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The Tricks Revealed in response to Kate Etue's Why So Many Gods?
Here I have gone through each "trick" and responded to the argument. I have tried to keep only to what the book told us about each religion, and not address flaws or positive points not pointed out by the "trick" section. I was tempted to write a "Tricks of Christianity" section, but decided not to sink to Ms. Etue's level. Direct quotes from the book appear in italic.
A B C D H I J M N P R S T U W
1. DESIGN. If you were walking around in the forest and stumbled on a Rolex, would you think to yourself, "Wow! It's amazing how this watch just formed itself from nothing out here in the middle of nature!" No. You would say, "Cool. Some rich guy lost his watch and now it's mine." But really, you would assume it was purchased at a store that got it from a warehouse where some guy works on an assembly line making them all day long. What's the point, you ask? Things with intricate design point to a creator. The universe is pretty intricately designed, who made it? God. (The Big Bang, etc. doesn't hold up here. If a printing press exploded do you really think Webster's Dictionary would just form from all the letters they've got sitting around in there?) Critique: The universe has become more complicated since it's conception, which is the same as less ordered, more messy. This wasn't a random process, but followed the natural laws of this universe. Complicated biosphere creatures began as single-cell organisms banding together. The wholes function because they were built out of needs being filled; if the process had not been functional, the creature would have died out. However, if we want to call the wonder that this process takes place at all, and "attempts" to continue doing so, "God", we may certainly do so, although one should be careful not to assume that just because it is called that it must possess all the other traits human culture and language has attributed to "God".
2. ONTOLOGICAL. This one's kinda heavy, so follow me here. God, by definition, is perfect. Or, God, in order to be God, must be perfect. In order to be perfect, He has to be perfect at everything. That means He has to be perfect at existence. So, in order for God to be God, He has to exist. God can't have started the world then disappeared or anything like that. Because God is perfection, He must exist. Critique: That's blatant circular deduction. You're only saying that if God exists, he must exist. Just because you have a concept of God doesn't mean that God exists; you could've just come up with it. If I form the concept of Glompo, a purple dinosaur from Venus who likes ice cream and is perfect, that still doesn't mean that such a creature exists anywhere but in my imagination.
3. COSMOLOGICAL. This one's deep too. Okay, everything that happens has to have had a cause. Your car moves because you started the engine. The engine started because the key turned. The key turned because... and on and on. The world and our existence have to have a cause. There has to be a final cause - one thing that started everything - for it all to make sense. In order for it to be final, it has to be perfect. That cause has to be perfect. Voila! God. Critique: Finality is not the same as perfection, and perfection is not the same as God. Also I might point out that everything that happens does not have any one cause, but in fact all things have multiple causes which in turn have multiple causes, and so on. But it does leave the question, "why anything"? That, I can't answer, although I'll note that it doesn't prove the existence of the Christian God.
4. ENTROPY. You learn in high school the second law of thermodynamics. The amount of energy in something is decreasing - we're moving from a state of order into a state of chaos. That means that at the very beginning, there must have been a state of order. (This also disproves evolution - we aren't moving from disorder to order.) So, way back when, there must have been perfect order. Chaos now, perfect order at the very beginning. Once again, the only answer is God. Critique: The second law of thermodynamics, same as the first and the third, apply to a specific simplified model of gas, although it can also be applied to solids and liquids. The second law actually does not function on the macroscopic level and certainly not in the biosphere. (If it did function in the biosphere, we would all be on our way to becoming soup, whereas the reverse seems to be closer to truth...) The uniform state of gas is stable - gas released from a container into a room will fill the room evenly. Elastic collisions occurring in gas are short-range and repulsive, which is not how bodies under gravity behave. Systems of gravitating bodies act in the opposite way; they are unstable and tend to lead to clumping and increased complexity. The universe is both thermodynamic and gravitic, and neither model applies in all cases. I'm only saying that to correct the above statement, though. The Big Bang theory argues that in the beginning all of the universe was contained in one tiny point - a state notably more ordered than our current complicated universe, you might say. But this is the thing: a state of perfect order does not mean the same as the Christian God. Perfection is a word. God is a word. That you willfully choose to equate perfection with God would not prove the existence of a Christian God even if you could demonstrate that perfection exists.
