INTRODUCTION

The true religion is the first religion, the first religion is the religion
instituted by God Himself. All other religions are subordinate of the first
religion. Any religious doctrine or teaching that is against the true religion is
either a false religion or an altered religion. Aside the true religion, there is no
religion, there is no faith.

Despite in this book, we are going to study different religions, but I am

stating here as the 'MESSENGER' of 'TRUTH', there is just one religion.
Christianity, Islam, Tradition, Judaism, Hinduism, etc.; are not exactly
religions, they are just cultures, ordinary ways of life, different ways to
portray and adhere to the one religion. They are just like the means to an end
but not the end itself. The founders of these supposed religions, taught the
same message, adhered to just one and same religion, but in different ways
owing to culture, time, and natural selection. We focus more on their culture
and cared less about their messages and purpose, we admire the container but
discard the content, we emulate their life style, we focus so much on their
ways of life that we forget their message.

My country is so broken, my mother is sick, only you and I can fix her.
She is multi tribal, she has different languages, different cultures, different
beliefs and this gave rise to different forms of worship. This was her problem
before the white masters came, yes, they came with their guns and whips, but
they still came with their inks and sheets. They gave us enlightenment,
wisdom and understanding, they gave us sense of reasoning. COLONIZATION
gave us a common language ENGLISH, EDUCATION gave us a common culture
CIVILIZATION; SOCIALIZATION gave us a common stance WESTERNIZATION.
Our only problem now is the miscellany of beliefs, different RELIGIONS; but I
pray this book can cure her. Let us all join hands and feed her this medicine
because this malady has eaten deep down into her platelet. It has really cost
her a lot; she's an eagle but can no longer fly, BROKEN WINGS; she's a mother
but can no longer love, BROKEN HEART; she's Africa's greatest but can longer
move, BROKEN BONES. She's degenerated from being a mother to being a
toddler who doesn't know her left from right. She has become so confused
that she has grown so senseless, inhuman, and so insufferable just because
she does not know what to believe in, she does not know where to bow. The
1
worst is she has become vicious and has resorted to being ferocious; her only
mode of communication now is violence. She has lost her sense of
motherhood and penitence. It is high time she understood that what is just is
just, and one must endeavor to always do what is just no matter one's belief.
Everybody wants to be happy, we all hanker for harmony and tranquility, so
nobody should jeopardize another man's soothe just because of the things he
believes in, that’s what is right; that's what is just. No matter what we believe,
no matter where we genuflect, we should always endeavor to espouse love,
peace, and unity in the society that's what we stand for, that's what religion is
for. We should be more concerned with loving one another than scrutinizing
which religion is true, let’s leave the Almighty to decide that.

I AM THE 'MESSENGER' AND I HAVE WRITTEN.

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 Chapter 1

THE TRUE RELIGION

The true religion is the first religion; the first religion is the religion instituted
by God Himself. Every religion is subordinate to the first religion. Any
religious doctrine or teachings that is against the true religion is either a false
religion or an altered religion. Aside the true religion, there is no religion.
There is no faith.
Before we discuss which religion is true; it is better we first understand the
concept of the term ‘RELIGION’.

WHAT IS RELIGION
According to DICTIONARY.COM, religion is the belief in and worship of a God
or other superhuman agency. It also can be explained as a particular system of
belief.
According to WIKIPEDIA, it is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural
systems and world views that relate humanity to the supernatural.

HISTORY OF RELIGION
According to researchers, the history of religion cannot really be traced
because they believe that religion precedes human evolution. Evolutionists
believe that human's closest living relatives; common chimpanzees and
bonobos share a common ancestor with humans who lived between four to
six million years ago. Barbara king argues that while non-human primates are
not religious, they exhibit some traits that would have been necessary for the
evolution of religion. These traits include high intelligence, capacity of
symbolic communication, a sense of social norms; realization of "SELF" and a
concept of continuity.
There's inconclusive evidence that homo Neanderthalensis may have buried
their dead which is an evidence of use of rituals and burial rituals is evidence
3
of religious activity. Marc Bekoff professor emeritus of ecology and
evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, argues that many
species grieve their death and loss setting the stage for human religion.
Religious scholars believe that since religion is mainly communication or
interaction between humans and the super humans, human religion must
have originated after the origination of the language speaking era. They
believe that since language is a form or medium for communication, human
religions could not have originated till human started communicating
verbally. Since religion is all about singing, talking, dancing, recitations, and
incantations. As a communicator I believe that communication consists of
both verbal and non-verbal gestures. If religion is all about communication,
then man started being religious from its very existence because man started
communicating from its very existence. Man could not have survived without
communication and belief. If you pinch a newly born, it will cry. It means it is
trying to communicate to you it is not comfortable with the pinch and it cried
because it believed you'll understand the meaning of its cry so you'll stop
pinching; that is communication.
Most religions use tools and symbols, according to Lewis Wolport's argument,
casual beliefs emerged from tool use and it played a major role in evolution of
belief. Though cognitive scientists believe generally that religion is an
outgrowth of brain architecture that evolved early in human history and
though there is a disagreement on the exact mechanism that drove the
evolution of religious mind. The two main schools of thought hold that either
religion evolved due to natural selection and has selective advantage, or that
religion is an evolutionary by product of psychological mechanism that
evolved for other reasons such mechanisms may include agent detection,
etiology and the theory of mind. These three adaptations (among others)
allow human beings to imagine purposeful agents behind many observations
that could not readily be explained or otherwise example; thunder, lightning,
movement of the planets, complexity of life etc. I believe religion evolved from
human's realization of the existence of superhuman or supernatural agencies.
All men by nature desire to know so when things happen, they try to find out
what made them happen and why they happen because man believes that
things do not just happen without a cause. The questions they can answer
beyond reasonable doubts they call knowledge the ones they cannot answer
they call mystery questions like, where is the human soul, how did the planet
started moving, why do things happen in seasons and time, how does a single
simple sperm form a fetus then complex human being, man believes there has
to be someone who has answers to all these someone who isn't human. To
verify and solidify this belief, man tries as much as he can to get in touch with
4
the acclaimed Supreme Being.

Chapter 2

TYPES OF RELIGION
Religions today are grouped into three major groups:
 TAOIC RELIGIONS which comprise of CONFUCIANISM, SHINTO, JEUNG
SAN DO and TAOISM.
 INDIAN RELIGIONS which comprises of SIKKISM, JAINISM BUDDHISM and
HINDUISM.
 ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS which comprises of JUDAISM, ISLAM, and
CHRISTIANITY.
But there are other religions such as,

 CHEONDOISM: also spelled CHONDOISM in the north which literally mean

"Religion of the heavenly way" is a Korean religious movement founded by
CHOE JEU and codified under son Byeonghui in the 20th century. It has its
origin in the peasant rebellions which arose starting in 1812 during the
Joseon dynasty. Although Cheondoism is essentially Confucian in origin, it
incorporates elements of Korean nationalism, Taoism and Buddhism. It
places emphasis on personal cultivation, worldly social welfare but does
not believe in afterlife. Like most religion, it venerates heaven as the
ultimate principle of good and justice. Thus, Cheondoism rejects the notion
of an afterlife and instead works to create a paradise on earth through
peace, moral virtue, and Confucian propriety, while reforming society and
overcoming old, outdated customs in Korean society. As of 2005,
Cheondoism had about 1.13million followers and 280 churches in South
Korea and about 2.8million adherents in North Korea (12% of the
population).
 MAZDAKISM: Is a dualistic religion that rose to prominence in the late 5th
century in Iran from obscure origins. According to some scholars,
Mazdakism was a reform movement seeking an optimistic interpretation of
the Manichean dualism. Even though Mazdakism is believed to be founded
5
 by Mazdak, scholars believe Mazdakism existed before Mazdak, they
believe it was founded by Zaradust-ekhuragan. According to mazdakism,
there exist two original principles, GOOD (or light) and EVIL (or darkness).
Light act by free will and design; darkness blindly and by chance. By
accident, the two become mixed producing the world. There are three light
elements, water, fire, and earth. The god of light who is to be worshipped is
enthroned in paradise, having before him four powers- perception,
intelligence, memory, and joy. These rule over seven "viziers" and the
twelve "spiritual beings" identical with the seven planets of antiquity and
the twelve signs of zodiac. The four powers are united in man: the seven
and twelve control the world. Mazdakism believe that man should
endeavor to release the light in him in the world by his actions. This is
accomplished through moral conduct and ascetic life. He may not kill or eat
flesh; he is to be gentle, kind, hospitable and clement to foes.
 ECKANKAR: Is a monotheist religion founded by Paul Twitchell in the
United States in the year 1965. According to Eckankar glossary, the term
eckankar means co-worker with God. Eckankar is described as "religion of
the light and sound of God" It has also been described as "the ancient
science of sound travel" "the religion of new age" "the science of total
awareness" and "a way of life". In 2011, the Eckists changed its description
from "the religion of the light and sound of God" to "experience the light
and sound of God" Eckists refer to Eck as another word for the Holy spirit,
the audible life current, life force or light and sound of God. Linguistically
"Eckanckar" is derived from the "Ekankar" or "Ik Oankar" (sanskrit Eka
Omkara) a name for God given by Guru Nanak and the very first word of
the mul mantra (recited everyday by Sikhs). The word 'Ek' or 'Ik' is the
number one in Hindi, Urdu and Pafijabi. Although Eckankar was founded
by Paul Twitchell in 1965, Eckists understand that the basis of Eckankar
teachings dates back beyond the beginning of human existence. The leader
of Eckankar is known as the Mahanta, the living Eck master. He functions
as both an inner and outer guide for each member's individual spiritual
progress. Eckists believe that the soul which is the true self can leave the
body in full consciousness and travel freely in other planes of reality. They
call it "soul travel." They make use of mantras or chants to facilitate
spiritual growth. They sing or chant the "HU" which they view as a love
song to God. They regard dream as important teaching tool, so members
keep dream journals to facilitate study. They believe dream travel serves as
a gate way to soul travel. Their holy scripture is the "Shariyat-ki-sugmad"
which means "the way of the eternal" and it teaches karma, soul travel,
reincarnation, love, light, sound, and many other spiritual topics. The final
6
 spiritual goal of every Eckist is to become conscious co-worker with God.
There are about 500,000 Eckists in the world.
 CAODAISM: Is a relatively modern syncretistic monotheistic religion
officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, Southern Vietnam in 1926. The
religion's shortened name is Dao Cao Dai, but its full name is Dai Dao
Tamky Pho Do. (Great religion of the third period of Revelation and
Salvation). Cao means "High" and Dai means "Dais" (as in a platform or
alter raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person
on it. So, Cao Dai figuratively means the highest spiritual place where God
reigns. The three teachings of the Caodaiists are saint, sage, and Buddha.
They believe God is the founder of the religion and the teachings,
symbolism and organization were communicated directly from God. They
believe that even the construction of the Tay Ninh holy see had divine
guidance. Cao Dai's first disciples Ngo Van Chieu, Cao Quynh Cu, Pham
Cong Tac and Cao Hoai Sang, claimed to have received direct
communications from God who gave them explicit instructions for
establishing a new religion that would commence the third era of religious
amnesty. Adherents engage in ethical practices such as prayer, veneration
of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism, with the minimum goal of
rejoining God in heaven and the ultimate goal of freedom from the cycle of
birth and death. The have about two to three million adherents in Vietnam.
 FALUN GONG or FALUN DAFA: literally means "Dharma Wheel Practice"
or "Law Wheel Practice". It is a spiritual discipline first introduced in china
in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzi through public lectures. It combines the
practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercise with a moral
philosophy. Falun Gong teaches morality and the cultivation of virtue in its
central tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. It practices
qigong of the Buddhist school and some teachings from Taoist traditions.
Practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to better health and ultimately spiritual
enlightenment through moral rectitude and meditation. In as much as
Falun Gong is a religious body, in October 1999 the Chinese government
declared it "heretical organization" and blocked all internet access to its
website. Human right group reported that Falun Gong practitioners in
china are subject to a wide range of human right abuses and hundreds of
thousands were imprisoned extra judicially. The practitioners in detention
were subjected to forced labor, torture, psychiatric abuse, and other
coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities.
Despite the suppressions, millions continued to practice Falun Gong and
hundreds of thousands are believed to practice it outside china across
some 70 countries worldwide.
7
 SCIENTOLOGY: The word scientology is a pairing of the Latin "knowledge"
and the Greek word "logos" scientology is coined from the Latin word
"Scio" which means "knowing in the fullest meaning of the word" and
Greek word "logos" which means "the study of" Scientology is therefore
defined as "the study and handling of the spirits in relationship with itself,
universes and other life. Allen upward in 1901 coined scientology "as a
disparaging term, to indicate a blind, unthinking acceptance of scientific
doctrine. Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L
Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) in 1952, as successor to his earlier self-help
system dynasty. Hubbard characterized scientology as a religion, and
scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten
their true nature. It is method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of
counseling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-
experience painful or traumatic events in their past to free themselves of
their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are given to
members in return for special donations. Scientology is recognized as a tax-
exempt religion in the United States, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand, Sweden, Portugal, and Spain. Church of scientology uses this as a
proof that it is a bona fide religion even though it does not have a
comparable religious status in Canada, France, Germany, and United
Kingdom. Church of scientology sponsors some social service program like
Narconon antidrug programs, Criminon prison rehabilitation program etc.
its set of moral guidelines are expressed in a booklet called " The Way of
Happiness." The church of scientology is one of the most controversial new
religious movements to have risen in the 20th century. It has often been
accused as being a cult that engages in brain washing, financially defrauds
and abuses its members charging exorbitant fees for its spiritual services
and that some of its teachings are not revealed to its practitioners until
they have paid thousands of dollars to the church. But the church has
consistently used litigations against its critics arguing that it is a genuine
religious movement that has been misrepresented, maligned and
persecuted. Scientology believes that souls (thetans) reincarnate and they
have lived before on other planets before living on earth. They also believe
that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be
abolished. Scientology has about 500000 adherents.
 RASTAFARIANISM: The Rastafari movement is an African based spiritual
ideology that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica. It is sometimes described as a
religion but is considered by its adherents as a way of life. The Rastafari is
taken from Ras Tafari, the title (Ras) and the first name (Tafari Makonnen)
of Haile Selassie 1, before the coronation. The Rastas worship the Haile
8
 selassie 1 the emperor of Ethiopia who ruled from 1930 - 1974 some as
Jesus in his second advent and some as God the father. In Amharic, Ras
literally "Head" an Ethiopian title equivalent to duke and Tafari or Teferi
means man who is to be feared or a hero. "Jah" is the poetical and the
biblical name of God from the shortened form of Jehovah. Most Rastas see
Haile Selassie 1 as "Jah" or "Jah Rastafari" who is the second coming of
Jesus Christ on earth, but others see him as simply God's chosen king on
earth. Many elements of Rastafari originated from Jamaica, which is
predominantly with a Christian culture. Rastafari hold to Christian beliefs
and accepts the existence of a single God called Jah, who sent his son on
earth in the form of Jesus and Selassie. Rastas believe in much of the bible,
although they believe that some of its message has possibly been
corrupted. Some on purpose while some by mistranslations. They promote
the spiritual use of cannabis and reject the degenerate society of
materialism, oppression and sensual pleasures called Babylon. Rastafaris
proclaim Zion and reference to Ethiopia, the original birthplace of mankind
and from the beginning of the way of life repatriates to Zion, the Promised
Land and Heaven on earth. Rastafari is not a highly organized way of life.
Many Rastafaris do not claim any sect or denomination; they therefore
encourage one another to find faith and inspiration within themselves
although some identify strongly with one of the mansions of rastafari e.g.
The Nyahbinghi, The bobo Ashanti, The twelve tribes of Israel etc. The
Rastafari movement spread throughout the world majorly through reggae
music especially through the major international success of Jamaican
singer/songwriter Bob Marley. By 1997 according to estimate, there are
about one million Rastafari faithful worldwide. In 2001 Jamaican census,
20,020 individuals identified themselves as Rastafari.
 UNITARIANISM: Is a religious theological movement named for its
understanding of God as one person contrasting Trinitarianism which
defines God as three persons co-existing consubstantially as one being.
Unitarians argue that main-line Christianity does not adhere to
monotheism as they do. They maintain that Jesus was a prophet and in
some sense the son of God but not God Himself. Besides trinity, Unitarians
rejects several protestant doctrines including soteriological doctrines of
"Original Sin" and "Predestination" and biblical inerrancy. J Gordon Melton
classified it among the liberal family of churches. The first Unitarian church
in England was established in 1774 on Essex Street, London where today's
British Unitarian headquarters are still located. Unitarians believe that
Jesus never pre-existed his human body, they believe Jesus began his life
when he was born as human. Some Unitarians believe that Jesus because of
9
 his greatness and righteousness was adopted by God as his son while some
believe that Jesus literally became the son of God when he was conceived
by the Holy Spirit. There are about 800,000 Unitarians in the world.

