Another religious viewpoint
To the Editor:
While certainly respecting the writer, Swami Mukundananda, personally, I wish to set forth the true God of the Bible – far different than set forth in the article.
Yes, indeed, there is certainly One Creator.
However, the God of the Bible has not at all set forth in His Bible that there would be a merging into Him at the time of what the writer calls the “time of annihilation.“ Just the opposite!
The God of the Bible (“all Scripture is God-breathed”) has revealed that each of us is born a sinner, sinners by nature, falling short of His glory, which is why we die. (“We’ve all gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” … “There is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”)
God sets forth in His Bible that we have all broken His law, and that if we break one we have broken them all. Not good news.
However, there is good news for those who have, and for those who will, put their trust in the finished work of a glorious Person, Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh (“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and the Word was God”) Who paid our debt by His shed blood (“there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood”), His crucifixion (“It is finished”), and (“justification i.e. “rendered innocent”) by His resurrection. There is a glorious eternity for those of us who have, and those who will, receive the Savior and the gift of salvation. (The promise is “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”)
We know that Michael Phelps broke world records with his Olympic swimming, but he can’t swim to Europe. In the same way, we cannot in ourselves, in the condition in which we are all born, hope to satisfy the sin debt we owe to a perfectly holy God by anything we can do, whether good we do, religion, etc. But the Bible is 100% clear – “it is appointed unto men to die once and then to face judgment.” And what follows that judgment is anything but annihilation.
With outstretched arms and unfathomable love, He makes the one-time offer of the free gift of salvation, that of receiving Him and putting trust in Him and His finished work when He did what none of us can do for ourselves. His invitation is for all from every background. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever comes to Me, even though He dies, He will live.”
Also, the writer of the article mentioned wars – having a label of “Christian” in any period of time in no way means that a person(s) has repented of his/her sin and received Jesus as Savior, having a personal relationship with Him.
It should be noted that untold numbers of people have walked among the very lands and events described in the Bible. Also, over 300 prophecies have been accurately fulfilled by the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and now again the world scene for future events is accurately unfolding according to the continued prophecies in the Bible.
Virginia Desmond
North Arlington
A kind gesture
The Lyndhurst Girls’ Association is a small group of women who maintain “The Libbie Lindsay Little House” as a meeting place for Lyndhurst Girl Scouts and their leaders. Recently, we had an unexpected emergency when the commode was not working properly and needed to be replaced. With scout meetings and several other events scheduled, we needed to get this done as quickly as possible. I placed a call to Carl Carbone Plumbing who came first thing in the morning, and replaced the toilet. I asked for the bill, only to be told there would be no bill. Carl donated the fixture, materials and labor to the “Little House.” On behalf of the ladies and the Girl Scouts of Lyndhurst, I would like to thank Carl Carbone for his very kind and generous donation. He is a wonderful asset to the community and we wanted to publicly acknowledge him.
Kathy Isoldi
Lyndhurst Girls’Association
