A Critique:
What If God Were the Sun? by John Edward
Print/Download: PDFWhile this book seems like a harmless story, fit even for children, there are at least three serious problems with it:
A. The book teaches the preexistence of souls:[1]
“Mom sits down on the end of my bed and smiles at me with her big green eyes, preparing to patiently answer all my queries. ‘This is how it works, honey. God helped you pick out who would be your family on Earth to love and teach you all the lessons that your soul needed to learn. He then sent you to us out of His love. The job for us was to love and protect you here on Earth like He does for all of us from Heaven.” page 99
The Bible teaches the opposite:
Zechariah 12:1: “This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares…”
1 Corinthians 15:46: “The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.”
B. More serious, the book teaches that God is the Sun:
“Now might be the perfect time to ask what Grandma Rosie meant when she talked about God being the Sun. I decide that I just have to ask.” page 100
“‘Grandma Rosie told me that one day you would explain what she meant when she said God was the Sun. What did she mean?’ Mom looks at me and tilts her head to one side. She explains, ‘Tim, God is the center of our lives. He nourishes us with His loving energy. He trusts us to believe in Him, which is why He gave us the gift of Faith. So you must trust your own faith that He’s there. But for those who aren’t quite convinced, He proves it every day.’ She speaks each word slowly: ‘God… is … the … Sun.’” (Emphasis in the original) page 102
The Bible teaches this is a sin against the first commandment, (idolatry).
Exod 20:3-5 "You shall have no other gods before [or besides] me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
C. The book also teaches that the stars are our loved ones in Heaven:
“‘You see, when God, the Sun, is shining His warmth on the other parts of our planet, the gift He gives us is the moon …’ she says one last thing: ‘And, by the way … at night, all those stars you see in the sky, twinkling and shining down upon you – they’re all our loved ones in Heaven. Their spirits are shining bright and smiling down on us.’” Page 106,107
The Bible teaches a clear distinction between God the Creator and the Creation:
Rom 1:21-25: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-- who is forever praised. Amen.”
The Bible does not teach that stars are departed loved ones. They are stars! The souls of Christians who have died are with the Lord.
While this book, What If God Were the Sun?, might read like an innocent story for children and adults, it is not; it is teaching false doctrine and contributing to the breaking of the first commandment.
God, the Creator of the universe demands exclusive worship (worth-ship). He alone is God!
Written by Greta Olsoe
www.soundwitness.org
Click here for more articles on popular culture