A historical meeting between Pope Francis and Sunni Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb has resulted in the signing of a covenant between Catholics and Muslims, witnessed by religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other faiths, that calls for peace between nations, religions and races. According to Pope Francis, the interfaith covenant is “born of faith in God who is the Father of all and the Father of peace; it condemns all destruction, all terrorism, from the first terrorism in history, that of Cain.” You can read the covenant, “A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” at this link.
When I heard this 1 Thessalonians 5:3-6 popped into my mind. “For when they shall say Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
Some have accused this covenant to be the beginning of a world religion but at this point is that even possible? Considering the major differences between the world’s largest faiths, I don’t see it happening.
Hindus worship one Being of ultimate oneness (Brahman) through infinite representations of gods and goddesses. They believe in reincarnation; that their position in life is based on their actions in a previous life. Their ultimate goal in this life is to become free from the law of Karma, from continuous reincarnations
New Age Spirituality promotes the development of the person’s own power or divinity. When referring to deity, a follower of this type of spirituality is not talking about the God of Abraham but a higher consciousness within themselves. It is a collection of ancient spiritual traditions where Earth is viewed as the source of all spirituality, with its own intelligence, emotions and deity. But superseding all is self, the originator, controller and power over all. The ultimate goal of a New Ager is to develop spiritually to the degree that there is no external reality – they have become a god.
Buddhists do not worship any god or gods. Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) is viewed as having attained what his followers are also striving to attain – spiritual enlightenment. Most Buddhists, believing in reincarnation, use meditation as a self-discipline through which they may reach Nirvana – the blowing out of the fame of sensual desires and the attachment to self, to end rebirth. Buddhism provides something that is true of most major religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by.
Muslims believe Allah is the one true god, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind. He is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah’s will. He is a powerful and strict judge, who will be merciful toward followers depending on the sufficiency of their life’s good works and religious devotion. They do not accept Jesus as the son of God, and deny his crucifixion, claiming instead that he escaped death. They also do not accept the Nation of Israel as God’s chosen people. Believing Muhammad to be the “final” prophet”, they accept as Divine revelation only those parts of the Bible which are in agreement with the Quran
Christians believe in one eternal God who is creator of all that is. We believe in the trinity – God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit. We accept the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth, Christ, the Anointed One, is the one and only son of God through which mankind can receive forgiveness for our sins through his death on the cross. We believe that he resurrected and ascended to the right hand of the Father and that He will return as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Christianity is a relationship with the true and living God through the person of Jesus Christ by whom we are forgiven of our sins and escape the righteous judgment of God through grace.
Judaism is an ancient Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its foundational text, the expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel. It is the tenth largest religion in the world consisting of those from the original twelve tribes and converts from other nations. Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is however difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations: Orthodox – the belief that the books of Moses (Torah) were written by God. Reform – considered the liberals of Judaism follow the principles of the Torah rather than specific commandments, as they do not believe that the Torah was written by Moses. Conservative – is a middle ground between Orthodox and Reformed that believes the Torah came from God but contains human components. The Messianic – Jewish Christians that believe Jesus was the Messiah.
Of course these are only a few of the better known religions of the world. To list each and every faith would require a novel. But they are sufficient to prove my point. For these faiths to come together under the umbrella of a one- world faith would require more than any of them are willing to give.
Islam would have to give up their unknown god, Hinduism give up their numerous gods, Buddhism establish there is a God, New Agers stop believing they are gods, Judaism to accept that Jesus was the Messiah, the Pope would need to resign as head of the Catholic Church, and Christians would have to throw the Bible in the fire.
Perhaps we should just wait for the 6th trump (Revelation 6:12 and Revelation 12:9) when Satan is kicked out of heaven and appears on this earth in his role as the anti-Christ, and shows us the ultimate one-world deception.
Source: POSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, (3-5 EBRUARY 2019) – A DOCUMENT ON HUMAN FRATERNITY FOR WORLD PEACE AND LIVING TOGETHER; The major world religions and their beliefs about God. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and New Age Spirituality… By Marilyn Adamson; Judaism: Basic Beliefs, United Religious Initiatives; Pope Francis and Islam’s Imam Signed a Covenant That Pushes Us to a One World Religion, Explain Life
