How did you choose your Faith?

Question

In choosing your Faith (Atheist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Wiccan, etc.) how did you go about researching before accepting? Did you research only one Faith or many? Did your research of your chosen Faith focus only upon what supports it? Or, did you research both the pros AND the cons of your chosen Faith? Why and why not?

Freesumpin,
While your Faith chose you, did you, in the course of being Chosen, investigate other spiritual thought?

I Need To Know,
Would you be wiling to research now? As you're ID suggests, 'You need to know."

Mike,
From what continents did the writers of the Bible originate? As I recall, all the writers of the Bible were of Jewish descent.

Also, how familiar are you of the claims found in the Upanishads?

Free2b,
Perhaps now is a good time to choose wisely. As your ID stipulates, you are "free to be" educated, not blindly led.

Cypher,
You missed a few options:
Firing squad, gas chamber, executioner, and humanitarian.

I'm Bored,
While waiting to be chosen, research many so you know the one that chooses you is the one supportive of your highest goals, happiness and health.
Many cults choose their followers by virtue of their lack of knowledge.

Lnclnprk,
Then why not research now? Just because your Faith chose you, even if you had no say in the matter, doesn't stipulate total surrender. Chose your Faith the same way you would choose your Mate: Question and verify the answers from multiple sources. Are they what they claim?

Gabi,
I applaud you and your parents! Too many parents want their children to follow their path rather than build one of their own.
Have you, though, recently looked into anything new in spirituality (not religion)?

Mel G,
Mine and my wife's marriage is also void in the eyes of the Catholic Church (but not God). In your search, did you research Paths that were not Christianity? You answer insinuates that other paths (such as Muslim, Shinto, etc.) will converge at one location: God.

imhm2004,
In the claiming of no religion, doesn't that open up the possibility of researching many objectively? After all, you now can frame them within your context of truth, sincerity, trust and love.

Lokotz,
I get the impression, then, that if I pray, but don't research, God will chose for me, say, Buddhism or Islam as my religion. Am I right? Or, do you presume that Your Faith will be My Faith based on God's choices for you?

Allysa,
How has your feelings about Catholicism changed when you learn of all the mean things? Have you begun researching outside of Christianity as a whole?

Samuel J,
You wrote a small list of proverbs. I've seen this same list used in church to advocate racial discrimination. Have you researched that aspect of Biblical interpretation?

Buzz s,
How do you define a religion as being "True" and others "False?" Remember, not all religions lay claim to being the Path, the Light and the Way. Not all religions lay claim to anything inherently Christian.
I could be asked, "does your religion Know the Son of God?"
I, then, could ask, "does your religion know the Love of Goddess?"
Christianity and Wicca do not make the same claims, thus, their claims are incomparable AS EXCLUSIVE TRUTHS.

Abriel,
Curious! I've never heard of the Norse Gods choosing it's followers in this day.
You claimed research, though, and I wonder if you researched only Asatru or other believes.

Hikaru,
Now that's what "everyone" should do! Consult the Belief-O-Matic and go from there! I did and was considered predominately pagan, though I don't practice. I wonder how some fundies would test if they took it.

Inteleyes,
As your name implies, you are intelligent behind your eyes. Faith is important in the humanity. Choosing, or not choosing, can mean happiness or unhappiness. You are happy? You infringe not on the happiness of others Faiths? Wonderful! I applaud you!

Joyfullpants,
Being coming Who You Really Are entails knowing Who You Are Not; for if without Who You Are Not, Who You Are is Not.

Answer 1

i have not chosen a religion, per say. i chose God for he is part of all that i am and all that surrounds me. i have spent 51 years searching for the truth that was already in my heart. God is all and all is God. i have went down the Wicca path, the Christan path, the Protestant path and several others. the truth that i was looking for was within me all along. he is there even when we don't want him to be, for he will never forsake us. we stray and he is patient. believe what you feel in your heart and always know that he is there.
blessed be,
Elizabeth

Answer 2

I did not research many faiths then choose my favorite or what I thought was the best one.