Part One - World Religions The Trick: If the gods from all these different religions are the same god, then why are the messages from all of the prophets contradictory? How do you explain that? You can't. The Answer: Truth is subjective. Morals, a colour, the rightness of a given decision all depend on the person perceiving them and the situation in which it occurs. Furthermore, different answers are right or wrong to a given person at different times. All these prophets speak a truth. The Baha'i are capable of accepting multiple viewpoints, and hence multiple truths, as long as they all appeal to the given Baha'i, and don't contradict the teachings of Bahá'ulláh.
The Trick: If there's no god, then who brings them back after they're dead? The Answer: Buddhists don't believe that a person brings them back, but that the universe and the law of Karma do.
The Trick: They believe in yin and yang, so they believe that all the good will be balanced with evil. The goal of this religion is for all people to become supremely good, but the system they've set up means that this will never happen. The better things get, the more evil will have to come into the world to counteract it. It just doesn't work. The Answer: Ooo, good one. I can't solve this. I mean, it would be much more sensible for them to strive to be balanced in all things.
The Trick: Although Hare Krishna followers seek to uphold good moral principles (the Four Pillars), their works will not bring them eternal life. Christians, too, have the Ten Commandments to follow, but their salvation is not dependent upon their obedience to them. If that were so, we would have no hope! Instead, the Christian believes and trusts that God has already accomplished salvation on the cross. The Answer: Yeah? Your point? The Hare Krishna don't want eternal life on earth - they want to dwell in the presence of Krishna on the spiritual plane. The fact that a Christian can ignore God's commandments and still go to Heaven is not exactly a point against the Hare Krishna. (Or even true, according to most Christian teachings.)
The Trick: If we can work our way to god on our own - through works, knowledge, and devotion - then why do we need god in the first place? And if you believe in reincarnation, how do you explain the significant growths in population? If new babies being born are using the souls of people who die, is no one making it to nirvana? Are more souls just being created? The Answer: The worth of God does not depend on how accessible He is. And about reincarnation - all souls arise from Brahman, who is one, and return to It after the cycle of reincarnation is over. Yes, new souls arise from Brahman. Mind you, though, this doesn't have to happen too often - according to Hinduism even cockroaches have souls, so if the human population grows, it means animals' souls are climbing higher up on the ladder.
The Trick: Allah is a harsh god, a god of judgement. His devotees cannot personally know him. Where, then, lies the incentive for following him? The God of Christianity invites those who believe in Him to be loved by Him and to know Him personally. The Answer: Moslems believe that Allah is a harsh god, and a god of good judgement. His laws were made for people, and they are good for people. Allah's devotees do believe that they are loved by Him, and in loving Him and His laws they form a connection with Him, even if they don't believe that a mere man can know Allah personally.
The Trick: Well, for one, their practise doesn't match up with their scriptures - there's a total gap in their logic there. For example, take a look at these guys who hijacked the planes in America because of their "holy war in the name of Allah" - they were in strip bars the night before. That's totally against their religion. It's politics, it's hate, and it's wrong. The Answer: The Taliban are not punishing men for looking at or being in the presence of lewd women who should probably be stoned to death. In fact, after death the martyred or saintly ones are going into a paradise populated by such lewd women, all for their own pleasure. Since the two hijackers' suicide attacks would automatically send them to paradise, they would have no worries even if they were not upholding the law the night before. Yes, it's political, yes, it's hate - but in the eyes of the followers, not only is it not wrong, but it is the Ultimate Right.
