Religious beliefs; how sure are you?

Question

Perhaps a similar question has been asked before, but what I want to know is basically how honest people are ...

Whatever your religious persuasion, how sure are you that it is entirely correct?

If you are a Christian, are you persuaded by Pascal's wager; that it's the safest way, or do you honestly believe everything the Bible says?

If you are a Pagan, do you believe in various gods? Do you think you've "got it right", or do you think that you are simply following one of many possible courses?

If you are an atheist, are you certain there is no god? What proof would convince you otherwise?

What I'm wondering is how certain people really are; how honest can you be? Do you think there is a possibility that you have deceived yourself? Do you really think it's possible to have all of the facts; to be entirely correct about such things?

Answer 1

Nothing is certain -- the scientific method is the best way for understanding the world IMHO, but not certain.

If you come across a fundie,remember that he may not be totally honest, just expedient.

A wise vicar once told me, "What people believe and what they say they believe are always two different things".

Answer 2

The only thing I'm sure of is that I'm the witnessing presence of everything that happens in my life. That's the one thing that doesn't change. Everything else: people, places, thoughts, emotions, beliefs come and go.

I used to be a Christian when I was younger. I was brought up that way, so it was my cultural conditioning. Then I became a born-again Christian, as it resonated with me much more. I didn't like how people were Christian simply by default, so I felt there was something more to Christ and that is good. The negative side of that was though that I could see how Christianity was warping my mind. Some of the fundamentalist beliefs are hateful, so I gave it up.

Then I considered myself atheist or agnostic for many years, but that again had to come to an end.

It really depends on how you define God. The concept of God is just that: a concept.

Now I am simply the witnessing presence. It doesn't matter what I call myself. Beliefs aren't that important because I know that they are only a limited perspective on the whole of reality, so I don't want to tie myself up in beliefs.

What I'm saying either totally makes sense or it probably scares people. People need things to cling onto. People want things black or white.

Answer 3

Here, I'll be perfectly honest:
I am 98% sure.
I am not persuaded by Pascal's wager, though it does help.
I am not persuaded because it's "safe."
I'm persuaded because of the archaeological, historical, medical, and scientific evidence out there that supports the Bible.
I'm persuaded by the scientific evidence that suggests a Creator.
I may not believe that the entire Bible is to be taken literally, I still have some doubts, but I believe in most of it. I think there's maybe 1% of it that is still in doubt.

The other 1% of my doubts is mostly just philosophical issues. I still have lots of questions. But most of them have been answered, and the questions I DO still have honestly have no bearing on my choice to follow Jesus Christ.

I'm a Christian, obviously.

Answer 4

I am Pagan and polytheist, and I tend to use phrases like "from what I know" or "as I see." I think I've only got a scrap of the truth. I think we pretty much all only have a scrap of the truth. I'm sure about there being multiple Gods based on what I see, but I am aware that others see things differently, and I can admit I'm wrong if I see proof.

PS--Romans 8:28 needs to see what some Pagan and atheist gay, lesbian, and bisexual people said about the eHarmony lawsuit.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai_6IXD9nI6o6RVLiL_S33zsy6IX?qid=20070602151748AAeZBnO

Answer 5

Christian....100% of my beliefs. Why? Because I've seen the evidence of my faith in my life and in the lives of other believers. I've been on the receiving end of God's promises / blessings / punishments. I know what my life was like before I had a relationship with God, and I know what it's been like since I've developed a relationship with God.

Christianity is the safest way? I don't know about that - at least, not in a "secular" sense, because Christians are persecuted and even killed for their beliefs in some countries. We face persecution here in the U.S. every time we try to establish a business or organization based on biblical principles or challenge our right to freedom of religion because the ACLU is CONSTANTLY trying to take that away from us. E-harmony is the most recent example I can think of. They cater to those wanting godly relationships with the opposite sex, so now some woman is suing them because they wouldn't help her find a girlfriend! Non-believers don't want Christians interfering with their choices, but they don't have a problem forcing THEIR choices on believers - and suing over it!

Answer 6

Atheist, after being raised fundamentalist/charismatic. I would love there to be a Christian God, but there simply is no evidence for it and an overwhelming amount against. Additionally the Biblical god is a very arbitrary god, ignoring countless millions throughout time and punishing or selecting only a few select peoples.

Answer 7

I believe in God 100 per cent! I don't have to base it on anything, because it is a fact. My heart and prayers go out daily to those who do not believe. How could anyone get through life without knowing the love of the Lord, and believing in his Son, Jesus Christ? My goodness, look around! People tend to blame God for the bad things in the world and ask, "how could you do such a thing", or "how could you allow such a thing to heppen"? What people fail to realize is that Satan is as powerful as God. I firmly believe he is behind all the bad things, and God is always there to see us through the bad times. You know, I hear people take the Lord's name in vain every day, but I never hear anyone say "devil damn it".

Answer 8

Two ways work for me. Both work under the heading of "Let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of these assertions." These are my methods.

1. Test what the sacred writings say with your life. Set yourself a disprovable hypothesis and every time you fail to disprove it, your conviction grows stronger that there is indeed something to it.

2. Pay attention. If a new friend says, I'll meet you at the corner of Third and Main at high noon, you give them the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if the friend keeps his word. You're impressed, but not convinced. Then you give your friend another chance. The friend says, I'll meet you at high noon on the corner of ..., etc. Enough times of fulfilling his promise, you have genuine respect for the unfailing regularity with which your friend fulfills his promise to you. After X number of times of this promise and that promise -- it varies person to person -- you reach a point at which you unhesitatingly trust your friend to do do exactly what he says he'll do. That's more than faith, that's certitude. Just like a regular friend who has total integrity, you trust them with your life. How much more so the central figure of your faith. If your sacred writings or the central figure of your faith doesn't deliver on their promises, they won't be believed.

3. Have humility. Understand own limitations. Regardless of whether or not there is an absolute truth, our understanding of it will always be relative.

Answer 9

I'm only certain of uncertainty.
Open to possibility.
Definitely not arrogant enough to believe I have all the answers or that my opinion is the only valid one simply because it happens to be supported by ancient writings which, at the end of the day are just another human's perspective on things.

People will believe what they need to believe to get them thru the night. That's OK - just don't stormtroop everyone else.

I don't have a label - I don't believe in organized religion of any kind

Answer 10

100% sure.

This is what I would have said when I was a well trained Christian. As children, we're indoctrinated into believing without evidence. It's not that much of a leap to believe we're 100% right. After all, we didn't even need evidence to believe in the first place!