There are two primary factors distorting man's relationship with God, leading him astray from the path of his supreme destiny: materialism and formalism.
Formalism in religion emphasizes ritual, fundamental precepts and observances above the meaning of the spirit of religion and the materialism denies the existence of a spiritual world.
Now, the materialist would say: "If there is no eternal God and immortal soul, let us explore the present life as much as possible, conquer goods of fortune, glory, pleasures in the greatest abundance and despise all spiritual elements as things of the imagination and even, utopias."
The formalist admits the existence of a spiritual world and believes that the ten precepts that Moses received at Sinai, that is, the commandments of the law of God, are based on this creed. But he deceives himself. What he calls religion is generally just sterile liturgical formulas and ceremonies. To mechanically repeat certain words, perform certain gestures, unravel the rosary with a certain number of prayers ... that's what he calls piety, religion, spiritual life!
If materialism represents the emptiness of religion, formalism is a caricature of it ... if materialism is a sterile valley, formalism is a land covered with ruins.
Jesus and Paul of Tarsus lived and died fighting against the denial of spirituality and the distortion of true spirituality.
Divine revelation, both in the Old and New Testaments is a vehement offensive against these two basic enemies of religion, and knowing the Word of God is the best preventive against destructive materialism and the best corrective of corrupting formalism.
The synagogue died due to an excess of sterile formalities - and the paganism agonizes with the lack of genuine and healthy spirituality, and nowadays, these two pathologies exert their vast and perfidious trail of destruction in modern society and in Christianity.
It is urgent that we return to the word of God, as found in the revelations of the great masters, since the most intimate knowledge and the constant assimilation of the word are the guarantees of spiritual sanity, preserving the soul from the mistakes of materialism and the corruption of formalism.
Even today, God is for many Christians an "unknown god", as he was, in the first century, for the pagans of Athens mentioned by the apostle Paul. And, like the Samaritans, to whom Jesus refers, many Christians today worship a God they ignore. They have time for everything and interest in all problems, except for the central problem of human existence and on which the happy or unhappy destiny of man depends.
Unfortunately, man is not aware of this existential separation between him and his creator, and therefore the word of God does not bear fruit in all souls, because he does not always find favourable ground for his evolution. A hard, superficial and fragmented heart, or filled with worldly concerns does not allow for normal spiritual growth. It is up to man, therefore, to prepare, through a sincere moral effort, the field of his soul so that this word may produce abundant fruits of salvation, for the knowledge of God, is not the privilege of a caste or spiritual elite of humanity, but accessible to all men, although many repel God and prefer to live in religious ignorance.
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