The Quest For God

Nowadays finding God is probably a very complicated task for an unbeliever looking for salvation - simply because there are so many Christian interpretations of who God is, and so many doctrines on how to attain deliverance. The article highlights some of the doctrines about God and analyzes the different views.

Oprah’s church - the largest church in the world which was started March 3, 2008 preaches that:

Who you are requires no belief. Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. The man on the cross is an Archetypal image. He is every man and every woman. My mind is part of God’s. I am very holy. My holiness is my salvation. My salvation comes from me. Let me remember there is no sin. Jesus is not the only way to live.

Let’s dissect this doctrine. According to this school of thought we, you and I, are God. This principle totally eliminates God, the Divine Being, from the picture and replaces Him with mere man. Uh? A very simplistic explanation indeed but is finding God really that basic? If this is true, how do we explain the events in the bible, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

Next is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (one of the sects is facing charges for sexual abuse), their philosophy is:

We believe that the principle of plural marriage, which was practiced by the ancient patriarchs such as Abraham or Jacob, was restored to this earth sometime in the 1830s through a new prophet named Joseph Smith. Through angelic ministrations, he was given authority to authorize such marriages. That authority has been passed down to each Church president, allowing strict order to govern all such marriage ceremonies. Polygamous marriages contracted without his permission were not recognized. All members of the church are required to abide by a strict dress code. And the church also prevents its members from owning real estate and other property.

When asked ‘How can individuals who strive to follow Christ and biblical teachings believe in or practice polygamy’ the interesting justification for this practice was:

Mormonism claims to be a restoration of God’s work in all previous dispensations. The Old Testament teaches that the patriarchs—those men favored of God in ancient times—had more than one wife under divine sanction. In the course of the development of the Church in the nineteenth century, it was revealed to the leader of the Church that such a practice of marriage again should be entered into.

Although the bible does not directly rebuke polygamy but isn’t Matthew 19:5-6 a clear indication that marriage is between one man and one woman? The passage says “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefor God joined together let no man separate.” There seems to be a contradiction here?

Another interesting church is the Synagogue. The Synagogue is in Lagos, Nigeria and the head is Pastor T. B. Joshua. His preaching was definitely unconventional and it involved performance of numerous miracles, from curing cancer to AIDS. However, besides video testimonials of those healings, there are no concrete proofs of the miracles. Many Nigerians believe that his powers are not attributable to God but those allegations cannot be verified either. A Pastor once described the scenes at the Synagogue:

There is also a very undignified and even degrading aspect to these healings. When Christ healed it was all so dignified. True man is below, God is above, but man is not “Nothing”, He is made “In the Image of God”. In the Pastor Joshua’s videotape, released by the Synagogue, men with rectal cancer are asked to take down their pants, before others, both before and after the healing. A Woman bares her breasts, one showing cancer, and stands before a mixed assembly in the agony of her pain. As the healing progresses, her breast is seen oozing puss and yellow bile into a pool on her dress and flowing into a puddle on the floor. People are seen “Vomiting their troubles away” on the floor, some vomiting blood, some rocks, shells, large worms, live insects, Where did Jesus or His apostles ever do any such things? Yes these stains can be seen on the floor, the very spots where people vomited blood, and where women are seen on camera passing bloody “fibroids” from between their legs! On this same floor, people are put into trances, laid out on that same floor, (One can see the spots) and in those trances many are seen rolling about among those spots.

Remote control- T.B. Joshua uses a technique called “remote control”, in which by hand motions, standing ten feet or so away from “patients” he manipulates their motions. By scooting his hands to the left, the patient seems irresistibly drawn to the left, and to the right, the patient goes to the right, by circling his hands, Joshua send the patient into a circle, often until they spiral out of control, falling into a dazed heap! This method once again is more akin to occult healing practices, than it is to the Majestic healing gifts of Jesus Christ. Another similar technique is called “point of contact”. For example, the bare breasted woman suffering in agony before the congregation, of a cancer, for her Joshua stands about 15 feet away, and rubs his chin vigorously, this is evidentially affecting her cancerous breast, by remote control. (See the healing of the woman with a blood problem for years, she only touched Jesus and was healed.)

This is one of the many allegations raised against T.B. Joshua and the Synagogue.

Now back to the first paragraph and put yourself in the place of the ’spiritually unknowledgeable’ person seeking God. In light of the aforementioned doctrines and many others, how do you decide which teaching to follow? Or is it easier for such person to desist from the quest and maintain the status quo of unbelief?