The longer that human history has continued, the more religions it has brought forth. At Paul’s time there was only one main religion, Judaism. In the past nineteen centuries, however, many more religions have been formed. Besides Judaism there is Christianity, including Catholicism, and there is Islam. Moreover, even within today’s Christianity there are many religions, such as those centered around baptism by immersion, the observance of the seventh day, speaking in tongues, and other matters. There are formal religions, fundamental religions, Pentecostal religions, and charismatic religions. All these were formed to one degree or another based on the same Bible. Even the counterfeit religion of Islam was adapted from parts of the Bible. Thus, all the main religions on earth today are related to the Bible. God gave us the Bible, but the enemy of God utilized man’s mentality to form many religions based on the Bible. Apparently, all these religions teach people to worship God, please God, serve God, and do many things for God, but in actuality they keep people away from the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Therefore, all religions have become evil in the eyes of God. This is the reason that Paul speaks of the present evil age of religion.
The first chapter of Galatians mentions the age, and the last chapter speaks of the world. As we have seen, the age is simply a part of the world. Between these two chapters of Galatians there are several other crucial terms. In 1:13 and 14 Paul speaks of Judaism, that is, the Jewish religion, and also of traditions. In these two verses he says, “You have heard of my manner of life formerly in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries in my race, being more abundantly a zealot for the traditions of my fathers.” Today we still have religion and traditions. Recently, a number of brothers visited Rome, the center of Catholicism; Geneva, a strong center of Protestantism; Greece, the center of Greek Orthodoxy; and Israel, the center of Judaism. After visiting all these religious centers, we were impressed with the religion, tradition, superstition, and falsehood that we saw there. We saw no light, truth, or life in those places. In Rome, for example, in the Basilica of Saint Peter the foot of the statue of Peter has been eroded because it has been kissed by people for centuries. This is the result of a great superstition. According to tradition, the tomb of Peter lies beneath the Basilica. There are also tombs of a number of popes, before which people come to kneel and pray. In one room there is a large painting of the Trinity, depicting the Father as an old man with a beard, the Son as a young man standing by Him, and the Spirit as a dove overhead. In between the Father and the Son stands Mary, who is called “the mother of God.” According to this tradition, it seems that there are no longer three in the Trinity but four, since Mary is worshipped along with the Father and the Son.
After visiting these major centers of the various religions, we received the deep impression that the world today is fully, thoroughly, and heavily covered with the darkness of religion. The darkness of religion overshadows the entire earth. People have been drugged with religion and are fully under its influence. Therefore, the Lord has no way to fulfill His eternal purpose in religion, including Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. Most people have no sense of how dark and evil religion is. If a room is filled with the odor of garlic for a long time, everyone in the room will lose his consciousness of the odor, but if someone comes into the room from the fresh air, he will not be able to tolerate it. When we were in Rome and the other centers of religion, we could not tolerate the things there. We had the deep sensation that the atmosphere in some of these places was full of demons, and we could not remain there for very long. Today some of the denominations, the “daughters” of the great harlot (Rev. 17:5), are making advances to come together with Roman Catholicism in an ecumenical movement, and Catholicism is making certain concessions in order to receive the denominations. The Catholic Church has received even the charismatic movement and infiltrated it with the worship of Mary and the mass. This is an example of the situation in religion today.
When we were in Rome, we sat very close to the pope and listened to him speak. Apparently, he gave a very spiritual message. He told the audience that although our languages are different, we are all one in the Spirit and are members of the mystical Body of Christ. He also said that we must have a personal connection with Christ as the resurrected One and must care for the new man in our daily walk. When I was in the denominations and even under the Brethren teachers, I never heard a message using such proper spiritual terms as these. Nevertheless, while the pope was giving such a spiritual message, he was surrounded by many idols, including images of serpents, and he sat under a great canopy made of bronze taken from the Roman Pantheon. His spiritual message amidst all those things related to idol worship was truly three measures of meal in which much leaven was hidden (Matt. 13:33). Only because we had been rescued from such a situation were we able to appreciate the spiritual terms that were spoken.
Judaism has also turned many things into traditions and superstitions. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is a part of the wall belonging to the original structure of the temple that remained after the destruction of Jerusalem. Because of this, the Jews now consider it to be a sacred site, and they come there to pray, weep, and even to kiss the wall. This also is a superstitious practice. Wherever we went, we found superstitions and traditions like these. Over a cathedral in Corinth we observed a sign listing all the bishops of the church in Corinth in an unbroken succession, beginning from Paul, continuing through Apollos, and concluding with the present day. This too is a mere tradition. In the United States also we can see religion, tradition, and superstition. Many people in the Roman Catholic Church pray before the images of the “saints” so that the sufferings of their loved ones in purgatory may be reduced. This is a great superstition. The celebration of Christmas and Easter also belongs to religion, tradition, superstition, and falsehood. At the time of Paul there was mainly one religion, but in our time there are many religions. If the time of Paul was an evil age, how much more evil is ours!