Faith, Religion, God: What are your beliefs?

Question

I've always been interested in how people understand and articulate their own sense of spirituality. What kind of a person are you? Are you a person of faith, or do you side with reason? I would love for people to actually discuss why they do or don't believe in a respectful environment. There is a lot of unnecessary tension between the "faithful" and the "atheistic" communities--if those terms are even operable. I'm just curious what your beliefs are... Who is God to you? Does He exist or not? What is spirituality and religion to you--to humans in general? Is there room for compromise? If so, what do you propose? If not, why? (Again, be respectful of others...) For once, I'd like to hear both sides, regardless of my beliefs. I hope this leads to some deep soul (or mind) searching... Thanks.

Answer 1

1) I'm just a man, trying to do the best I can from day to day, like everyone else. I try not to hurt, upset, or disappoint people, and I do the best I can at whatever I do, though you sometimes wouldn't be able to tell.

2) I am a person of "reasonable faith," if you will. My faith comes from reason and logic just as much as anything else. Where some people see things and find explanations other than God, I see the same things and God just makes more and more sense to me. I am a frequent thinker, and I put a lot of time into thinking about things, religious or otherwise. I love science, for it is the search for truth. I just don't happen to believe that any real truth can be found apart from God.

3) To me, God is a Heavenly Father, the Creator of all that is everywhere. He is not an advanced lifeform (alien intelligence). He is beyond anything that we can understand, and it is only human arrogance that allows us to think the things we do against Him, because so many people think they have Him all figured out. He is both benevolent and jealous. He is a God of love and grace, but also of wrath and judgment.

4) Yes, I believe God exists. If anyone would come to God they must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. If you seek Him, He will find you.

5) Spirituality is one's awareness of things in the supernatural realm, those intangible forces that we all feel, but often pay no heed to. A spiritual person is one who does not ignore what they feel or sense in the supernatural. Religion is a system of beliefs about the supernatural world. All humans have the ability to sense the supernatural, from anything as mundane as a conscience to actually being able to feel the war within yourself against the desire to do evil and the need to do good.

6) Compromise is a difficult thing. In order to compromise, both sides have to give up things essential to their understanding. For example, science wants Christians to give up the notion that God created everything in 6 days, and Christians want science to admit that He did. There's no resolution to this, though many Christians believe in evolution (I do not, but my sister does). I cannot reconcile evolution to God's word. Were it not for that, I'd accept it as a high probability, but there's just no getting 60 billion years to fit into 6 days of 24 hours. There are many, many other issues, but to compromise, you have to take things away from God that make Him Who He is. If you do that, Christians will have no compromised, but conceded the point, and that I cannot do. Even if all the world says I'm crazy, I will still believe God's word, even over my own eyes and understanding.

In the end, you have to decide what you will choose to believe and not. A song by Amy Grant, a long time before her secular career, said you have to know who to and who not to listen to. The only choice man is called upon to make in life is simply to choose, daily, who you will serve. No other choice is more important, so make yours with great care.

Answer 2

I am a person of faith but of reason also. My faith is my reason. The act of being spiritual to me is trying to obtain the highest level of spiritual enlightenment that you can. This would mean being able to become truely humble and to have no desires. I am finding a way to merge my Christian beliefs in with Buddhist principles. I see Buddhism as more of a philosophy, than a religion. Therefore, I think that by using the tools that I learn from this philosophy, I will be able to reach my total level of spiritual purity. I think that there is room for compromise. But, what can be done to find it, I do not know. If people just respected others beliefs then there would not be so much animosity between both of the belief systems. Atheists can say some pretty snide remarks and Christians as well. Both are guilty of hurting the other. Both need to acknowledge this, and stop.

Answer 3

To have faith in God isn't any different than having faith in your best friend, except God will never let you down. The thing to remember is that like you know your best friend you need to know God in the same way. You start with 2 Timothy 3:16, then John 17:3, Ponder over what this is saying? How can you claim to love some one or their ways if you don't know them? By asking questions and allowing the bible to be the finial answer and then bringing your thoughts and life into harmony with it, and reading it correctly which means when you understand it right you find no contradictions. The thing to remember is that God has plans for his earth and he wants you to fit in and be there when he sets up his rule on earth. Read Matthew 5:5, Psalms 37:9-11,29, Daniel 2:44, Revelation 21:3,4. Humans were designed to live on earth and if you read the scriptures listed and are honest you can see that is his plans. Do not assume that everything you think you know now is correct? Test the all teachings you have accepted and think are true. The bible does not lie, only people lie.

Answer 4

I don't often think about "God". There is so many religions that it's hard to tell what's real and what's not. I think that there is probably a divine being. But if you think about it, relate all the similar points in all religions. Those are probably the true points. Like in the Christian Bible or whatever there's Adam and Eve. "God" created Eve from one of Adam's ribs. In science, they've discovered that men have one less rib than women. So I think there's some sort of story behind that. In some cases, religion can start out as a small group and then by convincing people, it spreads. It could be true or not. For me, I'm not an atheist, but I'm not a Believer. If that even makes sense....I just believe in Life, Death, and the occasional exceptions. Like some exceptions are like some "mythical" creatures. Some are most likely created from imagination, but I believe some of them existed or still do. Some "diseases" are actually similar to how some "mythical" creatures are. That's probably a short summary of my opinion. (I could talk about this for a while)

Answer 5

I believe in God as a Divine Entity with a supreme intelligence, who created our souls first and then our bodies, who created this world and other worlds too. He exists but He is not fully understood by human minds. He sent Jesus to teach us about Spirituality, to be an example to be followed, and to be a human personality representing Him on Earth. Jesus is the connection between God and us, as a solid bridge.