 SPIRITISM: Spiritist doctrine is a system or phenomena of having a

common general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a wider
view, Spiritism is a doctrine founded upon the existence, manifestations,
and teachings of the spirit. It compiled by Allan Kardac a French educator
in the 19th century. Spiritism has spread to today other countries having
35 representative countries in the international Spiritists council with
Brazil having the most significant number of adherents. The name
Spiritism was first used by Hippolyta Leon Denizard Rivail to specify its
teachings. The book of Spiritism is presently, The spirits' book, The
mediums' book, The gospel according to Spiritism, Heaven and Hell, The
genesis according to Spiritism. In the book, "what is Spiritism" it is clearly
defined that Spiritism is a "science that deals with the nature, origin and
destination of spirits and their relationship with the corporeal world."
Kardec in the publication of the "The spirits' book" clearly distinguished
spiritualism and spiritism. Spiritualism to various religions, philosophies
and others is simply the opposite of materialism but Spiritism is a
spiritualist philosophy understood as a doctrine of scientific-philosophical-
religious-oriented moral improvement of the human being. Spiritism is
based on the five books of the Spiritist codification written by Hippolyta
Leon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan kardac séances in which
he observed a series of phenomena that were attributed to spirits. they
believe that spirits are not abstract undefined beings only to be conceived
by our thought, but a real circumscribed being which in certain cases is
appreciable by the sense of sight, hearing and touch. They believe in
reincarnation and re-birth of human life. They believe that when someone
dies, the spirit goes back to the spirit world and the soul again finds there
all that it has known on earth and all its former existences eventually
comes back to its memory with the remembrance of all the good and evil
which it has done and which was done to it. So they teach seriously the
golden rule of do good to all and evil to no one because you don't know
who you'll meet in the spirit world and they use Jesus as the greatest moral
example for humankind. They have about 15million adherents.
 TENRIKYO: Is a monotheistic religion that originated from a supposed
revelation to a 19th century Japanese woman named Nakayama Miki
known as Oyasama by her followers. Her followers, who believe God's
10
 name is Tenri-o-no-Mikoto, believe that He expressed a divine will through
Nakayama's role as the shrine of God and to a lesser extent the roles of the
Honseki Izo Iburi and other leaders. Tenrikyo's worldly aim is to teach and
promote the joyous life which is cultivated through acts of charity and
mindfulness called Hinokishin. Tenrikyo has about 16,833 locally managed
churches in Japan, the Jiba in in Tenri city, the Oyasato-Yakata and many
other community-focused organizations. It has about 1.75million followers
in Japan and is estimated to have over 2million followers world-wide.
Tenrikyo is classified as Shinskuyo (religious movement) because it was
founded in 19th century. The most basic teaching in Tenrikyo is
Kashimono-Karimono, officially translated as "A thing lent, A thing
borrowed." The thing they lend and borrow in this teaching is the human
body. They think their minds as something under their control, but their
bodies not completely under their control. The joyous life in Tenrikyo is
defined as charity and abstention from greed, selfishness, hatred, anger,
and arrogance. Negative tendencies are not known as sins in Tenrikyo but
as a "dust" that can be swept away from the mind through Hinokishin and
ritual. They do not see Hinokishin as a voluntary effort of desire to appear
selfless but as gratitude kashimono-karimono and Shugo (providence).
They believe that Tenri-o-no-Mikito is the creator and caring parent of all
mankind, they also believe that the universe is the body of God. The
ultimate spiritual aim of Tenrikyo is to construct the Karondai, a divinely
ordained pillar in an axis mundi called the Jiba and to correctly perform the
kagura ritual around the Karondai which required the salvation of all
humanity. They call the idea of Jiba as the origin of all earthly creation
Moto-no-ri. They make a pilgrimage to Jiba and call it a return. Tenrikyo
understands the nature of God at three levels, first the kami which is God as
understood in everyday terms; the second is Tsukihi (meaning the
moonsun) or God as the creator of nature and natural laws and the third
Oya (parent) that is God as parent of human beings.
 ZOROASTRIANISM: also called Mazdaism or Magianism is an ancient
Iranian religion and religious philosophy which was once the state
Achaemenid and Sassanid Empire. In the eastern part of ancient Persia
over a thousand years BCE, a religious philosopher called Zoroaster
simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods into two opposing forces:
AHURA MAZDA (illuminating wisdom) and ANGRA MAINYU (destructive
spirits) which were in conflict with each other. His ideas led to a formed
religion bearing his name in about 6th century BCE. In Zoroastrianism, the
creator Ahura Mazda is all good with no evil. They believe that good and
evil have two distinct sources with evil (druj) trying to destroy the good
11
 creation of Mazda (Asha) and good trying to sustain it. Ahura Mazda has
two attributes in avestan language, Ahura meaning "BEING" and Mazda
meaning "MIND." thus describing Zoroastrianism as the belief in immanent
self-creating universe with consciousness as its special attribute. The
religion teaches that doing good ensures happiness and keeps chaos at bay.
The religion believes that although good and bad are in conflict, a time shall
come when Ahura Mazda will prevail over the evil angra mainyu and the
universe will undergo a cosmic renovation and time will end. They believe
that in the final renovation, that all creation even the souls of the dead that
were initially banished to "Darkness" will be reunited with in Ahura Mazda,
returning to life in the undead form. They believe that at the end of time, a
savior-figure (asaoshyant) will bring about a final renovation of the world
they call it "frashokereti" and the time the dead will be revived. They
believe that water and fire are respectively the second and last primordial
elements to be created with fire having its origin in the waters and both
agents or ritual purity. They consider fire as the medium through which
spiritual insights and wisdom is gained and water the source of that
wisdom. They have about 2.6million adherents.
 BAHAI RELIGION: Baha’i faith is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the
spiritual unity of all humankind. Their teachings are based on three core
principles: 1 The unity of God, that there is only one God who is the source
of all creation; 2 The unity of religion, that all major religions have the
same spiritual source and come from the same God and 3 The unity of
mankind, that all humans are created equal that the diversity of race and
culture should just be appreciated and accepted because only God knows
why He chose it to be so. According to their teachings, the human purpose
is just to learn how to know and love God through prayer, reflection, and
good services to humankind. The bahai faith was founded by "Baha’u’llah
from Tehran in the 19th century in Persia. He was exiled from Persia to the
Ottomam Empire because of his teachings and he died officially as a
prisoner. After his death, his son Abdul-Baha took leadership and helped
spread the religion from its Persian and ottoman roots to Europe, America,
and consolidated Iran. Even though it still suffers intense persecution when
the son died, the leadership of Baha’i faith evolved from a single individual
to an administrative order with both elected bodies and appointed
individuals. The Baha’i faith was considered to be the second most
widespread religion aside Christianity residing in more than 100,000
localities around the world with about 2,100 different ethnic and tribal
groups represented. Despite its turbulent history and fast widespread, it
still maintains its unity. It has successfully resisted perennial impulse to
12
 divide into sects and subgroups. The word Baha’i is not a noun but coined
from Arabic word baha which means "glory" or "splendor" and can be used
only as an adjective to refer to Baha’i faith or a follower of Baha’u’llah.
Baha’i faith has about 6-7million adherents in about 200 countries in the
world.

Chapter 3
TAOIC RELIGIONS
 CONFUCIANISM: Is an ethical and philosophical system or religion
developed from the teachings of a Chinese philosopher Kong Fuzi also
known as Kung-Fu-Tzu which literally means "Master Kong." He was born
in 551bc and he died in 479bc. Many people do not regard Confucianism as
a religion because they do not believe in any God or afterlife. Their
teachings basically center on humanism. Their spiritual concern only
focuses on the world and family, but some people still consider it as a
religion because their founder is a staunch believer of rituals. Kong Fuzi's
name was later Latinized to Confucius that's where Confucianism came
from. Confucians' practices are; "YEN" which is the obligation of altruism
and humaneness for other individuals; "YI" which is the upholding of
righteousness and moral disposition to do good and "LI" which is the
system of norms and propriety that determines how someone should
properly act in everyday life. Confucians believe strongly that if necessary,
either passively or actively, one should give up one's life, for the sake of
upholding the cardinal normal values of Ren and YI. Lately, Confucianism’s
influence has been vastly reduced and only a few identify themselves as
Confucians because people do not see it as religion but as guideline for
other ideologies and beliefs.
 JEUNGSANISM: "Teaching of the mountain maturity" is a new religious
movement founded in South Korea in 1974. It is known for a universal
message, millenarianism, and a method of healing meditation. It is
primarily based on the teachings of Gang Ti- Sun (chuugsan kong), an early
20th century religious leader described by his followers as the incarnation
and personification of Sangjenim, the governing spirit of the universe.
Jeungsanism has its roots in the ancient beliefs of Korean shamanism. Its
central text "the Dojeon" was first published in Korea in 1992. According to
Jeungsanism teachings, humanity lives in pivotal age, humankind has
13
 existed in conflict, and people achieve their goal at the expense of others.
Strife has been a natural mode of growth, but they will change. The word
Jeung means "To bring maturity" and san means "mountain" the phrase
Jeung san signifies completion, maturation, and harmony.
 SHINTO: which literally means "the way of the gods" is the indigenous
faith of the Japanese people. It is as old as Japan itself and remains Japan's
major religion alongside Buddhism. Shinto doesn't have a founder, nor
does it have a sacred scripture, it does not have propaganda or preaching
because it's deeply rooted in Japanese people and traditions. Shinto gods
are called "KAMI" they are believed to be sacred spirits which form of
things and concepts important to life, such as wind, rain, mountains, trees,
rivers, and fertility. In Shinto, humans become kami after they died and are
revered by their family as ancestral kami. The kami of extraordinary
people are enshrined at some shrine. The sun goddess amaterasu is the
most important kami in Shinto. Some prominent rocks are even
worshipped as kami. In contrast to monotheist religions, they do not
believe in absolutes. There is no absolute right or wrong, nobody is perfect.
They believe that humans are fundamentally good, that the evils done by
human are caused by evil spirits, so they perform rituals to keep away evil
spirits by purification, prayers, and offerings to kami. Their place of
worship called Shinto shrine; they celebrate festivals (matsuri) regularly to
show kami to the outside world. They have about 4million adherents in the
world.
 TAOISM: Modernly known as Daoism is a philosophical and a religious
tradition that teaches living in harmony with the Tao or Dao. The term Tao
means "way" or "path" or "principle" and can be found in Chinese
philosophies and religions other than Taoism. Tao in Taoism signifies
something that is both the source and the driving force behind everything
that exists. It is ultimately ineffable; the Tao that could be told they believe
is not the eternal Tao. The philosophical foundation of Taoism is based on
the writings of Zhuanzgi together with Tao Te Ching which is a concise and
ambiguous book containing teachings attributed to Laozi. Taoists revere
Laozi, immortals, or ancestors along with a variety of divination and
exorcism rituals, and practices for achieving ecstasy, longevity, or
immortality. They believe in three treasures: compassion, moderation, and
humility. It is traditionally believed that Taoism was founded by Laozi even
though there is still a debate whether he existed or not. The first organized
form of Taoism, The Tianshi (celestial masters') school later known as
(Zhengyi School) was founded by Zhang Daoling who claimed Laozi
appeared to him in the year 142. The school developed from the five pecks
14
 of rice movement and was officially recognized by ruler Cao Cao in 215.
Taoists believe that Human beings are the microcosm of the universe and
comprise the five elements in form of the Zang-Fu organs, so a deeper
understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself.