The Trick: This religion is rooted in the bitterness and hatred of another race. Because these Muslims pick which parts of the Bible they will believe, they conveniently choose to ignore the part about loving your enemy (see Luke 6:57-31). The Bible is God's spoken Word - either it's true or it's not. If they're going to claim any of it, then they need to claim all of it. The Answer: The Bible is not their holy book, the Koran is. They just think the Bible makes some good points and is partly true. They do not believe that it is God's spoken Word - therefore there is nothing to compel them to believe all of it.
The Trick: The only way to achieve salvation is to never kill anything (and by that overcome your karma). That is impossible. Every day we kill millions of micro-organisms. Salvation is impossible in this religion. The Answer: Good one, again! I guess Mahavira just didn't know that. On the other hand, it could be that vigorous attempt alone is enough to boost one up the reincarnation ladder so that he or she can next be born in a form that can live without killing anything. What form that may be, I don't know!
The Trick: They believe that Jesus was a great prophet - you either have to believe everything Jesus said (including that He was God) or you have to consider Him a raving lunatic. You can't think He was a good teacher and not believe that He was God - it just doesn't make sense. The Answer: The New Testament is not a holy book of Judaism, therefore the Jews are not compelled to believe all of it. They can choose to believe that Jesus never said that He was God, and that that was just a put-on by his followers. Considering the era in which the Gospels were written, this is not unlikely. The same way that a Christian can find solace in apocryphical books, Jews can find wisdom in the gospels without believing all of it.
The Trick: The focus of this can be the means, not the end - which is the relationship with God. And if the relationship isn't the most important part, then what's the point? Make sure your focus is God, not all the stuff you do to get to Him. The Answer: A mystical practise is all about bringing the mystic closer to God. It is impossible to lose sight of God in a practise that is all about getting closer to God, since you don't search for something you already have. Your warning is paradoxical.
The Trick: You can't "pick and choose" what you want to believe from one source. They believe that Selassie is the Christian God because of some biblical descriptions of the Messiah. But wait, the Bible says that Jesus was the fulfillment of that Messiah! A Rasta would say, "Well, we won't believe that part." It just doesn't work that way! The Answer: Most religious practises were founded by picking and choosing from a variety of sources. Also there's nothing saying that they buy the New Testament, even though they buy the Old. And even given that they buy the New Testament, then they could say that Haile Selassie is the second coming of Christ, which was prophecied to take place during the end times.
The Trick: The Roma focus on this life. They're all about being together, telling their futures, healing people. It's all about the here and now. Even their view of death is about this because they believe in reincarnation. There's no focus on a relationship with God. It's all about themselves. The Answer: And what is wrong with that?
The Trick: They worship a bunch of gods who are not all-powerful. If they aren't all-powerful, how can they really be gods? The real question is, can a god be a god if he isn't perfect? And if he's not really a god, then why worship him? The Answer: 'All-powerful' is not the qualification of every god; being a god does not necessarily entail being all-powerful. This is a matter of semantics. It is only the Christian, Jewish and Muslim definition of God that contains perfection and omnipotence. Most religions admit that a god is a god and worth worshipping even if he isn't perfect.
The Trick: The whole reincarnation idea is just really hard to believe. Why? Well, more people are being born all the time and the world's population is growing. But if souls just die and come back, where are all the extra souls coming from? New ones? And are no souls being enlightened and going to Nirvana? It just doesn't make much sense. The Answer: See the answer for the trick in Hinduism.
The Trick: Taoism is about becoming deified and achieving immortality. Basically, Taoists place the notion of a god on themselves, rather than submitting to the authority of the one true God, the Creator of their souls. The Answer: Again, I can't see your point here. Taoists don't believe that there is a cosmic Big Alpha Male who created them and demands their submission.
The Trick: If we are divine, then we are gods. And if we are gods, we have to be perfect in every aspect, including being all-knowing. So their argument that we're gods and just don't realize it doesn't hold up. We aren't gods; we'd know it if we were. The Answer: Vedantists believe that all people have a divine nature and a material nature, and that the material nature keeps us from recognizing our divine nature. Our divine nature is perfect and all-knowing, but it's hard to access it because we are currently wrapped into maya (illusion). We won't know why until we get rid of maya and become all-knowing again.
