do you feel like you are believing in a false religion?

Question

i claim to be christian.....i listen to christian music...i go to church sometimes....i pray....i know most of the bible....are religions created just to make rules to live by or to be good people? how do i know that i'm not wasting my time believing in god or jesus? how do i know what the true religion is?

Answer 1

Thank you for your honesty.

Anyone can mess up. If you think that it's about the rules to live by, then what are you afraid of? That is, what happens if you break the rules or don't do everything right?

Listening to Christian music and even going to church doesn't make anyone Christian, and I appreciate that you have the courage to admit that you claim to be christian, even though it seems you are not sure. That impresses me.

False religions--even entire denominations of Christianity--*do* make rules to live by, and keep us all distracted long enough to be completely ineffective and be a total waste of time. This mentality preys on the fear of angering God or not doing enough to please him.

I grew up in this kind of thinking, and have since realized that I was following the rules of my congregation because I thought I had to, and I gave up on "religion." Now I have come to know the gravity of what Christ has actually--truly--done for me, and I now follow him out of gratitude, respect, amazement and adoration.

Answer 2

That is the question that so many want to have answered.
The best advice that I can give is that you try out different churches...different religions. Try Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Buddhism, Unity (my personal fav). Explore.
Being a "Christian" does not mean you go to church so many times a week or read so many pages of the bible. Being a Christian (in my opinion of course) means basically living by the Golden Rule or Karma. Treat others as you would want to be treated and everything else will fall into place. Try meditation instead of traditional prayer which are basically very similar. It's getting in touch with that quiet space, that spiritual space that only you can experience with your Higher Power.
Learn about other religions. You will find your own path in your own time.

Answer 3

You are waisting your time. Maybe 10 years from now, you will not be a christian anymore ever again. so at least dont waist the next ten years.
If you dont know the true religion, its because no God has ever told you. Maybe it doesnt come the way you have been thinking.
If it doesnt come that way, then it doesnt come that way.
read Socrates or Plato, they have much more to say than jesus. Jesus was a myth also I might add, alot like other dying and rising gods in that time. Thats why the 'life of Jesus' is so similiar to the old testament. Its all alegorical writing. havent you ever wondered why the disciples seem so stupid at times??
Give up, move on now.

Answer 4

When you feel that you do not have to defend or market your opinion. When you are at peace with yourself and your interpretation of God, the Universe, or a Higher Power of whatever name. Then you will know your true religion.

Let me ask you this. Why do you think there is only one "true religion?" Why would God put every answer in one place on this planet? Religion is only man's attempt to claim to know God's will. How can any of them be right?

My belief system is based on many different sources and ideas. I'm a big fan of Jesus and believe that behaving in the way that he would serves me to make the most giving and compassionate answers in this life. I'm completely happy with where I'm at with my belief system.

I hope you get to where you're going. Good luck!

Answer 5

All religions must be both true and false in some respects....
You would have to agree to this statement on a mere statistical probability basis.
Most religions differ because they are filtered through local culture over centuries ETC.....
The truth is likely to be nothing exactly like any of them...
But i think 90% of the truth would be at least hinted at in one religion or another.
I think that you should not feel compelled to buy christianity wholesale......
Take what good you can from it and be contented in your self that you are a good man. If you dont want to believe something IE it seems like crap... then discard the idea....
My beliefs are so scattered and diverse I dont think any one religion can pin me down.
You need to start reading books from a diverse range of beliefs...re-spiritualism.....
And then start to choose from all you read what you think makes the most sense to you... then believe that..... and use it as a work in progress......

As for buying all their tapes and going to their school and only hanging around in christian groups.
That is a little creepy as you will never have the oportunity to breath "fresh air" (new ideas)

Answer 6

Wow. You are addressing something that I feel many of our fellow "Christians" are actually afraid to address themselves (or at least admit it). And it's okay--questioning our faith is not wrong, it can actually help us find ourselves and also find a deeper, truer meaning of the word "faith." (I refrain from using "religious" as it holds a different connotation).

I, too, experienced something similar to what you are going through while I was in college. I was doing all the things my parents and other Christians told me was the "right" thing to do--go to church every Sunday, read the Bible, pray, etc. But doing these things doesn't make you a good Christian or have a stronger faith. If you don't find its positive effects on your life--all your efforts may be meaningless-at least until you do. You do them to have fellowship with other Christians and hopefully, to have a closer relationship to God. To address "rules to live by" and being "good", I also know plenty of "good" people who are Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, etc., who follow rules. How we differ is in our beliefs and our purpose, now and in the hereafter.

If I can offer you one piece of advice, it's this: Don't be afraid to ask "why" and then seek to discover the answers to your questions. I spoke with many people of different faiths while in college and had a deep soul-searching period. I did some things I am now not proud of and others that have changed my life in extraordinary ways. In that time, I found myself--and more importantly, I finally found God.

Talk with people you trust about how you feel--friends, a minister, a loved one. Seek out persons of other denominations and/or faiths and talk with them. Then listen to your heart--not what others tell you, you should do or what you should believe. God will speak to you...you just have to listen.

Answer 7

Ernest Renan, French historian and religious scholar:
“Jesus was the greatest religious genius that ever lived. His beauty is eternal, and his reign shall never end. Jesus is in every way unique, and nothing can be compared to him.”

Napoleon Bonaparte famous quotes about Jesus Christ:
“His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which is certainly not that of a man.”

“I know men; and I tell you Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist.”

“There is between Christianity and whatever other religion the distance of infinity.”

Answer 8

Religions are a means of value transference. Rebezar Tarz told Paul Twitchell that a church is a good place to be born, but a bad place to die. It's good to get the basic set of societal values from the collective known as the church, but those who really want to know Truth may have to leave the inertia of the church to know God from personal experience.

Answer 9

I used to feel that way as well. I was deeply involved in religion and my belief system, yet it started to feel hollow, and I had questions similar to yours.

The answer I came to is that my beliefs were wrong. There is no reason to accept Christianity or any other religion if you don't feel that you agree with it after educated, intelligent, thinking. If you like it, great. If not, then be honest with yourself. Personally I've found that it's best to not waste my time being tied down to any religions because none of them offer proof of anything.

Answer 10

I think the same thing sometimes but then I look at the rest of the world and laugh and sit their wondering how I could ever not believe in God with all of the stuff going on in the world just as it is in the Bible.