Concerning religion why do you believe what you do?

Question

Just curious....
feel free to leave anything stories experiences whatever

Answer 1

We must be certain our beliefs are based in truth and not perception or interpretation. Second we must know for certain where to find the truth, and how to prove it. Only then can we develop a foundation for values and beliefs, which in turn is the entirety of how we make decisions in our personal lives. And this is the failing of the meditation techniques: they assume you already have a strong grasp of the truth, and a strong foundation to learn from, when in fact, most people are very confused about who they are, as alluded to in my Essay, simply because we are human. If you have not read the Essay, it would do well for you to read it now, before you continue here.

In our own personal life, where do you find truth? I think the essay disproved any reliance on the media, even though all across America, after 50 years of TV, most people now tend to accept it, live their life like it, and adopt their values and morals from it, even though it is only a jumble of fiction and fantasy; lies mostly, like drugs and alcohol; empty lies. It’s only for entertainment and self-satisfaction. I’ve tried a lot of it, and the emptiness and confusion only grows, even while we think we are getting hip and being cool and being profound, when it was only discovery in itself, of nothing, of emptiness and confusion.

My own search for personal truth began about two decades ago. I was 30. After five years of searching, I had little to show for my efforts. I read several Asian and Eastern texts, the Upanishads, some of the Koran, parts of the Tao, still questioning, searching. Mostly I found anecdotes and parables and lots of profound understanding of human nature, but very few specifics, and almost nothing you could depend on to be the same always, and certainly it was not exact in meaning to application to everyone. It was mostly just vague enough, that it is open to everyone’s perception to be interpreted however you want. For example, this one: “As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it”
(Mahatma Gandhi). Does that apply to kleptomaniacs and sex offenders? It was all enlightening, but simply does not stick within the definition of truth.

There is no such thing as truth anymore in society; only petty pretenses and selfish greed and unrealistic wishes. Everybody’s so messed up because you can’t figure anything out without the truth. When you abandon the wisdom of the ages, it becomes a free-for-all.

There is only one truth, and it is Divine Truth from the one Holy Bible.

Okay, you say, but what about all of those other Bibles? What about the Koran or the Tao? And there are Bibles that look just like mine on the outside, like the Mormon Bible, isn’t that the truth as much as mine? All of these different versions; hasn’t Man just written up a set of rules to control and please those in authority? Why should we read that boring stuff? Isn’t it just another book?

I can give you many reasons, but I will concentrate on two that stand out as to why the Holy Bible, my Bible, is the real deal; the Word of God.

First, are the many prophecies. Let’s use the birth of Jesus as an example, since even the idea of a “Jesus” is so controversial, and even disputed by the Jews that this is the son of God.

The birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament hundreds of years before his birth, that he would be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph lived in Jerusalem. Why would a woman nine months pregnant get on a donkey and travel 90 miles in discomfort? Not even women of that time period did that.

Was it mere accident that King Herrod decreed at the time that all citizens must register in the town of their birth and lineage or be put to death, or at least lose all of their possessions? It so happens that Mary was of the lineage of David, and had to go to Bethlehem within a certain time period, or risk prosecution. How could a certain prophet know, hundreds of years before, that Jesus would be born there?

At Jesus’ birth, everyone knew where to find him, because it was prophesied hundreds of years before. The Kings of nations traveled straight to him, without doubting it. How else could they travel so far and keep going, except through faith?

It was prophesied hundreds of years before that Jesus would flee Egypt. Who could even know that he would be in Egypt? But when the Pharaoh heard of Jesus’ birth, he ordered all children under two years old be put to death. Do you think there were many children under the age of two who escaped?

It was prophesied hundreds of years before that Jesus would grow up as a Nazarene. Who could know that he would ever be in Nazareth, let alone live there, work there, and grow up there? Who indeed, besides God himself? And if Jesus was a mere mortal, why did he not take to the religion of the Nazarene, why take such a revolutionary and difficult road even until death?
Now we come to the crux of the problem of other religions. No other religion has a living God. The entire belief system and faith and foundation of Christianity evolves around the resurrection of Jesus. A fairy tale you say? If the New Testament is a fairy tale, then so is the Old Testament, and vice versa.