The Trick: If they think we're all going to be saved anyway, what's the use in trying to live by all these rules? The Answer: (This is one of the many tricks that Zoroastrianism shares with modern Christianity.) We're all going to be saved, but only supremely good people go straight to the abode of joy and light. By our good deeds here, we can shorten the amount of time we have to spend in the abode of darkness and gloom. This idea is shared by Catholics; they call the gloomy place Purgatory.
Part Two - Secular Worldviews The Trick: The trick in the logic here is that there's no point in believing we can't know. If God doesn't exist - then nothing matters here. If He does exist, then we better believe in Him or we'll get eternity in hell. You might as well believe! (For proofs of God's existence, look in the How to Decide section.) The Answer: That is an astoundingly hypocritical argument. I might as well say that we must all believe in Allah, because if we don't and He exists then we'll go to Hell for not believing in Him. But oops! Then we're facing the danger of going to Hell because we're worshipping someone other than Jehovah! (For my critique of the arguments for God's existence, read The Four Arguments for the Existence of God.)
The Trick: You can't see God, right? Ever touched him? Ever smelled Him? So, why should you believe in Him? That's what atheists believe. They forget one thing, however. They can't see the wind, but they can see the leaves rustling in the trees. They can't see natural gas, but they know that it runs their stove or heater. Truth is, while you can't really see God, you can see His effects. For proofs of God's existence, look in the How to Decide section. The Answer: The effects in question don't have to be explained by the existence of something that fits our definition of God. For my critique of the arguments for God's existence, read The Four Arguments for the Existence of God.
The Trick: You exist, right? Good. But what about your existence? Who made you exist in the first place? Do you exist just to make decisions? Is there another way to tell if you exist, or does everything rest on your ability to craft your own future? God created you - that's your proof for existence. The Answer: Again, there is nothing saying that a personality created everything. The claim "God created you" is not a proof for existence, it is just a claim. Also there is not necessarily a given reason for existence.
The Trick: Equality for everyone? It'll never really happen because you have to have someone in charge. Also, the attempts to make everyone equal have usually just made everyone poor. The idea that the poor will be equal to the rich means that the rich have to become poor - there's not enough money for everyone to be rich. The Answer: Actually, you do not have to have someone in particular in charge. The falling-point is that, as primates, we are used to having someone in charge and cannot all change our thinking in such a fundamental way as to live an ordered life without someone in charge. Also, actually , if all funds were distributed equally to everyone, everyone would be rich, or at least comfortable. (The problem would be that you'd have to dissolve large corporations to do this.)
The Trick: If knowledge is based on personal experience of right and wrong, then truth is deprived of any sense of foundation. Your perception of truth will inevitably differ from another's. So who, then, decides the code of morality? God created a world of order for us to live in, not a world of instability and uncertainty. The Answer: Modernists believe that the society makes up its own code of morality. They do not need a "firm foundation" for truth, but accept that it changes from one situation to another. They do not see this trait of society as uncertainty, because certainty is a state of mind.
The Trick: Some naturalists believe that you don't have a choice in anything. Every thought is predicted. Every one of your actions is predicted. However, they don't believe in God. So who's predicting all this? The Answer: Naturalists don't believe that everything is predicted, but that it would be predictable if all facts were at hand. Even one's decision to change course is predetermined by billions of little instances that take place in the universe around him, and those are all in turn affected - determined - by billions of other little instances. Every occurrence is connected. None of this, however, demands belief in a supernatural or all-knowing personality.
The Trick: Go ahead and go on your search for truth. One thing to remember - sometimes you can fall in love with the search and totally miss the person you're searching for. Let God be your search and your quest. But don't get so excited about your search that you miss connecting with God. The Answer: Who says truth is a person?
