Questions

There are a tremendous number of religions in the world. Major ones include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, but minor variations, specifically of Christianity, abound. Here is where I want to present ideas found in some of these other religions and show why I think that these ideas are inconsistent with themselves, let alone Truth. I just don’t “get” them, and I welcome people to help me understand them.

The ideas and questions I present here are not unique. I have come across these ideas in many places and from many people. The most important thing to remember in these discussions is that Truth is truth is Truth. If someone professes to know the Truth, then that Truth will stand no matter what is said about it. A person who claims to know something about Truth should be able to read or talk about most anything that also claims to be Truth without fear that they will lose the Truth they have, else how will they come to know more? Also, Truth must be understood as Truth within truth. Meaning something can’t possibly be Truth in a spiritual sense if the assumptions that must support it are not true in a natural sense.

When it comes to doctrinal issues, if we are to say that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, then we must endeavor to understand how it all works together. If the Bible seems to say two different things in two different places, we must work to find a third that puts the other two in context. Barring that, we must look outside of the Bible to sources that the Bible supports, i.e. the Holy Spirit, but only after we have completely studied and explained every reference within. The Holy Ghost will never contradict what the Bible says, because that in itself would be unscriptural.

Atheism
What I see as the main reason people become atheists, and why that reason isn’t really a very good one.

Jesus was just the highest angel (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
This idea is contrary to just about every other Christian denomination I can think of, and the Witnesses have grossly mistranslated the Bible to try to support their view. Why? What is the benefit of denying the Deity of Jesus?

Mormonism (Latter Day Saints)
I need help here especially. As opposed to the wealth of material that underpins the Bible, I can’t find a single archeological discovery that supports the Book of Mormon. I am left with the conclusion that it’s fiction. How can Truth come from something that can’t even be shown to be truth? I have scoured the net to try to put together a study on this, but I honestly can’t find any independent arguments for their belief in this work.

Islam’s Belief in the Bible (Islam)
Muslims claim that their god is the same God of the Bible, and – as I understand – believe the Bible itself. Yet, there is no greater contention on the face of the planet than who actually “owns” the Temple Mount. It seems to me that if they really believed the Bible, they would support the rebuilding of the Temple as much as the Jews.

Zen (Zen Buddhism)
The point of a lot of eastern religions is that there is no point. What’s the point?

Masonry (The Masonic Lodge)
I actually had a Mason tell me I couldn’t understand all Truth without becoming a Mason. I hope this disturbs you as much as it did me. Even more troubling is how much in the Mormon temple rituals duplicate what the Masons do. (And Joseph Smith, q.v., as a matter of historical record, only started implementing temple rituals after he became a Mason…)

The Sabbath (Seventh Day Adventists)
Technically, the “Sabbath” is on Saturday. Why doesn’t Christendom (Seventh Day Adventists excepted, of course) revere that day instead of Sunday? This is actually a really good question. God was very serious about it’s observation. Shouldn’t we be too?

Saint worship (Catholics)
The Catholics love their “saints.” So much so in fact, that the “virgin Mary” has actually attained membership in the Godhead in some church leaders’ minds. What’s going on here? Should we really give that much credence to such people?

“Tongues” aren’t for today (Protestants generally)
I’ve had a lot of people give me reasons why Apostolic Pentecostals must be wrong about their doctrine of speaking in tongues as the evidence of being filled with the Holy Ghost, but so far, none of these reasons have held up to scrutiny. I’ll at least try to be objective on this one, seeing as how this treatment shows all the evidence for it.