Chapter 4
INDIAN RELIGIONS
 SIKHISM: Commonly known as Sikhi is a monotheistic religion founded
during the 15th century by Guru Nanak in the Punjab region and continued
to progress through the ten Sikh gurus. Its holy scripture is called the guru
grant sahib and it is the last Sikh guru. It is the fifth largest organized
religion in the world with about 23milion Sikhs. Sikhism has been
traditionally known as Gurmat which literally means "Wisdom of the guru."
Sikhs are taught to be saint-soldiers; they must have control over their
internal vices and must constantly immerse themselves in the virtues
clarified in the guru grant sahib. They believe in Waheguru which means
one God, who prevails in everything along with a praxis in which the Sikh is
enjoined to engage in social reform through the pursuit of justice for all
human beings. Sikhi teaches that God is Akal Purakh which means eternal
and advocates the pursuit of salvation in a social context through
congregation practice of meditation on the name and message of God. The
sacred shrine for Sikhs popularly known as the golden temple is the
Harimandir sahib. Guru Namak summed up the teachings of Sikhi that
"realization of the truth is higher than everything, but still is truthful
living." Sikhs believe that all human are equal, so they reject all forms of
discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and gender. They also believe in
living life as a householder. They call God Vahiguru which means God is
shapeless, timeless sightless and is unable to be seen with just physical
eyes. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1
which signifies the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent
and infinite with power over everything and is signified with by the term
Ek Oakar. They believe that before creation all that existed was god and his
will/order (hukam). They believe that the entire cosmos was when God

15
 willed, and god nurtured "enticement and attachment" to the human
perception of reality from the beginning. Nanak described God as
unknowable that the full understanding of God is beyond human
intelligence and God omnipresent in all creation and is visible everywhere
to those who are spiritually alert. He emphasized that God can only be seen
from the "inward eye" or the "heart" so humans have to meditate regularly
if we want to see God. Finally, the Sikhs teachings are found not on a
destination to heaven or hell, but on a spiritual union with God which can
be gotten through salvation. They therefore believe in living in freedom not
as slaves or oppressed.

 JAINISM: Traditionally known as Jaina Dharma is an Indian religion that

believes in a path of non-violence towards all living being and teaches
spiritual independence and equality between all forms of life. Practitioners
believe that they can obtain liberation from the cycle of reincarnation
through non-violence and self-control. Jainism is one of the oldest religions
of the world; it represents the tradition of ancient India and is connected
by some to the Indus valley civilization. Its history is traced through a
succession of twenty-four propagators of the faith known as "tirthankara"
with Adinatha as the first and Mahavira as the last tirthankara. For long
period of time Jainism was the state religion of Indian kingdoms and was
widely adopted in the Indian sub-continent but has been in decline since
the 8th century BCE due to the growth of, and oppression by the followers
of Hinduism and Islam. Jainism is now a religious minority in India with
just about 4.2milion followers but there are small notable immigrant
communities in Belgium, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and United
states. Jains have the highest degree of literacy for a religious community in
India and their manuscript libraries are the oldest in the country. The
founder of Jainism cannot really be pointed out because in history Parshva
is the earliest tirthankara that can be reliably dated, he lived in 9th century
BCE and tradition says Mahavira's parents followed his teachings but Jain
tradition unanimously made Rishabha the first tirthankara and its founder.
However, Mahavira became one of the the most influential teachers of
Jainism in the 6th century BCE, he built up large group of disciples who
learned and followed his teachings. They called him Jina which literally
means conqueror and referred themselves as Jains which means followers
of Jina and that's where Jainism came from. Jainism is divided into two
major sects, Digambara and Svetambara. Digambara monks do not wear
clothes because they believe clothes like other possessions increase
dependency and desire for material things which ultimately leads to
16
 sorrow. But their females are permitted to wear white and are referred to
as Aryikas. On the other hand, Svetambara wear seamless white clothes for
practical reasons and believe there is nothing in the scriptures that
condemns wearing of clothes. Their men are called Munis while their
women are called Sadvi, the feminine of sadhu. The Digambara believe that
Mahavira didn't marry, whereas Svetambara believe that Mahavira
married a woman who bore him a daughter. The two sects also differ on
the origin of Mata Trishala, Mahavira's mother. Digambara believe that
only the first five lines are formally part of the Narmokar Mantra (the main
Jaina prayer) whereas the Svetambara believe that all nine form the
mantra. Jainism core teachings base on non-violence and self-control and
their ascetics undertake five major vows
 Ahimsa which means non-violence
 Satya which means truthfulness
 Asteya which means non-stealing
 Brahmacharya which means celibacy
 Aparigraha which means non-possessiveness.

 BUDDHISM: Is an Indian indigenous religion that encompasses a variety of

traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on the teachings of
Siddhartha Gautama who is commonly known as the "Buddha" which
means "the awakened one." Gautama lived and taught in the eastern part of
the Indian continent sometime between the 6th and 4th BCE. He is
recognized by Buddhists as an enlightened teacher who shared his insights
to help sentient beings end their suffering (dukkha) through the
elimination of ignorance (avidya) by way of understanding and the seeing
of dependent origination and the elimination of craving and thus the
attainment of cessation of all suffering known as the sublime state of
nirvana. Buddhism has two major branches theravada (the school of
elders) which can be found in Sri Lanke and south Asia (Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, Myanma etc) and Mahayana (the great vehicle) which can be
found throughout east Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore,
Taiwan etc.). In as much as Buddhism is most popular in Asia, both
branches can be found throughout the world. Buddhists are estimated to
be about 376milion in the world. It is one of the fasted growing religions in
the world. Buddhists tradition and practices are built on three jewels (1)

17
 BUDDHA (the awakened one) (2) DHARMA (the teachings) and (3) the
SANGHA (the community). To be on the Buddhist path, one must take
refuge in the triple gem. It is the Buddhists’ tradition and commitment and
the only thing that distinguishes a Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Other
practices may include ethical precepts, support of the monastic
community, renouncing conventional living, becoming a monastic and the
development of mindfulness and practice of meditation, cultivation of a
higher wisdom and discernment, study of scriptures, devotional practices,
and ceremonies and in Mahayana tradition, the invocation of Buddhas and
bodhisattvas. Buddhists believe in living a life without egoism, and the only
way to attain that kind of life is through the four immeasurable minds of
love, compassion, joy and equanimity they call it Brahmaviharas. The four
immeasurables are taught as a form of meditation that cultivates
"wholesome attitude towards all sentient beings. Another important
guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the "middle way" or "middle path"
it was said to have been discovered by Gautama before his enlightenment.
And they have three marks of existence which are impermanence, suffering
and not-self. Buddhists have an important part of metaphysics which states
that phenomena arise together in a mutually inter-dependent web of cause
and effect. They call it dependent arising or dependent origination or
conditioned genesis or co-arising or inter-dependent arising or
contingency. They believe in emptiness of being. Buddhists believe that
Siddhartha Gautama is not the only Buddha because according to Buddhist
traditions, a Buddha is a fully awakened being who has completely purified
his mind of three poisons of desire, aversion, and ignorance. A Buddha is
no longer bound by samsara and has ended the suffering which un-
awakened people experience in life. In Buddhism, there are about 28
Buddhas except in Mahayama where celestial Buddhas are added.
 HINDUISM: Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest religion.
It consists of thousands of different religious groups that evolved in India
since 1500BCE. It is the world's third largest religion with about 900milion
followers about 14% of the world's population. It is the majority religion of
the Indian subcontinent particularly Nepal and India. It includes Shaivism,
Vaishnavism and Sranta among numerous other traditions based on karma
and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorization of distinct intellectual or
philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid common set of beliefs. It
consists of many diverse traditions. It has no single founder, it has no
specific theological system, it has no single concept of deity, it is
henotheistic in nature, and it has no single holy text, no single system of
morality, no central religious authority and no concept of a prophet. Hindu
18
text is divided into Sruti (revealed) and Smiriti (remembered) texts. The
word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindu which is the historic
local appellation for the Indian River in the north-western part of the
Indian subcontinent. The word Hindu was borrowed by European
languages from the Arabic term al-hind, referring to the land of the people
who live across the river Indus. Hindu philosophers regard human as an
immortal soul encased in a perishable body and bound by action or karma
to a cycle of endless existences. According to Muasse, reincarnation is a
fundamental principle of virtually all religions formed in India’s
subcontinent. Hinduism today is divided into four: Vaishnavism, Shaivism,
Smartism and Shaktism. Sine Hinduism is viewed as the most complex and
oldest of all living, historical world religions, it is therefore best defined as
religious traditions. One peculiar characteristic of Hinduism is that
conceives all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions
which will imply a division of identity. It grants absolute and complete
freedom of worship and belief. It is devoid of apostasy, heresy, and
blasphemy. The oldest scripture and the mainstay of Hindu philosophy is
the Rig Veda.

19
 Chapter 5
ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
 JUDAISM: Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish
people. It is the first monotheistic religion. It originated in the Middle East
about 3,500 years ago. Moses is the main founder of Judaism though Jewish
people can trace their history back as far as Abraham. 6million Jews were
murdered in the holocaust in an attempt to wipe out Judaism. Jews believe
they have a special covenant with God because of all the good things He has
done for them. The Jews try as best as they can to keep God's laws and try
to bring holiness into every aspect of their lives. Judaism is a faith of action
and the Jews believe that people should not be judged by what they believe
but by how much they contribute to make the world a holy and a better
place. The most holy Jewish book is the Torah (the five books of the
Hebrew bible) which is believed to be revealed to Moses by God on Mount
Sinai over 3,000 years ago. The Torah together with the Talmud gives the
Jews rule for everyday life. They believe that the Torah and the Jewish laws
are divine, eternal, and unalterable should be strictly followed. They
worship in synagogues and their religious leader is called "rabbi" which
literally means "teacher". They value family and community a lot. The most
important day of the week is the Shabbat (Sabbath) day. It is the day the
Jews remember the seventh day on which God rested. It starts on Friday
evening and end at sun set on Saturday. They observe festivals like.
 PESACH (Passover)
 ROSH HASHANAH (New Year)
20
 YOM KIPPUR (the Day of Atonement)
 HANUKKAH (the festival of lights)
Judaism is not a homogenous religion it embraces a number of streams and
views. History holds that before, special courts enforced Jewish laws, today
these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. In
2010, the world Jewish population was estimated to be about 13.4million
that is about 0.2% of the world's population.
 ISLAM: Islam is a verbal noun that originated from the trilateral root S-L-M
which forms a large class of words that mostly mean the concept of peace,
safeness, and wholeness. But religiously Islam means "voluntary
submission to God." It is a monotheistic religion that is based on the
teachings and normative examples (Sunnah composed of hadith) of
Prophet Muhammad, considered by Muslims to be the last prophet God.
The adherents of Islam are called Muslims. They believe that God is one
and incomparable and the only reason why we exist is to love and serve
Him. Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that
was revealed at many times and places before, including through Abraham,
Moses, and Jesus whom they consider as prophets. They believe that the
previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or
altered over time. They believe that the Arabic Quran is both the unaltered
and the last revelation of God. Islam is the second largest religion and one
of the fastest growing religions in the world with about 1.3billion followers
that is about 23% of the earth's population. The largest Muslim-majority
country in the world is Indonesia with about 13% of all Muslims. 25% live
in south Asia, 20% in the Middle East and 15% in sub-Saharan Africa. But
sizeable minorities are found in China, Russia, and the Americas. Converts
and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world.
The place where Muslims worship is called mosque. Muslims are of two
denominations, Sunni which comprises of about 75%-90% of Muslims and
Shia which contain about 10%-25% of Muslims. Muslims believe Islam was
instituted by God Himself because the Quran contain verses like "Whoever
God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam" and "Today I have
perfected your religion for you, I have completed my blessings upon you, I
have approved Islam for your religion." Muslims believe so much in the
oneness of God, in chapter 112 of the Quran it says "He is God, the eternal,
absolute; He begotteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is no one like unto
Him (112:1-4). That is Islam with Judaism repudiate the Christian doctrine
of the trinity and the divinity of Jesus. They compare it to polytheism. Islam
teaches that God is beyond comprehension and Muslims are prohibited to
21
 visualize or describe God. They believe that everything in the universe was
brought into being by God's sheer command 'Be' and 'So it is'. They believe
in angels, that angels are messengers of God and are made of light and
wings. They believe that angels have no free will they worship God and do
whatever He says. According to Islam, angels' works are communicating
God's revelations to man, recording every person's actions, and taking a
person's soul at the time of death. The verses of Muslims' holy book 'Quran'
are believed by them are revealed to Muhammad by angel Gabriel and
were written down by his companions. The Quran is divided into 114
chapters (Suras) and contain 6,236 verses (Ayat). Muslims believe that
previous revelations from God were misinterpreted or altered during
translation, so they view the Quran in its original language which is Arabic.
Muslims believe in prophets, resurrection, and judgment day. They believe
in predestination, that God has knowledge and control over all that occurs.
So, anything that happens is as God wants it. The five pillars of Islam are,
*SHAHADAH (creed)
*SALAT (daily prayers)
*ZAKAH (alms giving)
*HAJJ (pilgrimage to mecca at least once in a lifetime)
*Fasting During Ramadan
They have Islamic law called the Sharia law. They believe that a man can
marry more than one wife but not more than four. Their females cannot marry
except a Muslim; their religious leaders are called Imam. Muhammad started
Islam in Saudi Arabia and he died at the age of 62years.
*CHRISTIANITY: Is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the life
and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in canonical gospels and other
writings like the new and old testaments. Adherents of the Christian faith are
called Christians. They believe that Jesus is the son of God, fully divine and
fully human. They believe he is the savior of humanity prophesied in the Old
Testament. They call Jesus, Christ, or Messiah. The foundation of Christian
theology is expressed in the early ecumenical creeds which state that Jesus
suffered, died and was buried, resurrected from the dead in order to grant
eternal life to those who believe in him and trust in him for the remission of
their sins. Christians believe that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven where he
rules and reign with God the father. Most Christian denominations teach that
Jesus will return to judge all humans living and dead and grant eternal life to

22
his followers. Jesus's ministry, crucifixion and resurrection are referred to as
"gospel" meaning "good news". He is believed to be the model of a virtuous
life, the man that lived without sin. Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the
mid-1st century in the Levant region of the Middle East (now Palestine and
Israel). From there it spread to Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and Egypt. It
grew in size and influence that by the end of 4th century, it became the official
state church of the Roman Empire, replacing other forms of religion practiced
under Roman rule. Christianity spread to other parts of the world through
missionary work and colonization. Christianity played a prominent role in
shaping western civilization. The three largest groups of Christianity are, (1)
The Roman Catholic Church, (2) The Eastern Orthodox Church and (3) various
denominations of Protestantism. The Roman Catholic Church and the eastern
orthodox patriarchates split from one another in the schism of the 11th
century and Protestantism came into existence during the reformation of the
16th century, splitting from the Roman Catholic Church. Christianity is the
world's largest religion with about 2.1billion adherents. Christians believe and
keep the Ten Commandments which are a set of biblical principles relating to
ethics and worship. They include instructions to worship God and keep the
Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry, murder, blasphemy, theft, adultery
etc.; though Jesus summarized all to love; the Love of God and love of human.
[Matthew 22: 34-40]. Christians believe Jesus is God. They believe Jesus is God
in human form. God became fully human, suffered the pains and temptations
man suffer but did not sin. As God, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and
was born through a virgin "the virgin Mary". Christians believe that Christ is
the way, the truth, and the life. They believe salvation can only come through
Jesus Christ. They believe in trinity that is, God as one God, comprises three
distinct, eternally co-existing persons: The Father, The Son [incarnate in Jesus
Christ] and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are still one and the same
God. According to Christian doctrine, the Trinity represents both the immense
and transcendence of God though some Protestants in the 18th and 19th
century disagree with the doctrine of the "Trinity". Christians' holy book is
called "Holy Bible". Christians worship in the church and most Christians
worship on Sunday except a few who believe the Sabbath day is on Saturday
and they therefore worship on Saturday. They observe once a year the "Holy
Week" which includes "Good Friday" the supposed day Jesus died and "Easter
Sunday" the supposed day He resurrected. The teachings and beliefs of
Christians are based on the birth, death, resurrection, ascension and the
second coming of Jesus Christ. Christians believe Jesus will come again at the
end of time. They believe in heaven and hell and most importantly they
believe in life after death.

