The Selfishness of False Religion
EVERY false religion which has ever made its mark in the world, or which may in time to come, may be known by one principle, that of self, or selfishness. It manifests itself in the devising of schemes by which man becomes in some way his own Saviour. It is the development of this principle which has made the Papacy. Its working out is the mystery of iniquity. Its finished fruit is "the man of sin," "that Wicked," to be destroyed at Christ's coming. The same principle is the germ of Ancient Necromancy, Modern Spiritualism, Buddhism, and Christian Science. For instance, the definition given of "prayer" in one "Christian Science" publication is, "The religion of the soul; its search light after truth; its ceaseless longings for its own divinity." "The sacrament; self-conscious communion with the Father—our own spiritual ego." When man by himself and of himself can evolve himself from himself, eternity will have ended. Yet this is the task set it by every false religion.