Reader's Review: Eye-opener on the history of Christian beliefs
By TruthSeeker
If so, Misgod'ed is for you ... this is an excellent book that discusses various facets of modern-day Christian creed, the manner in which this creed evolved, the scriptural basis (or lack of it) for Christian beliefs as well as the position of Judaism and Islam on these creedal issues.
The author has done an amazing job of writing about religion in an engaging, lively and entertaining manner that makes this book hard to put down. I strongly recommend the book to anyone interested in Comparitive Religion but specifically to Christians interested in learning about the history of their faith that is usually kept concealed and hidden from view.
Q & A With Dr. Laurence Brown
THE ORIGIN OF ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS AND THEIR END..
Thousands of years ago, in the pre monarchic era, sacred plants and other entheogenic substances where politically correct and highly respected for their ability to bring forth the divine, Yahweh, God, The Great Spirit, etc., by the many cultures who used them.
Often the entire tribe or community would partake in the entheogenic rites and rituals.
These rites were often used in initiation into adulthood, for healing, to help guide the community in the decision process, and to bring the direct religious experience to anyone seeking it. In the pre literate world, the knowledge of psychedelic sacraments, as well as fertility rites and astronomical knowledge surrounding the sun, stars, and zodiac, known as astrotheology, were anthropomorphized into a character or a deity; consequently, their stories and practices could easily be passed down for generations.
Weather changes over millenniums caused environmental changes that altered the available foods and plant sacraments available in the local vicinity. If a tribe lost its shamanic El-der (El - God), all of the tribe\'s knowledge of their plant sacraments as well as astronomical knowledge would be lost.
The Church’s inquisitions extracted this sacred knowledge from the local Shamans who were then exterminated…
MY ANSWER:
Uh, I don't usually say this, but you are clearly bonkers. Please renew your lithium prescription and then stay away from people. You need to be off on your own, digging roots in a forest until your destiny takes you to the reality of the Hereafter, and its punishment for disbelief.
Reader's Review: Probably the best novel I've ever read...
By
The plot centers around a purported Dead Sea scroll, the contents of which would provide conclusive support to other extant evidence that undermines commonly espoused but controversial versions of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. A surprising collection of individuals and groups would, and do, kill to gain control of the scroll, and the reader is kept on edge as the plot develops to its exciting climax. Speaking of which, it is also very refreshing to know there is an author who can include romance in his works without feeling compelled to appeal to assumedly deprived readers' desire for graphic descriptions of certain acts and anatomy. This book is exciting, entertaining, and laugh-out-loud funny throughout... and even if read only for those reasons, I truly believe that, as I did, all readers will discover they continue to think about it long after turning the last page.
The Big Questions, Part III—The Need for Revelation
But many people would question my assertion: Why does mankind need revelation? Isn't it enough just to be good? Isn't it enough for each of us to worship God in our own way?
Regarding the need for revelation, I would make the following points: In the first article of this series I pointed out that life is full of injustices, but our Creator is fair and just and He establishes justice not in this life, but in the afterlife. However, justice cannot be established without four things—a court (i.e., the Day of Judgment); a judge (i.e., the Creator); witnesses (i.e., men and women, angels, elements of creation); and a book of laws upon which to judge (i.e., revelation). Now, how can our Creator establish justice if He did not hold humankind to certain laws during their livetimes? It's not possible. In that scenario, instead of justice, God would be dealing out injustice, for He would be punishing people for transgressions they had no way of knowing were crimes.
Why else do we need revelation? To begin with, without guidance mankind cannot even agree on social and economic issues, politics, laws, etc. So how can we ever agree on God? Secondly, nobody writes the user manual better than the one who made the product. God is the Creator, we are creation, and nobody knows the overall scheme of creation better than the Creator. Are employees allowed to design their own job descriptions, duties and compensation packages as they see fit? Are we citizens allowed to write our own laws? No? Well then, why should we be allowed to write our own religions? If history has taught us anything, it is the tragedies that result when mankind follows its caprice. How many who have claimed to banner of free thought have designed religions that committed themselves and their followers to nightmares on Earth and damnation in the hereafter?
