Chapter 2


Wandering For The Truth

By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze

God is a wonder.
His ways are wonderful.
The universe is a castle of wonders.
And every surprise is a wonderbolt.

The Holy Trinity is the wonder of all wonders.

In The Search of God
         A wise man will be disturbed by widespread inter-religious condemnations, unnecessary violence, several contradictions, moral decadence and spiritual naivety. The results have been discord instead of peace, competitions in place of co-operation, accusations and counter-accusations, even prayers and back-to-sender.
         Out of personal concern and desire for permanent solutions, I engaged myself in the extensive and intensive study of world religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Anglicanism, Confucianism, Zoroasterism, Taoism, Gnosticism, Bahism, Sabbatharianism, Mysticism, Spirituality, etc. I read and studied ancient writings (their translations). What I discovered surprised me. Indeed, I was amazed!
         Are you surprised that I went to these extents in the search of God? That is exactly what Jesus did when He was on earth. He visited the important places, cities and religions of the world, and everywhere He went to, He did the most glorious things:
  1. First, He listened to their teachings.
  2. Second, He observed the practices.
  3. Third, He acknowledged the true teachings and practices.
  4. Fourth, He made corrections where necessary.
  5. Fifth, He rebuked those who refused to repent.
  6. Sixth, He gave more teachings and explanations.
  7. Seventh, He bade them good bye, lifting His hand in silent benedictions.
The Findings
         The findings include the following:
  1. God is the God of the Universe. He is like the sun, which shines alike in all directions, available to all religions, tribes, nations, languages and localities.

  2. God is not a God of confusion.

  3. Variety is the spice of life. This is the wisdom of God in expression, as love for His children.

  4. From time to time, God sends His messengers (ministers) to the world, such that every age and nation has a guide, a master soul, a prophet or a saviour.

  5. These ministers recognize each the others, and acknowledge them as good ministers from God. For example, Islam acknowledges that both Judaism and Christianity are religions established by God. Jesus Himself paid glowing tributes to several ministers that did well, referred to their teachings and writings, and said that those ministers foretold of His coming. Unlike the some of the modern day ministers, who would like to glorify themselves only, Jesus would not hesitate to mention and confirm Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Isaiah, Zechariah, Moses, etc.

  6. That should be expected from every minister of God. For as all the leaders of world religions and the successor ministers came from God, “a string of unity, purpose or recognition” should be expected of them, from them, about them and by themselves (by each acknowledging the others).
             Hinduism acknowledges that other religions are valid ways that lead people to God. The three wise men from the east were great mystics, prophets and astrologers from other religions and nations. On the world map, you will find on the east of Israel: India, China, Persia, etc. They came to Israel to honour the baby Jesus, without discriminating against Jesus, who was not a member of their own religions.

  7. Each minister continues where the others stopped, or foretells of future ministers that God will send to mankind. Moses told the Israelites that

    8. The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; Deuteronomy 18:15

    And God confirmed it in Deuteronomy 18:18,19.

    I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. Deuteronomy 18:18,19

    Buddha said,

    “I am not the first Buddha (Saviour) who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened on, one endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe; an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths which I have taught you. He will preach his religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax, and glorious at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and pure; such as I now proclaim.”

  8. All inter-religious condemnations, violence, contradictions, decadence, naivety, competitions, accusations and counter-accusations, etc, are all caused by human beings, who are so prompted and encouraged by the evil spirits. These problems are caused out of jealousy, out of hatred, out of competition, out of envy, and above all, out of ignorance (darkness).

  9. At some time in the history of a church, the leaders derail (stray) from the path laid down by their founders. The churches may profess with their mouth the teachings of their founders, but at the same time practice to the contrary.

  10. The departures from the true teachings are usually caused by some influential personalities, who wish to turn the minds of the public to their personal or group preferences; at times, using force, persecution, government or manipulation.

