True Religion Explained

True Religion Explained

There is one way to Heaven revealed by God, and there are tens of thousands of man’s ways making promises that simply don’t save you. For most of history, there has not even been God’s way. The true path of religion is unknown to the masses, and is probably in the least expected place today. This book is a straight-shooting, no-holds-barred account of where truth lies. It tracks God’s revelations, debunks altered doctrine, and tells what YOU must do to discover truth.

By Eric Lawton

Copyright Eric Lawton 2013

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Chapters

Introduction

Creation versus Evolution

Life before this world

The War in Heaven

Satan

The Plan of Salvation

The Creation

Adam and Eve

Cain

Apostasy

Early Prophets

How many God’s are there?

Judaism up to Christ

The Promised Messiah

The Church of Jesus Christ

The Great Apostasy

The Reformation

The Restoration

The Book of Mormon

Doctrine and Covenants

True Religion as it has been traced

Table of Contents

Sections

Introduction

Creation versus Evolution

Atheists and agnostics

Intelligent design

Evidence of a God

Satan (One true God; one true religion)

The Plan of Salvation

Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve (on marriage)

Adam and Eve (on human nature)

Cain

Apostasy

Judaism up to Christ

The Promised Messiah

The Church of Jesus Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ (on scripture)

The Great Apostasy

The Reformation

The Restoration

The Book of Mormon

Differences in Doctrine (no chapter in the book)

Faith and Works

Grace

Belief in Christ

Priesthood and Priestcrafts

Difficulty convincing people (no chapter in the book)

True Religion as it has been traced

True Religion Explained

Introduction

There is a saying often used by people that goes; I never discuss religion or politics. It seems neither is popular with Australians. I am unsure of what the media is like in most parts of the globe but, in my home town of Brisbane, Australia, the media (newspapers, in particular) has scant religious content. I mean almost none, and when it does it is devoid of substance; how the smoke signifies a new Pope – that sort of thing. Ironically, the media is replete with political content, so I can’t understand why the disparity. Nevertheless, while politics is forced down your throat, any Aussie who happens to be interested in religion has to search for it, having almost no help from television, radio, and most print media. I presume this is similar around the world so, where does one begin searching?

With thousands of religions around, it would take more than a lifetime to visit all their congregations. Many would require distant travels. A person could ask friends and acquaintances, if they are prepared to hear a lot of that introductory saying, but that limits their information to a very small subset of the total religious offerings. That subset is directed by other peoples’ choices over which the person had no control, and would probably exclude religions not local to the friend. Would you trust anybody to have done a proper job in their own search? It is too random and limited to be of use, especially when the search is for your Eternal life.

Fortunately, we live in a digital age and computers are capable of speedily disseminating vast amounts of information. Before the internet, the best option was probably books, either by bookstores or libraries, but now that option has been enhanced. It is easier to search, yet it is still not easy. The sheer volume of religions ensures the truth remains hard to find for most people.

Recently, I read a non-Christian book that announced itself to be clear truth revealed from God to a self-confessed prophet. I dare not name the book, or the prophet for my own safety because its followers are sensitive, to say the least. I hope there are plenty of such books from many religions. In my personal opinion, I can’t recall reading another book that was more unclear. Nor could I agree that it contained truth. In fact, I found it difficult to read. Now, I have no interest in writing about that book beyond this mention of my personal feelings. I only mention it because those feelings prompted a desire in me to see whether I could write a clear book of religious truth. Could I, without revelation, without any commission from God or religions, write a book that is definitely not scripture, which people could read with ease, being devoid of, or at least with minimal confusion? I think I can, which begs the question – If that book’s god IS God, why would he be so garbled? If he is all-knowing and all-powerful, surely he can communicate clearly.

I am not a professional writer, though I have tried and failed years ago, and no… it was not about religion (it was an invention I have yet to build: The Lord of the Springs). I am not a church leader, so no church is commissioning or financing this, nor has it any say in how I present this. I don’t make money from the particular church I attend, and my religion has no idea I am writing this book. It is entirely my venture. In fact, my church would probably not approve of the manner in which I present truth. It has not done it quite like I will in nearly two hundred years, as far as I can tell. I understand this, and agree that it would not be prudent to come from God’s appointed representatives in the blunt and sometimes brutal way I use. It is me who is tactless, at times, and better it be me than the true Church of God.

Nor am I an academic, and am happy to dispense with the formalities of book writing; no rules of academia – if I don’t want an index, footnotes, referencing, or any other feature I simply won’t use it (great for e-books). In fact, I want to present this as if we were friends with plenty of spare time, and you were asking me what I knew on the topic of religion. I am an ordinary person, which makes the task of writing something clearer than supposed revelation from God all the more challenging.