So why isn't it enough just to be good? And why isn't it enough for each of us to worship God in our own way? To begin with, peoples' definitions of "good" differ. For some it is high morals and clean living, for others it is madness and mayhem. Similarly, concepts of how to serve and worship our Creator differ as well. More importantly and to the point, nobody can walk into a store or a restaurant and pay with a different currency than the merchant accepts. So it is with religion. If people want God to accept their servitude and worship, they have to pay in the currency God demands. And that currency is obedience to His revelation.
Imagine raising children in a home in which you have established "house rules." Then, one day, one of your children tells you he or she has changed the rules, and is going to do things differently. How would you respond? More than likely, with the words, "You can take your new rules and go to Hell!" Well, think about it. We are God's creation, living in His universe under His rules, and "go to Hell" is very likely what God will say to any who presume to override His laws with their own.
Sincerity becomes an issue at this point. We should recognize that all pleasure is a gift from our Creator, and deserving of thanks. If given a gift, who uses the gift before giving thanks? And yet, many of us enjoy God's gifts for a lifetime and never give thanks. Or give it late. The English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, spoke of the irony of the distressed human appeal in The Cry of the Human:
And lips say “God be pitiful,”
Who ne’er said, “God be praised.”
Should we not show good manners and thank our Creator for His gifts now, and subsequently for the rest of our lives? Don't we owe Him that?
You answered "Yes." You must have. Nobody will have read this far without being in agreement, but here's the problem: Many of you answered "Yes," knowing full well that your heart and mind does not wholly agree with the religions of your exposure. You agree we were created by a Creator. You struggle to understand Him. And you yearn to serve and worship Him in the manner He prescribes. But you don't know how, and you don't know where to look for the answers. And that, unfortunately, is not a subject that can be answered in an article. Unfortunately, that has to be addressed in a book, or maybe even in a series of books.
The good news is that I have written these books. I invite you to start with The Eighth Scroll. If you've liked what I've written here, you'll love what I've written there.
Copyright © 2007 Laurence B. Brown
Permission granted for free and unrestricted reproduction if reproduced in entirety without omissions, additions or alterations.
Reader's Review
by ZQ
Purchase On Amazon
This is a great book. I was born into a Muslim family and for the past few years have made the conscious decision to choose Islam and really become more observant. I learned a lot from this book and the other books by Dr. Brown.
I would highly recommend the books to Muslims and non-Muslims who want to learn about Islam. I mean the kind of research this man has done is amazing. I was skeptical at first since he is a medical doctor and not a Pd.D. or something along those lines but what can i say. He did an amazing job with his research and putting it in a logical format. Great respect for this man and what he has done.
Alhamdulillah. May allah guide us all and bless us all. SalaamWalaikum, Jazakhallahkhair & Allahhafiz.
I would highly recommend the books to Muslims and non-Muslims who want to learn about Islam. I mean the kind of research this man has done is amazing. I was skeptical at first since he is a medical doctor and not a Pd.D. or something along those lines but what can i say. He did an amazing job with his research and putting it in a logical format. Great respect for this man and what he has done.
Alhamdulillah. May allah guide us all and bless us all. SalaamWalaikum, Jazakhallahkhair & Allahhafiz.
The Big Questions, Part II—The Purpose of Life
Now, let us turn to the second "big question," which is, "Why are we here?"
Well, why are we here? To amass fame and fortune? To make music and babies? To be the richest man or woman in the graveyard for, as we are jokingly told, "He who dies with the most toys wins?"
No, there must be more to life than that, so let's think about this. To begin with, look around you. Unless you live in a cave, you are surrounded by things we humans have made with our own hands. Now, why did we make those things? The answer, of course, is that we make things to perform some specific function for us. In short, we make things to serve us. So by extension, why did God make us, if not to serve Him?
