How Most Religions Start

How Most Religions Start

Newer Religions

Church histories of the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) report that their founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., had a vision in 1820. Two personages, whom he later identified as G-d the Father and Jesus, appeared and revealed to him that all existing churches were counterfeit. In 1823, Smith was visited again, this time by the angel "Moroni," who informed him of the existence of "golden plates" containing an inscription in "Reformed Egyptian" about the ancient inhabitants of North America. In 1827, the angel reappeared to reveal the plates' exact location. Smith immediately set to work translating them, and that translation became the Book of Mormon. Later, Smith and an acquaintance, Oliver Cowdery, had a joint vision of John the Baptist, who conferred upon them "a restored Aaronic Priesthood." In another vision, Peter, James, and John gave Smith and Cowdery "the higher priesthood of the Apostles." Smith continued to have regular revelations, which he related to his followers and published in another book -- The Doctrines and Covenants.[1]

"I AM" (or the "Saint Germain Foundation") was founded by Guy Ballard in 1930. Hiking alone near Mt. Shasta in California, Ballard claims to have been approached by the reincarnation of the Comte de Saint Germain, an eighteenth-century French occultist, and appointed to spread a new, true religion. Ballard published the account of his initial interchanges with Saint Germain (Unveiled Mysteries) in 1934, and over the next four years he wrote half a dozen more books describing Saint Germain's more than 3,000 discourses and decrees. Thousands attended Ballard's seminars in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles until his death in 1939. His followers continue to teach about Ballard's revelations, and in 1990 there were more than 300 "I AM" centers in more than twenty-five countries.[2]

The Unification Church, popularly known as "the Moonies," also began with one man's revelation. On Easter morning, 1936, Jesus came to sixteen-year old Sun Myung Moon and told him to proclaim himself the new Messiah. In 1980 the Church reported over 120 centers worldwide.[3]

Eckankar also started with John Paul Twitchell's revelations and "astral" (out-of-body) travel. Before his death in 1971, Twitchell claimed to be the 971st ECK Master and a spiritual descendent of "an unbroken chain of Vaiargi Masters." In 1988 Twitchell's Church reported 127 U.S. centers and 284 worldwide.[4]

The beginnings of Christian Science[5], Theosophy[6], Children of G-d[7], and Elan Vital[8] are virtually identical. In fact, brief histories of almost all new religious groups sound the same: one or two people have a revelation and persuade others to follow. In all of these cases, the religion's credibility rests on the credibility of its one or two founders.

Older Religions

According to Buddhist texts, Buddhism began when a wealthy eastern prince, Siddhartha Gautama, abandoned his family's plush estate to search for the truth. After a nearly fatal immersion in asceticism, Gautama retreated to the "Middle Way," studied with teachers of yoga and philosophy, and eventually settled beneath a Bodhi tree to "put himself into a trance, intent of discerning both the ultimate reality of all things and the final goal of existence."[9] With no one present, Prince Gautama succeeded, and the week-long trance carried him to infinite heights of awareness and peace: "He passed through the eight stages of Transic Insight, and quickly reached their highest point. . . . Then he had achieved correct knowledge of all there is to be known, and he stood out in the world as a Buddha."[10] According to Gautama's report, in his vision "the whole universe was illumined, rain and blossoms fell from the heavens, and even the sages in heaven, recognizing the supremacy of [Gautama's] enlightenment, bowed [to him]."[11] Gautama emerged from that solitary revelation to begin his 45 year career as a religious teacher and leader.

Islam is another religion rooted entirely in the experiences of one man, Muhammad, born in Mecca, Arabia around 570 C.E.. At the age of forty, Muhammad "had an experience in which a message somehow became present in his mind; and eventually he came to believe that this was a message from G-d."[12] Eventually G-d told Muhammad that he had been chosen as the Divine messenger and "Seal of the Prophets" (khatm). Muhammad continued to receive messages throughout his life, and slowly these messages were gathered into suras (chapters) and written down, eventually forming the Koran.

