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True Religion Dispels Fear​—How?

BRITISH authors Edwin and Mona Radford were puzzled. After collecting over two thousand superstitions, they found the same superstitious fears in Scotland, India, and Uganda, and in Central America as well. They wondered, ‘What could account for this?’ Writer Robertson Davies correctly observes: “Superstition seems to have a link with some body of belief that far antedates the religions we know.” Then, what pre-Christian “body of belief” is the root of superstition?

Superstition’s Root and Branches

The Bible points to the land of Shinar (the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, later called Babylonia) as the birthplace of false religious concepts, including superstitions. There, “a mighty hunter” named Nimrod began the building of the infamous Tower of Babel. It was to be used for false worship. Jehovah God, though, frustrated the plans of the builders by confusing their language. Gradually, the building work halted, and they were scattered. (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:2-9) But wherever they settled, they carried the same beliefs, ideas, and myths with them. Babel, however, remained a center of false religion, in time also expanding its role as mother and wet nurse to magic, sorcery, and superstitious beliefs, such as astrology. (Compare Isaiah 47:12, 13; Daniel 2:27; 4:7.) Thus, the book Great Cities of the Ancient World notes: “Astrology was based upon two Babylonic ideas: the zodiac, and the divinity of the heavenly bodies. . . . The Babylonians credited the planets with the influences that one would expect of their respective deities.”

How have these ancient events affected us? The Bible book of Revelation indicates that a worldwide, false religious system has developed from the ideas of ancient Babylon. It exists down to our day and is called “Babylon the Great.” (Revelation 17:5) Of course, the passing of time and local developments have influenced those original Babylonian ideas. The great diversity of religion seen today is the result. But just as diverse trees often grow in the same soil, so diverse religions and superstitions around the world have their roots in common ground​—Babylon. To illustrate, let us see how one of Babylon’s superstitious beliefs has filtered into nearly all religions of the world today.

Fear of the Dead​—Based on What?

The Babylonians believed that a spiritual part of man survived the death of the fleshly body and could come back to affect the living for good or for bad. They thus invented religious rites designed to appease the dead and avoid their vengeance. This belief is still alive in many lands today. In Africa, for example, it “plays a vital role in the everyday life of almost every . . . society.”​—African Religions—​Symbol, Ritual, and Community.

Even professed Christians in such lands are affected. For example, Henriette, a 63-year-old woman of African descent, admits: “Although I was an active member of the local Protestant church, I feared the ‘spirits’ of the dead. We lived close to a cemetery, and whenever a funeral procession approached our house, I woke up my child and held it close until the procession had passed. Otherwise, the ‘spirit’ of the dead would enter my house and possess the sleeping child.”

Such superstition survives because the teaching of the immortal soul prevails in Christendom. History shows that Greek philosophers​—especially Plato—​elaborated on the Babylonian idea of immortality. Under their influence, writes John Dunnett, a British senior lecturer in theology, “the concept of the immortality of the soul came largely to permeate the Christian Church.” This Babylonian teaching has kept millions in slavery to superstitious fear.

True religion, however, dispels such fear. Why? Because true religion is not based on beliefs rooted in Babylon but on teachings found in the Bible.

The Soul According to the Bible

The first book of the Bible tells us that man became a soul, a living person. (Genesis 2:7) So when a person dies, the soul dies. Confirms the prophet Ezekiel: “The soul that is sinning​—it itself will die.” (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 3:23) The soul is mortal and does not live on after death. Instead, as Psalm 146:4 says: “His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.” Hence, lecturer John Dunnett concludes, the immortality of the soul “remains a non-Biblical belief.”

If there is no immortal soul, there can be no “spirits” of the dead to terrify persons on earth. The foundation for superstitious fear of the dead thus crumbles.

Fear Based on Deception

Superstitious fear of the dead dies hard. Why? Because eerie things do happen​—like that night when a middle-aged woman in Suriname heard someone calling her name. She ignored it, but invisible “hands” then began to touch her, and when she objected to that, she was nearly strangled by an invisible force. Perhaps you wonder, ‘If the “spirits” of the dead are not alive, then who was responsible?’ Again, Bible knowledge dissolves superstitious fear.

It explains that wicked spirit forces, called demons, do exist. Those demons, however, are not departed souls. They are angels of God who rebelled and sided with Satan, “who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9; James 2:19; Ephesians 6:12; 2 Peter 2:4) The Bible shows that the demons find delight in misleading, frightening, and harassing humans. The account at Luke 9:37-43 relates that a demon threw a boy “into convulsions with foam” and afflicted him with bruises. Even when the boy was led to Jesus, “the demon dashed him to the ground and violently convulsed him. However,” the account continues, “Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and delivered him to his father.”

Interestingly, the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature defines superstition as “the worship of false gods.” Thus, if you perform such superstitious acts, you are, perhaps unwittingly, appeasing “false gods,” or the demons! Such false worship is a serious offense against Jehovah God.​—Compare 1 Corinthians 10:20 and Deuteronomy 18:10-12.a

‘Subject Yourselves to God’​—Do You?

Would you have the courage to turn your back on those demons by rejecting superstition? True, demons are powerful. But after showing that we have to choose to serve either Jehovah God or the demons, the apostle Paul asked: “We are not stronger than [Jehovah] is, are we?” (1 Corinthians 10:21, 22) No, we are not​—but remember, neither are Satan and his demons! Instead, those demons “shudder” out of dread of Jehovah. (James 2:19) But the Almighty God offers you his protection if you ask for it. Bible writer James further says: “Subject yourselves, therefore, to God; but oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Your superstitious fear will likewise flee.

Thousands around the globe who once lived in fear and slavery to superstitious customs can now testify to that. The Devil fled from them! In what way? Remember, the enemy of superstitious fear is knowledge. Says Professor Rudolph Brasch, an expert on the origin of superstitions: “It’s a matter of education​—that the more educated people get, the less superstitious they get.”

Thus, when Henriette, mentioned before, accepted the invitation of Jehovah’s Witnesses to begin a free study of the Bible, she soon saw through the demonic ruse. The tentacles of superstition lost their grip. She, and thousands like her, have experienced the truthfulness of the words at Hebrews 2:15. There, the apostle Paul says that Jesus will “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (New International Version) Just as the tropical morning sun evaporates the heavy dew of the rain forest, the light of Bible truth dispels all superstitious fear.

Today, numerous former ‘fearful slaves’ have removed the amulets from their necks and the protective strings from their children. Now they feel as does Isaac, a 68-year-old former South African witch doctor. After studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses, he said: “I feel very happy and free because I am no longer burdened by the fear of spirits.” How true Jesus’ words prove to be: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”!​—John 8:32.

Yes, true religion does dispel fear!

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Superstitions spread worldwide from their fountainhead at Babylon