good fruits would reveal the true.​—Matthew 7:15-20.

What is the fruitage that the true religion will bring forth? The accompanying box contains a list of some such fruits, as told to us in the Bible. If you compare this list with all the religions you are acquainted with, we are sure you will quickly recognize which does and which does not have the truth.

However, you will need to examine the list carefully. For example, you will note that one mark of true religion is ‘having genuine love.’ Now, most religions say they have such love. But if cheating in business, immorality, or selfishness are widespread among the members of a religion, do they really love one another? And if they are prepared to kill one another in revolutions or wars, how genuine is their love? Similarly, another mark is that “all their beliefs are based on the Bible.” Of course, members of most religions in Christendom think that theirs is. But do you know a religion where all members have taken the trouble to open their Bibles to see if this is true of their beliefs?

If you have any problems in your search, Jehovah’s Witnesses will be glad to help you.

It is, indeed, worth the effort to seek for the true religion. Man instinctively feels the need of a better life than he now enjoys. The true religion can point us toward that life. We naturally ask such questions as these: “Why are we here?” “What is the purpose of life?” True religion can put us in touch with the Source of all life, Jehovah God, who will answer those questions for us. Moreover, sometimes all of us desperately need guidance in solving the problems we face from day to day. True religion can give us that guidance.

Yes, there is a true religion, and we can find it. Our doing so will bring eternal benefits, for the Bible promises us: “As for those seeking Jehovah, they will not lack anything good.”​—Psalm 34:10.

[Box on page 8]

IDENTIFYING MARKS OF TRUE RELIGION

□ Those who practice it have genuine love among themselves.​—John 13:35.

□ All their beliefs are based on the Bible.​—John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

□ They pray for God to sanctify his name.​—Matthew 6:9; Psalm 83:18.

□ They proclaim God’s kingdom in all the earth.​—Matthew 24:14.

□ They keep separate from the world’s affairs.​—James 1:27; John 17:14.

□ They put God’s kingdom and righteousness first in life.​—Matthew 6:33.

□ They cultivate the fruitage of God’s spirit.​—Galatians 5:22, 23.

□ They obey all human laws not contrary to God’s law.​—Romans 13:1-7.