The Trick: Humanists change their concept of truth whenever they find out some new piece of information. It's never the same. Who's to say people aren't just making this stuff up as they go along? They're really quick to give people lists of rules to live by, ways to do things. But they're basing that on the people, who change. In order to give someone absolute rules on stuff, you've gotta base your rules on something absolute. And we know the only "thing" that doesn't change is God. The Answer: They ARE making this stuff up as they go along. They are adapting to their environment and to society's changing morals. The rules that they make are guidelines that they have discovered lead to happy and meaningful living. They are called "rules" to imprint them into the human mind, because humans are used to following orders. The rules are intended to serve the people, instead of making the people serve the rules. The concept of absoluteness is not on their list of useful things.
Part Three - Occult Religions and Practises The Trick: Astrology was originally based on the idea that the solar system revolves around the earth. Well, like 600 years ago Copernicus proved that to be wrong. So the whole thing is based on faulty science. The Answer: Good one. I guess an astrologer would point out that since astrology works, it doesn't matter if it started off on wrong assumptions. The positions of the planets when viewed from Earth are still the same, even if the distances, sizes, rotations and the all-important gravitational pull are now known to be different from what was first assumed.
The Trick: The goal of Satanists is to seek pleasure. The way they do this is to ridicule God, the giver of abundant life. Doesn't make much sense, does it? No wonder Satanists have a really high suicide rate and have always been associated with suicide. The Answer: The Christian God is not only the giver of abundant life, but also the maker of many rules about the ways in which you are not allowed to enjoy this abundant life. Satanists go for all the taboo stuff, because forbidden fruit tastes sweeter to them. Also, the ridicule of divine authority gives them a sense of freedom and power. They don't want to feel like they're being bossed around by a parent that should have let them grow up already.
The Trick: God wants us to trust Him for the things we need in life. He didn't say in Matthew 6, "Don't worry about the food and drink you need to live, just use a dowsing rod and you will find it." He said that He would provide for us, and we are not to worry! So don't waste your life focusing on all the stuff you can get; trust God and He will provide for you. The Answer: That doesn't exactly invalidate dowsing for anyone who doesn't believe Matthew, or for anyone who God has neglected to provide for.
The Trick: Hypnotism is a powerful thing; it really works. But God instructs us to bring "every thought into captivity to the the obedience to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5, NKJV). Not having control over what enters and leaves your mind is treading on thin ice. The Answer: Yay, another Bible quote. For those of us who don't live by the Bible, hypnotism is just another thing you could do if you think it would be useful.
The Trick: Well, you might think it's just a harmless game. God says, "Test everything. Keep what is good and stay away from everything that is evil" (1 Thess. 5:22, NCV). Are spells and magic evil? I'd suggest you stay away from it - even if you don't notice what it's doing to you, it might be subtly numbing you to the heavy darker occult stuff. The Answer: It is true that dealing with the concept of magic, even if it's just pretend, makes magic seem more natural and supports a positive reaction to the idea in the future. It is also true that "black magic" is a strong and vibrant branch of the whole tree, and since Magic: The Gathering deals with pretend black magic as well as pretend white magic, the game might holster a positive reaction to the idea of black magic. Yep. It's far-fetched, but it holds.
The Trick: While there's a good chance that necromancy really works, the Bible makes it clear that it's wrong and we shouldn't get involved. Why? 'Cause the focus is on dead people, not on God and the amazing life He gives. The Answer: That doesn't matter at all to those of us who don't care what Christian scripture says. Most religions are about death, and all deal with it in some fashion. The other realm, the supernatural plane, Heaven, Hell and nirvana, are all closely connected with death. Talking to dead people is fundamentally the same thing as talking to saints (Catholic prayers, Vodun rituals) or worshipful ancestors.
The Trick: There not a trick in the traditional sense - Christians believe that spirits exist. It's just that God tells us plainly that we shouldn't have anything to do with them. Read 1 Timothy 4:1 and Luke 16:26. The Answer: Again, this doesn't have any meaning to those of us who are not Christians.
