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The term "spirituality" has come to mean just about anything--from religion to examining one's own emotional and mental state, thinking through the meaning of life, artistic creativity or even just enjoying a sunrise or some other part of nature.
But usually "spirituality" refers not just to our own spirits but a relationship to some other spirits, not human beings but one or more "spiritual" beings.
In the vast variety of such proposed spirits, there are two main possibilities--either there exist in the world many such spirits or gods (as Buddhism, Native spirituality and animism suggest) or there is one main God.
Surprisingly, when it comes to worship of one God, there is only one main possibility, recognized in three great world religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). This is the God who revealed Himself to Moses about 1200-1400 years B.C. and then through the history of the Israelite people for the next 1000 years, using the Hebrew name "YHWH" (often pronounced "Yahweh" or "Jehovah"). This revelation is recorded in what we know as the Old Testament section of the Bible. "YHWH" is a Hebrew word meaning "I Am" or "The God who really exists".
Although the many gods of other religions have different characteristics, it is this biblical understanding of God that most people in North America think of when they think about God--a God who created all things, who is all-powerful, all-knowing, timeless, just, truthful, moral, faithful and loving. This is the God of Judaism.
However, from the beginning, it was implied that this revelation of God would have two parts--God as just and God as loving. This double revelation was completed in the New Testament, the second half of the Bible, written in the first century A.D. It tells about Jesus Christ, the one true God come to earth to show His love by living among us as a perfect human being and then dying to forgive our sins, removing the barriers that keep us from knowing the one true God.
Islam, founded in the 6th century A.D. by Mohammed, rejected the second half of God's revelation about Himself and returned to belief in the powerful, moral God already known to Judaism. Islam offers human beings a God of justice but not a God of love--it offers no means of forgiveness or of having a personal relationship with God.
The Bible reveals that there are also some lesser spiritual beings, far weaker than the true God. Some are totally obedient servants of God called "angels". Some have become disobedient, deceitful and evil ("demons"), and if they contact any at all, it is these spirits who are often contacted through other religions and spiritualities.
This issue of Encounter looks at spirituality, God and the gods. It is our conclusion that YHWH, the God of the Bible, is the one true God and that we can come into contact with Him through Jesus Christ. We hope you will agree. In any case, we hope that you will enjoy reading and thinking about these things.
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