nbcrusader
Blue Crack Addict
How can you believe in God? What makes you believe there is a God, besides the Bible which, frankly is seen by non Christians as a story book?
A combination of many things. First, just look in a mirror and then the world around you. It is hard to imagine that the wonders we see, from the complexities of a human hand, to the beauty of a sunrise, the feeling of being loved or loving another, the smell of a flower, the taste of a strawberry. Hard to image that all of it came from a big bang.
There are also circumstances in our lives when, in the quiet moments, you sense God’s love for you.
Finally, there is the Bible. God’s Word for us. And for all the complexities of its 66 books, there is one simple message that is carried throughout: believe. To have a relationship with God, all you have to do is believe. Now the Bible records how humans get in the way of this process. Abraham believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. But the Hebrews wanted more. They wanted clear rules and regulations to relate to God. And that is what they got – an elaborate process of sacrifices and ceremonies all needed to maintain a relationship with God. Jesus came to introduce a new covenant, not to replace the old, but to perfectly satisfy the requirements that were in place. His death fulfilled the requirements of sacrifice and we are told to simply put our faith in Him alone for salvation.
Why if someone is religious do they not welcome death? Like when they are terminally ill etc? If you believe in Heaven arn't you looking forward to going there and seeing other family who have passed on?
The timing of when I go to heaven is in God’s hands and His alone. I do not fear death, but I do not seek it either. I think we mistake the idea of heaven with a complete list of worldly pleasures. I think heaven will be beyond whatever joy we can imagine here on earth.
Do you believe other religious people from other religions are wrong? Like say, as a Christian do you believe Islam is wrong, or vice versa, even though you both believe in the same God?
This is partly a matter of logic. If there are two sets of beliefs, and they have an inherent contradiction between them, they both cannot be right.
In your example, Islam claims to follow the same God as Christians and Jews, but when you really examine this issue, you find it is not possible. There is shared history – but Christians call Jesus Christ God. In Islam, Jesus Christ is a powerful figure, but Jesus and Allah are different.
If you are religious, do you believe the bible dictates your life? Like the actually scriptures and verses and stuff in it actually mean something in someones life today, even though it was written so long ago?
The Bible is what God tells us we need to know to know Him. Yes, it was written over thousands of years and completed nearly 2000 years ago, but as described above, the message is timeless. We can struggle with the meaning of individual verses and I always suggest comparing verses with other verses to discover meaning.
How many of you who are religious, were NOT brought up with religion and made your choice to become religious as an adult?
I became a Christian when I was 22. I grew up in an uncommitted household and lived in a largely Catholic area. In fact, I attended a Catholic high school, which, if anything, pushed me further away from God.
and lastly, can you understand how someone like myself, who was brought up without religion (but given information about different religions in case i was interested in one of them) and believes the world was created by the big bang, and sees all the heartache and sorrow and then seens crazy fundametalists from all religions just screw up this world more, can you actually see my point of view. Can you understand how easy it is to NOT believe in a God? To believe that religion is only a tool for people to feel better about their life and give it some meaning and purpose?
Yes, I can understand why non-believers cannot believe in God. Frankly, I’ve known and understand why many Catholics do not believe in God. The farther you get away from the simple message of believing, the more frustrated you will become.
To think of religion as a tool had its place centuries ago when the church was also the powerful political entity of its day. Today, you can still see elements of this control (how else do you get someone to kill themselves), but that is no longer dominant factor.
A combination of many things. First, just look in a mirror and then the world around you. It is hard to imagine that the wonders we see, from the complexities of a human hand, to the beauty of a sunrise, the feeling of being loved or loving another, the smell of a flower, the taste of a strawberry. Hard to image that all of it came from a big bang.
There are also circumstances in our lives when, in the quiet moments, you sense God’s love for you.
Finally, there is the Bible. God’s Word for us. And for all the complexities of its 66 books, there is one simple message that is carried throughout: believe. To have a relationship with God, all you have to do is believe. Now the Bible records how humans get in the way of this process. Abraham believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. But the Hebrews wanted more. They wanted clear rules and regulations to relate to God. And that is what they got – an elaborate process of sacrifices and ceremonies all needed to maintain a relationship with God. Jesus came to introduce a new covenant, not to replace the old, but to perfectly satisfy the requirements that were in place. His death fulfilled the requirements of sacrifice and we are told to simply put our faith in Him alone for salvation.
Why if someone is religious do they not welcome death? Like when they are terminally ill etc? If you believe in Heaven arn't you looking forward to going there and seeing other family who have passed on?
The timing of when I go to heaven is in God’s hands and His alone. I do not fear death, but I do not seek it either. I think we mistake the idea of heaven with a complete list of worldly pleasures. I think heaven will be beyond whatever joy we can imagine here on earth.
Do you believe other religious people from other religions are wrong? Like say, as a Christian do you believe Islam is wrong, or vice versa, even though you both believe in the same God?
This is partly a matter of logic. If there are two sets of beliefs, and they have an inherent contradiction between them, they both cannot be right.
In your example, Islam claims to follow the same God as Christians and Jews, but when you really examine this issue, you find it is not possible. There is shared history – but Christians call Jesus Christ God. In Islam, Jesus Christ is a powerful figure, but Jesus and Allah are different.
If you are religious, do you believe the bible dictates your life? Like the actually scriptures and verses and stuff in it actually mean something in someones life today, even though it was written so long ago?
The Bible is what God tells us we need to know to know Him. Yes, it was written over thousands of years and completed nearly 2000 years ago, but as described above, the message is timeless. We can struggle with the meaning of individual verses and I always suggest comparing verses with other verses to discover meaning.
How many of you who are religious, were NOT brought up with religion and made your choice to become religious as an adult?
I became a Christian when I was 22. I grew up in an uncommitted household and lived in a largely Catholic area. In fact, I attended a Catholic high school, which, if anything, pushed me further away from God.
and lastly, can you understand how someone like myself, who was brought up without religion (but given information about different religions in case i was interested in one of them) and believes the world was created by the big bang, and sees all the heartache and sorrow and then seens crazy fundametalists from all religions just screw up this world more, can you actually see my point of view. Can you understand how easy it is to NOT believe in a God? To believe that religion is only a tool for people to feel better about their life and give it some meaning and purpose?
Yes, I can understand why non-believers cannot believe in God. Frankly, I’ve known and understand why many Catholics do not believe in God. The farther you get away from the simple message of believing, the more frustrated you will become.
To think of religion as a tool had its place centuries ago when the church was also the powerful political entity of its day. Today, you can still see elements of this control (how else do you get someone to kill themselves), but that is no longer dominant factor.
Last edited: