You Participate, I Participate, God Regulates.

Written by Emmanuel Emezie


Natural laws exist that serve to maintain order inrepparttar universe. These laws are usually manifested as regularity in nature (as inrepparttar 126644 seasons) or as a relationship between cause and effect. Inrepparttar 126645 physical realm natural laws exist which governrepparttar 126646 behaviour of matter. Examples of such laws are Newton's Laws of Motion. Inrepparttar 126647 social aspect of life, natural laws also exist that regulate human activity. The Law of Demand and Supply is an example of such a law. This phenomenon is also manifested inrepparttar 126648 spiritual aspect of life. Universal and immutable spiritual laws exist which govern human creative activity.

Observation and experience showrepparttar 126649 existence of two spiritual laws. These are: The Law of Creative Accomplishment andrepparttar 126650 Law of Reciprocal Action. Let us now examine these laws.

The Law of Creative Accomplishment

The law provides that success will inevitably crown our efforts if we persevere in our pursuit of a goal and if we have faith in God. In other words, perseverance and faith in God will always lead to success in our pursuits.

The relationship between faith in God, perseverance and success was first made known by Jesus Christ. Hear him on faith in God (Mark 11:20-24):-

As they passed by inrepparttar 126651 morning, they sawrepparttar 126652 fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, "Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered". And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast intorepparttar 126653 seas,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received it, and it will be yours".

Inrepparttar 126654 "Parable ofrepparttar 126655 Importunate Friend" he taught about perseverance (Luke 11:5-10):-

And he said to them "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him' and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother merepparttar 126656 door is now shut, and my children are now with me in bed I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him what he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

The operation of this law is not completely unknown to mankind. There are sayings which have arisen out of human experience ofrepparttar 126657 relationship between perseverance (or determination) and success. One such saying is: "Where there is a will, there is a way", which means that if someone is determined to achieve something, a way of doing so will be found. Another of such saying is: "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again".

Do Not Believe All You Read In The Holy Books.

Written by Emmanuel Emezie


Observation shows that human creative activity has a physical, a social and a spiritual aspect. (By human creative activity I mean useful and constructive activity by human beings). The physical aspect of our creative activity concerns our activity in relation torepparttar physical universe. The social aspect relates mainly to human behaviour and interaction amongst humans. The spiritual aspect of our creative activity primarily concerns our activity in relation to God. Over time, mankind has acquired considerable knowledge ofrepparttar 126643 physical universe. This knowledge has been classified asrepparttar 126644 physical and natural sciences. Knowledge we have acquired of human behaviour and interaction amongst humans has been classified as social science. This has not beenrepparttar 126645 case with knowledge we have ofrepparttar 126646 spiritual aspect of life. Such knowledge has not been classified as spiritual science. This is so because much of what at present constitute spiritual facts and beliefs cannot be considered as science. A lot of such facts are not backed by proof and many ofrepparttar 126647 beliefs are not founded on reason. Unverifiable conjectures about phenomena and existence beyond this life are professed as truths. The situation at present is such that spiritual works available to us contain fiction, misconceptions, superstition and falsehood in addition to actual facts. I will use some examples fromrepparttar 126648 Christian teaching and Holy Bible to illustrate this point.

Considerrepparttar 126649 Bible account ofrepparttar 126650 creation of Man and his fall from grace, (the Bible, Genesis 2:7-24 3:1-24).

We are told that God created Adam and Eve and established them inrepparttar 126651 Garden of Eden where He had made adequate provisions for their needs. All went well untilrepparttar 126652 serpent came along and deceived them into disobeying God. The act of disobedience inrepparttar 126653 Garden of Eden caused Adam and Eve to lose favour with God. Christians believe thatrepparttar 126654 sinfulness of Adam and Eve subsequently passed on to all generations of mankind. That, in their thinking, is responsible for mankind's fall from grace andrepparttar 126655 human proneness to commit sin. The Christian concept of original sin which is that sinfulness is a part of mankind's nature is founded on this Bible story.

