I wonder if you are like the person who said to me: “I believe in God, but it seems like God is so far off, so—unreal!”

Why do most people feel this way?

Then again, I have often wondered how it can be that so many have heard me explain the message God sent to mankind by Jesus Christ, just as it is plainly recorded that Christ taught it, and yet have said afterward: “I surely enjoyed that. I never heard anything like that before, and it certainly makes sense”—and yet, even though they heard it, understood it, even expressed that it was the most logical and self-evident true explanation of life and its purpose they have ever heard—in spite of this, knowing it is the truegospel of Jesus Christ, yet they evidence not the slightest indication that this true message from God is of any concern to them, personally—or that it has any connection with them, individually!

Why is this?

What Is the SOURCE of Your Religion?

The answer is bound up in two factors: the unreality of God to the average person, and the actual source of one’s religion.

Let’s understand this mystery!

What is religion, anyway?

Religion is the obedience, service or adoration rendered to the object of one’s worship—a system of faith and devotion to a superior authority— the profession, practice or observance of whatever belief and practice is required by that superior authority.

The very source of your religion, then, is that superior authority. Whatever that authoritythat to you has appeared superior—you received your religion from it, and you profess whatever belief, and observe whatever practice it requires!

The question, then, now becomes: “What IS that superior authority?”

Is that source of your religious belief and practice a supreme, all-powerful, personal God?—a Godwho created all matter, force and energy—who created everything that exists?

The incredible answer, in nearly all cases, believe it or not—is NO!!

Many of the world’s organized and recognized religions do not believe in any one supreme, personal, all-powerful God!

Most of the many sectarian divisions of the professing Christian religion do claim to believe that there is one supreme, all-powerful, personal God—but, in reality, is such a personal God the real SOURCE of their religious belief and practice? The astonishing answer is NO!

Most intelligent people believe there had to be some original first cause—a first causeof all that we see and know about us—of the Earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the weather— of animal life and plant life—of human life. But is that firstcause an actual, personal Beingpossessing mind, intelligence, purpose— and the powers to bring into existence the things that we see about us—and the power to guide, direct and control the Earth and the entire universe?

WHY God Is Unreal

If such a supreme, living, all-intelligent, all-powerful, personal Being does exist, then WHY is it that this God seems so UNREAL to people—so far off as to seem nonexistent?Why?

I think we can explain that!

The hour that you were born, you knew nothing about any one, supreme, personal God. You knew nothing! Whatever concept you have about God has come into your mind since the day of your birth. How did knowledge begin coming into your mind? There are only five channels through which any knowledge can come, naturally, into the human mind—that which you see, hear, taste, smell or feel— the five physical senses.

There exist three dimensions. But the natural mind of a mortal human person is aware of only two. Babies grow into little children—and they grow toward adulthood with an awareness only of the within and the around. You grew toward adulthood with no real knowledge of the above—for the above is spiritual—it cannot be seen— you cannot hear, taste, smell or feel spiritual things, beings or truths.

And so, if there be any one, supreme, spiritual beingwho is God, you couldn’t see Him—you couldn’t hear Him—you had no actual personal contact of any kind with Him—you could know absolutely nothing of God through any of these natural channels by which you receive knowledge.

Well, then. There are many millions of professing Christians who say they believe in such a God—and who profess to know more or less about Him. How did this happen?

The answer is that they know what they have read or been told by those around them—what they have received from other people. What most people know about God—or think they know—often has not come from the above—not from God Himself directly, in any personal contact—but from the around—purely from what they have heard, read or been told by other people. And where did these other peopleacquire their “knowledge”? Well they, too, received it from other people— and in the main, all these other peopleconstitute a deceived world that has no direct knowledge of or contact with any one supreme spirit being, who isGOD!

Of course, although most people neglect Bible reading, some have read about God in the Bible—but their concept of God has been so firmly implanted into their minds by other people during childhood, before they started reading the Bible, that they continue picturing Him in the same way.

