THE NIGERIAN
15
TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013
Essence Of Religious Truth SAMIRA felt that she was not getting younger and needed a husband desperately. She had gone through so many Churches seeking for help until a “man of God” promised to see vision” for her. She started attending his “Bible Church” that was renowned for miracles of ecstatic visions and revelations. Every member of that Church believes that God speaks directly to “Prophet Dynamic.” The prophet requested the whole Church to go into prayer and fasting for Lady Samira for seven days. This spiritual exercise would end with an all night of divine favour” for Samira. The day of grace arrived and the Church was packed full of people who needed one miracle or the other. The prayer session started with praise worship, then tongues of fire and finally “the hour of vision”. Prophet Dynamic went into frenzy as if his spirit and soul have just gotten a “divine visa” to fly to heaven to collect divine favour for Samira. All of a sudden, there was absolute silence and the prophet burst into tongues like the ‘song burst” of Kofi’s poem. The curtain of the miracle drama opened: “Jehovah jare, Jehovah nisi, thanks for revealing this to me. Oh Brother Sobira, listen to the word of Jehovah, Adonai say that Samira is your wife. You must marry the wife God has created for you from heaven. 0 Sobira, embrace Samira your wife. In Jesus name! Amen! Everybody congratulated the new couple. The next prayer session as for Brother Sobira for the grace to accept what God has chosen for him. The locomotive prayer commenced. As the prayer went on, Sobira went into Frenzy and starting announcing a different vision. “Listen to the voice of God: Jehovah says that Samira is not my wife. She is from the “water spirit”. God has spoken Samira is not destined to marry. Listen to the voice of God, The poor Prophet Dynamic was confused and tiled to silence the new prophesy. Meanwhile, Samira was crying and begging
Prophet Dynamic to return her money while the prophet keeps saying, the money has been given to Jehovah the author of all visions. Where is religious truth in the above visions? What is the media of divine revelation? Normally, divine revelation is communicated through the prophets. These are recorded as divine scriptures for posterity. But we must not forget to remember that there are false prophets as well as true prophets. There are also professional prophets especially in the modern world. Jesus is clear about how to know the true prophets: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their unit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot beat’ good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit yon will recognize them” (Matthew 7: 15-20). Religions truth is like a dream. The only witness to the dream is the dreamer. It is a common saying that the snake that only one person sees can be reported to have legs. Because of the danger of manipulating religion for personal reasons John writes. “Dear Friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (I John 4:1). This phenomenon of the manipulation of religious truth did not start today. It happened even in the time of Jeremiah who said, “Then the LORD said to me, the prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of
BOTTOMLINE With Fr. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua
their own minds” (Jeremiah 14: 14). “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you: they fill you with false hopes. They speak vision from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD (Jeremiah 23:16). Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to
The essence of religious truth is to use the natural faculties and the witness of life to identify the veracity of the claims of the different religions. We are living in an era where religion has become a “time bomb” in the hands of
heavily on the hearts of men are the same today as in the ages past” (Nostra Aetate I). Consequently, every person must genuinely pray to discover the authentic revelation of truth in his or her individual religion. “Be ready
theological exchange. The essence of religious truth can be captured in the fact that today: the world is ready to contradict all our theological and philosophical arguments. There is our one argument that the world can not contradict
the dreams you encourage them to have (Jeremiah 29:8) In the New Testament, Peter referred to this in his letter. “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them (Peter 2: 1). It is therefore wise for seekers of visions and revelations to listen to the counsel of .John. “Dear children, this is the last hour: and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come (I John 2: I 8).
fanatics who claim monopol of God. We are living in a sensitive and delicate religious climate where a Muslim is afraid to say anything about the truth of Christianity and a Christian is afraid to talk about the truth of Islam because of possible mistake that could cause “volcanic religious eruption”. This has made dialogue of theological exchange difficult. Even with this phobia akin to a sword daggling over our heads, we must not forget that people “look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence. The problems that weigh
always to give an answer to every one that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3: 15). This is because a lot of people want to discover religious truth through moral truth. Many people go around with questions about meaning and value such as “What is upright behaviour and what is sinful’? Where does suffering originate, and what end does it serve? I How can genuine happiness be found? What happens at death? What is judgment? What rewards follow death? And finally, what is the ultimate mystery, beyond human explanation, which embraces our entire existence, from which we take origin and toward which we tend Nostra Aetate 1)? We can do a common search for meaning through dialogue of life, religious experience and social engagement. These have a way of opening us up to religious truth in the dialogue of
and deny. That is witness of life. So, instead of asking questions about the reality of the Holy Trinity, use the time and energy to promote peaceful coexistence and a community based life that the Trinity represents. Instead of urging about the religion of peace, go beyond religious tolerance to promoting true peace and love. According to the Indian proverb, “who you are”, is speaking so loudly, that I can no longer hear what you are saying. In other words, “action speaks louder than words. Let us therefore allow one another to live by the truths of a preferred religion with due respect to religious freedom. By your good fruits you become an ambassador of the religion you profess. Your attitude towards those who insult your religion will go a long way to prove to the world that your religion is a true religion of peace and love.
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“We are living in a sensitive and delicate religious climate where a Muslim is afraid to say anything about the truth of Christianity and a Christian is afraid to talk about the truth of Islam because of possible mistake that could cause “volcanic religious eruption”. This has made dialogue of theological exchange difficult. Even with this phobia akin to a sword daggling over our heads, we must not forget that people “look to their different religions for an answer to the unsolved riddles of human existence.”