Schizophrenic

November 23

A lot of people make no distinction among the various religious systems to which the people of our planet subscribe. They avow that ‘all of them’ have resorted to violence to propagate their sphere of influence (this is not true, but it is widely believed), they believe all of them, ultimately, espouse the same ‘god,’ although many of these observers disbelieve there is a god at all.

The three monotheistic religions bear these comparisons most notably, but in spite of the superficial similarities, one of them differs greatly from the other two. Of course, Christianity is an ‘offshoot’ of Judaism. Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, they do believe He came to earth as a Man, Jesus, to save the world from sin. This is a major doctrinal difference, in spite of their many similarities.

Islam, though commonly compared to the other two, is completely separate and different from them. Islam has appropriated many of the prophets of Judaism and names the name of Jesus, but the ‘god’ Allah is the surviving member of an ancient pagan pantheon of gods whose character is nothing like the God of Jews and Christians. The character of Jehovah, of Jesus, is kindness, honor, truth, steadfastness, love. The character of Allah leaves a ‘loophole’ for lying, for manipulating truth, for ruthlessness. Where it is an acceptable tenet of Islam to lie to further that worldview, lies are anathema to Jews and Christians.

While violent conquest is a tool of furthering the power of Islam, Jews and Christians lean only on the power of truth and love to propagate their beliefs. Only if God were schizophrenic could there be such disparity in His character—and HE IS NOT SCHIZOPHRENIC! Jesus has given some guidelines by which we may identify His followers. In Mark 16:17 He says, “Those who believe will do these things in My name: They will cast out devils in My name, they will pray for the sick in My name and they shall recover, they will speak in new tongues,” because they trust the TRUE GOD!