How can one say their religion is the true faith? Example Christianity.?

Question

Yes there are other questions like this but they didn't get to the point.
From what I have read and heard in the past people will say, "Because the Bible says so and that is the word of God." That is not a strong answer.
Christianity and the Bible were created after the rise and fall of many other religions which stated they were the true faith. These religions were in place before the concept of Christianity was thought up.
Religion was created to help support the unknown of the world such as were we came from. These people charished their faith and believed full heartedly that its the truth. This is the same today.
I am focusing on Christianity more so because it's the majority here on Y!A.

So if religions have been around since the dawn of man for the reasons above, wouldn't it be justifiable to say that religion today is just the same as it once was? Just another line of stories to help give man answers in life and in time more will exist and people will follow them.

If it has always been then why wasn't it the first and only religion? I can name a handfull of societies that were existing far before "God had always been" was in people's minds.
A bible verse isn't supportive.

The point I'm trying to make is.
If "A" religion=False False being Entity not morality
If "B" religion=False
If "C" religion=False
Wouldn't others follow the same pattern? Meaning the only thing being created here are more stories by man to help give meaning and purpose to it everything.

Answer 1

Indigenous peoples of North and South America, with their own unique beliefs, have always passed down their morality stories from generation to generation to teach the young. In Europe, paganism worshiped the sun and the moon and the earth and didn't care if anybody else believed it. Their focus was just to give thanks each year.

Judaism is thousands of years old. Christianity and Islam sprang from these. ALL three of the latter think they are the "one true religion," in order to KEEP their followers and to recruit more. They've even gone so far as to create a "book" that lays out the rules for the religion and all three say if you don't believe or if you stray from the mother ship, you'll go to hell. Islam goes so far as to threaten the LIVING, by saying if they leave the religion they'll be killed!

There is no one, true religion; just a lot of clerics trying to keep the money and followers coming back.

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Answer 2

I think everyone just wants to be right. How much would it suck to die, go to wherever dead people go and realize that the "heaven" they have always dream of was, in fact, run by Mormons?! (Ahh...Southpark.)

I think religion today is more about the after life and having the feeling that we were put on this Earth for a bigger purpose than to just be born, live, and die. Religion, as you mention, was to explain the ways of the world in the ancient days. Science was in it's infancy and couldn't explain the vast complexities of the world, so men thought up this great and grand omnipotent being who cooked up this entire world, universe, etc.

Why are there animals? Because God created them!
Why are there natural disaters? Because God's mad!
Why is he king? Because God appointed him!

I will admit, I am an avid believer in Intelligent Design and a Christian (Catholic more specifically), but I am not a blind believer. Science is my rock and Catholicism shapes my morals. I agree with you, that religion today is the same as the ancient religions, the stories just adjusted a little to fit the times and the God.

Answer 3

Religion is an attempt to reach some kind of moral perfection. The Buddhists, the Taoists, the Muslims, Jews, and Christians. They all strive to reach some sort of moral calling - righteousness, awakening, enlightenment. Religions are not "answers to the unknown" really. Christianity for instance has very little to do with the unknown. Christianity deals with redemption from sins. No amount of science can redeem you from your sins. "I discovered Neptune! Now my sins are absolved!" Such a statement would be foolish. Unknown sciences will eventually become known, I do not use or need religion to have an answer for that ignorance. Religion is different.

Why have some religions failed? Well a large part is because their culture was decimated. The Native Americans for instance have one of the oldest religions known to man, but because they were decimated their religion was decimated as well.

What many people perceive as religion is not true religion. The Greek gods for instance are not really religion in the traditional since. They were not personal gods, there was no one who claimed to have seen them personally. They were more like fanciful stories in a culture that liked stories. Since the gods were impersonal, the people did not hold them very dear to their heart and consequently religion was not entirely important to them, it was more of a tradition then an actual devotion.