Well, NO WONDER, then, that most people who profess to believe in such a God say that God seems unreal to them. They are like the patriarch Job. He thought he knew all about God. But after God actually revealed Himself, and spoke directly and in person to Job—after this personal contact had been established—Job said to God: “I have heardof you by the hearing of the ear: but now, my eye SEES YOU!” (Job 42:5). Yes, now, God had become real. Job’s source of knowledge previously had been from the around— He had heard about God by the hearing of the ear—from otherpeople. God wasn’t real to him. But once that direct personal contact was established, God became real.

There is a way by which you can establish actual, direct, personal contactwith God, so that He will become absolutely REAL.

But what is the SOURCE of the religions of this world? Beliefs and religious practices have come from this source.

The Unrealized SOURCE

This society, the pattern or system which is of humanorigin, is the actual SOURCE of nearly all of the BELIEFS and the PRACTICES of nearly all the people on Earth today—and that includes religious beliefs and practices.

People believe what they do, usually, because the society with which they are connected believes that way. They practice whatever customsthey follow because the peoplewith whom they feel connected dictate these practices.

Most people the world over have accepted the religion of those people with whom they were most closely connected from infancy to adulthood—their parents. And by the time they grow up, they find themselves surrounded by a larger group than their immediate family—a religious group or church or society or nation—all of which accept the same religious beliefs and follow the same religious practices. And, if ever such a person is in any manner tempted to question these beliefs and practices, the fear of what all the others with whom he is associated might think and say dissuades him—usually!

Yes, it is human to fearthe society to which we have become attached in the way that we should fear the CreatorGOD! But this immediate society around us is near—it is real— we see and hear these people—we want to be acceptedby them—and God seems so far away— so unreal!

It ought to begin to dawn on our minds that the actual source of the religious beliefs and practices of nearly all individuals is—SOCIETY—other people—and this society of other people is what the Biblecalls thisWORLD!

How Religions Originated

A few times, in the history of this world, in one nation or another, a man of higher-than-average intellect has dared to think for himself—to think and to reason within himself independent of, and contrary to the society around him. As he has meditated upon some of the deeper things of life, he has dared to come to conclusions different from those of the accepted religion of his people. Such a man has been confined, in this reasoning, to whatever factual knowledge he has gained from without—and he has been confined to the around—to this material worldof people, plant and animal life, and things. He has been unable to see, or to hear, or in any way to knowabout spiritualthings.

And since the real principles of life—the very purposeof life, the wayto peace, to happiness, to joy; the meaningof life, of death, or whether there is life afterdeath, and of its nature—since all these fundamental principles of lifeare not to be seen, or heard, or knowledge of them transmitted through the five senses; and since this basicknowledge can come only from above, from the Creator Himself; and since these leaders were utterly cut offfrom this true sourceof knowledge about life, then their reasonings and philosophic and religious conclusions have been of necessity in error.

Yet they have seemed plausible. In nearly every case these men who have founded some new religion have found very few sympathizers at first, or even during their lifetimes. Only a fewhave ever been willing to break awayfrom the established ideas and customs of their immediate society. All others have avoided them or persecuted them. But in some cases their few followers themselves became leaders, and gradually, very slowly at first, new converts were added, until in time these new ideas became an established religion with many followers—often numbering many millions.

That is whythere are different religions in different countries—that is howit all came about.

The SOURCE of This World’s ‘Christianity’

But—marvel of marvels—the actual sourceof what is commonly accepted as “Christianity” today is altogether different from what professing Christians call the “heathen” religions. Yet almost no one knows what it is.

It is a new thing in the Earth; and it originated, not from the philosophies of a human mind apart from the truth of God and of Christ, but in actually seizing upon the true religion of Christ and counterfeiting it in order to exalt and deify a human man.

