The Deviation and Restoration of the Human Race
Theodore Verheven, states in his book The Deviation and Restoration of the Human Race that because of Adam and Eve’s original sin, we, their descendents, are born with both a good and an evil nature. This duality that can best be described Verheven’s own words as “Being created in ‘God’s image,’ but also in the ‘image of Satan,’ by accepting ‘His knowledge,’ they became good as well as evil and became ‘men of double mind’” It is hard to argue with Verheven considering the greatest minds in history have pondered the idea of man’s dual nature. Moreover, there is the worldwide physical duality of war, atrocity and natural disaster that clashes and mingles with mindless, feel-good-about-yourself entertainment. Many members of the Judeo-Christian faith believe that we are living in what is called The End of Days: a biblical time where humanity reaches the brink of extinction and God will destroy the earth. The fundamentalist revival makes good use of this fear of Hell, or Sheol, as an incentive for receiving the gift of everlasting life—while at the same time enriching the sacred coffers.
Verheven, with a Master’s degree in religious studies from the Unification Seminary, has exhaustedly pursued and researched comparative religion, philosophy, psychology, parapsychology and New Age, history and science to write The Deviation and Restoration of the Human Race. His ideas develop logically and are based on the scientific method of observation. One might even accept his thought on the human body having “etheric” energy. After all, the idea of an aura, ki or chi is a concept that has been around for centuries.
But Verheven wastes his credibility when he makes sweeping generalizations not based in fact. Take the following statement on childbirth for example: “Because many women are immature in the development of their personality (which is also tainted with original sin) and most of them are not regenerated, it is to be expected that they have difficulties during pregnancy and labor, especially when they are inclined towards evil. Women not only suffer the usual nausea, illness and pains of pregnancy, but some of them also experience the agony of miscarriage, giving birth to an infant stillborn, bringing forth children that die young of diseases, or whom are disabled or retarded…Some of them are born blind, deaf, deformed, insane, and possessed by evil spirits. They are always a source of sorrow for the parents and the community.”
The Deviation and Restoration of the Human Race contains fascinating and accurate historical background of comparative religion and philosophy. An Everest of knowledge to climb, the eight hundred-plus pages have many twisting theoretical paths climbing to higher and higher elevations which eventually, and unfortunately, because of biased, misinformed, unscientific and archaic opinions, lead nowhere.
Reviewed by
Lee Gooden
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