Religion is said to be on the increase. We actually overheard one woman say that this was evident from the "increased interest in opera." Apart from this rather silly justification, there is no doubt that there is more talking and writing about it. But would the situation be any different if it were said that there is an increased interest in ethics or morality? Christianity identical with a growth in moral beauty and a more profound interest in right and wrong? When others and Christianity are lined alongside one another, it appears, at first view, that the difference between them is only one of taste or degree, but not of kind, all being systems of right and wrong.

In order that religion may be discussed intelligently, it must be borne in mind that Christianity is not a natural religion. Its claims are totally different. The difference between Christianity and all other religions is like the difference between organic and inorganic. As Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ said: "He who is born of the flesh is flesh; he who is born of the Spirit is Spirit." In all other religions, human beings moves to God as the first of all movements; in Christianity, God moves to human beings and then human beings responds to that first impulse. No other religion except Christianity even makes this claim. The difference then between all natural world religions and ethical systems is the difference between seashells and crystals; the difference between them and Christianity is the difference a crystal and the living cell. The others are philosophy; Christianity is a spiritual biology.

A basic law of physics is that a body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless deflected by an outside force. The mineral in the earth remains mineral until life seizes it and transmutes it; the natural or the human man remains natural or human until a Divine Life outside of man seizes him and elevates him to a dignity which he cannot achieve of and by himself. This was the whole purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ becoming man: "I come that you may have life." Hence, through the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible there is a division of men into the living and the non-living: "You call yourselves living, but yet you are dead." This means that some have a natural life; they breathe and walk and talk and feel but, from a Divine point of view, they are lifeless; they lack that God-given life in comparison to which all else is dead.

The morality of Christianity, therefore, is not a mere crystallization of psychological, emotional and ethical norms; it is rather the possession in the soul of a Higher Life Principle called Charity or Divine Love. In the Christian order, as in the scientific, there is no spontaneous generation: Life must come from life; God-life must come from God. Hence, as the soul is the life of the body, so the God-life is the life of the soul.

There is no such thing as a man becoming more and more generous, less and less selfish, and then suddenly finding himself a partaker of the Divine Life. The seashell cannot grow and grow until it becomes an elephant. As Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "Unless you are born again... " It is important to know this in all discussions about religion, just as it is important to know the difference between chemistry and physiology.The present tendency to identify Christianity with Freud, labor unions, playing at benefits, tolerance and social service takes the heart out of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Religion of this kind may be becoming popular even under the name of Christianity. But whether Christianity will ever be popular is another matter. I doubt it, for Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "I have taken you out of the world; therefore the world will hate you."
                                                               
                                                                           Page 1

BY  ARCHBISHOP  FULTON  J.  SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless. 

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -