Dear Luis,
It was interesting to talk to you. It makes me have to think to find answers to the questions you addressed. But I think we need to answer the questions: Do all roads lead to truth? Is there only one way? Is there more than one way? First, I believe, if we ask, Can all roads lead to the truth, then we can say, yes they can. God’s word says all things work together for good to them that love God. Jesus said, “They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.”[1] In Isaiah we read, “Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart,”[2] similar to Jesus’ own words, “Seek and ye shall find.”[3] In my own personal experience, I rejected the God of Christianity, Christ and the organized religion of both Catholicism and Protestantism because of both hypocrisy and lack of spirituality that I saw in both of them. In my youth, I didn’t meet one priest or minister against the War in Vietnam or against the military industrial congressional complex. They were just part of the club and though they sympathized with my problem of having to go to war, they felt it was my duty to obey my government.
Therefore, I searched in Buddhism, yoga, Transcendental Meditation, organic foods, fasting, Judaism for the answers. However, after reading and searching intensely on the subject of what I should do about the war, which none of the above answered, I finally found the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that said, “Ye have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on the right cheek, turn to him the other, also,”[4] and later, “Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”[5] The early Christians suffered in persecution under the Romans, but lived their faith often going to the lions and their torturous deaths testifying of their faith in Christ’s doctrine of love. My stand against the military ultimately came from the following the words of Christ. I received moral strength from reading his words in the New Testament where yoga and meditation had failed.
Since you agree that there are absolutes and therefore absolute truth exists then we must look at the different religions and their truth claims to see which one or ones actually lead us to the truth. Oddly enough almost all the religious ideologies claim to be the only way to salvation or the best way to salvation, or the old and forgotten way, or the newly found again way to salvation. But since almost every one of the religions in the world make the same claim and contradict one another in their claims, they cannot all be true. They may all have truth. But even a lie is often coated in truth in order to deceive. If something is true, then something that contradicts it cannot be true. In other words, something cannot be true and false at the same time, unless you play word games. In math we say, if y=3 then y cannot = not 3. God is love and God is the absence of love cannot both be true because they are contradictory.
Since you agree that there are absolutes and therefore absolute truth exists then we must look at the different religions and their truth claims to see which one or ones actually lead us to the truth. Oddly enough almost all the religious ideologies claim to be the only way to salvation or the best way to salvation, or the old and forgotten way, or the newly found again way to salvation. But since almost every one of the religions in the world make the same claim and contradict one another in their claims, they cannot all be true. They may all have truth. But even a lie is often coated in truth in order to deceive. If something is true, then something that contradicts it cannot be true. In other words, something cannot be true and false at the same time, unless you play word games. In math we say, if y=3 then y cannot = not 3. God is love and God is the absence of love cannot both be true because they are contradictory.
The Bible says that Christ was crucified and rose bodily from the dead. The Koran says that Christ was not crucified but God let another person be substituted for him at the last minute. So there was no resurrection. The Bible and the Koran contradict one another. Both cannot be true. So the statement that all religions basically teach the same thing, unconditional love, is not true. The Koran says we cannot really know God. Only by following the Five Pillars of Islam can a man have a chance of maybe gaining salvation upon death, unless he dies as a martyr in the cause of Islam. That is not to say that followers of Islam cannot be very loving people. In my visit to the Saharawi in southern Algeria I met a very loving Muslim man. His love was almost beyond anything I ever experienced in Europe. Even though he was a loving man, the creed of Islam is not true. The Bible says, “He that has love has God, because God is love.”[6]I believe people like this man who are really walking in love are close to God. Jesus said, “He that receives you, receives me.”[7] I believe that although the circumstances made it hard for us to talk to him more intimately about Christ, by his receiving us so cordially, he was actually receiving Christ whom he knew we represented.