I started off a deist but read the Bible and believed it. However after I believed I researched other religions, namely Islam and Judaism and their cults (Mormonism, NOI).

And in doing so my faith was strengthened. For me Jesus makes sense and all the others just seem to be man made or just interpretations of man.

However it is important to say I would not have as much faith as I do unless I was as skeptical of what I believe in. You aren't supposed to blindly believe anything or else God would not have given us a brain. However when you question something look at all the possibilities and if you consider something think of how it will make sense in both the true and false categories, not just one.

O and don't forget this:

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

Do this and you will never go wrong. God is the all knowing after all is he not?

Answer 3

I was raised in a christian home, but I was never baptized or confirmed (my family decided to let me decide for myself when I was old enough).

I was conflicted for many years with christianity - none of it made any sense to me and none of the ministers or bible school teachers could adequately answer my questions.

When I finally came across books on science and evolution I had finally found an alternative explanation to life on Earth. The more I read, the more I was sure that christianity was out and out wrong. By age 14 I declared that I was an atheist and to this day I am a very strong atheist (but not a militant one - if other people want to believe in a god, that's fine by me).

Since that time I have been much more at peace with myself than I ever was when I was pretending to be a christian.

Answer 4

My faith definitely chose me - but it chose me a long time before I knew there was even a name for it. Sure, I read up on a lot of different practices before I discovered where my path was heading - but I was encouraged as a child to indulge my curiosity, and so research comes naturally to me.

The research tended at first to lead me away from those things I am not, and I so I had to do a great deal of inner searching to discover the things that I am.

The view of divinity I "felt" as a young adult turned out to be a belief system that has given me a great deal of strength and peace as an adult. In truth, the instinct to follow our hearts will lead us to the path we're intended to walk.

Answer 5

I chose my faith because it makes sense and it is true. I looked at many and found that they were lacking in so many things.
I researched both sides of the faiths that I looked at and understood that there is a basis for making the conclusions that were made. The church that I grew up in did not believe that the Bible was the word of God. Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses have many false prophecies and exaggerated claims.

Answer 6

I researched Buddhism, Wicca, and Paganism for seven months before I choose. I didn't research Christianity because I know too many to look on the internet for information. I took the Belief-O-Matic on Beliefnet.com to see what I matched most. I then found Eclectic Paganism and wouldn't have anything else in the world.

Answer 7

I quit being a christian because it just wasn't working for me and I started realizing it just made no sense. I'm agnostic now because I'm unsure about whether there is or isn't a god. I've been doing some research on paganism, but I don't know if I buy into that either.

Answer 8

I read different books and was even involved in new age. I got down on my knees and asked God to show me the right way. i was sincerely seeking with my whole heart, not for a set of rules or precepts to follow, but to truly know who God is and where/how i could worship him in spirit and truth. Through a series of incredible events, even meeting someone from 15 years ago in my past, I was shown Jesus, the Messiah who fulfilled every prophecy of the Hebrew scriptures, was The Way, The Truth, and The Life. I committed my life to God, through His only Son, our deliverer and messiah, and am fully convinced God blessed me because i sought him with my whole heart. He chose me!

Answer 9

i was raised catholic i had my first born out of wedlock then we married outside of the church so the church said our married was void in the eyes of god so i went on a search for a religion that was accepting of our life,we finally decided that we needed to be true followers of christ not a religion! religion is man made and church is just a building. i go to a non denomination church and i read my bible often! i know that one day religion is all going to die and we will all see that we have all been worshiping to go to the same place!!!

Answer 10

Did no research in accepting what I follow... I believe in truth, Sincerity, trust, love for everyone and forgiving...... does it conform to your faith!
I do believe in God but I feel following one religion is a sheer waste of the chances to learn about another religion objectively!