The Selective God: My Troubled Truth About Religion

By M. Teah Wulah

Writing on the subject of religion in this century with advanced scientific and technological developments, religion still influences the world.
This is an individual search for answers to console myself about what or who God is, and expresses personal feelings and limited knowledge at that time thinking that I was pleasing God.
The book does not define God or religion but rather a personal one because each individual finds their Creator differently.
As with previous writings, my audience is an innocent village child who has no knowledge of the surrounding and what controls the environment.
The book starts with my early religious training followed by the different religious sects. I tried to find God and to be endowed with certain gifts. It will be a good thing as you read this book to find that each creature of God whether created or evolved, we all have gifts to be selected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665559645

M. Teah Wulah

Matthew Sackor Teah Wulah, known as M. Teah Wulah, the last of six children, was raised by his mother and uncles because his father went missing when the American soldiers stationed in Liberia were returning home at the end of WWII. From childhood he questioned everything around him. Together with his mother’s strong Christian faith, his community was always plagued with tribal traditions including witch-craft, charms, mullets, talisman and sororities. His main question was why certain peoples were privileged with certain powers? At a very young age he was introduced to other Christian religious sects apart from the Pentecostal. When he moved to Greenville the capital of Sinoe County, Liberia. As a consolation to his curiosity after migrating to the United States of America and learning more about God, religious sects, and wars in the name of God and religion, He began the search for THE SELECTIVE GOD.

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2022 M. Teah Wulah. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  08/10/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5965-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5966-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-5964-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022909200

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

The Evolution of Religion

Biblical Stories (The Search For Truth)

Who and What is God?

World Religions

Animism

Hinduism

Buddhism

Judaism

Islam

Catholicism: The Universal Church

Protestantism

The Selfishness of Man; From Adam to Solomon

The Big Confusion

Religious Wars

A Look for God or Religion

References

PREFACE

T he search for God or a god has plagued me all my childhood life because I needed answers to many questions. The first and foremost was this. Why was it that out of the six children of my parents, I happened to be the only one who never saw my father? This, in the African traditions, always placed an omen on the child whose misfortune it is. At times when the village folks would gather, whenever I was present, the conversations would switch on me. They would say you look just like your father, maybe that’s why you never saw him. Many times I wondered if maybe I didn’t look like him, he probably would be alive today. Many times I blamed myself for causing my father’s mishap. There are times most of my friends would boast of the hunting trips with their fathers or a father and son together on the farm. Whenever that conversation came up, I just politely excused myself.

My mother was a very brave, courageous and smart woman for her era. She was able to raise six children on her own with the help of villagers. This is why I pledged my life to be an instrument for spreading the love of God because it was my belief in Him that kept the Wulah family together alive.

This book begins with my early childhood and what encouraged me to read the entire Christain Bible twice in my lifetime. To find God, and to search for the truth, I wanted to know who God is and the main purpose for religion. In later years I read about the various religions from different authors. At one time I wanted to become a theologian or priest to know God better. But on second thought I didn’t want to be indoctrinated by any particular creed. Finally, I decided to have friends or acquaint myself with people of different religions. This enables me to come to my final conclusion about God. The chapter on religions is personal.

I am confident that this journey of mine is not exclusive to me but that many humans share the same predicament that I faced every day in their own lives. That is, trying to understand God and religion. I assured you that whatever path to God and religion you take, you will find a solace there.

Teah Wulah

INTRODUCTION

A s far back as I can remember, probably the age of three or four, when the male elders of the village in Dagby’s town, Sinoe County, Liberia would gather at the plaver house (village hall), mostly for dinner prepared by the wives as the custom was, all able families that could afford to provide a meal did so and brought it to the hall for everyone to partake including male children and elder males.

A fascinating thing about this gathering was that after the meal no one left the hall right away because it was time for adult jokes, storytelling from visitors mostly in the form of parables, an African adult always speaks in parables. The saying that "a word to the wise is sufficient" was actually addressed to the young men or boys. This was time for bonding with old folks. As kids when we were in the presence of adults we never spoke or asked questions at these gatherings unless you were told or asked to do so. I had for a long time never grasped as a kid what my mother meant when she advised me to "keep your ears and eyes open and your lips shut".

My first bewilderment about God and religion probably began with a poem written in the primary book the of British System of Education called the Infant Reader.The poem was something like this:

When I look up to yonder skies

So pure so bright so very high

I think of one I cannot see

But one who sees and cares for me.

On my 50th birthday, one of the most precious gifts I received was a book from a very close friend of my family entitled As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. Most of my thoughts as a kid were sometimes bizarre and it made me wonder as far back and then forward to realms never imagined. Was I going crazy or what? How possible is it that there is someone who sees me but that I cannot see? The belief in witch-craft is that witches see us but we cannot see them. Is God a witch or witchcraft a set of religions whose members are the only ones allowed to see God? If so, why are they (witches) the selected few and why do they torment villagers? If we are all children of the same Maker or Creator, why do some cause others to suffer in the name of religion or God?