In the same chapter where John says “God is love,”[8] he also says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try or prove the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, but is that spirit of antichrist.”[9] Are the spirits that you are channeling with in Reiki believers in Jesus Christ? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes unto the father, but by me.”[10] He said, “If the light that is in you is darkness and you believe it is light, then how great a darkness you are in.”[11] Paul said that even the Devil himself can appear as an angel of light.[12] John said that Satan would perform great signs and wonders so that the whole world will go after him.[13]
From my experience and from reading the Bible, I am under the conviction that all the religions can be placed under two categories. Those that profess that one must obey certain rules, or do certain exercises, eat certain foods, etc, to be saved. And those who profess that man is incapable of saving himself and he needs a savior. In the first group, we can put false Christianity or Churchianity or religiousity in whatever form or sect it appears, plus all the other “isms,” sects, and spiritual movements of both east and west which teach us that we can save ourselves through our own efforts whether they be meditating, calling upon certain spiritual entities, using certain signs, symbols, rocks, eating or not eating certain foods, performing certain rituals, wearing certain symbols, chanting certain lines, etc. Though these “isms” may contain some truth, they must profess to be the truth in order to gain converts and disciples. But the truth is, they are not “the truth.”
The truth is that man is not capable of saying himself by his own self righteous efforts. That is why the world is like it is today. The world needs a savior. We long for a savior. Not just some ethereal concept of salvation. The Bible says we are made in God’s image.[14] Because of that we are able to think, communicate, use language, create and love. If God is just some “universal energy” or “life force” why should we have a conscience telling us the difference between right and wrong? The belief in the Christian God of the Bible gives ample reasons for why we can love, reason, judge, create, think and feel. The Bible says God is love.[15] But it also says He’s a consuming fire.[16] The Bible says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father[17] and that Jesus will judge the alive and the dead.[18] When we die, we are not just reunited with the universal life force or energy, we are reunited with Christ and with the departed saints who are surrounding us like a great cloud of witnesses.[19]
From my experience and from reading the Bible, I am under the conviction that all the religions can be placed under two categories. Those that profess that one must obey certain rules, or do certain exercises, eat certain foods, etc, to be saved. And those who profess that man is incapable of saving himself and he needs a savior. In the first group, we can put false Christianity or Churchianity or religiousity in whatever form or sect it appears, plus all the other “isms,” sects, and spiritual movements of both east and west which teach us that we can save ourselves through our own efforts whether they be meditating, calling upon certain spiritual entities, using certain signs, symbols, rocks, eating or not eating certain foods, performing certain rituals, wearing certain symbols, chanting certain lines, etc. Though these “isms” may contain some truth, they must profess to be the truth in order to gain converts and disciples. But the truth is, they are not “the truth.”
The truth is that man is not capable of saying himself by his own self righteous efforts. That is why the world is like it is today. The world needs a savior. We long for a savior. Not just some ethereal concept of salvation. The Bible says we are made in God’s image.[14] Because of that we are able to think, communicate, use language, create and love. If God is just some “universal energy” or “life force” why should we have a conscience telling us the difference between right and wrong? The belief in the Christian God of the Bible gives ample reasons for why we can love, reason, judge, create, think and feel. The Bible says God is love.[15] But it also says He’s a consuming fire.[16] The Bible says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father[17] and that Jesus will judge the alive and the dead.[18] When we die, we are not just reunited with the universal life force or energy, we are reunited with Christ and with the departed saints who are surrounding us like a great cloud of witnesses.[19]
It is not true that all the religions teach the same principle, unconditional love. The Bible does teach that God has an unconditional love for us, however, if we reject God’s love for us, he will not overrule man’s free will. If other faiths teach something similar, it’s like the example of the counterfeit bill. The counterfeit has to be pretty close to the real to pass off as the truth. Therefore, even false religious beliefs need to have many universal truths in their doctrines in order to be believed. Jesus not only preached love, he lived and died in love for the sins of mankind, both you and me. We cannot save ourselves.[20] We need a savior to cleanse us from our impurities. If we depend upon our own ability to cleanse ourselves, or the calling upon spirits or angels to do so, we will be found short. Only Christ alone can redeem sin, the only begotten Son of God. Our own righteous efforts cannot save us or keep us saved. It’s Christ alone. The Bible says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.”[21]
