The Salty Peanut Gallery

First there was “Testamints” mints wrapped in a verse of scripture. Then there was Bible Gum that let’s you chew your way to spiritual enlightenment. Now there’s a new wave in faith-inspired commerce. Spiritual Brands Inc. introduces new “Spiritual Water”. Read the Prayer… / Drink the Water … / Believe in God! / Believe in Yourself! It’s that simple. What could be better than that? Immerse yourself in eleven different prayers that bear detailed images of Jesus Christ, St. Michael and the Virgin Mary.

A recent article in “The Miami Harold” gave this description:

Alongside the standard nutritional facts — zero calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein — the bottles are printed with prayers in English and Spanish. Product varieties include Power Water with the Apostles’ Creed, Strength Water featuring the Serenity prayer and Essential Water with the Guardian Angel prayer.

“Church is on Sundays, but people need something to help them through the week,” says CEO of the company, Elicko Taieb. “The whole idea is for people to feel better and to know God is with them,” he says. “Everybody always has bottled water with them. In the car. At home. In the gym. Because it’s the most important liquid for the body. The ingredients are the image and the prayer, which is for your body and soul. It’s water from God. It purifies your soul and helps you to think positive.”

“There is a story behind every bottle. It gives people something positive to talk about,” says Eitan Peer, executive vice president.

Cecilia Joseph liked Spiritual Water so much she became a distributor. “You drink it, and you just feel like you are in church,” she says. “The pictures are so beautiful. You look at them and read the prayer, and it just feels good.”

Now I know what you’re thinking. As humorous as this all sounds, no, it is not a parody or a satire. This is as real as it gets, but in reality it is no laughing matter. There are real people swallowing this perversion of the gospel hook line and sinker and the consequences are devastating. It’s what Paul referred to as “a different gospel, which is not another” (Galatians 1:6-9). Of course it’s really not another gospel at all. There is only one message that truly leads to salvation. Any message that is either more or less then that is a message that leads to destruction.

Paul explains that the consequence for spreading a different gospel is to be accursed. The word accursed translates “anathema” which means “that which is dedicated for destruction.” In other words those who would presume to do this should certainly be discounted, but they should also be left to God’s judgment. That’s some pretty serious stuff. And you thought it was just water.