THIS CORNER has never believed in the Latin adage, “Vox populi, vox Dei.” In English, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
If that were so, then the Jews who shouted “Crucify him!” were echoing the will of God to have Jesus killed?
It does not make sense. To this day, Judaism or the Jewish religion claims that Jesus Christ was a Jew.
Most Christian sects embrace Jesus as the promised “Messiah.” Christianity, however, is so divided that we are saddled with a thousand and one sects to choose from. A lifetime would not be enough to study them.
Vox populi, vox Dei?
In reality, the majority is not always right. Otherwise, we Filipinos would all shift to Roman Catholicism, to which at least 85 percent of us belong.
That Roman Catholicism is the “choice” of the Filipino majority may not be the right word because we have not chosen but have merely followed the faith of the Spanish conquistadors who colonized us in the 16th century. Until then, our ascendants were worshipping the anitos or spirits of the dead.
If we have chosen to shift to another Christian sect or convert into Islam, thank God we are so free. Indeed at one time or another, we have hopped from one religious faith to another, hoping to find where God is.
If we die without finding the true religion, would we suffer eternal torment in the fires of hell? Conversely, if we had abandoned the true religion, we might regret in hell not having died while we were in that religion.
If we were born in a theocratic society where devotion to Jesus Christ is banned – say, in Saudi Arabia – we would not be Christians; we would condemn non-Muslims as evils.
Christians are themselves divided on doctrines. For example, while the majority of Christian sects embrace Jesus Christ as God manifest in flesh, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) think of him as man. Many columns ago, I cited a home “debate” between my late father Juan (a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church) and his friend Gerardo (INC):
“Christ is not God,” Gerardo said, “He’s the Son of God.”
Tatay quickly retorted, “Well then, if he is the Son of God, he must be God, too.”
They argued for an hour without agreeing.
I, too, have gone through a life-long quest for the true Church but have never found one.
A thousand and one Christian sects have literally germinated in the Philippines. A few of them even dominate the political landscape during elections when they dictate laymen whom to vote. But I have yet to find a Christian sect that has straightened crooked politicians.
The more I read the Bible, the more I disbelieve religious doctrines. I cannot reconcile worship of one God with worship of innumerable saints.
The Bible does not echo the popular notion that when a man dies, he goes up to meet Saint Peter and gets his key to the afterlife.
The more I listen to preachers, the more I beware of false prophets. It’s obvious they are there for the money. Many new preachers now require their followers to pay tithe to keep the Word of God reverberating around the globe. A Davao City-based preacher has declared himself “the appointed son of God.”
He reminds us of a quotation from Henry David Thoreau, “Any fool can make a rule and every fool will mind it.”
Indeed if there’s one thing that religion has succeeded in, it’s in fulfilling the material greed of religious leaders, not in fulfilling the spiritual growth of members. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
^_^ Nice flow of thoughts. But you might want to re-consider studying more about the Iglesia Ni Cristo. There’s more to it than rumor-mongers has to say. (Y)
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
-1 Corinthians 1:10
The Church of Christ is simply following the commandment of God for its members to work in unison.
Is not the act of voting an act of judgment? In fact, is it not the ultimate act of judgment in society?
Moreover, it is not as if the act of unified voting is the only unified action within the Church of Christ.
Charity walks, livelihood projects, clean up drives, blood donation, and many other humanitarian acts.
In the realm of worship, all services have the same lesson, the same hymns, the same orderliness.
In the realm of doctrine, all congregations have the same set of beliefs regardless of their location.
To have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, THAT is the Church of Christ.
Ang laki ng problema nitong nagsulat ng article. Una, kahit na 80% tayo ay Catholic, malaya ka rin namang mamili ng relihiyon mo. Tapos sabihin mo na wala tayong choice kasi nakagisnan na natin from Spanish. The same thing applies, the Catholic Church is still the largest single religious institution in the world (1/6) of the world’s total population dahil ITO ANG ORIGINAL na CHRISTIAN RELIGION. When Nakalimutan mong sabihin na mula 1517 divided ang Christianity dahil sa Protesta ni Martin Luther at mula 1549 nang magkaroon ng layang maglimbag ng sariling mga bibia ang salungatang protestante, lalong dumami ang mga sekta. Kaya’t huwag mong isisi sa Kristianismo ang iyong sariling kamangmangan at kalituhan.