23
 Chapter 6

TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS
 CHINESE FOLK RELIGION: Is used to describe the ethnic tradition which
comprises the historic belief systems among Han Chinese ethnic groups up
to the present day. They include Chinese mythology and worship of Shems
['deities', 'spirits', 'awareness', 'consciousness' 'archetypes']. It can be
nature deities, clan deities, city deities, natural deities, cultural heroes and
demigods, dragons, and ancestors. Chinese folk religion is sometimes seen
as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion with about 454million
adherents or about 6.6% of the world's population. It is one of the major
religious traditions in the world. In China, more than 30% of the
population adheres to Chinese folk religion. Chinese religion mirrors the
social landscape and takes different meaning to different people. Despite
the fact the government has attempted to eradicate these practices as
'superstitious', yet they are currently experiencing a modern revival in the
Chinese states.
 TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGION: Is the indigenous religious beliefs
and practices of the African people. Generalization of these traditional
religions is difficult because of the diversity of African cultures but they
have some characteristics in common. Generally, they are oral than
spiritual, they all believe in a supreme being, believe in spirits and other
divinities, veneration of ancestors and they all use magic and traditional
medicine. They believe that the purpose of humanity is to harmonize
nature with the supernatural. Traditional African religion has been passed
24
 down from one generation to another orally and can be found through art,
rituals and festivals, believe and customs, names of people and places,
songs and dances, proverbs and myths. Adherence to traditional religion in
Africa is hard to estimate due to syncretism with Christianity and Islam but
practitioners are estimated to number about a 100million that is about
10% of the population. Practitioners of traditional religions in sub-Saharan
Africa are distributed among 43 countries were estimated to number about
90million.

SOME WEST-AFRICAN TRADIONAL RELIGIONS

 THE AKAN RELIGION: The Akan people of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire believe
in a supreme god who takes on various names depending on the region of
worship. Akan mythology claims that at one time, the god interacted with
man, but after being continually struck by the pestle of an old woman
pounding Fufu, a traditional food, he moved into the sky. There are no
priests that serve him directly because the people believe that they can
make direct communications with him. There are also numerous spirits
(abosoun), who receive their power from the supreme god and are most
often connected to the world as it appears in its natural states. These
include ocean and riverine spirits and other various local deities. Priests
serve individual spirits and acts as mediators between the gods and
mankind. Nearly everyone participates in daily prayer, which includes the
pouring of libations as offering to both the ancestors who were buried in
the land and to the spirits who are everywhere. They believe that the earth
is a female deity and is directly connected with fertility and fecundity.

 ODINANI: It encompasses all the traditional religions and spiritual

concepts and practices of the Igbo people. It is a panetheistic faith. In
Odinani, there is one supreme god call the Great Spirit [Igbo: Chukwu] who
existed before all things and rule over smaller deities called alusi. There are
different Alusi for different purposes; the most important of them is Ala,
the earth goddess. They have traditional herbalist, or a priest called dibia
25
 who is the messenger of the gods.
 SERER RELIGION: The Sereer people of Senegal and the Gambia believe in
a universal supreme deity called Roog, also termed Roog Sene (Roog the
immensity). Their elaborate religious traditions deal with various
dimensions of life and death, cosmology, astronomy, symbolism, poems,
ancient chants etc. lesser deities include thoirak or tulrakh (god of wealth)
and taahkarr or tahkar (god of justice or vengeance).
 PRIMAL INDIGENOUS RELIGION: Primal indigenous religion still refers to
cultural connotations, traditional views, and native approaches to life. The
community is guided by their own cultures together with conduct which
broadly reflect the cultural principles of the society. People might likely
argue that it is the same as African traditional and diasporic religion but
adherents.com separated the two pointing out that the primal-indigenous
religions are primarily tribal and compose of pre-colonial people. Focusing
specifically on Yoruba, which is the largest African traditional
tribal/religious complex. Yoruba was the religion of the vast Yoruba nation
states which existed before European colonialism and its practitioners
today - certainly those in the Caribbean, south America and the U.S - are
integrated into a technological, industrial society, yet still proclaim
affiliation to this African-based religious system. Cohesive rituals, beliefs
and organization were spread throughout the world of Yoruba (and other
major African religions/tribal groups such as Fon), to an extent
characteristic of nations and many organized religions not simply tribes.
About 300million people in Asia and Africa maybe identified as followers of
the primal indigenous religion.

26
 Chapter 7
PAGANISM
The term pagan is from the Latin word paganus as an adjective, it means
"rural", "rustic" of the country, as a noun it means "country Dweller"
"Villager". It is a broad term that typically refers to indigenous and historic
polytheistic traditions primarily those of cultures known to the classical
world. Recently it is used as a label against for any non-Abrahamic folk/ethnic
religion. Since the 20th century, paganism or neo-paganism is used for a
collection of new religious movements attempting to continue, revive or
reconstruct historical pre-Abrahamic religion. Because Christianity quickly
spread to urban areas, pagan “country dweller” now refers to someone who is
not a Christian. In that light, pagan and heathen became synonymous because
heathen is from old English that refer to someone who is not a Christian or a
Jew. Paganism fundamentally refers to the religion of classical antiquity most
notably Greek mythology or roman religion and can be used neutrally by
those who refer to those complexes of belief. However, until the rise of
romanticism and general acceptance of freedom of religion in western
civilization, paganism was almost used disparagingly of heterodox beliefs
falling outside the established political framework of the Christian church.
Pagan came to be equated with a Christianized sense of "epicurean" to signify
a person who is sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the
future and uninterested in sophiscated religions.
27
SOME PRACTICES THAT ARE REGARDED AS PAGANISM INCLUDE,
 SHAMANISM: Is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered
state of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit
world. A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in
the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a
trance state during a ritual and practices divination and healing. The term
shamanism is presently used as an umbrella term referring to a variety of
spiritual practices.
 WICCA: Is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion that was developed in
England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the
public in 1954 by Gerald Gardener, a retired British civil servant. It draws
upon a diverse set of pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its
theological structure and ritual practices. It is a diverse religion with no
central authority or figure defining it. It is divided into various lineages and
denominations referred to as "traditions" each with its own organizational
structure and centralization.
 ASATRU: Is an Icelandic term consisting of two parts. The first is Asa;
genitive of ASS, denoting one of the groups of Norse gods called FEsir, the
second part is tru, which means faith or belief. Thus, Asatru means the
belief/faith in the FEsir/gods. Asatru is a form of Germanic neo-paganism
which developed in the United States from the 1970s. It focuses on the
historic Norse paganism of the Viking age as described in the "Eddas", but
proponents also take a more inclusive approach, defining it as "Northern
European Heathenry" not limited to a specific historical period. The ancient
form of Asatru was founded by no one in any year but was practiced across
northern Europe, but the modern revived Asatru was founded by
Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson in the 1970s in Iceland. He was born in 1924 but
died in 1993. He was a sheep farmer and a priest in the religion.
 HERMETICISM: Also called Hermetism comprises beliefs and practices
whose purpose is influencing the world by means of contact with the
heavenly bodies. The hermetic tradition is based primarily upon
pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice
Great). These writings have greatly influenced the western esoteric
tradition and were considered to be of great importance during both the
Renaissance and the Reformation. The tradition claims descent from a
Prisca Theologia, a doctrine which affirms that a single, true theology exists
and is present in all religions and was giving by God to man in antiquity.
Many Christian writers considered Hermes to be a wise pagan prophet who
28
 foresaw the coming of Christianity.
 OCCULTISM: Is the study of occult practices, including (but no limited to)
magic, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, and divination.
Occult is from the Latin word occultus (claudestine, hidden, secret) and it
means "knowledge of the hidden". In common English usage, occult refers
to "knowledge of the paranormal" as opposed to "knowledge of the
measurable" usually referred to as science. It sometimes means knowledge
that is meant only for a certain people or that must be kept hidden. But to
practicing occultists, it is the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends
beyond pure reasoning and physical sciences. Occultism has its basis in a
religious way of thinking, the roots of which stretch back into antiquity and
which may be described as western esoteric tradition.
 SATANISM: Satanism is a broad term referring to a group of western
religion comprising diverse ideological and philosophical beliefs. They use
symbolic association with, or admiration for the character of Satan, or
similar rebellious, promethean and in their view liberating figures. There
were over 50,000 estimated members in 1990. Although the public
practice of Satanism began in 1966 with founding the church of Satan,
some historical precedents exist. A group called the Ophite Cultus Satanas
was founded in Ohio by Albert Arthur Sloane in 1948. Satanism is of two
major trends, theistic Satanism (which venerates Satan as supernatural
deity) and atheistic Satanism (which considers itself as atheistic, agnostic,
ignostic or apatheistic and regard Satan as merely symbolic of certain
human traits)
 ADONISM: Is a Neo pagan religion founded in 1925 by the German
esotericist Franz Sattler (1884-c. 1942), who often went by the pseudonym
of Dr. Musalm. Although Sattler claimed that it was the continuation of an
ancient pagan religion, it has been recognized by academics as being
instead the single-handed creation of a highly gifted and educated man
Sattler. Adonism is a polytheistic religion, revolving around a belief that
there are five principal gods, Belius, Adonis, Biltis, Dido and Molchos.
Adonis the most prominent in Adonism being a benevolent figure Sattler
equated with the Christian figure Satan. Malchos is believed to be
malevolent and is responsible for the enslavement of humanity through
monotheistic religions like Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
 SECULAR PAGANISM: Is a form of neo paganism in which the worshipper
accepts pagan teachings but rejects the belief in any deity. Secular pagans
prefer to view gods and goddesses as metaphors for different events in the
29
 human life rather than literal deities that created earth. Instead they focus
on the positive teachings such as respect for all living creatures and earth
itself.
 KIMETISM: Also known as Niterism or Netjerism is from Egyptian kmt or
Kemet which is the native name of ancient Egypt, deity, or godhead. It is
the contemporary revival of ancient Egyptian religion (which also spread
throughout Europe in the late antiquity) emerged since the 1970s
onwards. Followers call themselves Kemetics. The pagan religion has an
organized presence in the United States, France, and the Czech Republic.

Chapter 8
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
 THEISM: In broadest sense is the belief in existence of a "deity" or "deities"
i.e. the belief in the existence of a god or gods. But in a more specific sense,
it is the belief in the existence of one God viewed as the creative source of
human race and the world who transcends yet is immanent in the world. It
is a monotheistic doctrine concerning the nature of a deity and the deity's
relationship to the universe. It conceives of God as personal, present, and
active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe.
 MONOTHEISM: Is defined by the encyclopedia Britannica as the belief in
the existence of one God or the belief in oneness of God. The oxford
dictionary of the Christian church defines it as the belief in one personal
and transcendent God.
 PLURIFORM MONOTHEISM: Pluriform monotheism describes not just
oneness of God but the uniqueness of the oneness of God. It is the belief
that God as one, exists in different forms. For example, various gods of the
pantheon, without losing their independence are at the same time
considered to be manifestations of one and the same divine substance.

30
 TRINITARIANISM: Is the Christian belief that God exists as three persons
but one being. The persons are understood to exist as God the Father, Son
and The Holy Spirit.
Note: Many scholars and academics believe that there is no difference
between Trinitarianism and pluriform monotheism; they believe that the
Christian doctrine of Trintarianism is a form of pluriform monotheism, but I
do not believe so. In pluriform monotheism, all the many gods that exist and
existed is viewed to come from the same source. In simpler terms, they are
from the same family. But in Trinitarianism, it is just one supernatural being
trying to manifest Himself in many ways so He can be understood and
appreciated by human the nature. Christians believe that God has being trying
hard to reconcile with human, He came as Godhead to see Moses but it didn't
work because man couldn't withstand the glory of God, He tried coming as
human so He can relate with human freely but it didn't work because as a man
He couldn't really touch every part of the world plus human find it find it
difficult to trust and believe in totality anything in human form. So, He decided
to come back as a mild spirit and live in every human soul individually to
guide and direct those who accept Him. At any moment in time He never lost
His sovereignty as God. If it were in science, He would have been called a
shape shifter.
 DUOTHEISM: It is the belief in and worship in two deities, usually framed
as a god and goddess of roughly equal powers. This is the manifestation of
gender right, the equality of male and female. This form of belief is in two
forms:
(a) Bitheism: A form of dualism that recognizes two deities which are not
in conflict or opposition [as good and evil] but rather are in two
exclusive forms or states usually male and female.
(b) Ditheism: A belief in two deities, which may conflict with each other.
 POLYTHEISM: Is the belief in and worship in multiple deities usually
assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses each with its own
religion and rituals.
 HENOTHEISM: Is the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting
the existence or possible existence of other deities that may also be
worshipped.
 MONOLATRISM: Is the recognition of the existence of many gods but the
consistence worship of only one deity.