The Koran describes other people who witnessed oddities indicating that Muhammad was a legitimate prophet. Muhammad's mother reportedly experienced "none of the difficulties of pregnancy," and she "heard a voice one day which told her that her son was to be a ruler and prophet, and that she should name the child Ahmad, this is Muhammad the illustrious."[13] The Koran reports that Muhammad was born clean, circumcised, and with the umbilical cord already cut and tied; and that when Muhammad was twelve years old, a Syrian monk noticed a tree lowering its branches to shade the boy from the sun.[14]

Christianity

Traditional Christian claims about Jesus' divinity rest on the virgin birth, resurrection, and the miracles he performed during his lifetime. These claims have varying levels of verifiability.

Nobody but Jesus' mother, Mary, could have known if he were really the product of a virgin birth. Regarding the resurrection, former president of the Catholic Biblical Association Raymond E. Brown admits that "the New Testament does not make claim that anyone saw the resurrection," and therefore "the reality of the bodily resurrection hinges on the missing body or the empty tomb and, above all, on the validity of the experiences of those who claimed they saw Jesus risen."[15] According to Christian tradition, eleven (of the twelve) disciples and Mary Magdalene saw Jesus alive after his crucifixion,[16] and "the apostles" saw Jesus ascend into the heavens at the conclusion of his earthly mission.[17]

Christianity's credibility derives mostly from its descriptions of the miracles Jesus performed. For instance, "the disciples" saw Jesus walk on the Sea of Galilee.[18] The text fails to mention who the disciples were, or how many of them were present, but, given the plural reference, there must have been at least two or as many as all twelve.[19] Also, three disciples (Peter, James, and John) witnessed Elijah and Moses materialize, confer with Jesus, and then disappear again.

One might argue that Christianity has an even more solid basis. Many times "a crowd" saw Jesus "heal" the disabled, blind, and insane. (See, for example, Mark 2:12; 8:24-5; and 5:15.) Christian sources also describe how Jesus fed "as many as 5,000 men" with only five loaves of bread.[20]

2

For more information see the books Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive, and visit

www.lawrencekelemen.com.

2

For more information see the books Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive, and visit

www.lawrencekelemen.com.

The Torah's Revelation Narratives

"The Israelites traveled from Rameses toward Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 adult males on foot..." (Exodus 12:37)

"G-d said to Moses, 'I will come to you in thick cloud, so that all the people will hear when I speak to you. They will then believe in you forever.' Moses told G-d the people's response. G-d said to Moses, "Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow. Let them even immerse their clothing. They will then be ready for the third day, for on the third day, G-d will descend on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." (Exodus 19:9-11)

"The third day arrived. There was thunder and lightning in the morning, with a heavy cloud on the mountain, and an extremely loud blast of a ram's horn. The people in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp towards the Divine Presence. They stood transfixed at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was all in smoke because of the Presence that had descended on it. G-d was in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a lime kiln. The entire mountain trembled violently. There was the sound of a ram's horn, increasing in volume to a great degree. Moses spoke and G-d replied with a voice. G-d came down on Mount Sinai, to the peak of the mountain. He summoned Moses to the peak, and Moses climbed up." (Exodus 19:16-20)

"G-d spoke all these words, saying: 'I am G-d your Lord, Who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery. Do not have any other G-ds before Me. (Exodus 20:1-3)

"G-d said to Moses: 'This is what you must tell the Israelites: You have seen that I spoke to you from heaven...'" (Exodus 20:19)

"To the Israelites, the appearance of G-d's glory on the mountain top was like a devouring flame. Moses went into the cloud, and climbed to the mountain top." (Exodus 24:17)

"Only take heed and watch yourself very carefully, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes saw. Do not let [this memory] leave your hearts, all the days of your lives. Teach your children and children's children about the day you stood before G-d your Lord at Sinai. It was then that G-d said to me, 'Congregate the people for Me, and I will let them hear My words. This will teach them to be in awe of me as long as they live on earth, and they will also teach their children. You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was burning with a fire reaching the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud and mist. Then G-d spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sounds of words, but saw no image; there was only a voice. He announced to you rules and laws, so that you will keep them in the land which you are crossing [the Jordan] to occupy." (Deuteronomy 4:9-14)