At almost sixty, I have sufficient experience on the subject of religion, indeed, much more than the majority of people, who not only don’t discuss religion, but also don’t take any interest. However, it is not merely my longevity that gives me the confidence to tackle the task; it is my background as a computer programmer, which has taught me much (but no tact) regarding presenting information to people. With what I know, plus skills uncommon to most writers (including specialist religionists), I should have what it takes to present truth clearly. Any sincere seeker of truth will get the path to Eternal life revealed to them with no uncertainty, should they follow my guidance. That is my claim.

Before I put my thoughts to digital print, I will first stress that I don’t need to – indeed, SHOULD NOT be believed. This is the great secret to finding religious truth. Belief in my words alone is insufficient to motivate a soul to gaining exaltation. Similarly, belief in genuine scripture, once found and read, is almost as deficient. They are starting points only and fall short of what is really needed, which is your own personal revelation from God. At this point we haven’t established whether there is a God but, when we do, hearing God is necessary to being certain what IS, rather than what may be. If you were to study the tenets of all the thousands of religions, this concept would be foreign to almost all of them. It also puts the onus on you, and I will warn you at the onset, it won’t be easy.

Think about it. If you want someone to understand something clearly, is it better to communicate directly, or indirectly? It is a no-brainer; the answer is directly. So why are you happy for God to be indirect about the most important thing to you? - Your Eternal welfare. Why do you think God would use inferior methods than people use? You have been taught that God loves you with a greater love than anyone can love you, which is true, yet you assume he shuts you off to communicating with Him. That is not what the people around you do to show their love, so why do you expect it of God? It is because you have been wrongly taught. Readjust your thinking. Open your mind to greater possibilities. Eliminate the Chinese whispers syndrome. Only then can you find God.

It is no secret that clear instruction is best served in an ordered fashion, and time is a natural order, so my book will be chronological. I hope many atheists and agnostics read this, and for them will begin by covering the issue of evolution before going down the creationist path, naturally. With nothing but a few possible chapter headings below, I envisage this will be no pamphlet. God’s dealings with man span centuries so I can’t imagine detailing them with any brevity. This is a recipe for confusion, so I will take measures to minimise the possibility of confusing anyone. I have a habit of going into too much detail when conversing so I will put non-essential information in sections after the book is finished, which I will name notes on book chapters. This may not happen for every chapter. I will write what I feel can benefit you. I will finish the book somewhere in the middle and stay focussed on the path of true religion up to THE END. Any lengthy talk of false religions and other points of interest will be relegated to the sections after the book ends. Of necessity, I will cover the great apostasy within the book, but it should be brief, and far shorter than the notes section concerning it and the reformation that followed.

And I won’t be proving anything, however, I will give evidence as I see fit. The scriptures will add more evidence than anybody needs (if they are honest with themselves) and the Spirit proves. That should cut the size of this book down as well as keeping clear. If you want proof, by all means, do your own research. I have already said that God will reveal the truth, so take advantage of asking directly in prayer. But you must qualify, and I haven’t mentioned how, as yet. You may already know, but for those who don’t, I will explain later.

Another thing before I begin the path of true religion - I must stress this point: The bible mentions humility, and readers will need that in spades because I will not be pulling punches when it comes to identifying what is wrong with many belief systems. Humility has many attributes, such as being as a little child, as the bible also mentions, but this one aspect I highlight - you must be teachable. Don’t let pride stop you from learning. Now that the preliminaries are dispensed with, I hope you will enjoy my efforts; here is true religion explained…

Creation versus Evolution

The theory of evolution as an origin is pitted against the notion that a supreme being created the world and all things in it. I deliberately stipulated as an origin because I believe God uses evolution in nature to protect life, much in the way healing is a tool to protect life, but neither is a means to create it. From here, on, evolution is about origin, not small adaptations to change.

These views cannot exist together; either one is true and the other false, and vice versa. People are usually inclined to an opinion well before they know enough facts, when it comes to this particular issue. Obviously, a state of nothingness does not exist, so seeing, thinking, feeling, etcetera, prompts an opinion between accidental and planned existence. If that favours evolution they usually dismiss religion with little or no learning, due to lack of interest. If they lean towards creation most people still don’t necessarily pursue a quest for truth. The majority of people remain ambivalent, or stop at being content with the traditional belief of family, or else find a church that meets their social needs. Committed truth seekers are a very small minority. This book is for those who are serious about following God. That doesn’t mean put it down if you are not serious. It means, once read, everybody should get serious.

What is evolution? It is the belief that the world and life originated because time accommodates change; that a black hole, or something in space exploded to throw this world and the universe it is in into their orbits, and the elements over time created all life by changes over vast expanses of time.

What is creationism? It is the belief that a supreme being created everything using intelligent design.

Before I compare the two, now is a good time to admit that I don’t understand, nor have the answers for many of the mysteries of the cosmos. As humans trapped on this planet, nobody has the capacity to comprehend the nether, so I am not alone in my ignorance. However, there is enough evidence (not proof) to make sense of the two beliefs, and to make