World Religions
Religion Evolutionary and Epochal
Religion is both evolutionary and revelatory. The traditional evolutionary religions grow up over long periods of time while the personal revelations of God flash on earth through the lives of the human teachers of truth that appear in every generation of man.
Epochal Revelations are new divine enlightening revelations of truth made by Divine Sons of God who periodically appear on earth as Representatives of God in the Spiritual upliftment of the human family.
Because so few human beings comprehend the ways in which the Most Highs infuse new spiritual truth into the stream of the evolutionary religions of time these new revelations are most often rejected by the majority of the world’s citizens. Not until those early students who embrace the new teachings begin to manifest a higher and newer revelation of God in their personal lives do ever greater numbers become attracted to the new teachings and their living manifestations of brotherly love and ever greater demonstrations of divine service to the human family.
While the religions of the world have a double origin — natural and revelatory — at any one time and among any one people there are to be found three distinct forms of religious devotion. And these three manifestations of the religious urge are:
1. Primitive religion. The seminatural and instinctive urge to fear mysterious energies and worship superior forces, chiefly a religion of the physical nature, the religion of fear.
2. The religion of civilization. The advancing religious concepts and practices of the civilizing races — the religion of the mind — the intellectual theology of the authority of established religious tradition. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confusism, Judaism, etc. etc.. A Theist or Deist can also be included if the religion is held only as a theory and does not become a personal living spiritual experience.
3. True religion — the religion of revelation. The revelation of supernatural values, a partial insight into eternal realities, a glimpse of the goodness and beauty of the infinite character of the Father in heaven — the religion of the spirit as demonstrated in human experience.
True religion is the act of an individual soul in its self-conscious relations with the Creator; organized religion is man’s attempt to socialize the worship of individual religionists.
True religion is man’s heartfelt loyalty to his highest and truest convictions.