31
Note: The difference between monolatrism and henotheism is that in
henotheism, the believer in as much as he worships just one god, recognizes
and acknowledges the equality and validity of other gods with the acceptance
of the fact that they can be worshipped. But in monolatrism, the believer in
as much as he recognizes the existence of other gods, regards them as fetish,
inferior or diabolical and as such should not be worshipped.
 KATHENOTHEISM: Means the belief in many gods but worship them one
at a time. It refers to the worship of a succession of supreme gods one at a
time. It is a more specific form of the parent term henotheism.
 BINITARIANISM: Is a Christian theology of two personae, two individuals
or two aspects in one Godhead [or God]. Classically, binitarianism is
understood as strict monotheism. That is that God is an absolutely single
being, yet with twoness in God.
 UNITARIANISM: Is a religious theology that believes or understands God
as one person in direct contrast to Trinitarianism and Binitarianism.
Unitarians contend that main-line Christianity does not adhere to strict
monotheism as they do. They maintain that Jesus is just a prophet and in
some sense son of god but not God himself.
 ANIMISM: Is the belief that natural objects, animals, inanimate objects and
even universe itself have souls.
 PANTHEISM: Is the belief that God and the world (nature) is one and the
same person. It is the belief that everything has its personal God.
 PANETHEISM: Is the belief that God is greater than the universe, that the
universe is a part of God and is in God. That He permeates every part of
nature extends beyond nature and is also distinct from nature.
 GNOSTICISM: Is the belief that the material world by the demi urge should
be shunned and the spiritual world should be embraced since it is God's
world.
 IGNOSTICISIM: Also known as Igtheism is the theological belief that every
other religious belief assumes too much about the concept of God and
many other religious concepts. It is the belief that any view of God or any
religious view and belief should be thoroughly evaluated before putting
into play. Basically, should be explainable by science.
 AGNOSTICISM: Is the view that that the true values of certain claims
especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, as well
32
 as other religious and metaphysical claims are unknown and unknowable.
 ATHEISM: Is in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of
deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the belief there is no
deity. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of the belief that any
deity exists.
 APATHEISM: Also known as pragmatic atheism or (critically) as practical
atheism is acting with apathy, disregard, or lack of interest towards the
belief or disbelief in any deity. It applies to both theism and atheism. An
Apatheist is someone who is not interested in accepting or denying any
claims that gods exist or do not exist. In other words, it's someone who
considers the question of the existence of gods or God neither meaningful
no relevant to his or her life.

Chapter 9
THE FIRST RELIGION
The position that religion precedes human existence is aberrant to me. The
fact that homo neanderthalensis may have buried their dead does not really
mean they are religious. Despite the fact it is acknowledged the evidence is
inconclusive, but if there is any iota of reasonable evidence, they buried their
dead, it may be their nature designed way of life. It is almost the same as
snakes burying their eggs. According to our explanation of religion, it is the
relationship between man and superhuman; natural and supernatural;
mankind and deity/deities. For there to be religion, there must a deity or
deities, burial should not be the only criterion for religious identification. In as
much as burial is a common ritual among most (if not all) religious groups,
atheists still bury their dead, but it does not make them religious. Besides, the
idea of religion before humankind makes sense only to an evolutionist; I am
not saying that evolution is totally nonsensical, it is a brilliant scientific theory
but with many lapses. There are so many things that it could not explain.
The Almighty, the giver of life concealed from man the origin of life because
life and death have the same origin for they both are from same source. Once
33
man discovers the origin of life, he has discovered immortality. The mortality
of man is the only leverage God has on man; it is the only reason man still
believes in God. Science or religion, none can distinctly explain creation.
Science says the universe came into being through the 'big bang', a theory that
makes me chuckle. Even if there is an iota of sense in that, how did the
enormous body come into existence. Evolution says life originated from water
but failed to explain how the unicellular organism and the water come into
existence. If as a Christian I choose to believe the biblical account of creation, I
still have many questions to answer and so many gaps to fill. So, I take refuge
in my belief that it's either God on purpose didn't reveal to Moses all about
creation and happenstances before creation; or that the complete account of
Genesis was oral so it depreciated overtime. That is, it's either Moses didn't
put into writing all that was revealed to him, or that he wrote but like the
stone tablet got lost and was re-written by someone who didn't know all. Or
that God in His infinite wisdom wants it like this for the secretion of the
mystery of life and death. That was why he put to coma, the already existing
life when He wanted to spring forth another. According to the holy books, God
made Adam comatose when He wanted to create Eve.
If religion did not precede human existence, then when did religion originate?
From our explanation, man started being religious in his quest for knowledge,
for answers he could not give, answers to the questions beyond his level of
understanding and explanation. Man started believing in the existence of deity
because he believed there must be answers to the principles of the mysteries
he cannot unfold. In summary, man started being religious out of quest for
knowledge. According to Aristotle, all men by nature desire to know; meaning
that man began his quest for knowledge the very day man began his existence.
Thus, religion started the same time man originated, Religion originated with
man.
For man to have gone beyond nature to seek answers, it means that man was
sure nature could not provide him with answers; that is to say that man had
already had full understanding of principles of nature; that means man had
already had a perfect and excellent relationship with the Mother Nature. So,
before man started relating and communicating with the supernatural, man
was already relating and communicating perfectly with nature. My godmother
Mrs. Funke Kasali explained this comprehensively when she said, "Man can
never attain SPIRITUALITY without MORALITY". So, before man should ever
start thinking about loving God, man must have sincerely loved his fellow men
and his society. In the light of this, I say that the first religion ever is
"HUMANITY" and it originated with man. Humanity in this context should not
be misconstrued with humanism. Humanism is a system of thought that
34
rejects religious beliefs and centers only on humans, their values, capacities,
interests, needs and worth. Humanism is not religious because in as much as it
has high value of morals, it has no spiritual activities. That is why I always say,
"MORALITY without SPIRITUALITY is just an ACTIVITY". HUMANITY is the
phenomenon or ideology; it is the concept that deals with man’s perfect
relationship with his fellow humans, nature, and deity/deities. The stable
human race, the humane human must recognize and have Respect for his
fellow human, for nature (the society) and for God.
If the first religion is the true religion and the religion instituted by God
Himself, if humanity is the first religion, how did God institute humanity?

How God Instituted Humanity

There are just two accounts of creation: Religious account and scientific
account. Since this book is about religion, I will analyze just the religious
account of creation. According to religion, Abrahamic religions to be precise,
God created man (Adam) and gave him authority over nature. He instructed
him to name all of them and care for them all and live in harmony with them
all, this way God instituted a relationship between man and nature. God saw
that man cannot really depend on nature for survival, every human need a
fellow human to lean and rely on, God saw that human-nature relationship
can't shape a complete man, God created another human. God created Eve and
instructed Adam and Eve to love, respect and cherish one another. With this,
God instituted a relationship between human and human. God was happy but
God in His infinite wisdom understood that morality (regard for just nature
and human) alone would not make a completely humane human, He
understood the importance of Humanity (i.e. a spiritual-moral man). So, He
looked for a way to ensure that man will forever always have regards for Him.
God gave man an instruction in the form of "the forbidden fruit" just to keep
man in check, to make sure he would not lose focus on Him or regards for
Him. With this, God instituted a relationship between man and God, thus He
has instituted humanity (spiritual-moral man). A man that has regards and
respect for God, his fellow man and nature (the society).
The problem now is; when we listed all the types of religion, there was no
humanity, and never has humanity ever been regarded as a type of religion.
What then is humanity… And which is the true religion.

35
 Chapter 10
THE TRUE RELIGION
It is very difficult to pinpoint any religion as the true religion because of the
diversity of beliefs and the strong, steadfast adherence attached to each by
their followers. For instance, I, when I was a Christian, was born and bred into
Christianity, was from infancy indoctrinated into the Christian faith. It would
only be very natural if believed and upheld strongly that Christianity is the
true religion. After all, according to the Holy Bible, in John 14:6-14; Jesus told
Thomas, "I am the truth, the way and the life; no one goes to the father except
through me". "Now that you have known me, you will know my father also,
and from now on you do know him and you have seen him". Philip said to him
"Lord show us the father; that is all we need". Jesus answered, "For a long time
I have been with you all; yet you don't know me Philip? Whoever has seen me
has seen the father, why then, do you say, "Show us the father"? Do you not
believe, Philip that I am in the father and the father is in me? The words I have
spoken to you," Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not come from me, the father,
who remains in me does his own work. Believe me when I say I am in the
father and the father is in me. If not, believe me because of the things I do. I am
36
telling you the truth: whoever believes in me will do what I do- yes, he will
even do greater things, because I am going to the father. And I will do
whatever you ask me in my name, so that the father's glory will be shown
through the son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it." And
practically, so many miracles are being performed in the name of Jesus.
But my Muslim brother will never succumb to those words from the bible, I
would only believe in the passage if I was a Christian. I would believe Jesus is
the son of God, I would believe He is the second person in the trinity, I would
even only believe in the trinity if I was a Christian. But a Muslim brother who
believes that Jesus is just but a prophet of God, who also believe that the bible
was altered, that the true message of Jesus was misinterpreted and altered,
will never agree. In fairness to the truth, if I was born into a Muslim
household, if I was from infancy, indoctrinated into the Islamic faith, I will
strongly believe that Islam is the true religion. After all, according to the holy
Quran, Allah Himself instituted Islam. He said "Today, I have perfected your
religion for you, I have completed my blessings upon you, and I have approved
Islam for your religion" and the Quran also says "Whoever God desires to
guide; He expands his breast to Islam".
Every religion has its claims and beliefs their counterparts would never
believe in or adhere to. This diversity of beliefs and steadfast adherence to
each makes it difficult to pinpoint any religion as true because it will always
differ from different point of views. It is also very fallacious to say all religions
are true because if they are all true, there would not have been any
controversy. The truth is, Jesus did not found Christianity, neither did
Mohammed found Islam; it was their disciples that trended the religions. In
fact, there is no founder of any new religion; each new religion is just a
modification of already existing religion. The introducer of the new religion
only modified and edified already existing religion based on belief, culture,
and natural selection. That is why comparatively, all the religions have almost
everything in common. All the religions have virtually almost the same
ideology, philosophy, and concept.

37
 SIMILARITIES IN RELIGIONS
 CONCEPT OF A SUPREME BEING: All the religions believe in the existence
of a supreme being. To some it is just a being, but to some it is several
beings existing collectively as one and to some it is several beings co-
existing independently. But all monotheistic religions refer to the same
being just that they refer to Him with different names.
 CONCEPT OF A FOUNDER: Majority of the religions have a founder. The
religions that do not have a founder are those ancient religions that existed
before documentation.
 CONCEPT OF A MESSENGER: Majority of the religions believes and
accepts the concept of a messenger. Their main messenger is always their
founder who is believed to be sent by God to introduce and establish the
religion. When the founder is gone, he/she is represented by a generally
accepted person or group of people who are believed to possess the
capacity to intermediate between the deity/deities and the adherents.
 CONCEPT OF A WORSHIP PLACE: Almost all the religions believe in a
religious gathering, so almost all of them have worship centers.
38
 CONCEPT OF A SACRED SCRIPTURE: Almost all the religions have their
holy book or sacred scripture which they revere, and all their principles
and conducts are from the book.
 CONCEPT OF FEASTS/FESTIVALS: Almost all the religions have their
festive periods. Times when they go deep in prayers, rituals, and other
spiritual events in order to communicate deeply with their deity/deities
and times they jubilate and merry either because of remembrance or re-
union.
 CONCEPT OF A DOCTRINE: Almost all the religions have a doctrine or
doctrines. Some religions have it written down, some may have it verbal,
but many religions have both written and verbal doctrines.
 CONCEPT OF CULTURE: All the religions have their own culture, their
various ways of life. They have their own way of communicating with their
deity, the way they bury their dead, the way they dress, the way they relate
with their fellow members, the way they marry, what they eat and don't
eat, etc. The culture is so inculcated in them that when you see them, you
would know without being told which religion the person adheres to.
 CONCEPT OF A GOAL: All the religions have an ultimate goal. Mostly,
especially in monotheistic religions, the goal is to go back to the creator,
where they will live with Him forever and ever. Some religions believe
their goal is to break the cycle of life, while some still believe it is to
harmonize the world.
 CONCEPT OF A PURPOSE: All the religions teach their adherents that their
being born earth is not by chance, luck, wish or leisure. They believe
everybody on earth is here for a purpose; they call it "Calling". Thus, all the
religions teach their adherents to strive hard and fulfill their calling in
order to achieve the ultimate goal.
 CONCEPT OF RULES AND REGULATIONS: Every religion believe in
government or leadership. For a government or a leadership to be
organized and in order, there must be rules and regulations guiding it.
Thus, almost all the religions believe in the concept of rules and
regulations. Some religions have gone far to impose their rules and
regulations as laws. Examples are the Sharia law and the Jewish law.