No one else died for the sins of mankind and testified of the truth of his doctrine through the mighty miracles he did. His final resurrection from the dead confirmed his divinity. Death was swallowed up in victory.[22] Only Christ died and rose from the dead.[23] This is the foundation stone of Christianity. No other faith has such a firm foundation. The Bible also is a living book full of prophecies which Christ fulfilled. It is a book filled with prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
I was young and energetic like you when I first experienced the love of God during a drug trip. At that epiphany experience I asked, “Is this is what Jesus was all about?”But since I did not know any real Christians, I looked elsewhere. The New Age Movement, which has only recently arrived in Portugal, had been made popular through the Beatles music. Eastern thought and meditation became the intellectual norm. I bought into it fully and filled my heart and mind with the popular New Age books of that era. I meditated, did yoga, fasted, ate only organic food cooked only a special way to gain my spirituality. But it was never enough. Even with all my striving it was never enough. I always came down from the high, lost my temper, got impatient, did something unloving, and became discouraged especially with my inability to stay on that spiritual high. I couldn’t keep it. Thank God I found the truth was much simpler. I found true Christianity, I found the power of God’s word, comfort of the Holy Spirit and the discernment and wisdom that knowing God’s word gives.
No one else died for the sins of mankind and testified of the truth of his doctrine through the mighty miracles he did. His final resurrection from the dead confirmed his divinity. Death was swallowed up in victory.[22] Only Christ died and rose from the dead.[23] This is the foundation stone of Christianity. No other faith has such a firm foundation. The Bible also is a living book full of prophecies which Christ fulfilled. It is a book filled with prophecies yet to be fulfilled.
I was young and energetic like you when I first experienced the love of God during a drug trip. At that epiphany experience I asked, “Is this is what Jesus was all about?”But since I did not know any real Christians, I looked elsewhere. The New Age Movement, which has only recently arrived in Portugal, had been made popular through the Beatles music. Eastern thought and meditation became the intellectual norm. I bought into it fully and filled my heart and mind with the popular New Age books of that era. I meditated, did yoga, fasted, ate only organic food cooked only a special way to gain my spirituality. But it was never enough. Even with all my striving it was never enough. I always came down from the high, lost my temper, got impatient, did something unloving, and became discouraged especially with my inability to stay on that spiritual high. I couldn’t keep it. Thank God I found the truth was much simpler. I found true Christianity, I found the power of God’s word, comfort of the Holy Spirit and the discernment and wisdom that knowing God’s word gives.
Jesus said, “My word is truth.[24]” He said, “If you continue in my word, then you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”[25] But he also warned that many would come in his name saying they were Christ and deceive many.[26] Paul tells us there will be a great falling away first and then shall the man of sin be revealed,[27] the antichrist. Paul also admonished that even the Devil himself can appear as an angel of light.[28] And Jesus warned that the false Messiahs would do great and mighty miracles,[29] so we know that the devil and his fallen angels can and will do seeming miracles.[30] Many people will be deceived. Jesus said the love of many would grow colder.[31] He said homosexuality would become accepted as it was in the time before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.[32] He said violence would increase and there would be wars, earthquakes and pestilences like Ebola and Aids, but that all these things were the beginning of sorrows and that things would get worse.[33] Mankind is indeed headed for some apocalyptic events that will shake the foundations of the world. Jesus said that unless he controlled and shortened the destruction mankind would cease to exist, that man would destroy himself.[34]
I believe Reiki is not the truth, but an imitation, a deception. The calling upon the angels of light is in fact the calling upon deceptive spirits who cannot fulfill their promises but are sent to confuse and disorient the true seeker and keep them from the real truth of the gospel. I have read various testimonies of former Reiki Masters who have, after a sad journey through Reiki, finally found Christ. Some have sent out warnings to others.
