Why there are so many different religions to explain the truth of being?

Originally Posted by theophilus

The reason there are so many religions is that most people have rejected the truth that God has revealed to us and have been forced to invent substitutes for it.

Then may I please ask who is God that you speak about and what was the truth that he/she revealed?

It's not as confusing as some may think. What it comes down to is doing things God way and not our way and if we do that, and let ourselves be guided by holy spirit, we will find out "the truth".

Originally Posted by Batseba101

It's not as confusing as some may think. What it comes down to is doing things God way and not our way and if we do that, and let ourselves be guided by holy spirit, we will find out "the truth".

Please, may I ask then what is the God way, that which is not our way?
And... how do we know which spirit is holy and which is not such?

[theophilus]

Originally Posted by Ambermay

Please, may I ask then what is the God way, that which is not our way?
And... how do we know which spirit is holy and which is not such?

This is an excellent questions. There are many evil spirits trying to deceive us. The answer is found in the Bible.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
(1 John 4:1-3 ESV)

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is the only reliable guide to the truth about God. Any ideas about God, whether they come from some other person or arise within out own minds, must be tested by seeing whether or not they agree with what the Bible teaches.

[Sarian]

Can I ask you, theophilus, why christians, are so afraid to open their minds. For example...I gave a friend a cd to listen too, it was Christopher Hitchen's cd book "God is NOT Great, how religion poisons..." everything or the mind, i can't remember the title exactly now... he now doubts the bible, even though he was raised with it and believed it. He struggled with his loss of faith and then began going back to church because he missed certain aspects of it...but when his pastor was questioning why his 'fall' if you will, he mentioned the CH book. The pastor gently admonished him for reading things like this that open the door for deception.

Then some of his old christian friends basically said same. So why the fear in daring to read or inquire about other beliefs or non-belief in god or books that shed light into the inconsistencies in the bible or bible flaws? When asked, most come up with pat answers, but to me, it comes across as fear and/or no answers. You just don't do that. Not allowed. Doesn't that seem like a fear-based religion and brainwashing?

And now it appears people are withdrawing from him, unless he 'comes back into the fold'. He's deeply hurt and cannot go back within fully as he knows he will never fully believe again. His eyes have been opened, so how can he? I find it very sad ...the behavior towards him now. I've been there myself, and now he sees himself, first hand, how it was for me. He understands more, as he has shunned others because of the same reasoning, but now he is on the other side of the fence.

I find it very troubling and sad.

Perhaps your religion has you deceived.

Originally Posted by Ambermay

Why do you think?

I think that the truth is very personal and can not be adopted by all in the same way. (Well sounds a bit like Scientology, but no, I'm far from that.)

All religions were based on some knowledge from before.
Is it true? I tend to think so. Most recent ones display dogmas which are borrowed from one or more than one religion of old.

Even well known and long standing organized religions are based on something people believed in very long time ago.
No matter how they were created by men and for which purpose, I think that there is certain truths can be found in all of them and some great errors can be found too.

I love a lot of different teachings from different dogmas, especially the ones where I can find common grounds between them.

I believe that all of us as humans like to create, or maybe not just like, but it is more like a need of our nature. Then we like to organize to be more content with what we created.

All that I think is done to find the truth about live and death, existence of everything and anything.

I too created my own set of beliefs and organized it for myself (not religion, because I don't believe in converting others to what I believe personally).
Instead I'm open and would love to hear what others believe and how, because I strongly believe that every single person has some truths within them.

Would you like to share your opinions?

In history, we separated and created our own groups from faiths to parenting. Sectioning off is the way Human Beings have operated, and hopefully in the near future, we will begin to focus more on the commonalities and begin to more peacefully merge together.

My take on it, is People separate out of personal comfort and to avoid personal triggers.

Originally Posted by CatChild

In history, we separated and created our own groups from faiths to parenting. Sectioning off is the way Human Beings have operated, and hopefully in the near future, we will begin to focus more on the commonalities and begin to more peacefully merge together.

My take on it, is People separate out of personal comfort and to avoid personal triggers.

I too hope that what you say will happen some day.
We all share the same planet and we should have one and peaceful religion for all, don't we deserve it?

Originally Posted by Sarian

Can I ask you, theophilus, why christians, are so afraid to open their minds. For example...I gave a friend a cd to listen too, it was Christopher Hitchen's cd book "God is NOT Great, how religion poisons..." everything or the mind, i can't remember the title exactly now... he now doubts the bible, even though he was raised with it and believed it. He struggled with his loss of faith and then began going back to church because he missed certain aspects of it...but when his pastor was questioning why his 'fall' if you will, he mentioned the CH book. The pastor gently admonished him for reading things like this that open the door for deception.

Then some of his old christian friends basically said same. So why the fear in daring to read or inquire about other beliefs or non-belief in god or books that shed light into the inconsistencies in the bible or bible flaws? When asked, most come up with pat answers, but to me, it comes across as fear and/or no answers. You just don't do that. Not allowed. Doesn't that seem like a fear-based religion and brainwashing?

And now it appears people are withdrawing from him, unless he 'comes back into the fold'. He's deeply hurt and cannot go back within fully as he knows he will never fully believe again. His eyes have been opened, so how can he? I find it very sad ...the behavior towards him now. I've been there myself, and now he sees himself, first hand, how it was for me. He understands more, as he has shunned others because of the same reasoning, but now he is on the other side of the fence.

I find it very troubling and sad.

Perhaps your religion has you deceived.

I personally have nothing against Christian religion. (My hubby is a Christian, but very open-minded one, who is able to understand my views - speak about a 71 year old person with such open mind...)

So are other religions don't worry me as such, I find some valid teachings in all of them.

It is surely sad that some have to go through rejection when they want to open their minds...

Check out the part of this quote from the Bible that theophilus shared: 'Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.'

I read the Bible not once, though I am not a set believer in Bible, but I still find it fascinating what truths I can come across that would speak to me...

That quote is really valid to me, thank you theophilus !

[Mathew James]

Originally Posted by Ambermay

It is surely sad that some have to go through rejection when they want to open their minds...

Check out the part of this quote from the Bible that theophilus shared: 'Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.'

religious understanding is a long journey for us all, and it has many paths, and along our paths we will find many false prophets that will need to be tested. our ability to test these false prophets correctly may be our greatest challenge in this world. most people who read the bible never truly understand what it says about the church going astray by false teachings.


mj

Originally Posted by Mathew James

religious understanding is a long journey for us all, and it has many paths, and along our paths we will find many false prophets that will need to be tested. our ability to test these false prophets correctly may be our greatest challenge in this world. most people who read the bible never truly understand what it says about the church going astray by false teachings.


mj

We are in agreement--once again.