  11. In the process of departures from the true teachings, several teachings, practices or revelations are removed or changed to reflect what the influential personalities or group desire. For example, the Ten Commandments as being recited by the Catholics is a changed and different version of what God actually gave Moses (See Exodus 20).

    12. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Matthew 15:3

    Again he said,

    But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:19

             Because of changes made to scriptures or Gospel, Jesus had to warn,

    For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18,19

  12. You will be surprised, and even disappointed, to learn that in some religions, the masses are only introduced to the basic teachings. The juicy content (very important teachings) called wisdom, secret, in-depth knowledge or esoteric are hidden from the public. Perhaps, persecution made some custodians to hide the juicy contents of sacred texts.

  13. God provides equal opportunities for all, but some people would like to lord it over others by intentional manipulation of the ignorance of the majority.

  14. God wants His children to be each full of light (knowledge, wisdom and love). Therefore, He made available numerous revelations and books about Himself and the universe, not wishing that His children wallow in ignorance and inability.

  15. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6
    The result is that some religions become like a basin of dirty water being turned over and over, and the light is never allowed to shine in. Many become pleased and comfortable with stagnation, without knowing it: some remain at the same level every day of their life, while some change from one ‘state’ to another at the same level, just like an ignorant student is pleased to move from JS1A, through JS1B, JS1C to JS1Z, instead of spiritually progressing from one level to a higher level.

  16. Unfortunately, some religions have not deemed it fit to investigate the truth or their beliefs as Jesus advised, “seek, and you will find.” Eventually, Science and Technology, through research and development, either disprove some teachings or uphold another. When that happens, some religious leaders quietly and tactfully re-adjust their teachings on issue they suppose to have spoken with authority and finality, like the old prophets.

  17. You discover that in truth, God is universal, and that no one religion can claim a complete knowledge and understanding of God. God is not defined by religion, and He is not confined to a particular church.

  18. The careful person who is desirous of finding God is therefore left to decide for himself what it means "to worship God in spirit and in truth". While some do so within a favourable and/or encouraging environment, those who are not so lucky encounter various forms of opposition, suppression, persecution or man’s inhumanity to man.

  19. Indeed, the United Nations is wise and courageous enough to declare and uphold fundamental human rights (including freedom of worship).

  20. To every individual, I say, you must continue to seek until you find, until you are able to know, serve and worship God in spirit and in truth. Otherwise, you may be practicing blind faith based on ignorance and assumptions. Hear the words of Jesus,

    21. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:23,24
The Glorious Truth

Step out of Your Self
into the Fullness of Life.

Step out of Your Locality
into the Universe.

Step out of Your Tribe
into the Brotherhood of Mankind.

Step out of Your Environment
into the Omnipresence of God.

Step out of Your Flesh
into Your Spirit Self.

Step out of Darkness that is ignorance
into the Light, which is knowledge.

Step out of Attachment
into Freedom.

Step out of Religion
into the Truth.

Step out of Time
into the Eternity.

Step out of Space
into Vastness.

Step out of Competition
into Co-operation.

Your true friend is the person
who tells you the truth.

The Parable Of The Glorious Messengers
         There was a nation of several tribes. Out of ignorance and selfishness, they often quarrelled among themselves. The Gods decided to help them out. Therefore, they selected a messenger for every tribe, from the midst of the wise ones. All the messengers were given the same message and doctrines for their respective tribes. The messengers went, delivered their messages and returned. Still the tribes quarreled among themselves. All because each thinks it is the best tribe, and no tribe was wise and humble enough to discover that all the tribes have one Almighty God and the same religion. So it is with the different religions of the world. Even so, Today!

The Unity Of All Religions                   In all these religions, there is no confusion or inter-religious condemnation; it is the ignorant religious leaders that condemn one another, because they compete for members and struggle for supremacy. But competition and power tussle are unnecessary, irrelevant and non-existent in the heavenly life. There is no need of competition. Instead, there is co-operation.
         True worship of God does not in any way supports or encourages paganism. Unfortunately, paganism, in one form or another, has crept into many of the religions and churches.