39
 Chapter 11
WHY THERE ARE MANY RELIGIONS
The one question I've been asking myself since I was 6 is, if there is just one
Supreme Being, and all the religions, almost all the religions worship this
same being but in different ways, why are there so many religions? Why
should 'He' (ultimately same person), allow so many religions to exist and
contradict one another. He could have allowed just one religion to exist since
He's the one and only person. Now I have learnt and known better. I've come
to realize and understand that it wasn't God's intention for there to be many
religions, as it wasn’t His intention for there to be many different tribes,
languages and skin colors which gave rise to racism, apartheid and wars. This
is the point where I agree with Charles Darwin in his theory of natural
selection.
Living things strive earnestly for comfort and absolute tranquility, so does
man. Earth is a big ball with different climatic and weather conditions. All men
are born with different genes and behavioral patterns. So, everybody travels
round the globe in search of a suitable or should I say a more suitable
40
environment according to features and desire. That is why migration is still in
play till date. People travel from one place to another, from one state to
another, from one country to another, from one continent to another, in quest
for survival and comfort. They will continue to search and migrate till they
find a place where they accept to be most suitable for them to settle down.
This is what Darwin explained in 'natural selection'. Man would always exhibit
characters that will help him adapt and survive in his desired environment.
People who exhibit almost same character as he does and desire same
environment come together, live together, congregate, and interbreed. The
environment shapes them based on color, language, and mode of life.
Gradually, the biological traits become more or less common in their
population as a function of the effects of inherited traits and makes it difficult
for them to act and behave like other people in another part of the globe. This
gave rise to many communities with different cultures and traditions. Man
becomes so blended with his culture and tradition that it becomes practically
almost impossible for him to live another. That is when one man's meat
becomes another man's poison. God saw this natural selection, difference in
cultures, and different ways of life and understood the need for different ways
of worship. That is why He allows people to communicate to Him in different
ways based on their natural way of life as long as they are practically sincere
and humane. Cultures and traditions affect religion and religion affects culture
and tradition. God instituted just one religion which is 'HUMANITY', but
humans based on natural selection, difference in traditions and cultures,
introduced different ways that suits them to communicate with supreme
being. God allowed it because He gave humans free will. He most times,
permits to be that which we will. It is called permissive will.
Sometime ago, I once asked, if Jesus came to save the whole world, if he did
intend to die for the whole world, why did he come only to the Jews? Why
didn't he travel round the world? Why did he not go to some other place,
maybe come to Nigeria, or go to America or to another place that is not Jewish
environs. That was why I believed Jesus is the messiah only to the Jews and
not the world. Now that I've grown bigger in wisdom and understanding, I’ve
learned and understood on my own that Jesus was on a mission; his mission
was suicidal, to die and spread the gospel with a limited time of 3years. If he
had come to Nigeria, nobody would have killed him because even now in
Nigeria people still claim they are Jesus, and nobody gives a crap about them.
If he had gone to America or any other part of the world, the gospel would not
have spread as wide and fast. Jesus came to the Jews because he knew they
are bigots; he knew they are the only people in the world who would kill him
for springing forth new teaching. He also knew they are the only people in the
41
world who could spread the gospel so far and wide. If Jesus should come to
the Jews the second time, they will still kill him again.
God allowed Muhammad to institute Islam in Mecca, Arabia because He knew
they are the only people who would accept and promote Islam so readily
because of their way of life. The differences in religions lies basically in
culture. Let us use Nigeria as a case study; Islam was the first foreign religion
to invade Nigeria. It did not work in the east but worked perfectly in the north.
The northerners or should I say majority of the northerners lead a contentious
life. An average Fulani or Hausa man is contented with his cow, he does not
care about much property and he is ever ready to die. If a clan or a village have
just one generous rich man, as long as the man can feed them even if it is just a
square meal daily, they are contented. They would not want to work, they
would not worry or bother about a thing any longer, they would submit and
yield themselves to the for the greater part of their lives. Islam thrived in the
north because of their loyalty and contentiousness. Every Islamic leader
command so much respect that no matter how rich you are, as long as you are
a Muslim, you must respect and revere him. That is why an average Muslim
will do whatever that is asked of him by his religious leader even if it meant
laying down his life.
Contrarily, an average Igbo man desires to be great, rich, powerful, and
respected and he would do anything to attain the status. With this attribute,
Islam cannot thrive in the east because everybody would want to be a
religious leader and will do anything to attain it. Islam which is a strict and a
nonsense religion will have to penalize many Igbos because majority of them
would not be able to keep the Sharia laws. But Christianity is very diplomatic,
or should I say learned to become diplomatic over the years because there
were times it killed those who taught heresy or who were believed to have
taught heresy. Now Christianity is very lenient, it will teach you the truth, but
will leave you do whatever, as long as it is not in its jurisdiction. That is why in
Christianity there are many denominations that in Nigeria alone, there are
more than 10,000 different churches, each with its own religious leader.
Everybody wants to be called daddy, everybody wants to be revered,
everybody wants to command authority and respect. People establish their
own ministries even when they don't have the resources to build befitting
church for God, they rent shops, halls, classrooms, uncompleted buildings, and
even under trees as long as people will come to clap hands and sing praises.
Even when they know nothing about the scripture, they will teach anything
that will fetch money and congregation, whether truth or not, who cares.
Christianity permits these things to happen because it learned diplomacy and
believe in democracy. If you employ an average Igbo man in your company,
42
give him 5years and he'll take over the company or establish another that will
look almost same as yours, taking with him half of your customers and
business associates. It happens in churches too, employ a man as an ordinary
pastor or minister today and after 5years he will establish his own ministry
and make away with half of your congregation. This is because in Igbo land,
the king or the leader (religious or traditional), doesn't have the final say, He
actually leads by following, he leads by doing what his followers (especially
the prominent ones) suggest else he would have a divided house. Any average
Igbo man wants to have a say wherever he is, he would want his opinion to
count.
God understands the differences in behavioral pattern of the Igbos and Hausas
that's why he allowed Christianity to exist for the Igbos and Islam for the
Hausas. God knew that an average Igbo man, all things being equal;
*Would want to be circumcised
*Would want spend money on anything be it burial or marriage
*Would want to look good, so will want to shave and have his haircut
*Would need miracles, signs, and wonders to adhere to any religion
*Wouldn't want to be entirely controlled not even by his religion
*Might not really be able to die for his religion
*Would want his wife to show off beauty so people will admire her
That is why Islam would not readily thrive in the east, that's why Islam would
not be adhered to by an average Igbo man under normal circumstances. God
also knows that an average Hausa or Fulani man
*Who has 10 cows would not readily give out one as tithe
*Will want to marry more than one wife
*Will want to always marry a virgin
*Wouldn't want a change of belief or culture or test a new knowledge
*Wouldn't want people to admire the beauty of his wife
*Wouldn't want to spend much just to bury a dead or marry
That is why Christianity would not readily thrive in the north or be adhered to
by an average Hausa/Fulani man.
43
It is very imperative we note that one being an Igbo or Hausa is not because
he was born in the east or north, or because he has Igbo or Hausa parents or
ancestors. The Ibos, the Hausas, in fact, every tribe or ethnic group have
characteristics they are known with, once you exhibit those characters, you
are considered to be of the tribe. It is our act that makes us the tribe we are,
not the descendance. God allowed different religions that suits different
cultures and traditions to exist as long as they do not contradict Humanity, the
religion He himself established. That is why religious practices blend so well
with the behavioral pattern of the people. The major differences in religions
lies in the founder’s orientations owing cultures and natural selections.

Chapter 12
WHY RELIGIONS CONTRADICT
If there is just one God and all the religions though with different doctrines,
because different ways of life, all bow to him, why do the religions contradict
one another. Before I write on this, I will like to discuss an article by Bob
Siegel.
The following is a brief excerpt from a larger book. For fuller treatment of this
subject as well as better context see: I'D LIKE TO BELIEVE IN JESUS BUT.....
(The harder, less frequently discussed questions) by Bob Siegel published by
CSN books copyright (c) 2007 by Bob Siegel All rights reserved published by
campus ambassador press copyright (c) 1999 By Bob Siegel All rights
reserved. This article is not to be reproduced without written permission
from the author.
"If God is willing to speak with everyone, why are there so many different
44
religions? Do they each present the same truth in a different fashion? If so;
Jesus wouldn't be the only way."
We are moving now into the question of consistency. It would help to start
with a teaching of the ancient philosopher, Aristotle. I am referring to his law
of non-contradiction. This law (foundational to philosophy) states that two
given truth must not contradict. If they do, at least one of them is wrong, and
possibly they are both wrong. In other words, I cannot call my wife on the
phone and say, "I'm coming home for dinner and yet, I'm not coming home for
dinner." Sound simple? It should. We accept this idea without hesitation in
every facet of life, every facet of life except religion. That is people are usually
afraid to test religions out of fear that they will be showing intolerance. It
should be noted that one cannot respect freedom of religion without assuming
that all religions are equally valid, for such a conclusion is intellectually
dishonest.
While lecturing at the University of Minnesota, the noted apologist, Cliffe
Knechtle was confronted by a student who claimed that all religions were
basically the same. Cliffe responded with a piercing analogy: "If I were to
assume that all Chinese people were the same," he said, "It would mean one of
two things; either I'm a bigot, or I haven't taken my time to get to know
Chinese people. The same is true of religious assumptions." Even when
admitting that religions in fact teach opposite theologies, many stubbornly
grasp the idea that somehow every one of them came from the same God. Why
is it so easy to envision a creator who unveils contradictory information? Why
must a belief in God be divorced from our God given ability to think?
Paradoxically, people are not afraid to put Christianity through the ringer. Its
claims are confronted all the time. Once in a while during an open forum at
Fresno City College, I was asked about Mormonism. I mentioned that
Mormonism claimed to go by the bible yet taught polytheism, which
completely contradicts the bible (Isa 43:10). A young lady raised her hand and
said, "What right do you have to stand here and scrutinize somebody else's
religion?" "For the last two hours, you and your friends have been scrutinizing
my religion. Doesn't the bible contradict itself? How do we know Jesus rose
from the dead? 'Why should a loving God send people to hell? Etc. And this has
not bothered me. It has been very appropriate. You should challenge anyone
who makes a truth claim but it works both ways. I will ask these same
questions of other religions."
She nodded as her doubled standard became obvious. Her earlier skeptical,
honest, inward conviction, that all beliefs, even religious ones, must be
45
examined. We must test whether they contradict themselves and we must test
whether they contradict each other. There isn't a space now to give every
major religion its rightful place in court, but some brief examples will at least
illustrate the process.
Some Hindus believe that God and creation are one and the same. The bible on
the other hand, paints a major distinction between the creation and the
creator. If one person says, "God made the tree", while another says, "actually
God is the tree." We cannot possibly conclude that they are both correct even
when they use similar words God and tree. Of course, this leads us to no
conclusion at all about the accuracy of Hinduism and Christianity. It is instead
a conclusion about the fallacy of universalism (the belief that all religions are
true). On the other, Hinduism makes no claims to historical verification and
this is a significant thing to note.
There are also contradictions between religions which accept the bible. Islam
claims that in addition to the Koran, both the old and new testaments are the
word of God. Jesus is described in the Koran as a holy prophet but not the
incarnation of God Himself. The test for a prophet in the Old Testament is that
he must be accurate in everything he teaches (Deut. 18:22). Jesus taught that
he was God (John 14). If Jesus was lying, he was not a Prophet; if he was telling
the truth then he is God. But Islam claims that he wasn't God. Either way, we
have a serious contradiction.
Judaism teaches that the Old Testament will be changed after the messiah
comes [Jer. 31:31-34]. Daniel 9 actually computes that time by measuring the
amount in Hebrew years with months of thirty days each. He starts with the
return of the Jews from Persian exile when king Artaxerxes freed the Jewish
slaves and ends with the messiah's arrival. This day occurred in Nisan 10
according to the Persian calendar or March 30, 33AD according to Julian
calendar. Only one potential Messiah rode into Jerusalem that day, Jesus of
Nazareth. If he was the messiah, then the Judaism's new covenant
(Christianity) is now in force. If he wasn't the messiah, then Daniel was a false
prophet. But Judaism considers Daniel to be a true prophet. We have a
contradiction with Judaism as well.
I must be making myself very unpopular right now. Please understand, I do
respect the Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Universalists, and others I have
met as honest and dedicated people. This does not keep us from examining
their claims, however.
"If there is only one God who reveals Himself, how then, do we account for the
differences in people's belief?
46
A loving God would be a gentle man, He would not force Himself upon those
who don't want Him but instead speak to those who are seeking. Most people
accept the religion they were brought up in without question. Others, when
choosing a religion, choose the one that they like or the one that is convenient.
Sometimes, like sheep, they are mesmerized by talented orators who speak
with charisma and authority. We have to recall the 900 unfortunate
individuals who followed Jim Jones into the wilderness, to remember that
most become religious simply to have their needs and feelings satiated.
Seldom do they say, "I will examine the evidence to see which (if any) of these
religions is actually true."
First of all, I commend Bob for his level of reasoning and research; it is very
philosophical and logical. But the truth is, religions are incomparable. Each
religion is distinct and unique in its own way; you cannot compare it with
another. Religions are like fruits, you cannot compare an orange with an
apple; they both have their own taste, properties, and features. They both are
round but distinct that each can be recognized with ease, but in the end, they
give the same thing, vitamin C. If you want vitamin C, it is either you choose
between the two, based on health status and convenience, or you take both.
People who suffer gastro esophageal reflux disease would not take orange;
they would be advised to take apple. That they could not take orange due to
their health status does not mean apple is a better fruit than orange. Another
factor that would make someone choose between the two fruits is
geographical jurisdiction. Someone who resides in Nigeria will tend to take
more of oranges because apples do not grow in Nigeria. Nigerians import
apple, so it is always way costlier than orange. That a Nigerian is used to the
orange he sees around him does not make orange better than apple because in
the end their end product is vitamin C. Bob, will you still ask God why He
created so many fruits, why he did not create just one fruit since they all give
same vitamin C. We do not compare religions Bob, we choose based on what
we see around us, we choose based on availability, based on our ability and
capability. For instance, someone in Nigeria have the option to choose just
among Christianity, Islam, and tradition for they are the only three major
religions in Nigeria. A Nigerian would not have the opportunity to ascertain if
Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and others are better religions for they do not
thrive here. Even the three major religions in Nigeria still have their
limitations for they have their areas of dominance. Someone born and bred in
the eastern part of Nigeria have the option to choose just between Christianity
and tradition because Islam does not thrive there. Someone born and bred in
the western part of Nigeria have the option to choose among Islam,
Christianity, and tradition for the three thrive there. Whichever choice we
47
make, we only pray it leads us to the supreme being.
Another factor why religions can never be compared is that before you
compare things, you must have had full knowledge of every true details of
each. For you to be able to compare to religions, it means you must have
practiced the two without sentiment, and during your comparison, you're
either practicing both without sentiment, or you're practicing none. And that
is practically almost impossible.
Yes, there are contradictions between religions and among religions. But these
contradictions are not from the religions but from the adherents. For instance,
people say, Jesus said He is God. The truth is Jesus never said verbatim that he
is God. He only said that he is the way, the truth, and the life. He also
mentioned that he is in the father and the father is in him, that no one goes to
the father except through him and that no one goes to him except through the
father. He never said, "I am God", but the adherents of Christianity
understood, translated, and explained that chapter that Jesus is God. It is so
with many teachings in all the religion. The only doctrine Jesus instituted is
HUMANITY. That is, the spiritual human. He left this doctrine when he said,
"Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God". He
further explained that the only way to attain Humanity is LOVE, genuine true
love. You love your God and you love your neighbor as you love yourself. Do
unto others what you will like them to do unto you. Other doctrines were
constituted by the followers of Christ. The only doctrine Muhammad
instituted is HUMANITY. Before Muhammad died, he said, "I leave you Islam, I
leave you peace," before Jesus ascended into heaven he said, "I leave you
peace, my peace I give you". But are Christians and Muslims have refused to
live in peace. We do not even live in peace between us not to talk of among us.
Christians fight one another, Muslims fight one another too, and both have
been in a war without end with each other. The problem with us humans is
that we leave vital exigencies and tackle irrelevancies. We leave the substance
to chase shadow.
The major contradiction in Christianity is TRINITY. Many denominations, in
Christianity do not believe in the trinity, they argue that Jesus never
mentioned the existence of trinity neither did he say verbatim he was God.
Jesus taught and spoke in parables in most of his teachings that only the elites
and wise understood him. Everything he did was in parable, he slept
peacefully amidst storms and turbulence, he wasted many more days even
when he was informed that his best friend was dying, he freed an adulterous
woman, he dined and mingled with task collectors and sinners, he did all these
for a reason, he was passing a message to those who have the brain and spirit
48
to understand. Yes, He did not mention trinity, but why was he so fond of '3'.
When he was born, he was visited by 3 wise men, he was given 3 gifts. At the
age of 12, he was lost for 3 days, he used 3 days to learn and interact with the
teachers and the elders in the temple. He began his works at the age 30 and
his ministry was just 3 years old. He was 3 on his baptism; Jesus, the father
who spoke, and the dove. He was 3 before transfiguration because he went
with two of his disciples (just two out of twelve) and 3 after transfiguration
because he came down with two dead men. Even when he was informed on
time that Lazarus was dying, he intentionally wasted time, so he would raise
him after 3 days. He fell 3 times on his way to cavalry and he made Peter deny
him 3 times. He died a 3 man at age 33 for he was crucified with two criminals
and he died by 3p.m. There was 3 hours eclipse immediately after he died and
most importantly, he rose on day 3. I do not believe it was all mere
coincidence, I believe he was sending a message and those who do not believe
in trinity did not just get the message. If the concept of trinity is still confusing,
I explained it in the simplest way when I was a Christian, that God tried so
hard to establish a sustainable relationship with humans. He tried corelating
with us humans in his God form which is the spirit form (a fierce spirit
commander), but it did not work out well for it is difficult for external spirit
and flesh to harmonize and corelate. He tried to corelate with us as human in
the person of Jesus, but the relationship soured due to the constraints of the
flesh factor. So, He resorted to dwelling in the soul of every man, not as a
fierce commander, but a mild gentle spirit in the person of the holy spirit who
only suggests, advises and guide if given a chance. You can also understand it
as; God the father is the Godhead, Jesus is that word of God that was made
flesh and it dwelt amongst us. According to the holy bible, (John 1:1&2);
before the world was created, the word already existed, the word was with
God and the word was same as God (Good News Bible). The Holy Spirit is that
bond between the father and the son; the binding force (love) between God
and His word. A bond so strong that Jesus confidently said that he is in the
father and the father is in him, that nobody can go to the father except through
him and nobody can come to him except through the father; a bond so strong
that God spoke through Jesus and said "Heaven and earth will pass away but
my word will never pass away" (Matthew. 24:25); the same bond that is
binding Jesus with his church.

