Tag: Contradict Movement

Contradictory Views of Mankind’s Ultimate Problem

Views of Mankind’s Ultimate Problem

The root words for religion, re (again) and lig (connect), indicate that religions are about reconnecting with something that has been lost. But what has been lost? What is causing the separation? What are the ultimate effects of this separation? How can the separation be overcome? The answers vary and they can’t all be harmonized to all be true.
  • Judaism – Adam and Eve disobeyed God and thus, their rebellion has brought mankind under a curse that involves struggle between the sexes, painful labor (both in child-bearing and work), and ultimately death.  The prophet Isaiah recognizes that such lawlessness has cut mankind off from God as he warns Israel, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God;
    your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).
  • Christianity – Romans 3:23 states that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Romans 6:23 teaches that the penalty of that shortcoming by stating, “the wages of sin is death.”
  • Islam – Allah knows all and sees all, nothing is hidden from him and a day is coming when Allah shall bring judgment to everyone. (Surah 69:18).  At that time, “neither one shall avail another, nor any ransom (compensation) shall be accepted from anyone, nor intercession shall benefit anyone, nor any help will be given” (Surah2:123).  Humanity’s problem is facing Allah’s judgment on the actions of their life and ensuring that the good of an individual’s life outweighs the evil, of which Allah can be the only judge.
  • Hinduism – “Who sees the many and not the ONE, wanders on from death to death.  Even by the mind this truth is to be learned: there are not many but only ONE.  Who sees variety and not the unity wanders on from death to death” (Katha Upanishad Part 4).Our minds are deceived by the illusion called Maya that keeps us from all seeing the oneness of all things, and this deception on our part causes us to live within a cycle of death and rebirth.  We must find the one path that leads to immortality and escape Samsara, the cycle of reincarnation, and of the paths there are many with karma dictating the position of one’s next life.
  • Buddhism – The reality of this life is found in the mind’s perception of what is real and what is lasting.  The world is always changing, always in flux, and our minds and bodies with their desires and cravings resist change.  If our minds can’t acknowledge and accept this constant impermanence, pain and suffering are the natural byproduct.  The origin, or cause, of this suffering is our desires for gratification and success.  The Buddha taught, “The mind is fickle and flighty, it flies after fancies wherever it likes: it is difficult indeed to restrain” (The Dhammapada 35).
  • Christian Science – Mankind’s ultimate problem is being deceived by the illusion of sin, suffering, and death.  To the question, “Is there sin,” the answer provided within Mary Baker Eddy’s Health and Science is, “All reality is in God and His creation, harmonious and eternal. That which He creates is good, and He makes all that is made. Therefore the only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring belief, until God strips off their disguise. They are not true, because they are not of God. We learn in Christian Science that all inharmony of mortal mind or body is illusion, possessing neither reality nor identity though seeming to be real and identical” (Chapter 14:472-473).
  • Atheism – If you are reading this text, you are alive, but the greatest problem you, and everyone else who is alive, is always facing in the atheistic worldview is death.  At death, you no longer exist, and that is mankind’s ultimate problem, our mortality.  Rocker, writer, and speaker, Henry Rollins expresses the atheistic view as such, “I don’t believe in an afterlife; you step on a bug, it dies; I shoot you in the face, you die, and you don’t come back.  That’s my belief.  OK?  There are no ghosts; there’s no afterlife; I’m not a spiritual person; I’m kind of a cash and carry type of guy, wash and wear.”

Henry Rollins – Joe Cole Part 1
Henry Rollins – Joe Cole Part 2

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Rip Van Winkle Fell Asleep

I heard a song called, “Rip Van Winkle” and a line in the song says, “He went to sleep” and “When he woke he had grown old, he had grown old.” Here are some of the thoughts that came from hearing that song:

A barren, rock valley is filled with a sea of monsters.  Blood-thirsty vampires share company with werewolves and various undead beings of the night.  Ogres, goblins, and demonic figures of various sizes, shapes, and colors wield swords, clubs, spears, axes, and maces.  Some of them sit upon ferocious, dragon-like creatures.  They all gazed up the slopes of the valley.  Deep, angry growls filled the air.  Yellow-stained fangs gnashed.  In rage, they even tore at their flesh with razor-sharp claws.  Their hatred was channeled upon a band of humanity on top of the valley wall.  A great battle is about to erupt, except none of the men are ready for battle.  They stand empty-handed in their daily clothing: doctors, lawyers, farmers, construction workers, truck drivers, students, clerks, baristas, and others.  Fear grips them all.  Their enemies below are thirsty for blood.

