Religion Watch
Bad Prophecy / Good Book
By James Beverley
Columnist Jim Beverley has been writing for Faith Today since 1994
and has been promising a certain book for almost as long
I turned 55 in January and, three months later, my wife
and I celebrated another birth. This baby, 10 years
in the making, weighed in at just over three pounds.
Rectangular in shape, the baby is named Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions. It is 850 pages long and deals
with more than 200 groups in 19 chapters. The big world
religions get their share of space but there are also separate
chapters on Branch Davidians, Christian Science, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Mormonism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Roman
Catholicism, Satanism, Scientology, the Unification Church
and Witchcraft.
The editors at Faith Today have invited me to celebrate
the baby by telling you what I learned during its 10-year
gestation. First, as my friends and editors know, this book
proves I am no good at prophecy. Every year I predicted
the book would be done by year’s end. I was
wrong nine times. As in the religious world,
false prophecies don’t help sales.
I now see more clearly that religions are
not all the same. People who say this are either
ignorant or deluded. Of course, there are common patterns that can be celebrated. For example, all religions oppose murder – yes, even
Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. In the main, however, the
various religions offer alternative understandings of reality.
Buddhists do not believe in God, but most other groups do.
Christians worship Jesus, but this is heresy to both Jews
and Muslims. There are also big differences within the same
religious family. The Latter-day Saints Mormons oppose the
polygamous Mormon groups. My research even introduced
me to the nine different variations of Baha’i.
Working on the book also taught me how nasty religion
can be. We all saw that on 9/11. My book documents sex
abuse of children in many groups, sometimes up front in the
name of God (David Berg and David Koresh) and sometimes
not (as in Roman Catholic and Protestant coverups). Alleged
witches were tortured and killed for almost four centuries. Most religions have their own version of leaders using
“spiritual” talk to bed a gullible devotee or fleece the flock
of money or deprive them of their freedoms. Three simple
rules in checking out a religion: guard your mind, watch
your wallet and keep your clothes on.
Despite the darkness and divisions in religion, there is
beauty as well. This is what
Christians should expect to
see, given God’s common
grace. For every Osama there
are millions of Muslims who
hate terrorism and violence.
My wife, Gloria, and I were
once protected on the coast
of Kenya by Big Daddy, a
Muslim security guard. The
Unification Church has done
great work on religious liberty, in large part because of
Dan Fefferman, a courageous follower of Sun Myung Moon. Buddhist monks in
Myanmar have died to help that country
know freedom. In all religions there is often
basic human kindness, love and goodness.
Thank God.
Years ago Hans Küng, the famous theologian, gave a lecture in Toronto on the
question “Is There Just One True Religion?”
I don’t agree with all his views but I loved
one of his main conclusions. For him the answer to truth
questions lies in Jesus Christ. I saw Küng in his home in
Germany two years ago and he reiterated this fundamental
trust in Jesus. My book makes the same point. Thirty years
of intensive study of religions, including the past 10 on the
new Beverley baby, has led me to a deeper realization of
the uniqueness, greatness and beauty of Jesus. In my informed opinion, there is no one like Him. And He is who
He claimed to be: Lord, Saviour, Son of God. In a world
of religions, with so many different paths, there is the One
who is “the Way.”
I now see
more clearly
that religions
are not
all the same
James A. Beverley from Tyndale University College and Seminary
in Toronto is on sabbatical this coming academic year. For information on his books, go to www.jimbeverley.com.