Contradictions among Christianity are mainly ignorance. Jesus spoke and lived
in parables; it takes wisdom, knowledge and understanding to catch up with
him. He taught in parables for two obvious reasons,

49
(1) So that only those who desired and acquired wisdom, knowledge and
understanding can be his disciple.
(2) If he had come out plain, he would not have been killed and his
mission was get killed.
For one to attain the status of a leader in Christendom, he must have acquired
certain level knowledge. You must have acquired some level of formal
education and you must have studied theology. In some denominations like in
Catholic Church, you must have studied and acquired certificate, credible
certificates in both philosophy and theology. Selfish interests, Lust for power
and money is still a major factor that constitutes controversy and
contradictions in Christianity. A Christian who lusts after money, who wants
to be revered too, will break away from his church to establish his own
ministry. If he teaches the same thing that is taught in his former church,
people will not have reasons to switch church. So, he has to deviate from the
teachings of his church, he has to teach against his church and convince others
that he is right, and his former church was wrong. He would concentrate on
those complex teachings he knew people would not readily understand with
ease because they are complex, e.g. trinity. If he is a good orator and has the
charisma to draw crowd, people will follow him especially if he backs his
heresy with signs and wonders. Another person will break away from him too
in the same manner and little by little, people deviate from the truth thus
constituting contradictions.
The contradiction in the Christianity and Hinduism teachings on the Creator
and creation lies on inflexibility. Remember that Hinduism is a very ancient
religion that is practically absent science. It is based only on primitive cultures
and ancient beliefs. Remember it is regarded as the world's oldest religion and
has evolved since 1500BCE. At that time, it was believed that the earth was at
the center of the Universe and that the sun and the stars revolve round it; a
theory that was proposed by early primitive pagans who believed that the
earth was God. They believed that when you bury the dead, you send them
back to the creator. If people believed in geocentricism then, Hinduism would
not be blamed for teaching that the earth and God was the same. Even
Christianity used to believe in geocentricism so much so that the likes of
Galileo and Copernicus were prosecuted and persecuted for teaching
heliocentrism. The church considered it to be against the scripture and as
such heresy but had a rethink after proven otherwise by science. Hindus still
teach that God and earth are the same because they believe in the inflexibility
of their faith. You should not blame the contradiction on Hinduism, but on its
adherents' rigidity. One thing about Christianity is that its doctrines are not so
50
rigid. They are once in a while amended to concur with important scientific
revelations and modern-day civilization. For instance, there was a time when
women dare not put on trousers and must cover their hair in the church but
now, that regulation is no longer in practice. There was a time when women
do not officiate in the church, but the practice is now outdated. There was a
time when the church killed those who teach heresy, but now everybody is
entitled to his or her own opinion. This is because its leaders are
knowledgeable, they are scholars, they are educated, and they quest for
knowledge like their founder. If every religion understands that its doctrines
should be open and studiable, there would not be many contradictions.
The contradiction you pointed out with Islam is on the divinity of Christ. The
truth is that it is not proper for a Muslims to scrutinize the divinity of Jesus.
Muslims scrutinizing Jesus is as bad as Christians scrutinizing Muhammad
because religious scrutiny is a product comparison. The only thing that will
make a Christian question if Muhammad is really a prophet of God is if the
Christian is comparing Islam with Christianity or the Christian wants to mock
Islam, either way it is so wrong. A Muslim teaching about Jesus Christ is like
an engineer writing a thesis on medicine, or an accountant trying to win a case
in the court of law. The reason I explained only some of the Christian
teachings here is because I was once a Christian, I was born into a Christian
home. I can’t possibly write much on Islam till I accomplish my desire of
becoming a dedicated Muslim for the minimum of ten years (under suitable
environs and favorable conditions). It is almost impossible for Islam to teach
about Jesus without sentiment against Christianity. Christianity does not have
a claim on Muhammad other than what Islam has on him, so Islam should not
have a claim on Jesus other what Christianity has on him. Contradictions come
into play among and between religions only when we set our eyes off the goal.

From what I have researched on religions, Jesus, Mohammed, and every other
religious founder passed the same message and adhered to just one religion
which is 'HUMANITY'. The purpose of every religion is to harmonize the
relationship between human and human, human and nature and human and
his creator/deity.
God should not force Himself on anyone, He should be a father, a loving father
at that. It is the father's responsibility to make sure his offspring do not go
astray. A father would scream, plea, scold, shout, complain, teach, he will do
anything to get his child on the right track, so if the child meets his doom, he
would not have an excuse or anyone to blame. But the Father will never hire
51
an outsider or anyone at all to torture or punish the child because he did not
follow his own track. If you have a child you feel is treading the wrong path,
you will do anything to get him to the right path in your own way through a
father and child relationship and counsel, never with force or invasion of an
intruder. That is what God should do for those who go wrong. The Jews called
Jesus "rabbi"; a teacher and that is what God should be. A loving and caring
teacher expected to just caution, counsel, and guide an unserious student.
Asking why a loving God will send people to hell is like asking why a caring
teacher will fail his student. Most people choose the religion they were born in
because most people live with the families, they were born in. God con never
send you into a family you would not survive in. He can never put you through
things you cannot handle, and there is nowhere you will find yourself in this
life that nobody has ever been.
If Jesus said he is the only way, he could be right. A man is known, described,
and classified by the things he does and the things he believes in. That is why
it is believed that it is the actions and the thoughts of a man that that shapes
him. When Jesus said that he is the way the truth and life, and that no one can
make heaven except through him, maybe he implied that the surest known
way to heaven is following his footsteps. All the religions instituted in the AD
unanimously agree and accept that Jesus is the most righteous man to ever
exist, the contradiction is on his divinity not his morality, for he led a very
exemplary life. If you live like Christ, in thoughts, words and actions, no matter
the religion you adhere to, you must make heaven. That Jesus is the only way
does not imply that everyone who calls him lord will make heaven, he said so
himself. If making heaven is all about professing that he is lord, then he
needn't come, God will just instruct Moses or whoever was in charge to tell his
people that there's a new name now, if you want to make heaven, just profess
that he is lord and you'll make heaven. But he came to give us the blueprint to
heaven, to show us the manual; he led a life he wanted us to emulate and
instructed us to live like he did. He said it that if you want to make heaven,
carry your cross and follow him. That cross entails, that no matter the
circumstances that may surround you, no matter the religion you adhere to,
you should always endeavor to live like him. The reason he came as human, he
came as a poor man, he subjected himself to the worst of situations, is to show
us that we do not any reason, there is no excuse at all for not living right. The
only way to make heaven is to live like Christ, and that is to love your God,
love yourself and love every other person in the world like you love yourself.
Every religious commandment, doctrine, or righteous living is embedded
under genuine love. Love for the Almighty, love for human and love for the
society; and that is 'HUMANITY'.
52
 Chapter 13
THE PERFECT PLACE TO WORSHIP
Every religion has its own worship center, but where then is the perfect place
to worship; Is it in the Church, in the Mosque, in the Temple, or in the Shrine.
This question had been answered by many people in the past. Philosophers
and educated, civilized, unbiased people say that the best place to worship
God is the heart. But I tell you, the heart is not the best place to worship God, it
is not even good to worship God with or in the heart. The heart is not
teachable, the heart does not think, and the heart can hardly be controlled.
53
The matters of the heart are that of emotions; that is, love, hatred, anger, envy,
jealousy, greed, lust, sympathy, compassion, and so on. When the heart is
genuinely in love, it does not think. When the heart is gravely angry, it does
not think. The heart has no sense, so it does not scrutinize. For instance, if a
girl is deeply in love with a boy, and they should separate without wronging
each other maybe because of distance or some circumstance beyond their
control. In many years come, after the girl must have married another man
and probably had children, and she happens to reconnect with her former
lover, especially in a place they see each other every day; like if they happen to
start working in the same place or reside in the same area, or attend same
social function regularly. Believe me, no matter how decent and morally
grounded the girl is, adultery would take place, except both of them work out
the resistance fervently together or the girl talk to the husband about it. But
all things being normal, if the guy should make a move to the girl, it will be
almost impossible for her to resist. That is why it is imperative for ladies tell
their husbands or fiancés about their past love life, their exes especially the
ones they really loved, so that should situations like this arise, they will work
it out together. The heart does not think and can hardly be tamed and people
who worship solely in the heart always turn out to become fanatics and bigots.
They can only be religious but never spiritual, and they can hardly be godly.
They only do what they are told without asking questions and when they do,
they do without wisdom. Because the heart cannot be educated, because the
heart can never be taught, people who worship in the heart understand
nothing about their scripture or doctrine, yet they preach the most. They are
always quick to judge, discriminate, and scrutinize other religions or
denominations. All they are interested in is where to worship and when to
worship. They know absolutely nothing about who they worship, why they
worship and how to worship. In fact, they do not even know what is worship
not to talk of fellowship.
Most Nigerians do not use their brain but make most use their heart. When
they are angry, they act without thinking, so they do evil things they will
surely regret later. When they are in love, they act without thinking, so they
do stupid things they may regret later. When they lock their heart on
something, they will do anything to get it, so they take foolish risks, risks
worth much more than the thing they lust after, risks they will surely regret
later.
Even in Nigerian system of education, most Nigerians are not intelligent, they
study with their heart and not their brains. They know nothing about their
studies, they only brag about the schools they attended and the course they
offered even when they understood nothing about it. That is why you will see
54
a college graduate in Nigeria who cannot pass ordinary high school exams, a
college graduate who cannot even compose an application letter. Tell a
hundred Nigerians that "Obi is a boy" and ninety-nine would not ask why nor
bother to find out what makes Obi a boy. They would not even care to know
the characteristics of a boy and under which conditions can someone be a boy.
They would only register in their heart that Obi is a boy so much so that in
fifty years to come, Obi will still be a boy. Most of the things we Nigerians
know are off hands, we do not know the principles that govern them. I recall
vividly during my junior secondary days when I challenged my teacher on the
Newton's laws of motion, and his response was, "I'm not Newton, I am only
teaching you what I was taught." No wonder it is said that Africa has no
philosophy; they only do what they are told.
Nigeria is made up of three major religions, Christianity, Islam, and tradition.
If you see a Christian who worships with the heart, if he is a catholic, he would
wear a rosary, a scapular and medals both front and back, yet he cannot give
small alms to a dying needy, cannot render not even a simple corporal work of
mercy. If he is a protestant, he will carry the fattest bible, he will quote
chapters and verses like his life depends on it, he will preach and shout with
microphones on the street, yet he does not have a single love in his heart. A
Muslim that worships God in the heart will go to the mosque 7 times a day,
will announce to the world that he is fasting, will do anything for Islam even
lay down his life, yet his eyes are always blood thirsty. When it comes to
religion, most Nigerians are fanatics and hypocrites, they are mere
sycophants. For every 10minutes walk you take in Nigeria, you will find a
worship center, a church, mosque, or a shrine. All these places of worship are
always filled with people, showing that at least 98% of Nigerians is religious,
yet Nigeria is very corrupt. That makes me wonder, who are doing the crimes
and who are in the places of worship. It only implies that someone can be so
religious yet with a man so evil. Those who worship in their heart tend to be
very religious yet with the mindset to do evil and commit atrocities because
the heart does not conceive thoughts but the mind. Behind every action there
is a thought which only the mind can conceive. One can have a clean heart yet
a very dubious mind. One can be a hardened criminal yet very compassionate,
sympathetic, caring and loving. Sincerely speaking, criminals are best lovers,
that is why they get the best of girls. The best place and the perfect place to
worship is in the 'MIND'. The mind controls thoughts and thoughts direct the
spirit and the actions of man, but the heart is all about WANTS and DESIRES.
The mind thinks, the mind is teachable for it comprehends and evaluates. In
Nigeria, we use most of the heart and nothing of the mind or brain. We have
many good schools yet no quality education. The heart knows nothing but
55
emotions, of which most are useless and very negative such as anger, greed,
jealousy, envy, lust and so on. The mind knows emotions too but evaluated
and calculated emotions. To the mind, emotion just just a page in a book but to
the heart it is the whole book. The reason we are religious and still do evil is
the same reason we truly love someone but still hurt them so deeply. Men
who truly genuinely love their wife and still beat them up are men who
entered matrimony with just their heart. They dedicate the heart for marriage
and the mind for business, they flourish in their business ventures while their
home collapse. The heart is really in love and do not want to let go but the
mind has multiple frustrating divided attentions, that is how it with religion
too. We go to the church or mosque, we confess and profess our love to the
Almighty, we pray, praise, hail, and worship with all our heart but our mind is
somewhere else. Our mind is either with the money in the bank, or the
unfinished business in the office, or the evil we are about to perpetrate next.
Even though our heart is in the worship Centre, our mind will be anywhere
but the worship center. The only time we can genuinely worship, is when our
heart and mind together with the body and soul realize and recognize the
supremacy of the Almighty. That can only be achieved if we inculcate in us, the
habit of educating and taming our mind positively. Education is not about
going to school alone; our minds are educated by what we see, hear, and
conceive. This implies that our mind is tamed by the prime agents of
socialization, which are self and environment. Someone once said that by
nature, all men are brutal, cruel, wicked, and jealous but that is not true. A
newly born is absent of thought and action, the environment tames it from
birth. The first thing the environment does to it is make it cry; make it know
pain from birth. The first things a baby say are the things it heard from the
immediate environment especially from mummy or nanny who is the closest
person to it. When we are kids, our parents are always mindful of what we see
in the television, the kind of jokes we crack and the things we discuss, the kind
of friends we hang out with. But when we grow, we feel we have become
mature enough, so we feed our mind with all sorts of movies and listen to all
sorts of songs. We grow so used to them that we hardly can see the line
demarcating movies from reality, so we bring movies into reality without even
realizing it. You will see a movie where someone offended James Bond; he
pulls out a gun and blows his head off. The brain being copier, will register it
to your memory. In reality somebody will get you angry, the brain will send
the actions to your nervous system and you will have an uncontrollable urge
to pull out a gun and blow his head off. A girl will see Beyoncé in a music video
wearing just pant and bra; she will take it to be the newest mode of dressing
and wear it in reality, making a mess of herself.

