Below is an email I sent in response to a friend who asked me to comment on a few of Paul Harvey’s recordings. To be honest with you, I had only heard a few of his tapes. “If I were the devil” and “So God made a farmer” were probably the most popular ones. But one other, which I’d never heard of, really struck a nerve with me. Here is the recording of it (click on the link):
Paul Harvey – Letter From God
Paul Harvey reads from a letter that “God” wrote to us. (Big eye roll)
[Start of email]
Friend,
I liked the “If I were the devil” but in the “Letter from God” there were more points I didn’t like than I did like. Here are a few that I caught issue with:
1. He says something to the effect of “stop thinking of religion as some sort of loyalty pledge to me”, well…. that’s what our faith is. It’s God’s covenant with us! We are called to be “Holy”, to be “set a part” for Him. We can’t just “be good to each other” and gain everlasting life with Him in Heaven. We have to be HOLY and on fire for HIM! He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) that wants us to be all His and vice versa. Not just on Sundays or when you have the time. He does NOT want to be shared with other gods. The way Paul Harvey talks about religion sounds like the guy that would say “I don’t need to go to church because I have a personal relationship with God”. We literally have a creed that starts with, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty…” (Nicene Creed) which IS our oath to God, a “loyalty pledge”.
2. He mentions sacred scripture and says “we use it to argue and twist out of context what God actually says.” That would be true if God didn’t set up a visible Church (Catholic Church) to oversee it and teach it. I’ve heard this argument before. The person that normally says this picks and chooses which parts of the Christian faith they like and disregards the parts they don’t. “I like the “Love one another as I have loved you” part but I don’t care for the “All life is precious and we need to protect unborn children. Because a fetus isn’t a baby.”
3. He also says “Do you think I care which one of my special children you’re closest to? Jesus? Mary? Buddha? Krishna? Mohammed? Call me and my special ones any name you choose if only you go about my business of loving one another as I have loved you.” Yes, I think God does care.
“Outside the Church there is no salvation” CCC 846
I agree we are called to love one another but keep in mind Jesus IS GOD. Jesus is who we should strive to be closest with. HE redeemed us by HIS passion, death and resurrection. And as a Catholic I believe the saints point us to Jesus. Mary did it while she was alive on earth. Look at the wedding feast at Cana! She tells us to “Do whatever He tells you.” (John 2:5) But by grouping Jesus with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the other non-Christian names Paul Harvey is discounting the Divinity of Christ.
4. Then he says “each religion is unique for a reason, each has a style so they can find the best path for themselves. They all get along in my heart.” WRONG! Why would God have other religions in His heart? The Catechism says there is NO salvation outside of the church and Jesus, Himself says He is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6) Yet Islam says that Jesus wasn’t God, he was a prophet. It says that he didn’t even die on the cross! Buddha doesn’t mention anything about a risen Christ, he just teaches a way of life that if lived to perfection you will reach Nirvana. If you don’t, you’ll come back reincarnated where you can try again. There are many other non-Christian religions that would be counter to Christian theology and it doesn’t sound like they would “get along” in Gods heart.
“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” Matthew 10:22
Though the idea of it all sounds good, that we should all get a long and do whatever you want is an example of relativism. You know, the “don’t impose your truth on me and I won’t impose mine on you”.
5. We are called to make disciples of all nations. Preaching the Gospel of the Lord. Sacred scripture doesn’t just, as Paul Harvey puts it, “steer us in the right direction”, it teaches us how to live, who to turn to to interpret scripture, what church is the true church His Son established. No, Paul Harvey, God did not write that letter to us and you did not quote that letter as if it were hand written by God. God wrote us a long time ago and it’s all in the Bible, he taught many other things to his first apostles that weren’t in the Bible, and in turn, they taught them to other people (their disciples) who carried that deposit of faith for over 2,000 years!
[End of email]
I had a difficult time posting this draft because I’m writing a response to a lovable American icon and He can’t respond back or defend his position. Not everyone will agree with my stance and that’s okay. It’s not my job to convince but to simply plant the seed. The Holy Spirit will go to work to water and harvest it. But without discussion we can’t know what we’re disagreeing about.
Boys, it’s time to be real men of faith.
Disciples At The Ready 