I believe Faith is the power inside of us to accomplish things, even to cure diseases. Faith is a power given from God, but it is something that needs practice and discernment.

I believe religion is just a tool that we choose to relate to God and the Spirituality. Everyone has the right to choose which tool is more appropriate to him/herself. Every religion, in a way, teach the same basics: they believe in a spiritual Entity, they follow a book that holds the moral code, they believe in good and bad, and they believe in eternal life. The difference is in the preaching and philosophy of each religion. Nobody is wrong, if the heart is aiming the spiritual progress.

One more thing: faith and reason can walk together on this matter. Faith is inspirational and reason is the thinking, but both can be put together and complete each other.

Peace!

Answer 6

Faith: In God through Jesus Christ. ( Faith = Trust)

Religion: No thank you.

God: Jesus is the way to Him.

What kind of a person are you?: Sinner. Truster of God.

Are you a person of faith, or do you side with reason?: Faith and reason. Isn't it reasonable to trust God if he revealed Himself to me?

Who is God to you?: He is the one I must trust in, and his promises are many, and those are what I am to trust Him about.

What is spirituality and religion to you: Spirituality is the 'expressions of the spirit'. Religion has many definitions. But it usually means that I have God's rules and men's rules to follow. I prefer to follow God's rules. So Religion is a four-lettered word to me.

--to humans in general?": They are all over the board. Pick one and you'll have an answer. Pick another and you will have a different answer.People hardly ever accept more than one definition. They don't look in the dictionary.

Is there room for compromise?: Sure. But about what?

If so, what do you propose? :People can do what they want, whether I say anything or not.

Answer 7

I have been called and chosen to bring awareness back to the Holy Spirit. Once the christian church armed with their cannon of scripture took center stage, The Spirit of truth has been treated like a step child. Big mistake. Overestimating the importance of the bible and Jesus, while underestimating the Holy and unholy spirits are the cause behind all the confusion that is so obvious in the christian community. The scriptures were merely a doorway to The Spirit of truth. There is way too much critical information that we need that is not covered in the bible. Do you not believe that the same Spirit who inspired the authors of true scripture can illuminate and renew our minds as well? Be smart, seek the kingdom of God within you. Traditional christianity has killed the Spirit.

Answer 8

1. I am a person of faith, but my faith is held strong by judgement and reasons.

2. God to me is Allah the Merciful. He exists, it cannot be proved but it is a matter of faith and trust. I trust my religion, because it has trusted me by giving me a chance to live in this world in a wealthy family, and providing me with all the facilities I need.

3. Religion to me is Islam, containing the basic codes of life which can lead humans to worshipping Allah, abiding by his rules and regulations, and the path through which we can do good to mankind.

4.It depends on how you define 'compromise'. Islam is a religion of peace, and we are ordered to respect each other's religion and faith. It is easily possible for people of different faith to live together, without any violence, because our license is to ONLY invite others to Islam. If this invitation fails, we can do nothing more at this stage. It is not our business now. Islam does NOT demand everyone converted to a Muslim, so there cannot exist any problem if other religions speak the same. But problems do exist, and solutions are far to find.

Answer 9

I believe first off that faith and reason as well as science and religion don't have to be two warring concepts. We can turn to science for what and how and turn to religion to answer why. I have my own faith and yet consider myself a very rational person (even though many would call my beliefs irrational) but then rationality is a matter of opinion. I call myself an agnostic pagan. Agnostic because I do not claim any of my beliefs as fact, and pagan because most of my beliefs stem from paganism but also from Zen Buddhism and even Religious Humanism as well as many others. I am an individual practitioner and thus have pretty much developed my own religion but since most of my beliefs stem from paganism I choose to call myself pagan. As well as being rational I also consider myself very spiritual. To me "god" is not a being(s) but forces, I call them "The Infinite Forces" and these forces include all the emotions/feelings one can experience as well as other things such as Will, karma, justice and just about anything else you can think of (after all there are an infinite number of them and they themselves are infinite). For me religion is the beliefs themselves and spirituality is what you do in terms of following them. I believe not in a concept of good and evil but rather harmony and chaos. One does more "bad" things when they have a more chaotic soul and more "good" things when one has a more harmonized soul however chaotic souls are just as capable of doing "good" things as harmonized souls and harmonized souls are just as capable of doing "bad" things as chaotic ones. All souls start off as chaotic and reach harmony by journeying through many different lifetimes. The purpose of all life is to reach harmony and that is all the Infinite Forces require, the seeking of harmony, (They don't even require that you believe in them, though I do). How you go about finding harmony is up to you, so I believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and that there is no right or wrong way just different paths all leading to the same ultimate destination (despite the numerous names the destination has)

Answer 10

I am learning to let go. 'Thoughts' and words of God, and God are different. Faith comes from inner experience in a state of still mind. Genuine faith cannot come from second hand knowledge including scriptures. (Organized) religions, (mental) concepts of God and blind faith based on dogmas have not helped man overcome his basic problems of fear, insecurity, prejudice, hatred, selfishness, egotism and violence. Juts let go and be! Self-realization un-obscured by mind is the answer. Know yourself, you will know everything. Understand why you are here, you will understand all about life and the cosmos.