If we acknowledge our Creator, and that He created humankind to serve Him, the next question is, "How? How do we serve Him?" No doubt, this question is best answered by the One who made us. If He created us to serve Him, then He expects us to function in a particular manner, if we are to achieve our purpose. But how can we know what that manner is? How can we know what God expects from us?
Well, consider this: God gave us light, by which we can find our way. Even at night, we have the moon for light and the stars for navigation. God gave other animals guidance systems best suited for their conditions and needs. Migrating birds can navigate, even on overcast days, by how light is polarized as it passes through the clouds. Whales migrate by "reading" the Earth's magnetic fields. Salmon return from the open ocean to spawn at the exact spot of their birth by smell, if that can be imagined. Fish sense distant movements through pressure receptors that line their bodies. Bats and blind river dolphins "see" by sonar. Certain marine organisms (the electric eel being a high-voltage example) generate and "read" electric fields, allowing them to "see" in muddy waters, or in the blackness of ocean depths. Insects communicate by pheromones. Plants sense sunlight and grow towards it (phototrophism); their roots sense gravity and grow into the earth (geotrophism). In short, God has gifted every element of His creation with guidance. Can we seriously believe he would not give us guidance on the one most important aspect of our existence, namely our raison d'etre—our reason for being? That he would not give us the tools by which to achieve salvation?
And would this guidance not be . . . revelation?
Think of it this way: Every product has specifications and rules. For more complex products, whose specifications and rules are not intuitive, we rely upon owner's manuals. These manuals are written by the one who knows the product best, which is to say the manufacturer. A typical owner's manual begins with warnings about improper use and the hazardous consequences thereof, moves on to a description of how to use the product properly and the benefits to be gained thereby, and provides product specifications and a troubleshooting guide whereby we can correct product malfunctions.
Now, how is that different from revelation?
Revelation tells us what to do, what not to do and why, tells us what God expects of us, and shows us how to correct our deficiencies. Revelation is the ultimate user's manual, provided as guidance to the one who will use us—ourselves.
In the world we know, products that meet or exceed specifications are considered successes whereas those that don't are … hmm … let's think about this. Any product that fails to meet factory specifications is either repaired or, if hopeless, recycled. In other words, destroyed. Ouch. Suddenly this discussion turns scary-serious. Because in this discussion, we are the product—the product of creation.
But let's pause for a moment and consider how we interact with the various items that fill our lives. As long as they do what we want, we're happy with them. But when they fail us, we get rid of them. Some are returned to the store, some donated to charity, but eventually they all end up in the garbage, which gets … buried or burned. Similarly, an underperforming employee gets … fired. Now, stop for a minute and think about that word. Where did that euphemism for the punishment due to an underperformer come from? Hmm … the person who believes the lessons of this life translate into lessons about religion could have a field day with this.
But that doesn't mean these analogies are invalid. Just the opposite, we should remember that both Old and New Testaments are filled with analogies, and Jesus Christ taught using parables.
So perhaps we had better take this seriously.
No, I stand corrected. Most definitely we should take this seriously. Nobody ever considered the difference between heavenly delights and the tortures of hellfire a laughing matter.
Copyright © 2007 Laurence B. Brown
Permission granted for free and unrestricted reproduction if reproduced in entirety without omissions, additions or alterations.
Inspiration
 |
| Daguerreotype of the Duke of Wellington by Antoine Claudet, 1844 |
Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won
– Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington, in a dispatch from the battlefield of Waterloo)
The Big Questions, Part I – In The Beginning
So who did make us? Most of us have been brought up more on science than religion, and to believe in the Big Bang and evolution more than God. But which makes more sense? And is there any reason why the theories of science and creationism cannot coexist?
