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Where Was God When Pagan Religions Began?
If you wonder how other religions compare with Christianity, you should read this book. Lester Sumrall explores the history of the leading non-Christian religions and submits their teachings to the Bible’s standards of truth. You may be surprised to learn how the ideas of the world’s major religions are penetrating American life, shaping the way our society thinks and acts.
165 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
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August 10, 2025
Missionaries find that Buddhism is more hostile to the gospel than any other major religion. Buddhist families will disown anyone who attends a church service or Bible study. They see Christianity as a major threat. Why? What is it about the gospel that frightens the Buddhists? Where was God when this pagan religion began?
Where Was God When Pagan Religions Began? is an interesting look inside the mind of an extremely conservative Christian. In the book, American pastor Lester Sumrall (1913–1996) gives his explanation of how what he calls "pagan cults" (like Buddhism, Islam, and humanism) can exist in a world created by the Christian God.
Lester Sumrall is a good, entertaining writer, and his logic is easy to follow. As Sumrall believes that all good things come from God and all beliefs that don't align with the Bible come from demons and Satan, he sees all other religions as demon worship and signs of Satan's influence in the world.
Sumrall preached in over 100 countries, and he often shares his personal experiences from around the world. These anecdotes and interpretations offer some glimpses into Sumrall's thinking: In Japan, while hearing drumming coming from local houses, he "could feel the power of Satan so strongly that it made [him] want to hurry along." In Indonesia, he grabs a Buddhist monk by the shoulder to start preaching, and takes the monk's trembling and shocked reaction as a sign of God's power, failing to mention that touching a monk is a huge no-no in the culture.
Sometimes Sumrall takes some massive leaps of logic. For example, he implies that people in India suffer from starvation because they refuse to eat cows. And illnesses? According to Sumrall, it's easy for ticks and fleas to spread diseases if people see them as reincarnations of their dead ancestors and therefore refuse to kill them.
I picked this book very randomly after its cover caught my attention in a guesthouse, and I was not disappointed.
Where Was God When Pagan Religions Began? is an interesting look inside the mind of an extremely conservative Christian. In the book, American pastor Lester Sumrall (1913–1996) gives his explanation of how what he calls "pagan cults" (like Buddhism, Islam, and humanism) can exist in a world created by the Christian God.
Lester Sumrall is a good, entertaining writer, and his logic is easy to follow. As Sumrall believes that all good things come from God and all beliefs that don't align with the Bible come from demons and Satan, he sees all other religions as demon worship and signs of Satan's influence in the world.
Sumrall preached in over 100 countries, and he often shares his personal experiences from around the world. These anecdotes and interpretations offer some glimpses into Sumrall's thinking: In Japan, while hearing drumming coming from local houses, he "could feel the power of Satan so strongly that it made [him] want to hurry along." In Indonesia, he grabs a Buddhist monk by the shoulder to start preaching, and takes the monk's trembling and shocked reaction as a sign of God's power, failing to mention that touching a monk is a huge no-no in the culture.
Sometimes Sumrall takes some massive leaps of logic. For example, he implies that people in India suffer from starvation because they refuse to eat cows. And illnesses? According to Sumrall, it's easy for ticks and fleas to spread diseases if people see them as reincarnations of their dead ancestors and therefore refuse to kill them.
I picked this book very randomly after its cover caught my attention in a guesthouse, and I was not disappointed.
Displaying 1 of 1 review