Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

3. An outright rejection of the Church of Rome came in
the Reformation, after which Catholics could no longer
pretend to be the only authoritative religious body in
Western Europe, even though they continue to claim
that their teachings are the exclusive way to salvation.
Among the Protestants there were early divisions,
leading to the tendency to divide into many sects, each
one claiming to possess some new revelation or superior
truth. Since these claims are not based upon genuine
religious experience, but merely upon differing views,
the real meaning of religion has been forgotten and this
sectarianism has only led to increasing degeneration.
Now we find that members of the YMCA, for example,
will only come to church by force of habit—or worse,
only if they are persuaded by some sensual attraction
such as films, dances, or parties. This approach might be
called "Come to church and have a good time"; but
nothing is said about salvation or religion. What all this
means is that currently there is little true religion, even
of the "heaven-and-man" variety, in the West.
4. To return to the science of this century, its
development has been very rapid and in many fields it
has rejected the traditional Christian teachings. One
outstanding example is the theory of evolution, first
propounded by Darwin, which clearly rejects the
mythical story of creation authorized by the Bible. The
scientific method, far from finding evidence for the
Creator, has been quite unable to give an absolute God
any place in the universe that he is supposed to have
37