Alphabet Religious Soup - part 2

As we look at the world today we see an alphabet soup of religion. In this series of posts I'm attempting to trace how we got such a mishmash of religious traditions in the world. We began last time looking at God's creative work in Genesis 1. God created man in His image thus establishing a special relationship between God and man not found between God and animals. Made in God's image man must worship. He was designed to worship Yahweh but Adam's relationship with Yahweh was broken when Adam disregarded God's Word and snubbed Him in eating from the tree. Rebellious Satan, having seduced Adam and Eve, is cursed by God. God declares war upon Satan establishing a personal hostility between Satan's servants and the servants of the woman and her God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Thus the war was begun. But how was the war conducted in history?

Simply flipping through Genesis we realize the war looked like a losing proposition for God for a long time. Already in Genesis 6 we find God distraught with Satan and his forces influencing a great majority of people to not serve God but him. Thus God starts anew with Noah and his family. But alas this doesn't turn out very productive either. In Genesis 11 we find the people's idolatry to be so great that they sought to make a name for themselves rather than for their Creator who they were designed to worship. In response God judges in a unique manner crucial to the history of religion. In Gen. 11:7, 8 we find God judged the people by splitting them up geographically and culturally. This division of people prevented them from cooperating effectively and pooling their idolatry. This is the origin of the many people groups, languages and thus cultures we find in the world. We must note carefully that God didn't separate joyful adherents to him but rather active idolaters, that is people in rebellion against Him unwilling to serve Him.

What is the result of this judgment of God at Babel? The result is that separate groups of idolaters develop different ways of expressing their religious impulse. Remember all people are religious and worship - even the irreligious are religious about their irreligion - because God made them that way. People can't avoid worshipping, they are made to run on it. It is simply what or who they will worship not whether they will worship. Thus as we think about religious history what we find is that in different parts of the world as people developed culturally they also developed different ways of expressing their idolatry. This is the origin of the world's religions.

Seems simplistic doesn't it? I agree. It's much simpler than other arguments. But remember that most other arguments about the history of religion begin with different people groups existing via evolutionary dispersment. This evolutionary dispersment results in different cultures advancing at different rates etc. What is missing in the traditional arguments is WHY people as they were dispersed - whether by God or evolution - worship. Worship is universal because man is made in the image of God and is created to worship. The development of the world's religions is evidence of this.

As we survey the world's religions we find their diversity is at the same time both real and apparent. Yes they are different in many ways. But they are also all similar. If we look at the Scriptures we find that there are not multiple options people can choose from religiously. In reality there are two options to choose from: worship of the true God who made everything or worship of something created. That is, everyone will either worship Yahweh or an idol. Every other world religion is idolatry except Christianity. In the last of these posts we'll consider why this is important to maintain in the face of multi-culturalism and attempts to harmonize world religions. In the next post we'll consider in more depth the two religious options which exists for all people everywhere in all cultures and times.