Morristown Clergy Corner: One religion vs. many?

clergy council
The Morristown Area Clergy Council 2010
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Have a question about faith? Send it to MorristownGreen.com, and a cleric from the Morristown Area Clergy Council will offer an answer as best we are able.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS:

Why are there so many different religions in the world?
Will there ever be just one world religion? –Geri Silk

There are so many different religions because God created each of us with a desire to know and love God while allowing the diversity of culture and personality to influence the various ways we recognize and worship our Creator.

I believe the diversity of religions is very beautiful and enriching. We all can learn much from one another’s ways of seeking a relationship with God who is mysterious and beyond our ability to fully comprehend.

For those in the Christian religion, our biblical scriptures inform our understanding of faith in Jesus Christ, who we believe was God incarnate (in the flesh) who came to earth to show us God’s deep sacrificial love for each one of us and for the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3: 16)

Ephesians 4: 11-16 explains how Jesus Christ shaped the church (the body of Christ) in this way: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ….Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Concerning the second question: “Will there ever be just one world religion?”
The scripture above points to the goal of reaching “unity in faith” and in the knowledge of God through love. That is a wonderful goal for us all to strive for if it is done with God’s ways of love and not human oppression or violence. I find hope from the Bible in Luke 1: 37 – “For nothing is impossible with God.”

(Scriptures excerpted from the New International Version of the Bible, 2010)

–The Rev. Cindy Alloway
The Presbyterian Church in Morristown

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About the Morristown Area Clergy Council

The Morristown Area Clergy Council is an interfaith group of clergy and congregational representatives who gather for the purpose of mutual support, professional growth, and fellowship. Our mission is to inspire activities promoting justice, religious liberty, and interfaith understanding by educating, organizing for advocacy, interfaith dialogue, and celebration.

The Council came into existence in response to local needs—race riots in Morristown High School, the problem of homelessness, etc. Its hands-on efforts to meet challenges have laid the groundwork for the Community Soup Kitchen, Homeless Solutions and the chaplaincies at Morristown Memorial Hospital and the Morris County Detention Facility.

Two large demonstrations were organized in response to a Morristown visit by a white racist group. Recent efforts included the first interfaith build of Morris County Habitat for Humanity, the organization of the Workers Center of Pathways to Work, and the Hospitality Link homeless program. The Council also co-sponsors an interfaith breakfast on Martin Luther King Day.

clergy council
The Morristown Area Clergy Council 2010


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