With so many religions available, which one is right? I will focus on the main three that have basically the same God: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - I placed them in chronolgical order, not by preference. I know that there are at least two types of Jews: Jews without Jesus and Jews with Jesus. They may be more types, but I do not know. Then the Christians. Christians have a bunch of denominations (if you are a non-denomination Christian, then guess what...that is a denomination) - Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Mormons, Penthecostals, Baptists, etc. The list is too long. Then the Muslims. They have a few splits in their religion as well. The best known right now are the Shiites and Sunnis. So which one is right? Who gets to go to heaven and who does not? How do you know you are in the right one with so many under the same God? Do not quote from your Holy Book because then everyone is right.
2006-12-04 04:59:09 · 30 answers · asked by jasonheavilin 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I propose that you look at the question from a whole different perspective. This is why.
Around 500 years ago the earth was flat. Now it is round. The earth did not change in shape or form. It is our way of seeing reality from a different perspective that caused a whole revolution in our way of thinking.
We could similarly claim that all the religions that we know are just ONE, revealed PROGRESSIVELY to mankind to educate humanity as it goes through different stages of growth.
If we look into the Old Testament, we see that the main characteristic of the 10 Commandments is " NO" or "Thou shall not". Isn't this the way we educate our children when they are small kids? We don't give them lengthy explanations -that they would probably not understand- about why they should not do the things that we tell them. So the word we most often use at that stage of their development is "NO" or "DON'T" do this or that. The same thing was true with mankind at that stage of history.
But the necessities of that little boy at a later stage of growth changes.
Now he needs to know WHY and he wants a LOGICAL and a RATIONAL and SCIENTIFIC answer to his questions.
Can we force him to still believe us that stars are little lights that God lights up at night? No. He would laugh at us. But this same explanation was good for him at a previous stage of development when we could still not talk to him about galaxies and solar systems.
So to resume this could be the new paradigm for man.
God is ONE. Mankind is ONE and all the religions are ONE, each one being the response to the needs and necessities of a certain period of development of mankind.
2006-12-04 05:54:49 · answer #1 · answered by apicole 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great Question.
The first question you should ask yourself is their a God?
If nature itself doesn't prove the existance of God to you there is science
http://www.cosmicfingerprints.com/audio/newevidence.htm
Now if you come to the revelation that their is a God. Then how will you know who he is, or even if he wants us to know him. The first thought comes to find, is praying and asking to reveal himself to you. Also seek out the truth, and it shall be given to you. So lets say you start with Hindu. So you study Hindu and you realize you had steak for dinner. Well throw that religion out the drain. And logic should tell you, that the sun and mere objects are not Gods. So next you study Islam. Although they claim the bible to be a holy book as well as the Quran. Yet isn't that a contradiction. The bible is based on true Christianity. If you look at the Laws of Moses, and Jesus claims that the God is not only interested in the physical but also the thought life. When a man says I never commited adultery but lust after others he has commited adultery within is heart, cause he desires such. The problem with every other religion is you can be good enough to go to heaven. The bible makes it clear that Jesus is the only way. Since he was God in the flesh, and was perfect, & sinless you can take on his spirit and be forgiven. If you have to face God on your own, then how can anyone be saved? The fact that Jesus rose again, his disciples were martyered for their faith is just another sign. There is also propehecies that were wrote many years before Christ came, and there is many prophecies being that are happening right now no lie.
http://endtime.com/
Also when a man is saved, he knows it. Because it is a supernatural event, that we cannot explain. Since God holy spirit dwells on the inside of us. Seperation between the Protestant Church is based on different interpetations of scripture. We believe everyone that is born-again is saved. Altough some Catholics might be saved, we disagree with how they worship Mary since we believe only God should be worshiped. We also disagree with their catechism that kinda says Muslims go to heaven, which is against what Jesus would teach.
Then their is the Jewish religion Judaism. They believe in the Old Testament but not the New. However evidence from the Old Testament support that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The bible also claims that most of the Jews wouldn't see it until after the battle of Armageddon.
Satan knew that religon would be the greatest way to confuse people, and destroy their souls. So that is why there is so many religions. But when you realize how foolish most of them are, your amazed at how accurate and different the bible is.
2006-12-04 05:46:15 · answer #2 · answered by ۞ JønaŦhan ۞ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a seeker I would recommend that you not worry about the divisions within various religions at this point. Concentrate on the central meaning that the religions are providing. In reality, Christianity is just Judaism with Jesus the Messiah while Jews are still waiting on the Messiah to come. Islam is based on the revelations of one man, Muhammad. Therefore, you can find out a great deal about Islam by studying him. Most Christians would not consider people in other denominations as lost or going to hell. Much of the divisions are procedural by nature and not theological at all. In other words it is organizational differences and ways of worship that make up much of the differences.
2006-12-04 05:08:04 · answer #3 · answered by Boilerfan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First things first.Believing that Islam and Christianity has the same God is a no no.That's false in the highest degree.Islam is demonically inspired.Judaism is a good start,but not the whole package.Christianity is where it's at,and the only religion that has a messiah worth worshiping.Jesus Christ.He is the only way to inherit the kingdom of Heaven.If you practice Judaism,you will be left behind in the rapture.If you choose Islam,you will spend eternity in hell.Trust in the savior Jesus Christ.Through him all things are possible.