The Prophet Daniel foretold it. In the longest prophecy in the Bible—Daniel 10, 11 and 12, it is recorded: “And the king shall do according to his will [not God’s]; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods [the true God] …. Neither shall he regard the gods of his fathers [heathen gods] … and a god whom his fathers [pagans] knew not shall he honour …” (Daniel 11:36-38).

Differing totally from all previous pagan religions, the true Christianity was counterfeited, with a former pagan belief or practice substituted for almost everything vital in the true belief and practice which came from God, and yet seizing on the nameof Christ, and the nameof God, and labeling this religion “Christianity.” Vehemently it professed to abolish idolatry, by substituting the namesof God and of Christ for pagan gods, while substituting pagan beliefs and practices for those of Jesus Christ!

And all the world is deceived!

Does God Exist?

But—if there be a true first cause—a supreme personal Beingwho had wisdom and power to actually createthis Earth and life upon it—I say that ifthere be such an intelligent supreme personal God, it is not reasonablethat He should have failed to makeHimselfknown to mankind—and to communicateto mankind the knowledge of the truth, the knowledge of the purposeof life, the spiritual lawsthat governlife and all relationships—and of the hereafter!

Is there such a God? Does that God exist?

Did He ever communicate such a revelation of essential knowledge to mankind?—and if so, I ask you, WHYis the world today groping so helplessly in the darkness ofCONFUSION— with actually hundredsof different and conflicting religious teachings?

Over 40 years ago, I was led by this very Godto ask these same questions—and to seek their rational and absolute proof, one way or the other.

The PROOF

Since I could not see this Supreme God, I turned to what could be seen or heard—measured and examined and absolutely proved—the laws and the facts of science. And I found that what is observed and known about radioactivity proves there has been no past eternity of matter.

Matter itself, then, is not the great first cause, as some seem to think—for there was a time, long, long ago, when matter came into existence. Somethingcould not bring itself into existence out of nothing. There was, then, a creative powerthat is apart from, and independent of matter. Next, was this first cause—the Creating Power that created matter—intelligent? I found accurate and absolute proof, unanswerable, that this Creatorwas a SupremeIntelligence—an intelligence infinitely higher than that in man. The reader can have this same proof by writing for our free booklet Does God Exist?

But what was this Creator like? Ah, I could not prove that by the laws of science. I could prove only that there isa Creator, who is intelligent.

But, regardless of whether the Creator be a personal God, ifHe is intelligent, it would be an insult to intelligence if He had not revealed Himselfand His purposein creating humanity on this Earth—and all the fundamental knowledgeabout life that mankind seems to lack.

I began to look into the religious writings—the sacred scriptures—of the religions of the world. Being an American, reared in what I was told was Christianity—but now doubtingit, and demanding proof, I first set out to provewhether or not the Holy Biblecould be such an inspired revelation.

The PROOF of Inspiration

In this Book, I found One actually quoted, saying He was God Almighty—a Personal Beingwho had created everything that exists. This God is quoted directly as speaking, and as delivering decreesand sentenceson the greatest of the ancient city-states, on the greatest of ancient nationsand empires—and foretellingwhat Hewas going to causeto happento those cities, nations and empires a very fewyears later or a thousand years later or several thousand years later—and throughout eternity!

Now no mortal man could put such colossal pronouncements in writing, and bring them to pass. No mancould cause such results. No mancould knowthe future!

The only ONE that could inspire such writing—if events actually happened as written in advance—is the MOST High Creator who actually controlsall the forces and powers that exist, who is also supremeRULER over the entire universe!

I found such prophecies respecting not merely one, not merely two, not merely four, but concerning most all of the existing great cities of the world at the time the words were written.

Ancient Tyre was to be utterly destroyed, in a certain specific manner—and neverrebuilt. That happened, in the exact mannerwritten down centuries before the event—and in nearly 2,500 years it has never been rebuilt!