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Morality is always associated with civilization and civilization is always
associated with education. Since it is practically impossible to attain
spirituality without morality, it simply implies that it is practically impossible
to attain spirituality without education. Education in this sense represents
both formal and informal education. The higher you go in education the more
civilized you ought to be depending on how you tame your mind informally.
Some people go school to mingle with good, intelligent, and godly people,
learn good things and become useful to the society, while some do just the
opposite. Both formal and informal education shapes our mindset. Religious
teachings are also educative. The things we let our mind assimilate are the
things we educate it with. It is from our memory bank that thoughts erupt, the
thoughts that determine our actions. Our mindset determines how we relate
with nature, fellow humans and the Almighty. If we yearn for the slightest
excuse to hurt any of these, it means we have a very bad mindset.
Bob talked about good orators with charisma of influence who manipulates
others in the name of religion. But the truth is they can only manipulate
ignorant ones. For instance, there used to be a denomination of Christianity in
Nigeria that does not believe in medical treatment. They do not go to the
hospital and they do not take any form of medication, no matter how sick they
are. No educated person will adhere to such teaching even if he attends the
church. There is another denomination whose religious leader teaches them
never to see not to talk of own a television, yet he has a big LED television
hanging on the wall of his living room. Only an ignorant man will adhere to
such teaching. There is a sect in Nigeria protesting against formal education in
this modern age. I pity them, but do not really blame them. I blame the
missionaries who introduced formal education in Nigeria but made
Christianity a criterion for education. They made it compulsory that before
you enter the classroom, you must convert into a Christian. People who
refused to convert where left many years behind education and civilization.
They are now easily manipulated with little things, agitating against education
(western). They are now manipulated to take lives, even their own lives in the
name of their supreme being. They do not know they are only being used by
their leaders for ulterior motives (mostly politically oriented). My heart
bleeds whenever I see my people perish because they lack knowledge. Our
deities and supreme beings are meant to protect and fight for us and not the
other way round. They are even meant to intervene for us only on the matters
beyond human control. When you fight for your God, you are insulting your
God, it means you have a powerless and a worthless God. Even if you want to
fight for yourself, education and civilization have taught us how to fight, how
to fight without fighting. No religion will teach its adherents to go against the
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laws of the society, the constitution states vividly that on no account should
anyone take someone else’s life no matter what. If we know the scriptures, if
we are really conversant with our religion, we will always remember that the
Almighty created everybody. He created the poor, the rich, blacks, whites,
Muslims, Christians, traditionalists, and He created everyone in his image and
his likeness. What then gives us the impression that the Almighty will be
pleased with anyone who destroys the life he took much time to make. What
gives us the conviction we have the right to take another man’s in the name of
playing assistant God. If a man should marry a second wife because he thinks
the first and her children has gone prodigal, would he condone anyone taking
the life of his first wife or any of her children no matter how pissed he is with
them.
I am not scrutinizing any religion; I am only stating a general truth, a
phenomenal truth that will benefit the society and who ever dwells thereof
despite religion, tribe, or class. People's minds have grown so corrupt and
dark that the only thing they desire is to perpetrate evil. So much so that the
pains and the agony of another arouses them and gives them ecstasy. When I
read from the papers or see on the television the so many atrocities
committed on a daily, I cannot help but wish that the Almighty should end this
world already. A supposed man of God was arrested because he was feeding
his congregation that his sperm as the milk of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who
wants to receive the Holy Spirit will perform oral sex on him, he will ejaculate
the milk in her mouth for her to swallow. Just imagine the kind of atrocity
someone will commit on God's name just to satisfy a sexual urge, imagine the
kind of evil mind God's own church is led with. I wondered if it was only the
female congregants that needed Holy Spirit. If what he claimed was true, why
would he take them to the back of the church to give them the Holy Spirit, why
would they not receive it inside the church, on the altar of God before the
whole congregation. That man was able to deceive his congregation because
they were ignorant and worshipped with the heart. The heart would never
examine the teachings of religious leaders because it does not think, only the
mind does. An educated mind is never a foolish mind and can never be misled.
Only the illiterates in his church will adhere to such claim. There should be a
bill requesting any religious leader to master in any field of study outside his
faith before he assumes the office of a religious leader. Most people
subconsciously put same faith they have in their God on religious leaders
given that they play intermediators. They believe in their religious leaders
much more than they believe even in their doctors. Sometime ago, a boy
drowned in a swimming pool in Abuja but still got a pulse, while I was running
around on how to get him to the hospital, the friends rushed him to the
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church. The distance from the hotel to the hospital is five times that of the
church, unfortunately the boy died in the hands of the pastor. Religious
leaders should be very sound upstairs and very ground academically for them
to be considered eligible to lead, guide, and mentor the people. Bottom line,
we should endeavor to always remember that the Almighty is omnipotent,
omnipresent, and omniscient. He created the world with ease and can destroy
it at will, he does not need human soldiers to help him fight his battle, except
he is no longer a God. Jesus never wrote the Bible, Mohammed did not write
the Quran, none of the religious founders wrote their holy book, so the
possibility of a misinterpretation, miscomprehension, or misrepresentation is
very probable. Whenever a religious leader asks us to do a foolish or a devilish
thing in the name of the Almighty, we should be wise enough to discern if we
are about doing the will of God or actually doing his own will. We should also
learn to worship and fellowship more in the mind, for the mind produces our
thoughts and belief, and thoughts and beliefs are what governs our actions.
People who worship only in the heart appear holy only before men and in
worship centers, If you see them outside especially in their place of work, you
will wonder if they have ever heard the word God.

Chapter 14
THE TRUE RELIGION
The true religion is the first religion, the first religion is the religion instituted
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by God Himself. Every religion is a subordinate of the first religion. Any
religious doctrine or teaching that is against the first religion is a false or an
altered religion. Aside the true, religion, there is no religion, there is no faith,
and there is no law.
We have successfully established that the first religion on earth, the religion
instituted by God Himself is HUMANITY. And we have explained the concept
of humanity as in this context. Since, Humanity is not recorded anywhere in
the world as a type of religion, let us consider it then to be the ‘PRISCA
THEOLOGIA’ Hermes Trismegistus wrote about, "The single, true theology
that exists and is present in every religion and was given by God to man in
antiquity." Humanity is the doctrine that begot all other religious doctrines.
Any religious teaching or doctrine that contradicts humanity is either a false
or an altered doctrine.
It is very difficult to pinpoint any religion to be true or false. It is also very
unphilosophical to state that every religion is true and that every religious
doctrine is right. It will be an aberration to say that no religion is true, it will
then imply there is no God. There are ways to check which religions are on
track and which ones need to amend their teachings.
Characteristics of a True Religion
For a religion to be seen as true or considered to be on track, it must adhere
and practice the following:
 HUMANITY: Every true religion must uphold i.e. teach, adhere, believe in,
and practice humanity. Humanity as we have explained is the recognition
and respect for a supreme being, the love and respect for fellow humans
and obedience with allegiance to the society and nature. This implies that,
1. It must believe in a supreme being (deity or God). It must have regards for,
adore, respect, and worship the God, the deity it believes in.
2. Its teachings and doctrine must in all ramifications endeavor to harmonize
the relationship between human beings. That is, it must teach its adherents
to love and live in peace with their fellow human beings, notwithstanding
their color, their class, their religion, or their past. They must never hurt
not to talk of taking the lives of their fellow human beings.
3. It must teach and compel its adherents to respect and obey the laws of
nature and the laws of the society. Earthly government has heavenly
backing. God approved the laws of the society even though they were made
by man. God is known for orderliness and the laws of the society uphold
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 orderliness and stability in the society. Religions must help the society in
achieving the peace and harmony it deserves.
 TRANSPARENCY: For a religion to be considered true, just, and right; it
must be transparent and open. Everybody must know its mode of worship.
It should not be disclosed only to a certain people or only to its adherents.
It must support freedom of information; it must be ready to open up doors
and welcome everybody even strangers. It must be very transparent so
much that anybody who wants to become a member will have full and clear
details of what he is getting into. For in openness, it is no longer a one
man's religion.
 FREEDOM AND FREE: For a religion to be considered true, just, and right;
it must promote freedom and it must be free. It must promote freedom
implies that everyone has the right to become a member at anytime and
anywhere. And everyone has the right to renounce the religion any time he
finds reasons to. It must be free implies that it should not cost a thing for
anyone to become a member. The concept of freedom and free is that
people should never find any difficulty in joining or leaving the religion, it
must be purely a thing of choice alone. The concept of freedom and free
also implies that it must treat every of its members fairly and equally.
Any religion that is not transparent, free and fair, and does not adhere to
humanity as explained in this context is either a false or an altered religion.
The religion really needs to come back right on track because it's really
leading people astray knowingly or unknowingly.

CONCLUSION
The fundamental reason any religion is instituted is to reconcile man with his
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creator and harmonize the relationship between humans and the society. That
is the mission every religious leader and the adherents must strive to
accomplish and not concern themselves with playing assistant God. We make
mockery of the Almighty when we discriminate and scrutinize religions we do
not adhere to. If God be the creator of all and everything came into being by
his sheer will, then he permitted all the religions to co-exist on purpose.
Discriminating against religions is as bad as racism. If you believe you are
adhering to the true religion, be thankful for the grace and lead a life worthy
of emulation. Lead the kind of life those in the wrong religion will see and
want to reconsider. Religion only cannot even take us to our final destination,
the major thing that will take us to our final destination is our individual acts
of love and kindness. Most of the things that will damn us eternally are not
even the bad deeds we erroneously did, but the good deeds we bluntly refused
to do. The simplest act of love and kindness we refused to render.
Nigeria is a multi-tribal country, with different languages, different
cultures and different beliefs. Colonization gave us a common language
English; education gave us a common culture civilization; our problem now is
diversity of religions. This discrimination between Muslims and Christians;
this endless war the two closest religion, both from the same loin is one of the
major reasons my country tear apart. The funniest part of it all is that our
common father Abraham was neither a Muslim nor a Christian, yet he is the
Lord’s bosom. Religion is not even a collective race, at the last day, it will be all
man for himself, so why the tussle and bloodshed. Truly, people do perish for
the lack of knowledge. The purpose of religion is to help make the world a
better place, but we make the world worse and unlivable on the account of
religion. Religious comparison and scrutiny have brought upon us nothing but
pains, wars, and bloodshed. My greatest fear is that if there will be world war
3, it will not be because of politics or power, it will be because of religion. We
should all learn to be less religious and more spiritual and more godly, for that
is the only way we can attain holiness and stay true to our religion. May the
Almighty help us all…. God bless Nigeria… God bless Obosi.
I am the MESSENGER of truth and I have written.
PREFERENCES:

Researched from Google.

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