"You might inquire about times long past, going back to the time that G-d created man on earth, [exploring] one end of the heavens to the other. See if anything as great as this has ever happened, or if the like has ever been heard. Has any nation ever heard G-d speaking out of fire, as you have, and still survived?... You are the ones who have been shown, so that you will know that G-d is the Supreme Being, and there is none besides Him. From the heavens He let you hear His voice admonishing you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, so that you heard His words from the fire." (Deuteronomy 4:32-35)

"G-d made a covenant with you [at Mount Sinai]... It was not with your ancestors that G-d made this covenant, but with us, we who are still alive today. On the mountain, G-d spoke to you face to face out of the fire." (Deuteronomy 5:2-4)

G-d spoke these words in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the mountain, out of the fire, cloud and mist... When you heard the voice out of the darkness, with the mountain burning in flames, your tribal leaders and elders approached me. You said, 'It is true that G-d our Lord has showed us His glory and greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that when G-d speaks to man, he can still survive. But now, why should we die? Why should this great fire consume us? If we hear the voice of G-d our Lord any more, we will die!'" (Deuteronomy 5:19-22)

"G-d gave me the two stone tablets written with G-d's finger. Upon them were written all the words that G-d declared to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the Day of Assembly." (Deuteronomy 9:10)

"G-d wrote on the tablets the original script of the Ten Commandments which he declared to you from the mountain out of the fire on the Day of Assembly." (Deuteronomy 10:4)

For more information see the books Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive, and visit

www.lawrencekelemen.com.

One of the Many Chains of Torah Transmission

For more information see the books Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive, and visit

www.lawrencekelemen.com.

God (Mt. Sinai=1312 B.C.E.)

Moses

Joshua

Pinchus

Eli

Samuel

David

Achiah

Elijah

Elishah

Yehoyada

Zechariah

Hoshea

Amos

Isaiah

Michah

Yoel

Nachum

Chavakuk

Tzafaniah

Jeremiah

Baruch

Ezra

Shimon Hatzadik (310 B.C.E.)

Antignus of Socho (305 B.C.E.)

Yosi ben Yoezer and
Yosef ben Yochanon (280 B.C.E.)

Yehoshua ben Prachya and
Nitai of Arbel (243 B.C.E.)

Yehuda ben Tabai and
Shimon ben Shetach (198 B.C.E.)

Shmaya & Avtalyon (140 B.C.E.)

Hillel & Shammai (40 B.C.E.)

Rabban Shimon (10 B.C.E.)

Rabban Gamliel Hazaken (20 C.E.)

Rav Shimon ben Gamliel (50)

Rabban Gamliel (90)

Rabban Shimon (140)

Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi (180)

Rav, Shmuel, and Rabbi Yochanon (230)

Rav Huna (270)

Rabbah (310)

Rava (340)

Rav Ashi (420)

Rafram (443)

Rav Sama B'rei d'Rava (476)

Rav Yosi (514)

Rav Simonia

Rav Ravoi Me-Rov (589)

Mar Chanan Me-Ashkaya (608)

Rav Mari

Rav Chana Gaon

Mar Rav Rava

Rav Busai (689)

Mar Rav Huna Mari

Mar Rav Chiyah Me-Mishan

Mar Ravyah

Mar Rav Natronai

Mar Rav Yehuda (739)

Mar Rav Yosef (748)

Mar Rav Shmuel

Mar Rav Natroi Kahana

Mar Rav Avrohom Kahana (761)

Mar Rav Dodai

Rav Chananya (771)

Rav Malka (773)

Mar Rav Rava

Mar Rav Shinoi (782)

Mar Rav Chaninah Gaon Kahana (785)

Mar Rav Huna Mar Halevi (788)

Mar Rav Menasheh (796)

Mar Rav Yeshaya Halevi (804)

Mar Rav Kahanah Gaon (797)

Mar Rav Yosef

Mar Rav Ibomai Gaon (814)

Mar Rav Yosef

Mar Rav Avrohom

Mar Rav Yosef (834)

Mar Rav Yitzchak (839)

Mar Rav Yosef (841)