As the last child of my mother, Broh-Wonoh or Desijay, her christian name was Deborah. As it happened, I was the last of six children, the only one who didn’t see his biological father before his disappearance and the only one given a strange name by a total stranger to the tribe or clan.

Broh-Wonoh or Deborah was both a mother and father to me. As the youngest of the children (four boys and two girls), we were born in this manner: Francis a boy,

Solomon a boy, followed by Esther (belloh) a girl, then Timothy a boy, then Ruth and finally me. I never knew who my father was because it is believed that the year in which I was born (1944), was when WW2 ended in Liberia the time when the United States Troops stationed in Liberia were returning to America, and he might have gotten mixed up in the shuffle while traveling to Sierra Leone a neighboring country and got lost. Another version was that as paramount Chief he was murdered in the shuffle because of jealousy. In any case, I never knew him as my mother was in her seventh month of pregnancy when all this happened.

My introduction to religion was through the Penticostal faith. As a single parent my mother made sure that five of her six children received western education through missionary institutions mostly Assemblies of God. Belloh (Esther), the eldest daughter got caught up in traditional tribal custom and got married at an early age. Thanks to my uncle Mr. William Broh, my mother’s elder brother who advised her that as a single parent she should give her children Christian education to which she adhered. Francis, Solomon and Ruth attended Matroe Mission School. Francis and Solomon both completed primary education. Francis, on completion, was appointed as a pastor at Open Bible Mission in River Cess County which at that time was a Territory. He took with him Ruth to attend the mission school. Solomon upon completion was appointed as a teacher at the village school and later principal at a local school, Timothy was sent to Juahson Mission where after completion enrolled at Sinoe High School in Greenville, Sinoe County. Upon completion he moved to Monrovia and graduated from the University of Liberia with a BSC in Forestry and a MA in Public Adm. from the University of Sacramento CA, USA.

As a child, there were three things about the penticostal faith that were in my head as a child up to this day. The first and most pronounced is the long church services. We would spend three to four hours on one service. With the love for food as a kid and eating was all I could think of, each time Sunday came around going to church was not my favorite place to be. In later years I asked the pastor why is it that the 2 lessons and the gospel were so long? Was it necessary to preach a sermon on each scripture reading before the main sermon? His reply to me was sunday belongs to the Lord and being in church for four hours was nothing. From that time on I avoided the penticostal church.

The second was about fast and prayer. I remembered as a child we would fast and pray for about three days. Maybe one meal in the early mornings and nothing else until dawn. On many occasions we were taken to a remote area in the bush or forest away from the village or road which I now believed to be a retreat area for three consecutive days. The practice was that kids who received the holy ghost didn’t have to go through this process each day. As a matter of fact if a child while fasting and praying received the supposedly holy ghost, the child was given food at the sight. It was also stressed that when the holy ghost came upon anyone they would feel no pain. Keep this in your mind, the place of this worship is full of twigs, thorns and stumps even if one was to rolled on them.

After many attempts of trying to get this holy ghost in my body, as a five year old boy, I finally decided to put an end to my search and make my mother proud.

On the last day of the so-called fast and prayer, I took a long survey of the area to make sure that the spot where I sat was fit and clean and clear with no thorns and twigs, no rocks or any hard objects that would impede my expression for receiving God’s sent gift upon me. When the time arrived that I chose to receive the holy ghost I shouted, spoke in tongues rolled all over the clean spots without any obstacles. I received the holy ghost. What a relief it was to my poor dear mother. All the elders of the church including the matron of the group hugged me and told me that she had a vision that on the last day of the retreat that I was going to receive the holy ghost.

After my little performance I was allowed to retire and given a meal. However, my mother was not impressed. She knew me more than anyone else. Later that evening at home she asked me this question, did you actually experience the Holy Ghost? I began to cry and she wept with me because she knew I faked receiving the holy ghost" and assured me that God would forgive me.

The third and last thing I experienced with the penticostal faith was that of baptism. The belief is that when one is baptized there must be immersion in the water. I knew of a pastor Jonah who had a son, my childhood best friend. We were so tight that our parents could hardly keep us apart. My friend was to be baptized at Matroe Mission by his father. He was immerged in the water and when he came up he became dumb and never spoke again. Many reasons were given for his condition. One was that he might have hit his head on a rock, the other that he might have seen an evil spirit while in the water. Whatever the reason or the cause was, this was a devastation to my childhood life. Until this day I’m afraid of swimming in any type of water.

My mother was an adventurous lady. She