Now let us examine this Bible account rationally. It has been scientifically established that mankind has inhabitedrepparttar 126656 earth for over a million years. The coming into existence ofrepparttar 126657 human being is, therefore, a primeval event that is prehistoric and immemorial. Surely, any account of this even cannot be anything but an invention. Moreover,repparttar 126658 incidents related in this Bible story are inconsistent with natural phenomena. God does not talk. Snakes do not haverepparttar 126659 faculty of speech. Knowledge is not gained by eatingrepparttar 126660 fruit of a tree, neither is it possible to attain everlasting life in this way. This tale, by all indications, is only a Jewish fable. It is not a true account of real events. However, Christianity accepts it as a factual historical event and has built its all-important concept of original sin on it. Clearly, this is a case of fiction being passed for fact.

Let us go on to considerrepparttar 126661 concepts of heaven and hell as propagated byrepparttar 126662 Christian faith. Heaven, we are told, isrepparttar 126663 home of God where people who do God's will on earth will spend eternity with Him in bliss. Hell, onrepparttar 126664 other hand, isrepparttar 126665 place of punishment where those who lived sinful lives will suffer everlasting torment after death.

Now let us think seriously about these issues. God does not have physical substance, God is spirit. Because spirit has no physical limitations, God is everywhere at all times. In other words, God has infinite presence. Since God is infinite in expanse, so to speak, it does not make sense to say that God has a particular place of residence. The concept of home is a physical concept which has no application inrepparttar 126666 spiritual realm. Reason clearly shows that heaven, in actual fact, does not exist.

And torepparttar 126667 question of hell. Forgiveness is a cardinal moral principle ofrepparttar 126668 Christian faith. Jesus Christ in his teachings stated unequivocally that we should always forgive others no matter how many times they offend us. If one desires to commune with God, one must have a forgiving heart, he taught. How then can we think of God as being so unforgiving as to establish a place of everlasting torment for those who go against His will. The very idea of hell implies that God is wicked and unchristian. It is, without doubt, a misconception to associate God who is infinitely good with such a cruel idea. In reality, heaven and hell are misconceptions that have passed for spiritual facts.

Let us now consider superstition inrepparttar 126669 Bible. The gospel tells us about a father who brought his epileptic son to Jesus Christ for healing, (Luke 9:37-43). The account says that Jesus rebukedrepparttar 126670 demon inrepparttar 126671 boy. It came out of him andrepparttar 126672 boy was instantly cured.

Let us examine this report inrepparttar 126673 light of our knowledge of medical science. Epilepsy is a nervous disease and we know from medical science that demons are not responsible for illness. There is actually no proof that evil spirits exist. The belief in their existence and that they are responsible for ailments is irrational. Such belief amounts to superstition.

And now torepparttar 126674 matter of falsehood inrepparttar 126675 Bible. We shall examinerepparttar 126676 Bible account ofrepparttar 126677 conception of Jesus Christ byrepparttar 126678 Holy Ghost andrepparttar 126679 reports of his resurrection and ascension.

Knowledge is usually brought to mankind through people of high intelligence. In some cases such people are gifted with extra-ordinary mental or creative 666bilities. People like this, referred to as men of genius, very often take us to new levels in knowledge ofrepparttar 126680 universe. One such person wasrepparttar 126681 mathematical genius, Albert Einstein, who brought us exciting new knowledge ofrepparttar 126682 physical universe. Jesus Christ belonged to this class of people. He was a luminary who made revolutionary contributions to spiritual knowledge. Unfortunately,repparttar 126683 Jewish educated class of his time did not understand or accept him. That probably explains why he chose his disciples from amongstrepparttar 126684 uneducated, fishermen andrepparttar 126685 like. These followers, who obviously were not men of high intelligence, did not recognize him for what he was which was simply a man of extra-ordinary mental abilities and l! earning. His remarkable accomplishments were, rather, what made profound impressions on them. It is reported that he healed all manner of sickness, raisedrepparttar 126686 dead, and fed thousands of people with few loaves and pieces of fish. We are told that he walked on water, waves became still at his command and a fig tree that he cursed withered. They (his followers) were awed by these incidents and began to perceive him as a deity. Jesus Christ noticed this idolization and atrepparttar 126687 end of one of his sermons said to his followers andrepparttar 126688 crowd present, (Luke 6: 46-49).

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