In this recording, Archimandrite Athanasios Mytilinaios (1927-2006), answers the question: “Why are there so many religions?” A: “The existence of many religions demonstrates that humanity is inherently theological. As St. John of Damascus says: ‘Man is an animal destined for divinization'”
Audio source: “Answers to questions“, no. 747 (in Greek), November 13th, 1994, arnion.gr
Fr. Athanasios:
There is another question: Why are there so many religions? Yes, indeed, there are many. All these other religions apart from Christianity – do not tell me about Judaism, for Judaism is the foundation, the true religion from which the revelation progresses, and ultimately leads to Christianity-. You may ask, is there a difference between Christianity and Judaism? Are they two completely different religions? No, they are not. They are one. The difference lies in the progression of God’s revelation, where Judaism stops at some point.
Judaism does not believe in Jesus Christ, nor does it accept the Trinitarian nature of God, and does not progress further. It constitutes a stoppage, a rejection of the revelation of God. Christianity, however, is the final and ultimate revelation of God, and there will be no other; neither during the history of mankind, nor evermore in eternity. Then, what is the main point of God’s revelation? It is to reveal who God is. God is Trinitarian. Therefore, there is no possibility of another revelation in the future; It is one and only. Thus, Judaism and Christianity are not two different things.
Let us not refer to Islam, for it is a syncretism of Christianity, Judaism, and the idolatrous local traditions of the Arab region, where Muhammad mixed all these elements into an idolatrous religion of the Arabs. Therefore, it is a mixture, not something to be taken seriously. Undoubtedly, there are many religions, dating back to the very beginnings of humanity. However, mark my words, all of them without exception are human inventions. All these religions were made according to human confection. This includes the notions about how the human soul moves and returns, the reincarnation, and whatever humans have thought and incorporated into their religions as part of them; these are all human inventions, do not forget that. This means that humans have formed their religions based on their thoughts and the way they formulated those thoughts. Therefore, all religions are worldly. They do not possess elements that can be traced out of creation like Christianity. God is beyond the world and creation. Even though He is omnipresent, His essence is entirely independent of His creation.
As a result, all religions are of this world. They pertain to worldly things within our creation. In addition, since they are worldly, they are pagan as a general rule. Even if Buddhism or other religions could claim that they have nothing to do with materialism, they are all worldly and pagan religions and they pertain to worldly things and nothing else. What does the existence of various religions show us? There are many religions that exist from antiquity, and there are others that do not exist anymore. The existence of many religions demonstrates that humanity is inherently theological. What is a human being? It is a theological being after all. As St. John of Damascus says: “Man is an animal destined for divinization”. What does that mean? Being an animal means that it is a living being. Being destined for divinization means that humans have the potential to become one with God. If you take this figuratively it verifies the theological nature of humanity. Humans cannot live without God. This is why there has never been a nation without religion at any point in history. I think it was Plutarch who said that you can find walled and unwalled cities, cultured or uncultured nations, but you will never find a nation without religion. This proves that humans are theological beings. Do you know what is the deeper meaning of this?
St. Augustine, in the first sentence of the first chapter of his Confessions writes: “Lord, you have made humanity for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” This means that humanity wants to return to God, to his Creator. In any case, it is what every religion wants: to find a Creator. “Who made me?” On the contrary, when humans do not understand revelation, then they resort to their imagination as I have told you before. Like an imaginative kid, as you may know, when he has nothing to say, he creates a fairy tale; he may tell his mother or father returning home, a fictitious story about an accident on the road as being true, even though there is no trace of truth in it; he is just being imaginative and he created a myth. Likewise, humans want to express their thoughts and imagination but when they do not possess the truth, they create a myth out of their own thoughts and ideas. All these things are very important indeed, and that is why we must help those who believe in their own invented religions, in order to find their way, to find the truth of Christ in Christianity.
We would like to encourage you to support our efforts to comfort and inspire Christians and seekers around the world using digital media. We are a 100% donor supported non-profit Christian ministry.
Please support our ministry with your love gift.
Our address to receive BTC on Bitcoin network: bc1qre644umv5dk0ej3ajprvjvwavvkcq3x5ptja8p