The Trick: Science, by definition, deals with the "natural" world, not the supernatural world. So you can't use science to prove these supernatural phenomenon. The Answer: That's right. That's why parapsychology is trying to prove that these phenomenon are not actually supernatural, but natural. It's a linguistic truth that since science deals with the natural world, everything that science can prove exists is natural.
The Trick: Rosicrucianism stresses the importance of improving the world though the spiritual upliftment of humankind. Trying to attain "spirituality" means finding our identity in and of ourselves. But this world is obviously full of sinful and evil people. The only way to find peace is to go to someone who isn't sinful. Who is, let's say, the Prince of Peace. The Answer: Rosicrucianists believe that people have a dual nature, therefore they are both evil and good. They wish to separate themselves from flesh, which in their view is evil, and become more like spirit, which is good. In their view, the more spiritual you get, the closer you get to peace, happiness and purity. They believe that their teachings will help them purify themselves from the sin and the evil. There is no contradiction in trying to find goodness and purity from the world, because the world is dual-natured.
The Trick: Well, the trick here is that there isn't a trick. Satanism is real. All the stuff they believe in exists in a real way. But it's evil. Satanists hate God. They have "sold their soul to the devil." They are partners with the Father of Lies. Their whole lives are ruled by lies. It's no wonder that Satanism has always been associated with suicide, an indication that they're not having that great a time despite the fact that they are constantly seeking pleasure. The Answer: Actually, there are all the same tricks as in Christianity, and then some. See also my answer to the trick in Black Mass.
The Trick: Shamans play in realms that we believe exist, but we also believe that they should be left to God to deal with. It's not safe to be calling up the spirits and asking them to take us to other planes of consciousness. If God wanted us there, He would have put us there. And since they have no organized beliefs, it's hard to know what they believe about eternity. The Answer: Shamans never claimed it was safe. They are still willing to risk it in order to gain knowledge and power and to be able to heal their patients. And how is it a point against them that you don't know what they think about eternity? The Shaman knows, and that's enough.
The Trick: Tarot cards are a means of communication with another world and, similar to fortune telling and Ouija boards, give us access to things we would otherwise not know. Tarot cards may not sound like a big deal to some - like something to just have fun with. But trusting in any form of divination places you in the hands of evil powers and the Bible clearly speaks against it. The Answer: Again, you argument is meaningless to those of us who do not believe in evil powers or the infallibility of the Bible.
The Trick: They worship a good god, but that god has no problem with them calling up zombies or hurting other people through voodoo dolls? Their god doesn't sound like he's that good after all. The Answer: Define "good". Vodun believe that Olorun is good; therefore Olorun's decision not to interfere is also good. Vodun is witchcraft, and as such is about gaining power and control through the help of gods. The moral component is changeable. What is good for the Vodun might be exactly what is bad for the Vodun's enemy.
The Trick: The Wiccan belief system is a reflection of what is at the core of man's depravity - the desire to be as great or greater than God. By glorifying the creation rather than the Creator, Wiccans have put themselves in a position where they make all their own rules. God, though, by definition is the one supreme being. Everyone can't be god. It doesn't work that way. God is the best, the #1 being, so 20,000 people can't be that. The Answer: It is a matter of opinion what, exactly, is at the "core" of depravity. Considering that most Wiccans are happy, kind, peaceful and committed to improving the community, it probably isn't Wiccan practise. And again, God is the "one supreme being" only in the definitions put forth by monotheistic religions. It doesn't destroy the validity of polytheistic semantics. Also, Wiccans do not suggest making a list of all Wiccans in the world and putting this forth as a pantheon; what they believe is that the God and the Goddess are all within us, as they are around us. Since the material world is the Goddess, we, as material beings, are also a part of the Goddess.
