What religion am I? Seriously...would love input.?

Question

I've been around for 47 years and was raised as a Presbyterian, but truthfully don't know what religion my real beliefs fall in line with.

What I believe:

~There is a supreme force-energy-unsure if it is the image of man in all forms.
~I believe Jesus was a messenger, an earthly representation of this all powerful, supreme force.
~ I believe our goodness-our soul or light within, becomes part of a whole when we die.
~I believe miracles happen everyday-not because we ask for them, but because they are needed.
~I believe goodness and truth on this earth is a gateway to a powerful, enlightened after life.

What I don't believe in:

~The Bible verbatim, or stories passed decades or centuries later.
~The "government" of religion. The Catholic faith is the best example.
~Rules, dogma, rituals that glorify an organized religion or man.

I know this is vague and only a partial explanation--but what am I ? What church could I attend?

I didn't say I do not believe in the Bible. Historically, I can't refute most of it. However how many of you have played the game where the first person in a circle tells the second a short story. By the time it gets back to the first person-it is rarely the same story. Such is the way of men -and men wrote the Bible.

Dances with Unicorns-I would love to write you-write me! I was a Rabbi's assistant for just over a year and learned much!

Answer 1

You sound like a Deist to me hon. http://www.religioustolerance.org/deism.htm

You might be a Unitarian. Info on that is here:http://www.religioustolerance.org/u-u.htm

Answer 2

What are you? Confused.

What church could you attend? Interestingly, most Christian denominations would take you right in.

You're making things up out of your own mind. You don't have any authority on which to base your opinions. As such it doesn't really matter what you believe because you made it up.

There is Truth and it is objective and can be discovered. You can't just make it up.

Like I said, most people don't understand this and would welcome your pie-in-the-sky religious views.

If you believe in a "supreme force-energy" that is different from humans, the only way humans can conceive it is if it reveals itself to us. Look for a religion that has as its center the revelation of God in some kind of transmitable form, like a book. Read the book and you'll find the Truth.

Answer 3

Theosophy is a "religious philosophy which holds that all religions are attempts by humanity to approach the absolute, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth."

and

"Consciousness is universal and individual
According to Theosophy, nature does not operate by chance. Every event, past or present, happens because of laws which are part of a universal paradigm. Theosophists hold that everything, living or not, is put together from basic building blocks evolving towards consciousness."

It's really more a point of view than a religion, you might also be interested in reading about neo-paganism, just remember that neo paganists come in many forms, Wicca is just one small section of the neo-paganist movement, a good non-bias book to read on the subject (written from the perspective of a professional researcher and not an actual witch, at least she wasn't before she wrote the book) is called "Witching Culture: Folklore and neo-paganism in America" it's a good introduction to the idea of paganism, most pagan books usually go right into their doctrine, while this gives you an overall view of the movement and what it means to different people without trying to convince you you need to chant at the full moon to get a spell to work.

Answer 4

You share quite a few beliefs with Judaism. While we do not consider Jesus to be anything more than a "good Jewish boy" (my rabbi's tongue-in-cheek description) and not a part of the Jewish religion, we believe in most of the other things that you say.

We believe that God is an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being, who is not physical in form. We do not have a lot of theology that talks about life after death, although we do believe that there is SOMETHING after we die; the notion that we rejoin with God, from whom we came, is certainly one that many Jews believe. We believe in the idea of "tikkun olam" - healing the world; we believe that our role is to make this world a better place, rather than concentrating on a world after this one. As with some Christians, there are SOME Jews (Orthodox, and some Conservative-branch Jews) who believe in a literal interpretation of the scriptures, most Jews today (especially Reform) believe that the Torah/Tanakh (our name for the Bible) is a combination of historical document and allegory, and is to be interpreted by each person, rather than by a central authority of any sort. We have no hierarchy of any sort - there is no Jewish equivalent to the Pope, bishops, etc. Judaism once had priests, but they are not generally part of the current-day belief (although many men know if they are descended from the "priestly" lines). Rabbis are spiritual leaders, but we do not believe that they have any special powers - they are simply Jews who are better-educated in Jewish thought and literature than the "average" Jew.

We do not believe that Jews are the only people who are "good" or righteous; we believe that there are righteous people of all faiths, and of no faith at all. We do not seek converts, but we do accept them. Nobody will ever ASK you to become a Jew, but you are welcome in any synagogue; we believe that the more people understand about each other, the better we will all get along.

Shalom! (that's "Peace" in Hebrew) :-)

Answer 5

Sounds typically post-modern New Age Theist to me. I would agree with many of the answers that a Unitarian, UCC, or possibly Ba'hai church would fit your description best, but that's only because "anything goes".

A book that may be helpful to you in sorting these things out is 'The Battle for Truth' by David Noebel. He outlines the major worldviews in this book. Not to spoil it for you, but yours falls under the Cosmic Humanist worldview. It still wouldn't hurt to read the book to explore the others a little.

Answer 6

You don't always have to belong to a certain religion. This simply means that you are finding out what you believe for yourself. A lot of what you believe seems to sound like a friend I have who is a wiccan. She believed all of your main points, even the one about Jesus being a messenger for an all powerful purpose. Good luck.

Answer 7

It seems that you are searching to fill a void in your life. I like you do not like the term religion. I believe in relationship. I have attended many different types of churches and still was able to worship the Lord I dearly love and believe in. If your relationship with Jesus is firmly grounded than nothing will shake your faith.

Answer 8

What you describe is not 'religion'...that word implies a habitual behavior. You are talking more spiritual/metaphysical...than anything else. There are lots of people that believe as you do, and if you focus your energies on the spiritual path, you will attract like-minded souls. Buddhism talks of this, but it also has a large amount of Dharma (law) and sets forth strict rules of conduct, and advocates aceticism (religion). I'm curious: what do you think of reincarnation?

Answer 9

A Unitarian church maybe? I would put you under the category of a theist. Believing in a higher power, but not sure or agreeing with "one path to God". May also fall under the general term "spiritualist".

That's my opinion based on what you provided.

Answer 10

You are Christian. You could attend the church of any christian sect and feel at home. Every Christian believes to a varying degree things that are in the bible or the words of the ministers and the "religious governments" as you put it. But they all believe in God, that Jesus was his messenger, and that they have a soul.

Answer 11

I Believe close to the same as you. I don't need the classification of a religion and haven't been to church in years. I believe that is just a way of putting "God" in a box when it is so beyond the ability of any religion. I believe religion was created as a means of control. The kingdom of God is within you.