Chapter Five: Why Should I Trust Jesus When All I Need to
Do Is Trust Myself?
Sterrett
addresses pantheism when answering this question because a main tenet of
pantheism is trusting in self.1 I think he also addresses it because of the
great influence pantheism has had in Western society. He notes Star Wars, Deepak Chopra and Oprah
Winfrey as examples of this influence. He even writes of the seepage of
pantheistic thought into the minds of Christians. So before Sterrett answers
the question, he first details how pantheism contradicts what Jesus taught in
order to demonstrate that Jesus cannot fall under the pantheistic umbrella. The
contradictory teachings he lists follow:
- Pantheism teaches that God is impersonal. Jesus teaches that God is personal.
-
Pantheism
attempts to defy the simple laws of logic. Jesus holds that logic is
undeniable.
-
Pantheism
teaches that the universe is God. Jesus teaches that God made the universe.
-
Pantheism
teaches that the universe is eternal. Jesus states that that the universe had a
beginning.
-
Pantheism
teaches that you are part of God. Jesus teaches that you are made in the image
of God but separate from Him.
-
Pantheism
teaches that sin is an illusion. Jesus states that dealing with sin is the
reason He came to earth.
-
Pantheism
does not emphasize absolute truth. Jesus emphasized worshiping in spirit and in
truth.
1.
We are limited in knowledge, but Jesus
Christ is all knowing. We see evidence of the omniscience of Jesus in His
encounter with Nathanel in John 1 and with the Samaritan woman at the well in
John 4.
2.
We had nothing to do with our creation;
Jesus Christ designed us and sustains us. For example, the Apostle Paul
wrote of this in Colossians 1:15-17.
3.
We are constantly changing, but Jesus
Christ does not change. This is affirmed by Scripture. Hebrews 13:8 is an
example.
In
the light of these truths, and the truths of the previous chapters, I once
again encourage you to…
Stand firm in Christ,
Chase
Footnotes:
1.
Trust in self is needed to escape samsara; an endless cycle of death and
rebirth. This escape happens when the realization that we are truly divine and
that the divine is all there is achieved through our own merits. When this
realization occurs we become one with the divine. This results in pantheism being
contradictory because another main tenet is that the idea of an individual self
is an illusion.
Forthcoming: A summary of Chapter
Six: Why Should I Trust Jesus When There
is So Much Disagreement about the Identity of the “Real Jesus”?
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