Part Four - Cults The Trick: The individual must be baptized by ICOC ministers into the church. All other baptisms are ineffective. But the Bible says we're saved by grace through faith, not by an ICOC minister's baptism. The Answer: That's right. It's a rule that they added. They say people are saved through grace and ICOC baptism. There is a basis for the rite of baptism in biblical tradition, but it never said it has to be an ICOC baptism. Adding rules is not that uncommon, though. Just look at the ban put on lesbianism by those strange "God Says Kill Fags" people. The Bible never condemned lesbianism. Or look at the confession, or indulgences, or, if we look to a non-Christian religions, the deification of Buddha. People make stuff up. But you're right, it's not in the Bible, nope.
The Trick: The idea of trying to witness to someone by getting them to have sex with you makes no sense. The Bible says that sex outside marriage is wrong. It's impossible to convince someone that they should live by the Bible when you're blatantly going against what the Bible says. And if they believe that everyone ends up getting saved anyway, why bother joining? The Answer: The Children of God ignore those parts of the Bible that contradict the Mo Letters, so they ignore the bit about sex outside marriage. The Children of God believe that God changed his mind about some things in the Bible, and then gave David Berg the Mo Letters to tell us about it. In the New Testament God has obviously changed his mind about some things he said in the Old Testament, so this is not a new idea. Apparently the Children don't need the salvation incentive to join; perhaps the chance to celebrate God's gifts is enough.
The Trick: Ever heard of fatalism? That's where we say, "God's in control so it doesn't matter what I do." Well, He still gave us free will to make good and bad choices. Not going to the doctor when you need to is fatalistic. God provided healing resources for us to use for a reason. The Answer: Right you are, again. I don't like this fatalism bit, myself. Everything may be predetermined, but that doesn't mean you have to be dumb.
The Trick: It all sounds good. The Bible talks about the 144,000. It tells us to tell others about Jesus. The problem is, if only 144,000 people are allowed to spend forever with God, why did Jesus come? God's gift of eternal life is a gift, not something you've got to work for. The Answer: Jesus came so that all of the faithful can live in the Paradise on Earth that will come after the Last Battle; the 144 000 are just the special ones that get to live in Heaven. As far as I know, no Christian tradition believes that everyone will be saved, whether or not they believe in God.If one believes in the Bible as God's Word, one must believe all the rules and commandments (well, unless he finds a loophole), including the one that says the believer has to spread the good word. Therefore, the believers do have to work for the gift of eternal life. Of course many Christian traditions choose to ignore the commandments they don't like; Jehovah's Witnesses are just very keen on many of them.
The Trick: God has plainly said that His book (The Bible) is closed (you can check out His exact words in Revelation 22:18-19). Since most of what the Mormons believe is based heavily on their extra-biblical book that's full of all kinds of skeptical stuff, their beliefs really aren't founded on anything substantial. Plus, the Book of Mormon has no evidence supporting it, archeological or otherwise. The Answer: Mormons believe that God's book is closed, but the Bible wasn't all of it. They believe that the Book of Mormon is a part of God's revelation that wasn't discovered until recently. Sure, the foundation isn't "substantial", but it's not that with any Bible-based denominations. The Bible, also, has no evidence supporting its truth, acheological or otherwise - except for some historical accounts in the Old Testament.
The Trick: Okay. They say that Jesus got the highest form of spiritual consciousness. But they don't believe that what He said is true - that he was God and He was the only way to be saved. So, is lying the highest form of spiritual consciousness? Answer: Whoops. Maybe Jesus wasn't spiritually enlightened after all. Or maybe John was lying about that bit. Or maybe Jesus didn't mean it that way. Point - you have to ignore that bit, or think around it, or forget Jesus altogether, in order to be a New Ager.