Let’s address the validity of the individual words of the Bible and it’s true meaning, whether it has been distorted, re-written, or simply written as fiction and a good story. Biblical scholars have been tormented for centuries over this very theme, until recently. There are archeological records available for two or three hundreds years before the birth of Christ, and from the 3rd or 4th century AD, but nothing in between. It has all been guesswork until now, and thus the speculation of during that time, men re-wrote the Bible as they chose, changed key meanings, and filled gaps to suit their purpose. Several Books of the Bible were criticized for their different styles – “the same person could not have written the entire Book” – the writing styles were too different.

I read a book recently called “The Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” by Randall Price. It was copyrighted in 1996. This guy stands head and shoulders above most biblical scholars, experts of history and culture, and he is also quite a renowned archeologist, but his principle expertise is in interpretation of events through the ages. He was very careful in his presentation to present all sides of the argument, to leave no stone unturned, and amazingly, to remain objective and unbiased, unlike most texts of this nature. All of the theories have merit, and he presented all of them faithfully.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1948, but very little came out of that find until the 1960’s, but then in small amounts and in spurts. Israel and the powers in Jordan closely guarded their find, were slow to prepare the Scrolls for safe keeping, and even slower in translation of them. It wasn’t until the Seventies that they sought the help of outsiders, because the job was so enormous. Over one hundred scrolls were found in 16 different caves over a period of about 20 years.

To make a long story short, one of the main things the scrolls revealed, was the validity of the Old Testament, word for word, and validity in meaning. The scribes and priests have meticulously copied with amazing accuracy the entire Bible over and over and kept it entirely intact for thousands of years. Only a few words have changed, but only to aid in the accuracy of meaning, and the errors could be counted on your hands. It is indeed the truth and Word of God.

What about the Koran? I’ve studied Mohammed a little, and he was always changing his mind, particularly in the last five years of his life, the truth changed weekly, depending on how many women he wanted, or how much he wanted to steal, or how much influence he needed in gov’t.

How about the Tao? Certainly some very great wisdom there, but will it save your soul to worship Nature or the higher spirit of man? Do you just turn to dust when you die, and return to Nature? Neither reincarnation nor “soul sleep” is taught in the Bible.

The second thing that proves the validity of the Holy Bible is related to prophecy, but much more. In one word, it is “Israel.”

It was prophesied in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ that Israel would be destroyed, and their citizens scattered about the face of the earth. The Romans fulfilled that prophecy in about 40 AD. There was no more Israel for almost 2,000 years.

It was also prophesied that Israel would be rebuilt, and it’s people return, and further that this would mark the beginning of the End Times.

At the end of World War II, the British partitioned Israel into Arab and Jewish states, which was rejected by the Arabs. Around 1948, Israel was surrounded on three sides by the armies of three different Arab countries; outnumbered 10 to 1, and the Russians had pumped up the Arabs with superior fighter jets, artillery, and the usual weapons of warfare.

There was no hope for Israel, all was surely lost. So what did they do? They attacked! In one day, they wiped out the entire fleet of the enemy aircraft while it sat on the ground. Israel won the war against all odds.

Israel was a very unpopular subject, even in the 1960’s, but by some incredible and miraculous intervention, Israel was declared a nation by the U.N., and reborn.

In all of history, name one other nation that has been taken or destroyed, and come back into existence 2,000 years later (or at any later time) with the same government, the same culture, the same people (or descendants thereof), and the same religion as the Jews. Miraculous? Indeed, foretold. Prophesied by God. No man could possibly prophesy in such great detail, with such accuracy.

No Tao or Koran or any other Bible stands up to such scrutiny, to such revelation, to such scouring truth as the Holy Bible. It is full of such prophesies, and it is full of such truth, that you cannot possibly find so much truth anywhere else. As usual, as with gov’t and other things, it does not require much faith of our own when you know the origin, the details, and have knowledge of the subject. Faith comes through knowledge of the Bible. The answers are there, for anything and everything truly worthwhile that you seek.

Please read my Essay under the Articles link at my website given in the Sources below, if you wish to discover the source of truth, what it means, where it comes from and how to understand it fully.