Her sister city, Sidon, was to be reduced to a very small city, continually attacked, with continual bloodshed in her streets—yet continuing to be rebuilt, and to exist. Thathas happened, precisely as written 2,500 years ago, down to this very day!

Ashdod was to continue to exist as a small city, until all surrounding territory was to be occupied by the Jewish people in this 20th century a.d.—and that happened! But her sister city of the ancient Philistines, Ashkelon, was to be destroyed and neverrebuilt—and thathappened!

Ancient proud Babylon was to be totally destroyed, and never againwas any manto be allowed to live there. I visited all these sites—and it has happenedas prophesied. No man has lived at the site of ancient Babylon for many centuries—none lives there today!

Egypt was then, when this prophecy was written, one of the greatest nations on Earth. It was to be conquered by the Chaldeans, reduced to a minor nation—always to exist, but never again as a majornation—and neveragain ruled by a native prince. And thathappened, exactly as the One quoted saying, “I am the EternalGOD.” said it would!

When these prophecies were written the Chaldean Empire was rising to become the world’s first world-ruling empire. This God of the Bible, 2,500 years ago, inspired the prophets to write that it was to be conquered by the Persian Empire. It, in turn, by a great general from Greece—who turned out to be Alexander the Great; and Hewas to be cut off from life at an early age, and his kingdom divided into fourdivisions—and they, in turn, were to be absorbed by a rising Empire from the west, to be the most powerful of all empires. This same Godinspired the writing, 2,500 years ago, that this great empire, which was the Roman Empire, was to be overthrown, but to be resurrected 10 times!Nineof those resurrections have already come and gone, and that same Godwrote in those same prophecies, 2,500 years ago [some of them 1,900 years ago], that yet inOURtime, there would be another resurrection of that empire.

And these are only a few of the scores and scores of propheciesin this remarkable Book—manyof them already startlingly fulfilled—all the others right nowin almost immediateIMMINENCE of being fulfilled in our time! Yes, I found that prophecyhas absolutely provedthat the Scriptures called the Holy Biblewere directly inspiredby the very Creator God!

You can prove it too, if you have not already done so. Request our free booklet The Proof of the Bible.

God Answers Prayers

Then I found other proof. I found that this same God, in this same Bible, had hundreds of promiseswritten down for youand for me, saying that under certain terms and conditions, He would actually cause certain things to happenfor us—IF WE WOULD ASK HIM IN BELIEVING PRAYER! I found promises to deliver us from trouble when we get into it, to supply our every needwhen we really needit, to fight our personal battlesfor us, to heal us when we are sick—yes, even to prosperus financially. These were promises of outside supernatural help I saw that every person often needs. Time after time came when I actually needed some of these things—and by this time I had come to believewhat God had written and promised—I followed His instructions: I prayed. I askedfor what He had promised, I set myself to yield to, and to obeythis God of the Bible—to believewhat He said in the Bible. And, believe it or not, the answers came—yes, miracleswere performed! I learned that there was really someone therewhen I prayed to this God—there was Someone who actually heard, and who actually answered!

One time I was in immediate and desperate need of a very small amount of money—the need was so urgent I had to ask this invisible God, whom I could not see, to sendthis small piece of money to my home immediately. The need was so immediate I had no time for a long prayer—only some 20 or 30 seconds. But as I rose from that prayer, a man was even then in front of my house, on the way in with that exact amountof money! It was brought to me in less than one minute’s time!

I have had such petitions to that great, invisible God answered hundreds upon hundreds of times! And so can you—if you can ever get to really knowthis great, universe-ruling Creator—if you will unconditionally obey Himas He commands in this very Bible—and ifyou will implicitly and unswervingly believewhat He has promised there!

And I found other proofs. I knew, then, that the Bibleis that very revelation of vital knowledge without which this world lives in darkness and in religious confusion—and in unhappiness, wretchedness and suffering. I had found the one and ONLY TRUE SOURCE oftruth—of the only truebelief and practice—the only trueWAY OF LIFE!