I will end here Luis to not go on too long. But I will attach two documentaries to watch on the subject. Catholic Preist Talks About REIKI and Christian Occultists by Johanna Michaelsen. In my search for the truth, I eventually had no desire for those eastern philosophies and exercises. The reason though was because I was full of the word and had found the answers in my in depth study of the scriptures. Would you be interested in studying more from the Bible? Jesus said if you do, “the truth would set you free.”[35] Will you take up the challenge to “continue in his word?”[36]Let me know!
Footnotes
[1] Matthew 5:6
[2] Jeremiah 29:13
[3] Matthew 7:7
[4] Matthew 5:38,39
[5] Matthew 5:43,44
[6] 1 John 4:8
[7] Matthew 10:40
[8] 1 John 4:8
[9] 1 John 4:1,2
[10] John 14:6
[11] Matthew 6:23
[12] 2 Corinthians 11:14
[13] Revelation 13:13,14
[14] Genesis 1:27
[15] 1 John 4:8
[16] Hebrews 12:29
[17] Acts 7:56
[18] Acts 10:42
[19] Hebrews 12:1
[20] Ephesians 2:8,9
[21] Titus 3:5
[22] 1 Corinthians 15:54
[23] 1 Corinthians 15:3,4
[24] John 17:17
[25] John 8:32
[26] Matthew 24:5,11,24
[27] “ Thessalonians 2:3
[28] 2 Corinthians 11:14
[29] Matthew 24:24
[30] Revelation 13:13,14
[31] Matthew 24:12
[32] Matthew 24:37
[33] Matthew 24:6-8
[34] Matthew 24:22
[35] John 8:32
[36] John 8:31
I believe Reiki is not the truth, but an imitation, a deception. The calling upon the angels of light is in fact the calling upon deceptive spirits who cannot fulfill their promises but are sent to confuse and disorient the true seeker and keep them from the real truth of the gospel. I have read various testimonies of former Reiki Masters who have, after a sad journey through Reiki, finally found Christ. Some have sent out warnings to others.
I will end here Luis to not go on too long. But I will attach two documentaries to watch on the subject. Catholic Preist Talks About REIKI and Christian Occultists by Johanna Michaelsen. In my search for the truth, I eventually had no desire for those eastern philosophies and exercises. The reason though was because I was full of the word and had found the answers in my in depth study of the scriptures. Would you be interested in studying more from the Bible? Jesus said if you do, “the truth would set you free.”[35] Will you take up the challenge to “continue in his word?”[36]Let me know!
Footnotes
[1] Matthew 5:6
[2] Jeremiah 29:13
[3] Matthew 7:7
[4] Matthew 5:38,39
[5] Matthew 5:43,44
[6] 1 John 4:8
[7] Matthew 10:40
[8] 1 John 4:8
[9] 1 John 4:1,2
[10] John 14:6
[11] Matthew 6:23
[12] 2 Corinthians 11:14
[13] Revelation 13:13,14
[14] Genesis 1:27
[15] 1 John 4:8
[16] Hebrews 12:29
[17] Acts 7:56
[18] Acts 10:42
[19] Hebrews 12:1
[20] Ephesians 2:8,9
[21] Titus 3:5
[22] 1 Corinthians 15:54
[23] 1 Corinthians 15:3,4
[24] John 17:17
[25] John 8:32
[26] Matthew 24:5,11,24
[27] “ Thessalonians 2:3
[28] 2 Corinthians 11:14
[29] Matthew 24:24
[30] Revelation 13:13,14
[31] Matthew 24:12
[32] Matthew 24:37
[33] Matthew 24:6-8
[34] Matthew 24:22
[35] John 8:32
[36] John 8:31
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