From nowhere, a man atop a majestic white horse appears in the midst of the hopeless resistance, if they should even be called that.  He is clothed in a white robe with a breastplate of sparkling stones, twelve stones, just like the breastplate worn by the high priests of ancient Israel.  The evil army’s confidence vanishes at his entrance.  Smiles came to the men; they knew this man, and so does the demonic horde below.  The rider is Jesus.  At once, the rag tag battalion atop of the valley is adorned in white robes and similar breastplates, each now with a sword in hand. With Jesus, their fear is gone.  The white horse sprang up onto its hind legs to fall into a gallop down the valley walls.  The Christians surge down with him to greet the army of darkness in battle.  That’s when my friend awoke.

This dream, which my friend Danny had during the summer of 2010, is reminiscent of the famous Battle at Helm’s Deep in J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.  The men of Rohan were greatly outnumbered against the dark forces of the Wizard Saruman.  It likely would be the last battle for the Rohirrim, but at the break of dawn, the Wizard Gandalf appeared mounted on a white horse with reinforcements, only a thousand strong, but with the light of the rising sun they charged to meet the darkness of evil.  Darkness chose to flee into the forest where they were slaughtered.  For J.R.R. Tolkein, who was a Christian, this scene must have symbolized the Light of the World, Jesus, breaking into the darkness of Satan’s kingdom.

Dreams as vivid as Danny’s, which serve as alarm clocks to arouse the dreamer to the spiritual war of this life, aren’t given to all dreamers.  The mythologies and fantasies of men throughout the ages serve as additional wake up calls to the supernatural battle between good and evil.  Too many people hit the snooze button and choose to sleep like Rip Van Winkle.  In case you aren’t familiar with Washington Irving’s story, Rip was quite a lazy fellow who avoided profitable work.  When America was still under British rule, he went into the Catskill Mountains with his dog and rifle.  Intending to only take a short nap in the woods, Rip fell asleep for twenty years.  When he awoke, he discovered that he had slept through all of the American Revolution.  Life had passed him by.  Are we going to be like Rip?  Will we be disinterested in the important chores of life? Will we sleep through the war over the souls of men? Or will we choose to fight like the heroes of Seventy-Six, the men of Rip’s days who joined the revolution?

If the conjectures that can be drawn from these images are correct, there is a battle of epic proportions occurring in this present life.  Embracing such imagery and applying it to my life is simple for me.  My favorite movies involve bloodshed, and as a rather competitive man, who loves contact sports, I live life with an aggressive mindset and attitude.  The application of this battle imagery isn’t as easily digested for everyone.  Society as a whole is stepping away from engaging conflict and controversy.  Ignoring contradictions in various worldviews and seeking pluralism at the cost of the exclusive truth-claims is becoming normative.  Political diplomacy, harmony, tolerance, compromise, and assimilation are far more accepted and approved when conflicts arise, not just in international matters, but within all facets of life.  The code of the Wild Wild West is dead.  Keeping up with the Kardashians and other stars of reality shows is of higher importance than following conflicts in the Middle-East.    The image of the Church being an army and Christians being at war isn’t a popular message for the masses.   However, when dealing with teachings of the church, revelation trumps feelings, popularity, and the spirit of the age.

It should go without saying that pizza-inspired dreams and fictional fantasies shouldn’t be the driving force behind Church teachings on the battle between God’s light and Satan’s darkness, but if such widely accepted myths are actually symbols of a real struggle, then what parts should be taken literally, and which images are only metaphorical?  Personal tastes need to be set aside and God’s Word must become the source and norm of Christian theology.

Or here is another call to “Wake Up!”

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Hinduism – Connecting Hindu Beliefs to the Gospel of Jesus Christ #2