Answer 2

I would have to say " reality" and this is not easy, since reality, according to the scientists, is constantly changing.
In the "early" days, the world was flat, and the stars moved above on a bowl.
Then we find that reality is 4 dimensions - XYZ and time.
Now we find that there are 11 dimensions, and we are trapped. like bacteria on a glass slide under a microscope, in these tiny 4 dimensions, in a much bigger , real, universe, and that there are other BRANES ( from MemBRANEs ) all around us with other universes. We can only communicate with these others by a GRAVITY pulse, as from a Nuclear bomb, which we have been doing since 1940's .
Search Ed Witten ( the smartest man since Einstein ), the M theory, Stringy universe, CERN - Large Hadride Collider, and you will see that it is possible to go from one place to another or one time to another instantly, and intersect other time/space points.
This explains ghosts, apparitions, gods, ESP, psi, etc. etc. all in one new theory, that encompasses everything. Fascinating stuff.

Answer 3

I was raised Catholic; went to Church at least 5-6 times per week because I was in Catholic Schools until I was 17; However, the restrictions and some of the nonsense that was taught (once I was able to reason as an adult and question certain aspects), caused me to rebel; I still believe many of the teachings but am aware of the "Church's" role throughout the centuries and that the Bible was not written by God/Jesus, but rather by men who are infallible, therefore what is written is not "Gospel"...if you get my drift!

Answer 4

I don't know so much about religion But I am a christian. I believe Christ died on the cross for my sins. Jesus went thru alot of agony before and on the cross. Christ is my everything. There is no life without Jesus my savior. I worship my Lord by pleasing him.We are only on this earth for such a short time. I'm looking forward to my going home. May God Bless You

Answer 5

Religion is the way that you can practice to be good, and that's all. If you already know how to be good, you don't need it. Most of us however will need a guide, a good guide that can be trusted. Although human being is good in the nature, but it still needs some guide, like the children. That's why we believe in our religious duties.

Answer 6

I am a Mormon (aka Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

All intelligent being are in seach for happiness. Different people find happiness in different places. There are different types of happiness and different durations of happiness. Every choice we make, weather conciously or not, is designed to bring us happiness.

In order to make good decisions we must have knowledge and truth. If you are basing your decisions on false data, then those conclusions will be false are we won't be effective in making decisions to find that happiness.

In the book of Hebrews it states that faith is the "evidence of things not seen" Evidence comes in many forms. Scientists use a rigorious method to determine truth, but the scientific method is not the only way to find truth.

I have discovered that God wants us to follow his commandments and then we are given a reward. As we continue to improve and follow what he has given us we will develop faith, or in other words, we will be given evidence of things that we don't see. The evidence we will obtain is just as real as an scientific evidence, but it only comes through living according to the gosple of Jesus Christ. Eventually that evidence will grow until we are sure of the truth, and we know what path we must follow for happiness. There may come trials of our faith, where we will be required to go through difficult trials before we are granted a reward that brings us much more happiness than the anguish that the trial caused. We are often required to endure momentary discomfort in order to obtain long lasting happiness.

Answer 7

i think it has to do with what i was brought up with. my grandparents were such buddha fans that i am leaning toward buddhist. and the rest i got just from thinking about it and being in nature. i used to walk my dog a lot and i had a lot of time to think and clear my head. so that was when i came to the conclusion that there is a divine being governing the mundane. and i believe that all religions are pathways to understanding him (or her or them, for that matter) and that they're just different interpretations with differences that are really just trivial.

Answer 8

I am not religious but I am very spiritual.....I dont "believe" anything of the magnitude of the spiritual realm. Believing is of a much lower level ....I experience the reality of presence....This is much deeper than any belief will get you

Answer 9

I ended up going all logical about it. If there is an all encompasing, omnipotent, power in the universe, it would be all that is, all that was, and all that ever will be. Let's for convenience call this power or energy or force God. So, God is all that is, all that was, and all that ever will be. So, what is there in the universe that is NOT God?

Hmmm. That means we are all it. TAG!!!!

Answer 10

The First of the 10 Commandments is pretty much self explanitory ... Jesus is a temptation.

Answer 11

It's called FAITH. And a feeling. A feeling in my heart that I can't deny. Kinda like being in love I guess. You just "know it", ya know? I'm glad I'm a Christian. Not perfect.........jut forgiven.