How can one have faith in a relgion when the religion does not have faith in them?

Question

In this instance, how can someone have faith in a relgion when it does not beleive the followers are good people to start with and are full of sin. I can't understand why one would want to follow a belief that keeps telling them how much they have "sinned". One would think would be damaging to ones self esteem and hold them back from doing the good they are suppose to do.

Although I am agnostic, I quite like your statement solomon dump. You seem to have a level head and a good self esteem, best wishes mate.

My statement could apply to several religions, not Christianity alone. It is general statement.

When I use to consider myself as religious, it did nothing but damage my self esteem and prevented me from reaching my full potential as I felt I could do nothing right. I will never go back to that feeling and hence have chosen an alternative belief which I am happy with. At the same time however I am never going to discriminate against people because they are religious. Some of my good friends are both Christian and Hindu and it cetainly doesn't affect my relationship with them. We just never talk about it.

good comments Stevo, thanks mate. You sound like one of my good friends. All the best.

It sounds like you have some significant problems odd-ball. I hope your not a Christian because you sound like a total hypocrite.

Answer 1

There's where your logic is flawed... Have faith in yourself. To hell with churches that do not have faith in their people, they're just damning themselves in the end. "When the world is against you, embrace it."

However, that may not be the point you are trying to express.

By telling us that we are sinners, we are reminded that we are not perfect, and, as humans, we can never achieve such perfection. This isn't an attack on your self-esteem, but rather a reminder that you are indeed a sinner. So what? Join the club. My hands are no cleaner than your, mate.

If all else, focus on the good things rather than the bad things. Those that think only of negativity end up being the boring person that is constantly gossiped about. And no one likes that kind of person... ^_-

(Oh, and on a side note, I'm very-much a Christian. By no means do I mean to sound like you should not have faith in God.)

Answer 2

Faith is basically not a give and take item and hence this does not seem to work with this kind of expectation.
Another thing is Truth is not something that can be "used" like they do while preaching ! One can be only with truth. And sin and sinners are the words used long ago, now repeated out of context.
There is no measuring mechanism to really check the quality of any religion, and perhaps, it may not be possible to really have one !
It is these inherent limitations that give rise to such deep questions, genuine, though looking very controversial, or even hurting to some who are ready to believe/have faith/surrender etc by their personal choice ! Such questions could also cause a bit of 'un-settling' of that comfortable feeling to blind believers, since they are persuaded to seriously look whether such faith works !
Only sincere, open minded, experienced, truthful religious teachers can help its innocent followers !

Answer 3

Christianity, and particularly Catholicism, recognizes the fact that mankind is basically good, but due to sin, needs supernatural help from God.

And since understanding the reality of a situation is always necessary before an effective remedy can be applied, this is a good thing, not a bad thing.

If one has cancer, and is suffering from the effects, it does no good to deny that the illness exists, for if you do, there's really no hope, and death comes quickly.

Proper treatment and therapy is the answer.

In the case of religion, if it doesn't deal with the truth of the actual reality, as well as providing an effective "course" of treatment for existing problems, then it is also a failure, and we experience a form of spiritual death, along with the inevitable physical death.

Those of us who are recovering "sinners" know that sin is a cancer in our lives that affects us personally, as well as all those who are around us.

Our faith provides a proven method of changing negative behavior, as well as a "community support system" (the church) to help make that change both effective and permanent.

The human "standard" against whom we might measure our progress, is none other than Jesus Christ, who is both a (the) perfect man, as well as God.

Someday, with his continued help, we expect our transformation to become complete, permanent, and eternal.

This is what defines the supernatural reality of of "heaven".

Answer 4

In Christianity, the followers believe that they are born with original sin which cannot be forgiven unless they accept Jesus as their Savior. As they believe the story of Adam & Eve , they must have strong faith in their savior in order to be saved. There is another totally different religion. In Buddhism, the followers believe that all being has pure, benevolent and perfect soul in the very beginning. Gradually, as time passed, the soul took on the habits of the body and became lost in the pursuit of materialistic satisfactions, such as greed and power. Thus, the original True self became cloaked by emotions and desires. The followers believe that only yourself can stop reincarnation by getting rid of all desires. It all depend on you yourself. Nobody else can take away your sin. By comparing the above two major religion, ofcourse, most of the people would rather believe that they are sinner & accept Jesus as their savior. This is the most easier way.

Answer 5

That is such a humanistic way of thinking!

Religion is here to help all of us come closer to Christ. How do we do that? BY REPENTING and getting to know him by obeying him and keeping his commandments. If a religion does not teach this, then it is not doing it's job and might as well quit being a religion altogether! At least a Christian relgion anyway!

If a church is concerned with your sins then you should be too and instead of pointing a prideful finger at the faith then maybe you should look at all those fingers pointing right back at you from your very same hand! (do it, point your finger and see the rest of your fingers pointing back at you).
Maybe there's something you need to fix in your life that you aren't willing to change because of pride? Else, why are you so touchy about this?

I take great joy in knowing that my church expects this of me. It shows me that THEY CARE ABOUT MY ETERNAL SALVATION!! Every one of us is a sinner that has need to repent. Take advantage of the Atonement, cuz either it's working for you, or against you. You decide.

Answer 6

If you know u are a sinner then your admitting to your need for forgiveness but if u can't admit that u have had terrible thought or revenge full thought or just straight out did something wrong knowing better then u need to repent. WHY? because God is a just God and will forgive those who repent sincerely, he judges the heart while man judges the outward appearance. OK Sunday School is over.

Answer 7

thats why it is very important to understand which way/religion is really the correct one, sent by God, initiated by God.

At the same time in every religion there are true followers who are decent. They take responsibility for their own deeds and do not judge others. So in this case any of religion can be followed truly and correctly. It is all in people`s hearts and faith.

Answer 8

When mankind was first born we had face to face talking with our God Adam and Eve did, but when sin came into our world our natures changed and that was not possible. We have all fallen short of the glory of God but Jesus came too give us Another chance and A new heart, the mind of Jesus because He lived the perfect life we should have but can't because of our nature is marred, "For God SO Loved the world that whosoever [you] should BE-LIVE In Him should not perish but have everlasting life, IF you love Him keep His commandments, IF you love Him enough to obey Him you will be in His Kingdom if not you won't, free bible lessons www.itiswritten.com God bless you, and visit A Seventh Day Adventist Church in your area.

Answer 9

Well, there are some psychological problems with this kind of programming. The movie "Carrie" was one of the best interpretations of the neurosis that can develop with all that emphasis on sin, and things everyone does, such as masturbation, being called sinful. I feel sorry for them.

Answer 10

You are not serving God to please others, you are serving God to please God. You have a personal relationship with Jesus. Only he knows your true intentions & love. It does not matter what other people think. You must live the way God wants you to & only the bible can teach you how to do that. The only way you can find the truth of that is to study it & do only what it says. Don't listen to anyones bolony til' you've researched it completely.
All churches are full of hypocrites that never study the bible, they just teach what someone taught them. Live for God, Gods way through Jesus.