How do you know you have chosen the right God/Goddess/Faith?

Question

I have spoken to people from lots of different faiths, and asked them all the same question,
"How do you know your God is the right one, what do you think will become of you if one of the other major world religions were right all along"?

Surely only one of you can be right, I ask of Christians, what if you're wrong and it's Allah you're going to be facing, or the Jewish people were right and there was no Jesus? And for Muslims, what if the Christians are right, where does that leave you after a lifetime of following the wrong faith?

And the only answer I ever get is, "I know it's the right one because I do". And for me that's not good enough (I'm not religious obviously).

Some religions are exclusive too, and if you're not a member of their gang you're doomed. How can that be right when there are so many different faiths in the world?

Lets just hope it's the Buddhists who've got it right, because Siddhartha is so forgiving he'll let us have another crack at it ;o)

Devi Spring
Your answer was wonderful, and I agree with you 100% because I already subscribe to the 'it is for each man to find his own God' belief myself. But it's not really what I'm asking.

I want to hear from the zealots, I want to know have they ever considered, just for a second, their religion might not be the 'right one', and that they may be condemned in the afterlife to what they fervently condemn other religions to?

I want to know how they KNOW their God is the one who created everything. Not just blind faith, or because that's the religion they were raised into, that's a cop-out.

Fred, you've hit the nail on the head. You seen to understand where I'm coming from :o)

Answer 1

Just a bit luckier than everyone else in the world who was born to the wrong parents and came to believe devoutly in the wrong god.

Answer 2

How do I know? well first I did not chose my god, He chose me. The drawing was so strong it was undeniable. I am a Christian. nothing but a sinner saved by grace. Just like everyone else, I fall down, everyday actually. I do belong to an "exclusive faith" MY lord was clear, "no man comes to the Father except through me" so yes I do believe that many "religious" are doomed many who think they are doing good, or right will end up in hell. "there is a path by which man seems right, but leads to destruction" How do I know I am right? My God asks one thing of me, to love him with all my heart, mind and soul. In return I have a relationship with him. This is a two way relationship, To explain it in a way you would understand, I cant. Have you ever felt someone was behind you, and when you looked to see, the really were? That a poor poor example, but I know My God is there. I feel him, I hear him leading me, when I fall, he shows me instantly were I have come up short. At times he wraps his arms around me, and just lets me know he there. I wish all could know my lord, I hope one day you will as well.

Answer 3

I believe that big-G God/dess is waaaay too infinite to be pinned down into any one catagory. The universe is also waaaay too vast for Earth and our religions to be the only options for reaching God/dess.

Therefore there are going to be different paths forged and tread by different people. If you study all the religions deeply, you'll find the same exact lessons and teachings at their core - compassion, selfless service to others, love, and respect. Everything else is just dogma, and cultural expressions (from certain period in time) of tried-and-true ideas of how to evolve spiritually.

The Hindu and Buddhist religions regularly teach that no one path is right for everyone. Therefore they offer many different approaches that suit the various temperments and skill-sets of various people. Zen would not be right for everyone, especially someone who has a Theistic bent and a love of ritual. Tibetan Buddhism would likely be a better fit...and that's ok! In Hinduism, there are hundreds of thousands of gods (expressions of The One Undifferentiated Source, they call Brahman) - so if one god doesn't "call" to you, or inspire you, you are free to choose another one (or two, or many) that does. Who you worship, or even what way you choose to worship them) is not the issue - what is important is that you earnestly strive to make spiritual progress. Many Buddhist and Hindu altars will include pictures of deities from many faiths, often including Jesus right along with Shiva, Krishna, Kali or others!

Faiths that are exclusionistic lost the way long ago, usually due to an overuse of the religion to enforce political power and social dogmas. It was really quite a calculated political decision for Rome to adpot Christianity as the State Religion. It was actually a close toss up between Christianity and Mithraism - both of which had ALOT of themes in common. Mithraism was already quite popular with the soldiers, too - which is actually why it wasn't chosen in the end. Christianity shared many aspects with Mithraism, so the soldiers would still take to it, but otherwise Christianity was fairly obscure. That allowed it to be easily manipulated to suit the political needs of the Empire. There are events like that at the core of most Western religions.

But that doesn't mean that Western religions don't have anything to offer. One has to read critically to get to the heart of the spirit of the religion - the original intents. Reading the experiences of the mystics from any tradition will show the similarities. The Golden Rule is really at the heart of them all.

So it's perfectly fine for different people to believe different things. We are all individuals with individual talents, and it would be impossible for us all to resonate with the same things. For instance, I can't do much math beyond a 9th grade level - I just can't! So if someone told me that I had to base my spirituality around algebra and calculus (like the esoteric college of Pythagoras was), I would be screwed and I gaurentee you I wouldn't be any kind of observant faithful. But I can read like the wind, and I really enjoy deep abstract thinking - so if I had to follow a religion based on that, I would do quite well...but others who have reading disabilities, or who have a more linear, rational thought pattern would likely not take to it.

Anyone that is not willing to accept that there would be multiple (infinite, in fact) valid paths towards Deity, is either ignorant - sadly usually because they've been programmed to fear anything other than what they've been taught is Right, or extremely arrogant - I mean, to think that any one person or path could have some sort of exclusive connection to Deity is patently absurd.

A good academic jaunt through mystic spirituality throughout the ages will quickly show that from tribal shamans, to localized agricultural fertility cults, to organized State religions, are all saying the same things when you get to the core of the gnostic experience of the divine. They are just couching those experiences in the language and cultural context that they are coming from.

I would NEVER say that "my God/dess is the right one", I would only say that They are the right ones *FOR ME*.

Answer 4

You know them by their fruits. A good tree bears good fruits and a bad tree bears forth evil fruits. Bible says they will look like the gods they serve. While it's also true for real Christian - they will be transform into the Image of Christ.

Answer 5

Nobody can know what feels right for another person. It is a personal choice. I still believe all paths lead to one destination.

Answer 6

That's why I'm a Buddhist, dogmatism is completely irrational..

Answer 7

http://www.christian-thinktank.com/decide0.html

Answer 8

you never Know, you never know.