The Trick: Scientologists believe that Jesus was one of many great teachers, but they don't believe that what He said was true. That doesn't make any sense - how can you think someone's a great teacher if you think what they said is stupid? If there's no one true God, no creator in charge, then who decides if you've done enough good deeds? Who decides what your life will be like when you come back? And if you're here on earth forever, what's the point, really? The Answer: Again, maybe they just didn't believe that Jesus said all that, or then that his truth was one truth and here's another. And again, it doesn't have to be a personality that decides what happens to your soul, it can be a law of the cosmos. And we're not here on Earth forever, we move on to different stars and different galaxies. And if you get tired of it, you can always stop. I guess scientologists just don't want to stop living yet.
The Trick: Jesus is coming back. But, the Bible makes it clear that no one can know the day or the hour that He will return. So, go ahead and predict all you want. Jesus is keeping it a secret. And the Bible makes it clear that we're saved by grace, not by baptism or by immersion. Their focus is a little off here. The Answer: Actually, Jesus said he'd just be popping in Heaven and be back soon, but I guess he got stuck hobnobbing with Daddy since it's been 2000 years. But right you are. Seventh Day Adventists have noticed by now that the date can't be set. In that they have obviously been wrong. Also, Seventh Day Adventists believe that God will not extend His grace to those who have not been properly baptized, but Jesus said that all it takes is to believe in Him. So, while claiming the Bible as the Word of God, they're in contradiction to the Bible. Nothing new there, though. Even the Bible contradicts the Bible.
The Trick: Theosophists say that, through reincarnation, we can continue improving, becoming closer to divine consciousness. It's a nice thought, but where is the evidence for this improvement? The laws of nature (specifically the Second Law of Thermodynamics) says that everything is moving towards chaos, not towards order. There's just no proof. The Answer: And who's saying that divine consciousness ISN'T a state of chaos? Furthermore, the Second Law of Thermodynamics deals with the material world (though it's hard to define materia in the molecular level), which has nothing to do with spiritual improvement if, like Theosophists believe, spirit and matter are two completely different things.
The Trick: Okay. Transcendental Meditators believe in a group of gods. By definition "God" is the supreme, all-powerful being. How can there be more than one? There can't. They're searching inside themselves for gods that don't exist. The Answer: Again, you can't argue about metaphysics on the basis of semantics. The word "god" has different definitions for different religions.
The Trick: This is another religion where it's like, "what's the point?" Why would you do all of this work when Moon's gonna save you anyway? And then there's the fact that they believe in the God of the Bible, but they don't believe what He said is true. A lying God? Why bother? The Answer: Again, they pick and choose from the scripture, like all biblical traditions. (The group that appears to do this the least is Jehovah's Witnesses. They reinterpret instead.) And they do all this work for the glory of God, to celebrate Him. Also, it would help to go to Heaven right away instead of after a term in Hell.
The Trick: Ultimately, you become confused because, if the truth really is continually changing like they say, how is it truth? The very definition of truth is constancy. The Answer: No it isn't. If I look out the window and I see that the sky is clear, then that is the truth. If I look out a moment later and it is cloudy, the truth has changed.
The Trick: If Jesus Christ was the example of how we are to be our divine self, why did He say things that totally disagree with this philosophy? It just doesn't make sense that you'd pick a role model that you think is a liar. The Answer: The Unity Movement believes that there are several truths, and Jesus said some great things. They never claimed they believed anything more - for example, that Jesus really thought he was God.
The Trick: They believe in the Bible, but in their own interpretation of it. That means that they don't pay attention to the parts they don't like. For example, the part that says we're saved by grace (not by speaking in tongues). You can't pick and choose parts of a book to be true. It's either all true, or none of it is. The Answer: Either all true or not any of it? How do you figure that? If I write a book and tell the truth on one page, I can still turn around and lie on the next. We're talking about material here that's been created over thousands of years, passed through retellings and rewritings and reinterpretations and copyings, and finally collected together by a bunch of scholars who argued for days over which parts to include and which to kick out. Even if we discount the fact that it's silly to believe it all to be true in the first place, that still leaves the inner contradictions. You HAVE to pick and choose. This is, in fact, what all Christian traditions do. |