Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Every Religion Has A Book

By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

Christianity Has A Book

We call our book The Bible. It is made up of 66 smaller books, which, we believe, have been inspired by God and that the Holy Spirit inspired men to write down what God wanted to be written, word for word, every word inspired to God's satisfaction.

This Bible is divided into two major parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is a testimony of God's covenant with Israel through God's law, which was given to Moses. If Israel kept the law, God would bless them and make them an everlasting kingdom; but, if they did not obey the law, God would judge them, and they would not inherit the spiritual home, a city whose builder and maker is God.

The New Testament is a testimony of the fulfillment of prophecies in the Old Testament which point to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived during the period of the New Testament, and he fulfilled many prophecies of his coming, his growing up, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Also, there are other prophecies in the New Testament of conditions in the world, societal conditions to expect as time goes on, and of future events that will culminate in Jesus' coming again and of the remaking of the earth to a perfect condition and a kingdom of peace forever.

In order to enjoy the benefits of the blessings given in the Bible, a person must read it and absorb its content and meaning as much as possible. God has many blessings for those who read it (See Revelation 1:3).

The Bible also teaches us through the grace of God how we should live, how we should conduct ourselves in society, what authorities to obey, and what our morals are. We should surrender our bodies (Romans 12:1) to the Lord, our minds (Philippians 2:5) and all of our members (Romans 6:13) as instruments of righteousness.


Cults And Other Religions Have A Book

Every cult has a book by which they learn and obey certain conditions and activities concerning their belief. There are many cults, but they all go by their own code of ethics, which is usually written in a book. Jehovah's Witnesses have their own translation of the Bible, Mormon's have their Book of Mormon and other books.

Judaism uses only the part of the Bible that we call the Old Testament. They do not call it this; they call their Bible "The Jewish Scriptures." This is simply the Old Testament without the New Testament. They study this book, learn this book, try to obey this book, and they love this book.

Buddhism has a book called Tripitaka, which is the sacred text for their beliefs. They revere these texts and study them. They teach them to their followers, and they practice what the texts teach.

Hindus have several texts called Vedas, and each text deals with a certain item in their belief system, which teaches the followers how to perform specific kinds of worship, mental attitude, and practice.

Islam has a book called Koran. It also is a book which describes the attitudes and practices of the followers, which are called Muslims. 

Jainism has a book of scripture they call Agamas, which is made up of small texts called sutras, and they memorize these and pass them on to their children. 


Communism Has A Book

More than any other book, no doubt the book The Communist Manifesto is the basic text for communism. Several other well known books express the same ideals and are used for communist attitudes and practices.

Socialism And Public Education Has A Book

Public education was not the primary way of education in America in its early years. There were many private schools, which were supported by humanitarians and churches. Education was of a high caliber at that time. When Unitarians took over the operation of Harvard University in 1805, socialism's ideas began to become familiar in this country. 

Then a man named Robert Owen wrote a book in 1816 entitled A New View of Society, in which he expressed his belief that man is not depraved and that man is completely able to bring himself to perfection by the formation of good character and by keeping everyone happy, a Utopia. He thought that the earlier a student started learning his program, the better it would be for society.

This book was the beginning of what we call Socialism, so Robert Owen is considered the father of Socialism. The Unitarians loved his book and his ideas, so they began to encourage a compulsory public education system so that every student would be educated to be like all the other students, little Socialists. Thus, one writer noted, "Indeed, public education was to become the socialists' primary instrument for promoting socialism."

The ideas of Robert Owen have been memorized and taught to children for over 150 years as our country goes deeper and deeper into Socialism. Owen's ideas were written down in many textbooks, and his ideas are inculcated into almost every textbook, whether it be in philosophy, science, technology, or cooking. Socialists love their book(s).

Conclusion

Every religion, every cult, every social institution has a book. The Christian textbook, the Bible, is the only book and the only religion in the main which is not revered and loved by its people. It is neglected, scoffed, and harassed by many. Christians do not teach their children to memorize passages from our book.

We should be ashamed, because many Christians are ashamed of their book. Therefore, many are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If Socialists were to neglect their writings as much as we do our Bibles, Socialism would quickly die. If the books of world religions were neglected as much as our Bible, they would collapse. Why is our religion seemingly on the brink of failure in our country? Could it be because we neglect the very book that strengthens our cause and gives us courage to stand for what we believe? Certainly I would think that is the case. What should we do?