How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation; – Heb 2:3
What is ‘religion’?
There’re different ways of looking at this. It could be a catchall to
describe all things ‘spiritual’; it could be seen as any form of worship to God;
or even one’s general way of life. If you want to take it to the other extreme,
you could see religion as the legitimisation of ignorance, fanaticism, or
wishful thinking.
In all cultures, people make a practice of interacting with what are
taken to be spiritual powers. These may be in the form of gods, spirits,
ancestors, or any kind of sacred reality with which they believe themselves to
be connected.
A cursory study
of religion will reveal just how varied it is and how deeply entrenched it is in
our culture. Whether it be the sea of men milling round the Kaaba in
Mecca, the hordes of bodies bathing in the River Ganges in India, or swarms
of Catholic votaries kneeling before “Our Lady of Fatima”, the sight of people
deeply and passionately engaged in their practice of religion can be moving – or
disturbing, depending on your perspective.
In our study of world religions, it’s easy for us to so romanticize the complex
traditions, rich history and intricate ceremonies of each one that we fail to
see them all for what they actually are: monumental expressions of Man’s rebellion
against his Maker.
People may worship a plethora of ‘Gods’, but there can only be ONE Creator!
And in the end, it is that Creator’s opinion that matters, not our own.
We often fault evolutionists for claiming that the concept of ‘God’ is a
creation of the human mind; yet a dispassionate analysis of how religions came
to be would show they are right – at least in part!
The first act of Religion was immediately after Man fell in Eden. Adam
and Eve gathered fig leaves to cover their nakedness and hid themselves from
God; (Gen 3). The second act was when Cain insisted on worshipping the Creator
his own way instead of that which the Creator favoured; (Gen 4).
Ever since then, ALL Religions have been based on these two templates:
atonement for sin by Man’s way, and worship of God on Man’s own terms.
Of course, while demonic spirits may be relied upon to provide the ‘supernatural’
component of each religion; philosophically, it’s all MAN at the heart of it. The
Creator is nowhere to be found there.
Moses once warned the Israelites against every man doing “whatsoever is
right in his own eyes” (Dt 12:8); if it was true then, it is true now; we can
each have and cherish our ‘religion’, but is it acceptable to our common Maker?
SELAH.
GREG ELKAN
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