Many Nations Under God

This volume of the Discerning This Present Time series focuses on the large-scale situation on our planet when it comes to countries, nationalities, ethnicities and various groupings of people, along with the sort of demographic, ideological and geopolitical dynamics that arise as a result of these realities. The topic is approached from a distinctly spiritual perspective, particularly one that emphasizes the role of karma, reincarnation and the guiding hand of divine providence in human affairs.

Emphasis is placed on the interface between inner and outer demographics. The relationship or correspondence between certain outer distinctions between people and certain inner distinctions between them is discussed. And the spiritual causes that lie behind many of the political, economic, social, ethnic and cultural divisions on our planet are examined in a spiritual light.

The statement from the twenty-second Psalm that "the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations" is taken as the central premise of the book, and some of the details about how God exercises his role are considered. This includes looking at the way in which the political organization of life on Earth attests to the deity's active involvement in human affairs and his ongoing commitment to directing the destiny of our planet and its inhabitants.

In the course of exploring these themes, new light is shed on topics as diverse as immigration, nationalism, globalism, population growth, national identity, and global inequalities. The overall picture that emerges is one of a world that-for all of its modernity, integration and relative secularism-is not only subject to many of the same forces as in the past, but also about as susceptible to spiritual causal factors as it has ever been.