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?
Oh words can be so misleading. Because words are not feelings, and none of what I am to describe that can´t possibly be described in words, is of your own experience. Additionally, it is impossible to put certain things into words. The only way I can attempt to reply will be long and very personal, hope you don´t mind..
I believe in God because I have felt him. See, when I was 15, 16 years old, I did not.. not really believe in God I guess. I was raised in a Catholic family, but there were so many contradictions in the Bible (plus the friends who I hung out with were disillusioned freaks so it wasn´t really a topic). Also, I was definitely critical of what I had learned about the history of (my) Catholic church, and by questioning the church I also questioned God and his very existence.
That all changed when new persons enriched my life. Does it sound uncommon when I say that in some way, love has led me to God? ...I believe in God because I met God twice in my life. And both times, it happened when I looked in the eyes of lovers. And both times, amazingly, I talked with them after it happened and they had
exactly the same indescribable sensation .
The feeling is that everything is one. Only a couple of seconds. All the energy is totally connected. It is a different truth, a kind of unconsciousness, a way of non-thinking.. no thought passed through my mind. Yet, if there is something I knew - it was real. A reality different from the way we live. It´s like, everything was clear for a moment, know what I mean? There are no questions. There´s no question whether there is a God or not. Its the pure joy, the pure essence of life. One. Now. [side comment to whom it may concern.. also different from later experiences in meditation or shamanism. It was not about breathing slowly, stepping out of your head or anything. Not getting into another place. It wasn´t necessary to call the spirit, it just happened out of the blue].
The first time that I had this experience, it influenced me so deeply that I said.. if there is something I call God... ever in my life.. it is that existance, that deeper meaning, that one-now-unity.. all the universe - .. energy. Some people call it different names, others insist that this is rather the holy spirit and God is a father figure, all of that doesn´t make a difference. So I was like... ahaaaa! There is a God! with 17. The second time it happened I was 20. And again, the person with who I had this experience, spoke of the exact same things.
Later on I began to be interested in all kinds of religions; I am brought up with Catholicism and stand by the roots of this religion.. but know a lot about other religions. This has to do with the way I lived, I had certain negative and positive experiences; and apart from that count the studies in,.. but lets elaborate at another point. I just need to state that the rest of the post might include other authors too - all that knowledge comes from them and I am thankful for it.
I call a man a theist, a believer, when his outlook is positive, and a man whose outlook is negative, an atheist, a non-believer. To be a believer has no relation at all to believing in the existence of God, and to hold such a belief is completely unnecessary. To see what is, to know what really exists, is the way of the theist, of the believer; to see what does not really exist is the way of an atheist.
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?
Death of loved ones has been to painful for me up until now to really ... welcome death as a friend. All our fears center around dying, and we build up immense security to protect ourselves when the essence of life itself is so fragile. Death is like a shadow: you can try to get rid of it, but you never will, it will always follow you.
Some say it is better to turn around, face the shadow and look it straight in the eye. Then the fear of death can disappear. People are afraid of dying because they think they still have to do something in their life, they have not completed it. A man who has lived a fulfilling life, a man who has tasted ecstasy, who has lived every single moment with passion, who has completed his life, will know when his time has come - only he can welcome death with open arms.
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?
No, I believe people from other religions are right. There are parallels in all world religions. The names of the deities are different, the life and stories of the prophets and saints, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and so many others, differ.. but if you read the books you will find many parallels.. truths that are overshadowed by the twist the writers gave them because the writes lived in different times, societies etc. - you have to dig deep, but when you read the start of the Kabbalah you will find parallels to Genesis etc.
The unique principles are rather... cosmic than bound to a certain religion or society.
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 does not dictate my life, but influences my decisions. lol, may sound dangerous come to think of it, but it doesn´t influence me in the way like.. ok, now I have to open page 439 to see what I have to do. Nah.. I am a searcher.. I have read many books.. you can read many books yet not come to know God. Many people think they have found the ultimate truth in the Bible..
while they overlook that they have no real familiarity with God at all. In fact, no one has... it´s not like you could go to the next rock concert with God... yet spirit surely manifests through music.
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?
Sure I can understand that. Especially when I see how fucked up the world is. This is why it is our duty to regain paradise on earth. One doesn´t have to believe in Jesus or anything else to do good work in his spirit, to help the needy and to feed the poor.
Time will tell if you will change your opinion.
My replies just scratch the surface - there is much to say, especially on death. It may be enough for a start.
Blessings!