The Big Bang may explain the origin of the universe, but it doesn't explain the origin of the primordial dust cloud. This dust cloud (which, according to the theory, drew together, compacted and then exploded) had to come from somewhere. After all, it contained enough matter to form not just our galaxy, but the billion other galaxies in the known universe. So where did that come form? Who, or what, created the primordial dust cloud?
Similarly, evolution may explain the fossil record, but it falls far short of explaining the quintessential essence of human life—the soul. We all have one. We feel its presence, we speak of its existence and at times pray for its salvation. But only the religious can explain where it came from. The theory of natural selection can explain many of the material aspects of living things, but it fails to explain the human soul.
Furthermore, anyone who studies the complexities of life and the universe cannot help but witness the signature of the Creator. Whether or not people recognize these signs is another matter—as the old saying goes, denial isn't just a river in Egypt. (Get it? Denial, spelled "de Nile" … the river Ni … oh, never mind.) The point is that if we see a painting, we know there is a painter. If we see a sculpture, we know there's a sculptor; a pot, a potter. So when we view creation, shouldn't we know there's a Creator?
The concept that the universe exploded and then developed in balanced perfection through random events and natural selection is little different from the proposal that, by dropping bombs into a junkyard, sooner or later one of them will blow everything together into a perfect Mercedes.
If there is one thing we know for certain, it is that without a controlling influence, all systems degenerate into chaos. The theories of the Big Bang and evolution propose the exact opposite, however—that chaos fostered perfection. Would it not be more reasonable to conclude that the Big Bang and evolution were controlled events? Controlled, that is, by the Creator?
The Bedouin of Arabia tell the tale of a nomad finding an exquisite palace at an oasis in the middle of an otherwise barren desert. When he asks how it was built, the owner tells him it was formed by the forces of nature. The wind shaped the rocks and blew them to the edge of this oasis, and then tumbled them together into the shape of the palace. Then it blew sand and rain into the cracks to cement them together. Next, it blew strands of sheep's wool together into rugs and tapestries, stray wood together into furniture, doors, windowsills and trim, and positioned them in the palace at just the right locations. Lightning strikes melted sand into sheets of glass and blasted them into the window-frames, and smelted black sand into steel and shaped it into the fence and gate with perfect alignment and symmetry. The process took billions of years and only happened at this one place on earth—purely through coincidence.
When we finish rolling our eyes, we get the point. Obviously, the palace was built by design, not by happenstance. To what (or more to the point, to Whom), then, should we attribute the origin of items of infinitely greater complexity, such as our universe and ourselves?
Another argument to dismiss the concept of Creationism focuses upon what people perceive to be the imperfections of creation. These are the "How can there be a God if such-and-such happened?" arguments. The issue under discussion could be anything from a natural disaster to birth defects, from genocide to grandma's cancer. That's not the point. The point is that denying God based upon what we perceive to be injustices of life presumes that a divine being would not have designed our lives to be anything other than perfect, and would have established justice on Earth.
Hmm … is there no other option?
We can just as easily propose that God did not design life on Earth to be paradise, but rather a test, the punishment or rewards of which are to be had in the next life, which is where God establishes His ultimate justice. In support of this concept we can well ask who suffered more injustices in their worldly lives than God's favorites, which is to say the prophets? And who do we expect to occupy the highest stations in paradise, if not those who maintain true faith in the face of worldly adversity? So suffering in this worldly life does not necessarily translate into God's disfavor, and a blissful worldly life does not necessarily translate into beatitude in the hereafter.
I would hope that, by this line of reasoning, we can agree upon the answer to the first "big question." Who made us? Can we agree that if we are creation, God is the Creator?
If we can't agree on this point, there probably isn't much point in continuing. However, for those who do agree, let's move on to "big question" number two—why are we here? What, in other words, is the purpose of life?
Copyright © 2007 Laurence B. Brown
Permission granted for free and unrestricted reproduction if reproduced in entirety without omissions, additions or alterations.
Dear Friend ...
"Last time, I told you that some of my books are under attack! Those who wish to take time for the pleasure of Allah and support my work can do so by giving positive ratings on Amazon.com and on Amazon.co.uk at the following links.
Best, and salams,
LBrown
Meticulously researched, God'ed? Forthright yet judicious, God'ed analyzes the Islamic claim to be the completion of the chain of revelation.
Praise for God'ed:
"The author has an engaging style of writing which makes his books easy to read, without compromising in the least on the quality and breadth of information conveyed. ” TruthSeeker
“ I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Islam and what Muslims believe. ” M. G. McPherson
“ With so much evidence put in both book (Misgod'ed & God'ed), It is a must have book for reality checker. ” Farzan |
Best, and salams,
LBrown
GOD'ed
Meticulously researched, God'ed? Forthright yet judicious, God'ed analyzes the Islamic claim to be the completion of the chain of revelation.
Praise for God'ed:
"The author has an engaging style of writing which makes his books easy to read, without compromising in the least on the quality and breadth of information conveyed. ” TruthSeeker
“ I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Islam and what Muslims believe. ” M. G. McPherson
“ With so much evidence put in both book (Misgod'ed & God'ed), It is a must have book for reality checker. ” Farzan |
Q & A With Dr. Laurence Brown
Your articles are very inspring, mashallah. I am a Muslim woman who has a few questions. Hopefully you can answer them:
- the quaran gives details about the rewards for men in heaven e.g. hooris. What does the believing woman get? She might want something similar? How come there's no mention of it?
- men can marry up to four wives at one time. How come women can't marry more than one?
MY ANSWER:
Thank you for your nice words. Regarding the rewards, I can promise you they are good. Uh . . . a whole lot better than what a person will find in the fire!
Seriously, I think the point is not that believing men will have a haram of women in the Afterlife, but that all believers, men and women, will have rewards beyond their imagining, and far in excess of their expectations. So have a good opinion of Allah and understand that He knows best what will be a fitting reward--the one you will be most happy with over all others.
Regarding your other question, you have to remember that the Qur'an is a book of revelation, not a book of political correctness. There is a tendency in this day and age to try to equate men and women, but it is more healthy to recognize there really are differences between the sexes. If you have any doubt about this, read the book, Brain Sex, that discusses the differences in the male and female brains. The fact is that men and women both have strengths and weaknesses that set them apart from one another, and thank Allah for those differences! (chuckles permitted) Sure, men can marry up to four wives, but women can only have one husband. Why is this? Well, think of it from a religious perspective, not from the perspective of hedonistic desires. The point of multiple marriages is not to have fun with multiple partners, but to procreate and increase the number of Muslims, which is pleasing to Allah. In addition, everything in Islam is decent. A man with multiple wives will be able to tell all of his children who their father is, but women with multiple partners cannot know this without a DNA test, and even then, in many countries a large percentage of the population do not have money for food, much less for an expensive DNA test. Think how psychologically devastating it is to children to grow up not knowing who their father is. But there is a deeper issue, and it is this: some criticize Islam on the claim that it is a man's religion. Now, that is simply upside-down thinking. Islam, a man's religion? In fact, Islam curtailed practically everything men like to do -- gambling, drinking, sleeping around, etc, and directed them to clean, moral and productive lives. Yes, Allah gave men the right to four wives, but it gave women rights they never had before as well. For example, a man has to provide for his family, but a woman's money is her own, and the man can't touch it. Islam gave women the right to money, property, education, religion, and many other things they never had before. Islam elevated women in society and in their lives. The point is that Islam is not just a man's or a woman's religion -- no, Islam is a religion for all humanity for all time. Just as men and women are different in certain ways, Islam gives both sexes rights over one another in different ways. If you would like a more complete discussion of this subject, please take a look at my book, The First and Final Commandment (the end of Part III, chapter 5). Then get back to me.
Best,
LBrown
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