While I was in college, I took a world religion class. My instructor was a nun who was a lovely person and well-informed on the different religions of the world. It was really an interesting subject to study. It was, and still is, fascinating to me that many of the other religious works are similar to the St. James version of the Bible, which is my personal choice for spiritual instruction. How did the other religions come into being? Was it from a main religion that took off in different directions? Many scholars believe this to be true. For instance, Christianity and Islam is an offshoot of Judaism, and Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism. This is fascinating stuff, and, I believe that is the reason all the different religions have similar stories. A site regarding the origin of religion is here. http://www.allaboutreligion.org/origin-of-religion.htm
Several years ago, I read a book written by a self-professed atheist. I don’t remember the author’s name but recall he said religion ruined the world. Religion in and of itself cannot ruin the world. Only people can ruin the world by their refusal to accept that everyone has the right to believe the way they choose to believe. If your neighbor believes differently than you do, it’s not your business. If you think they are going to Hell for their beliefs, it’s still not your business. God says in his Word that he will separate the wheat from the chaff. If you think your neighbor is chaff, don’t fight with them. Pray for them!
My youngest child is an atheist, despite being raised in the church from the time he was a baby. He thinks that when he dies he’ll just go poof and be gone from existence. No Heaven. No Hell. We have had many philosophical discussions over the years. He believes that because many of the religions have similar stories they all must be false. Lucky for him because of my beliefs (and many hours of prayer), and the promises that God made us, I know he will come to accept the existence of God and go to Heaven when he dies. Of course, I’ll be long gone by then receiving my reward in Heaven, but I’ll be waiting to greet him when it’s his time to leave this life, and lovingly tell him I told you so.
;)