And I found the source of this world’s religious belief—a SOURCE that I was dumbfounded to learn is at total variance with what is commonly believed and taught and practiced today in the Western world under the name of Christianity! Astounding though it was, I found that the Christianity of this world is notthe teaching, or the practice, of the Holy Bible!

THAT discovery sent my head to spinning! THAT discovery was the most shocking truth of my life!

‘Christianity’ Not Founded on the Bible

I found that there is absolutely NO organized religion on the face of the Earth that has AS ITS SOURCE of faith and practice the Holy Bible.

I found that every one has as its sourcethe precepts of human men, derived from error-filled human reason based on limited knowledge from the around, and reasoned out within, as directed by the vanity of human minds!

But HOW could such a preposterous state of affairs come about? The Bible itself plainly reveals the answer. Its historytells how the very first man, Adam, rejectedthe knowledge of God, and was influenced solely by the withinand the around.

It tells how, after the Flood with only eight souls left alive on Earth—and those eight possessing a true knowledge of the true God, the great grandson of Noah, Nimrod, and his wife Semiramis, rebelled against the revelation, the knowledge and the ruleof God, and began organizing humancities and governments, and a human-devised religionwhich was the actual parentof allthe religions of the world today.

It tells how, even in the nation God chose as His own, the people rejected His knowledge and His rule. Theystoned the prophets through whom He offered them the trueknowledge that man needs and lacks.

It tells how God sent His own Son, born as a mortal human, with His message for mankind—and how men crucifiedthe very Sonof God, Jesus Christ. Then, later, rejectingHis Message from God and His wayof life and His ruleover them, men appropriated Jesus’s name, and called their own religion “Christianity.” The propheciesof this same Bible foretold that this whole worldwould be deceived—that they would turn awaytheir ears from the real truth, and accept fablesand the traditions of men.

The SOURCE of Religious Confusion

Many religions today teach nothingabout the one, supreme, personalCreator God. Most professing denominations use the namesof God and Christ. They teach aboutGod and aboutChrist, but they have embraced a mixtureof a partof the truth of the message of Christ and the revelation of the Bible with ancientpagansuperstitions and false philosophies, and their own comparatively recent ideas of men.

The real source of their practice and their belief is notthe above—it is the around, it is society, it is THIS WORLD! Even as the Biblesays—allnations are deceived.

They profess to accept the Bible. They professGod and the name of Christ as Savior. But most of their beliefsare at total variancefrom those of Godas revealed in the Holy Bible.

Most professing Christians today do not look into the Bibleto learn what to do in life, in business, in society, in government. No, God is unreal—far offto them. They have heard aboutChrist. They thinkthey follow the Bible, because the actual sourceof their religion—society—has caused them to believe that its teachings and practices camefrom the Bible. They merely read the Bible superficially for inspiration. It is not their one infallible authority—their constant daily guidein belief and in practice.

And this very same Bible inspired by the living Godforetells precisely what Godis going to doabout it all—yes, and in OUR TIME!

It reveals that God made man a free moral agent—that God decreedfrom the beginning that man must choose whether to believe and obey God, or to reject God and set up on Earth his own systems of religion, government, and society; and that God set apart a duration of 6,000 years for man to cut himself off from the very real God, and to learn his lesson by writing it in cruel human experience.

God reveals His great purpose in all this—and He reveals that, in our time, God Almighty is going to intervenein human affairs before organized powers of humanity finally blast human life off this planet by the engines of destruction invented by misguided human brains!

God Almighty is going to intervene with all the power and fury of the supreme Creator and ruler of the universe, and STOP this hellish trend of organized mass destruction of man by man! He is going to send the very same Jesus Christ, once again to this Earth—this time in all the colossal powerand gloryof the great Eternal God—to set up on Earth the rule of God Almightyover all nations!

From Tomorrow’s World, May 1971)