2006-12-04 05:05:00 · answer #4 · answered by Derek B 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The only way you will ever know if you have the right religion is to use the Bible to check out everything. I will tell you this and it is from the Bible:
2 Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness,"
Acts 17: 11: "Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thes·sa·lo·ni´ca, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so."
So if you really want to know, examine the Scriptures diligently until you find the religion which most closely follows them. Study the Bible with the intent of discovering the truth.
John 17: 3: "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."
John 4:23& 24: " Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.”
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and [their] marrow, and [is] able to discern thoughts and intentions of [the] heart. "
Never accept a word from another without first making absolutely sure that it is what the Bible really teaches. If something seems a mystery and you can't quite understand it, then dig deeper for clarification, make sure that it is harmonious with the entire theme of the Bible. All Scripture should back up all Scripture.
2006-12-04 05:16:16 · answer #5 · answered by wannaknow 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am not going to quote from my Holy Book. Asuming you know what is written there, according to the Chinese writings, which have been in use for over 4000 years, making it the oldest language, and about 600 years older than the Hebrew or Jewish language, the word "to create" ("zao", with the same pronunciation as the word "cao" in Italian) consists of the combination of the components (parts/words) "breath of life" + "earth" + "mouth" + "walking/moving". So in other words "to create" means to take "earth" , put "breath of life" into it, by using "mouth" to blow the breath, of course, and the piece of "earth" immediately became alive, and can "walk/move". Again, asuming you know the story of the creation of the first man in the Bible, that is exactly the same thing. Then the word "to prohibit" which is "jin" is a simple drawing of "2 trees" + "God/deity" below it. Again asuming you know the story of the first prohibition made by "God" concerning "2 trees" in the centre of the Garden of Eden, you will understand what I mean, when I say that it is exactly the same description both in Hebrews and Chinese. The third word is "to covet/greedy" which is "lan", is a drawing of "2 trees" with a "woman" beneath it. People who know the Bible will realize that it is exactly a description of how man fell in sin when the first woman, Eve, became "greedy" or "covetous" in not being satisfied with hundreds, if not thousands, of different fruits in the garden of Eden that she could eat freely, but she was tempted to take one that was prohibited.
The word "fa" meaning "punishment" is a combination of "number 4" + "word" + "knife/sword", meaning "the first punishment was made as the result of disobeying God's command not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the centre of the garden of Eden, and the four words were: 1. "you shall not die" ;2. "your eyes will be open" 3. "you shall be like God" and 4. "you will know good and evil, or full of knowledge".
That is only 4 of them, but if time and space permit, there are 118 of the basic 214 radicals or components of the Chinese language, which tell the same story as it is written in the Hebrew Bible, from Genesis chapter 1 through 11. So I have given you an example of an outside source confirming the Bible of the Christians. That's why after studying all kinds of religions, I finally firmly decided and never regretted to choose the one I am professing now. And if I may not quote from the Bible, you are asking an impossible question to answer, Which is the right one.
Only if I can quote and compare what is written in all those major religions' books, than can we make a conclusion about which one is the correct one.
So without quoting from the Bible, I can only conclude with this sentence: The church which I am affiliated with, has been predicted to exist just before the end of time in both the Jewish and Christian Bible, and the Muslims' Quran, "the remnant church" or the "hanifs followers of Abraham." Those who want to know further, go to the source I listed below.
2006-12-04 06:10:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just to clarify..."jews with jesus" as you call them are apostates and considered idol worshippers by the Torah.
That said, you seem to be hung up on 'flavors' of religion. To determine which religion (at its base) has the best chance to be the correct one...there can only be one correct religion, however all can be wrong...determine what each religion, from its texts and traditions, claims and predicts. Test these claims and predictions logically and historically noting that a prediction that hasn;t come to fruition yet is not a strike against it. The one that has the fewest 'issues' is the one with the best chance of correctness.
2006-12-04 05:04:39 · answer #7 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A very good question i must say !!!
Well i can't asnwer clearly but when i compare my religions with others i feel it more logical, its strikes my mind more and i feel its the true one.infact i feel it more close to reality thats why.... when i read my holy book , the most important thing that fascinate me are the laws given in it and it does't look like man made thing.but as you said for everyone their religion is right I would say this world is a mystery and i guess only the creator of this world would decide who is right...but i have strong conviction in my religion.
2006-12-04 05:21:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's about relationship and not religion. Religion places limits on people.
Non-denominational is not a denomination because not all believe the same like denominations do...it's different...trust me. It's about following Christ and the Word of God vs. man's doctrine.
2006-12-04 05:02:00 · answer #9 · answered by Jasmine 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sorry, you can't get out of doing your homework! It's the seek and you will find principle.
I could tell you which is right! But that wouldn't really rate, would it?
Nobody tells you where to do your groceries. Nobody tells you what make of car to buy. You have to do your homework.
This is a much more serious aspect of life, so it is even more important that you investigate properly. Do it in chronological order!
Do it while praying to God that He would direct you. In one of th e"Holy books", He has promised: Does anyone lack wisdom? let him ask, and God will give without reproaching him.
2006-12-04 05:06:39 · answer #10 · answered by Mr Ed 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