One of the answers to being fooled by inappropriate theology or by other religions is to read a good book that gives you a quick grounding and compares Orthodoxy to other religious systems. I was actually planning a different post for today, but this book deserves a strong recommendation. Best of all, for those who hate long or difficult reads, it is paperback; it is cheap; it is written in understandable language. If you click on the image, it will take you to the Conciliar Press page from where it can be bought. It is also listed on Amazon. I know the priest. He is a faithful man who also has podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio. Let me give you some small quotes from his introduction.
In most areas of life, we are all concerned with the truth. A cashier has to make sure he knows how much change he’s giving. A nurse has to apply just the right amount of medication to a patient. A mathematician checks and rechecks his proofs. A jury listens closely to all the facts to sort out truth in a trial. A history teacher has to get the names and dates right. A scientist publishes work for peer review to make sure that everyone gets the same results. In all of these cases and more, what’s important is not opinion. Rather, it is truth. …
… most people are not doing what it takes in order to see what is true. If an astronomer refused to use a telescope or a biologist refused to use a microscope, we would rightly regard such people as having, at best, incomplete knowledge in their fields. From the Christian point of view, what is lacking is purity of heart, as Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). What is also lacking is proper guidance on how to attain that purity from those who have seen God and passed on this experience to the next generation. …
Let me submit to you, therefore, that the great spiritual battle of our time is not a struggle between believers and atheists. Rather, it is a struggle between pride and humility. We expect and even demand humility in almost all other areas of life–what really matters is what is objectively true, not what any of us might happen to think is true. Our opinions are not what is important. Yet, when it comes to ultimate questions about ourselves and the nature of existence, we set aside humility and place ourselves at the center of the universe. This temptation to pride is common even to believers in God. …
… All of these statements are based on one common assumption: Beliefs about God and the ultimate nature of reality are not very important. That’s why they should not be discussed publicly. That’s why their details don’t really matter. That’s why we should not try to win people over to our faith. There really is no such thing as Truth. Everything is relative (except perhaps for the statement that “everything is relative”).
And yet for nearly everything else in life, whether it’s politics, health care, or even the Super Bowl record of your favorite football team, we demand seriousness, detail, and accuracy. Distracted with such transient things, we as a culture have successfully ignored a basic, yet obvious truth: If there really is a God, then who He is and what He might want from us are more important than anything else in the universe. It is on this basic assumption that this book rests. As believers, we are not in the “niceness” business. We are in the Truth business.
I hope that these quotes have enticed you to buy this book. Let me also point out that not only are we in the Truth business, but that this also means that we are not in the business of fooling folks by passing on those things which we have failed to check out but conveniently support our point of view. This was the issue that began this set of discussions.
===MORE TO COME===
I found this quote the most interesting “Let me submit to you, therefore, that the great spiritual battle of our time is not a struggle between believers and atheists. Rather, it is a struggle between pride and humility.” In this case with Harold Camping’s false prophecy, the atheists were really on the outside looking in. To them it was just another excuse to poke fun at Christians. What they don’t get is that there are many, many groups calling themselves Christians that fall under three branches: Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism (with the Protestants having more than 26,000 factions that fight between themselves. As for the pride business, I would say based on listening to Harold Camping last night on his “Open Forum” broadcast is that the man is chock full of pride. He persistently refuses to take any personal responsibility for all this 5/21 business. All those folks who believed him and now their lives are ruined! If you ask me, Camping should be brought up on legal charges of fraud and racketeering. If he won’t appeal to fellow Christians, maybe it’s time to get the law involved re: his corrupted and decided UN-CHRISTIAN organization!