Paul spent time in the market place, observing and interacting with the Athenians.  When he was asked to address their questions about the message he was sharing, he first began by praising their religiosity.  He acknowledged the gods they worshipped and used an idol they had built to the unknown god as a connecting point to present Jesus, “the unknown god.”  He then quoted one of their poets, not Scripture, to make another connection to the Gospel.  He started with them, where they were at in their relationship and knowledge of God, addressed their questions and concerns, and built a bridge to the Gospel.
About 500 BC, there was a big shift in Hinduism.  It was during this time that the Upanishads were written, as a collection of meditations and teachings based on the Vedic texts.  Upanishads means “sitting near.”  This gives the image of a pupil sitting near a teacher learning.  I relate the Upanishads to the Jewish Talmud.  The Talmud consists of a massive quantity of writings from Jewish priests and teachers on traditions, history, and interpretation of the Scriptures.  I also liken the Upanishads to the footnotes in many Study Bibles – an explanation of the text and a backdrop to the history and traditions of the time the texts were written.  However, the Upanishads take more liberties for personal interpretation than the Talmud and Study Bible notes.
It’s from the Upanishads that some key teachings of Hinduism arise and take root.
Brahman – Brahman is the divine essence that is at the heart of all things in the universe.  This teaching ultimately says that there is only one divine reality and that we are all united in it, in fact we consist of it.  This one divine reality also means that there are not many gods, just Brahman.  I like to think of this as the Force in Star Wars – it’s all things.  Hindus compare Brahman to salt in water.  It’s there, but you don’t see it, and it’s in all parts of the water and can’t be separated from the water (but it can be, right?).
Atman – At the same time that all things are one, we still maintain our individuality.  Brahman at the individual level in humanity is called Atman.  Atman can be compared to our soul – that which makes us unique.
Maya – This word means illusion.  The reason we don’t see and grasp the divine oneness of all things is because of Maya.  It’s just an illusion that we see ourselves as separate from one another.  This illusion is what brings rise to selfishness, pain, and suffering.
Samsara – Samsara is the cycle of death and rebirth.  When our bodies die, the divine within us does not.  Our soul is reborn into a new body.
Karma – This is the moral law of cause and effect.  Karma determines the direction of our rebirth according to Hinduism.
Moksha – This is liberation from Samsara and the yoke of Karma.  When a person reaches Moksha, they are no longer reborn but are completely united with Brahman, once and for all.  Little is said about how to obtain Moksha in the Upanishads.  It’s essentially up to the individual to discover self-realization of their oneness with Brahman, thus escaping bondage to worldly existence.
Making the Connection between Hindu Beliefs and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
At first glance, it might be difficult to envision how a connection from these Hindu concepts can be made, but it can be done.  I’d like to be adamant that these connections, in no way mean that Christianity and Hinduism have the same teachings!  That is far from the truth.  All I am doing is pointing out similarities, which can then open the door for presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For example, it’s very easy to say, “Oh, Christians hold a similar belief.  We believe the same thing concerning ___________, but we don’t believe ___________.  Instead, the Bible teaches _________.”
Hindu Teaching:
Brahman – Brahman is the divine essence that is at the heart of all things in the universe.  This teaching ultimately says that there is only one divine reality and that we are all united in it, in fact we consist of it.
 brahman
Christian teaching:
Acts 17:28 In this verse, Paul is recorded as having said, “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.”
Connecting to the Gospel of Jesus
 
Christians hold a similar view as Brahman in that we believe that it is from God that we live and move and have are being.  Colossians 1:17 even teaches that Jesus holds all things together.  However at the heart of each and every one of us, Christians disagree with the Hindu understanding that all is divine.  Christians however recognize that all things in the universe have come from God, but that all things do not consist of God, because God created the universe out of nothing by speaking it into existence.  This however does not mean that we believe God is far off from us.  Paraphrasing what Paul shared in Acts 17, God is still at the heart of all our lives; we have our being because of him, and he determined the times set for us and the exact places that we should live.  In this way, Christians agree with Hindus that God is at the heart of all things, but we certainly would not say that all things are God.
Jesus is very near. Everything that lives and breaths, because of him. In Christianity, God is at the heart of all things; Christ holds all things together. However, this does not mean that all things are divine as Hinduism teaches.
This still has not made a connection to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The connection to the Gospel will come in the next blog post by connecting Karma, the cosmic law of the universe in Hinduism, with the Law of God, and Moksha, the liberation from Samsara, with the pardon from the penalty of breaking God’s Law found in the Gospel of Christ.

Andy Wrasman7 Comments

Hare Krishna Encounter – McDonald’s Goes Vegetarian

This summer coming out of a Wal-Mart in Southern California, I saw a rack of books set-up outside that appeared to be Hindu texts.  I struck up a conversation with the lady manning the booth and found out that she was a Hare Krishna.  I’m sure that she gathered that I was a Christian from the questions I asked her, because she wanted to ensure me that she did not deny Jesus, but that she believed Jesus was God.  She told me that Krishna and Jesus are both God, that they both are the same.

