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just don' t know what to believe anymore."
" You will see your son agai n," I told her.
" You sound very sure."
" 1
am,' '
1
said , and
1
told her why.
1
wondcr how many more mill ions of people there
are whose faith has been pushed, pulled and then
shattered by the changing tides o f religious opinion .
How many of our readers have, in the past , been
made to doubt things that are true-and equally
dangerously- have been t aught to bel icve things that
are not.
One of the most pathetic s ights
1
ever saw was on
an island in the South Pacific. The native people had
made a small clearing on which they built a
platform- a poor imitation of an air traffic control
tower as used in the Second World War. On the
ground lay severa! crudc rcpresentations of airplanes,
madc from palm leaves and bamboo. These people
belonged to the Cargo cult.
During the Pacific War their parcnts had seen the
wonderful things that were unloadcd from the
military ai rplanes that landcd on thcir islands. These
s imple pcople had no understanding of the war
ragi ng around them. All they saw was that the white
men had powcrful "gods" who scnt thcm presents by
means of a "big bird ." So, they reasoncd , they
would also build an "airfield" and maybe one day
thc big bird would again bring prcsents to them.
Poor people- so utterly deceived . Even a
helicoptcr couldn' t land safely on thcir pathetic littl e
clearing. What they wait for so paticntly is never
going to happen .
But what about you ? Are you also pinning your
hopcs on somcthing that is never going to happen ?
Or- li ke that lady in Yienna- have you givcn up
believing in something that
ís?
What docs it take to
make you bclicve-or not believe- somct hing?
For cxample-what do
you
belicve happens when
you die? And
why
do you bclieve it '? Most readers
of this magazine considcr t hcmselves as belonging to
the Christ ian faith. Most C hris tians bclicvc that if
thcy livc a bas ically good life. thcy will go to heaven
when thcy d ie. That is what a Christ ian should
believe, bccause that is what Jcsus said would
happcn, isn't it?
No it isn't.
Havc you cver looked to see for yourself, exactly
what J csus Christ said happens when you die? You
may be surprised . lf you were to compare other
things he said with the time-honorcd bcliefs and
customs o f today's Christian churc hes you would
have more shocks coming.
Jesus kncw that after his c rucifixion, it would be
"open scason" on his teachings. So he warned
multitudes of his would-be followers that they would
be worshiping him in vain if thcy taught- and
practiced- their own ideas of what is right and
wrong (Matt. 15:9).
How do
you
worship Christ ? Good Christians go
to churc h cvery Sunday, or at least , they
should,
right?
But did
J esus
say you should go to church on
14
Sunday? In the 4th century A .D. , the observance of
the Sabbath-the seventh day of the week- was
changed to Sunday at the command of church
leaders. But who said they could do that? Did Jesus
sanct ion that change in his doctrine? The Sabbath is
the fou rth commandment- pa rt of God's eterna!,
spiritual law. J esus said that heaven and earth wou ld
pass away bcfore even one jot or tittle (the dotting
of an
i
or the crossing of a
t)
o f the law would be
abandoned , let alone a major point o f it (Matt.
5: 18).
But then, sorne schools o f thought mainta in that
that law is done away.
It
is a burden and J esus d id
us all a favor by nai ling it to his cross, they say.
Whcre did they get that idea? What if it isn' t right?
While we' re on thc subject o f J esus- what about
his birthday? What instructions did he give us fo r
cclcbrat ing that? Ma ny who fi rmly believe they are
followers of Christ would be as tonished to lea rn that
neither he nor his disciples cvcr cclebrated his
birthday-or anybody else's, for that matter.
Christmas was an ancient holiday ccnturies befare
the bi rth of Christ.
God made it clear to the prophet Jeremiah what
he thought about people who cut down trees and
dccorate them as a part of their religious observance.
He said it was a vain custom, and we should not
learn it (Jer.
1
0:2-5). But that is one cus tom that
has become firmly entrenched as a part of today's
celebration of "our Lord's" birthday. Jesus said,
"Why call ye me, Lord, Lord,
and do not the things
whích 1 say?"
(Luke 6:46) .
There are so many ways in which most Christians
do exactly the opposite to thc thi ngs Christ said.
Most do not do them dcliberately-they just have
not serious ly thought for themselves what they
bclieve a nd why. They trust their ministers to teach
them what is right. But today, even members of the
clergy in the major denominat ions say they can no
longcr accept the time- honorcd bclicfs of their
churchcs. They embrace innovative ideas, and lead
congregations into greater con fu s ion.
Th is is nothing new. In his earlicst cpistles to thc
peoplc of Asia Minor and Grccce, the apost lc Paul
warned agai nst confused and mislcd teachers who
would seek to change the tcachings of Christ , and bring
in thcir own ideas. J csus prophcsicd that
many
would
be coming in
his
name, saying
he
is Christ. but having
thcir own ideas about what he taught. But he warned
us not to be deceived by them (Matt. 24:4-5).
A wrong idea can eventual ly become accepted as
a n establ ished truth. When it was first suggested
that the Sabbath be changed to Sunday, and the
Ncw Tes tament Passove r to East cr, it caused a
majar cont rovcrsy in the churchcs. But today, thesc
fcstivals are accepted by most Chris tians without
question. They are as much a part of Christian ity as
chu rch s teeples, Good F riday a nd having a newborn
baby bapt ized. (You might want to invcstigate whcre
rhose
traditions carne from.) But because a new
doctrine or belief becomes acceptable it doesn't
automatically make it
(Conrínued on page 36)
The PLAIN TRUTH