I asked her how they were the same.  She told me that they both had the same teachings.  I asked what teachings those were.  “They both taught to love another, to not kill, to not even kill animals, that you shouldn’t eat meat,”  she ensured me.

At that point, I told her, “You are mistaken. You are right that Jesus taught that we should love everyone, to even love your enemies and to bless those who persecute you, but he did not teach that we shouldn’t eat meat.  Jesus was a Jew and he observed Passover, which involved the killing of and eating of lambs!  He definitely cooked and ate fish and approved of others to do the same and some of his closest disciples were fisherman and he never rebuked their profession.  Instead he aided them when they weren’t able to catch any fish. So they can’t have taught the same thing based on this point alone.”

At this, she dismissed me saying, “I don’t know about that.  Wait for my partner to return.  He knows more than me.” And she began to seek others to speak with, and I waited for the guy to come.  He acknowledge that they didn’t teach the same thing and that they weren’t the same person, but that we all are still one in essence.  The conversation didn’t go much further, but I did share that I believe Jesus is God and that he alone can save us from death.  I got his business card and was invited to their temple for a vegetarian meal.  Maybe I’ll take him up on this offer one of these days.

Commonly linked to religions that believe we are all one in nature, that we all divine, and born again and again through reincarnation, is the believe that all life is sacred and animals should not be killed, but cared for and respected for the divine soul within them.  This means that if you go India, don’t expect to find many meat dishes, and especially don’t look for beef products, because cows are considered to be sacred, since they are “next to mother” due to their milk giving capabilities.  McDonald’s is even catching on the religious beliefs in the area and changing their product to meet the market’s demands.  McDonald’s is now opening vegetarian only restaurants in India, especially in regions near religious shrines or pilgrimage sites, and even though they sell chicken patties and fish meals at most of their stores in India; they certainly don’t sell their Big Mac American style.

Check out the article, “McDonald’s Is Opening Vegetarian Only Restaurants”: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-opening-first-ever-vegetarian-134839878.html

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Contradictory Views of the Universe

the universe
How did the universe begin? Did it even have a beginning? What is the nature of the universe? Is the universe eternal? Or was it created? Does it have an end? Does the universe go through cycles?

Nature of the Universe

  •  Judaism – Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Tanakh clearly states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  The universe and everything in it was created by God.  Except for humanity, who was uniquely created, the first man from the dust of the ground, and the first woman from the side of man, and except for God who is eternal, everything has come into existence out of nothing from the spoken word of God.  It is taught in the Genesis account that the Lord created all in six days and rested on the seventh and is from this structure of creation that the command for humanity to work six days and rest on the seventh is derived (Exodus 20:8-11).  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Christianity – The Christian Bible incorporates the teachings of the Tanakh concerning creation, and adds more details to them.  The first verses for the Gospel of John state, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”  Christianity also shows that God is the sustainer of the universe as Colossians 1:17 states, “in him [Jesus] all things hold together.”  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Islam – The Qur’an doesn’t have the detailed narrative and specifics of creation as that of Judaism and Christianity, namely it lacks the order of creation that the Genesis account gives, but it is not mute on the subject and retains that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days (Surah 7:54).  Nature is objective and distinct and separate from a personal, transcendent God.
  • Hinduism – The Rig Veda states that no one knows the origin of the universe, because none one observed it, but it also gives an explanation that the universe came into existence through the cosmic sacrifice of the God, Purusha, with everything being made from his body parts.  The Purusha explanation gives explanation to Hinduism’s teaching that all of creation is one, and that all is eternally divine.  However, this monistic reality is masked by an illusion.  As souls are subject to reincarnation, the universe is subject to cycles of death and regeneration.
  • Buddhism – Buddhism doesn’t have a specific teaching on the origin of the universe.  What is certain concerning the universe is that all things are constantly changing, and in this sense there is a new universe created every moment.  Linked to this permanent shifting is a complete lack of personal identity.  If you are never you, and I am never me, and everything is only classified for convenience’s sake, then what is the universe but nothingness?
  • Jainism – The universe is eternal, neither created nor made by a Creator God.
  • Sikhism – The universe is created by the one and only true God. According to Guru Granth Sahib page 1399, “He established the earth, the air and the sky, the water and the oceans, fire and food.   He created the moon, the stars and the sun, night and day and mountain; he blessed the trees with flowers and fruits.”24

These contradictory views of the universe are some of the contradictory teachings found in the world’s religions that this Contradict bumper sticker is attempting to bring to light.  www.contradictmovement.orgContradict Sticker

 

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