Answer 4

First, through time people have corrupted religion. It has changed so many times. If we are dealing mainly with christianity, we are starting from the death of Christ. So a little less then 2000 years ago. 300 Years after that Constantine set up the catholic church... Now from then until about 1820 there have been hundreds of churches that broke off of that. Now from just this, then that means that the Catholic church is the only one out of all of these that can claim they had a devine reveloation. However, there is no account of Peter giving anyone the athority to start that religion. And no one who claimed to have that same authorithy could have. For the apostles had died, and the religion had strayed emensly from the teachings of those called men. In 1820, however, another religion came about. That religion is called The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints, or more commonly known as Mormons. (The Church of which I am affiliated and know is true). My church believes in a modern day prophet that is called of God. Starting with Joseph Smith, and going down to the current prophet, Gordon Hinckley. Joseph Smith was given the same power as the apostles of old but heavenly messangers, and was commanded by God to start the church. The same church that Christ himself formed. And sense then there has been a prophet to lead and guide us just like in biblical times. The power of God is back on the earth. Now from just this, there are only two choices you can possible make.

Answer 5

I think you are making a lot of unsubstantiated assumptions in your question. First, you talk about "many religions which stated they were the true faith." How many religions do you actually know of that claimed to be the exclusively true faith? How do you know that "these people cherished their faith and believed full heartedly that it’s the truth"?

It's my understanding that the ancient Greeks and Romans were very openminded, meaning that they believed in their own gods, but were open to accepting other people's gods too. So you see they didn't claim that their religion was the only true one. I understand also that they didn't necessarily believe all the myths about their gods. It was more like, hey it can't hurt to offer them sacrifice just in case they really do exist.

Christianity I think was unique in that it was founded by a historical character, who performed physical actions in a particular time and place, which were witnessed and documented. You can't say that about the vast majority of religions that preceded it. (Islam is similar in that respect, but it's worth noting that it came after Christianity.)

How can you know a religion is true? You can't know in the scientific sense, because science can only measure observable physical phenomena, and we're talking about spiritual matters. The way you judge truth in spiritual matters is to examine the evidence for the claimed historical events, examine the validity and consistency of the doctrines being taught, and use your reason to judge whether it conforms with what you know about reality.

Of course, Christians also believe you can't come to a genuine faith without God's grace working in your soul. And that working in your soul, I don't believe you can understand until you've experienced it.

Answer 6

Your specific question is, how can one say that? Well, one of two things is correct. Either one of them is right and all the others are wrong, or none of them are right. However, you can't have more than one religion being "the right one".

Now, I can show you why I believe Christianity to be "right". I could show you the error in many other religions and why there is no error in Christianity or in the Bible. And then we can have a debate on here with 1,000 different answers and opinions and no one would be any better off than they were before. The truth is, I can't PROVE it is 100% right nor can anyone else prove it is wrong. Study things out for yourself, and decide based on what you learn.

Answer 7

I absolutely, thoroughly agree with you. When I was a born-again christian, I was judgemental, condescending and arrogant because I believed my one-true-god was the only one. Of course I hid all these feelings behind a guise of 'christian brotherly love and concern for your salvation'.

Really, it's a game (of religions)... the one with the most players on their team at the end of the game, wins. Except nobody wins cause there is no game.

On the flip side, I believe all major and minor religions wish for converts because they are under the misguided belief that converts/people prove the existance of their god/belief-system, "If there are this many people who believe, then what I believe will come true, right?!?... we must be right, right?!!??.... god I can't be wrong.... I can't... that would mean I'm going to hell.... must get more converts.... must get more converts.... must get more converts...."

Answer 8

Nobody can say for sure that there faith is the true faith.Anyone who thinks they can have only deluded themselves to that point.Best thing a believer in god can do is stay open minded.With all the confusion about religion how can one be sure?There are so many religions to choose from.

P.S using the book your faith is based off of to prove it's the true faith is well just.......dumb to say the least.

Answer 9

I think truth lies at the root of all religions. This truth is that there is something at work which is more powerful than humans. All the rest is just trimmings. I dont think this force is any type of god however, but people explained it the best they could at the time.

Answer 10

I can only speak for myself, but I would not even think of saying "because the bible says so" as a justification for believing it is the truth. Yes, it does say that, but, as you said, so have other spiritual teachings so that alone doesn't mean anything.

Instead, I say that my faith is the "truth" because I have tested it and found it to be true in my life.

The first part of that is the truth of the Old Testament. In the OT, God gave people many instructions for how we should interact with him and with other people. While I can't test the spiritual/eternal consequences, I can and have tested the earthly consequences of quite a few of God's basic instructions and in EVERY case, I was forced to conclude that failure to follow his instructions results in negative consequences in my life! I've also seen the consequences in the people around me (friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers). That's enough for me to conclude that the God of the OT had an amazing knowledge of humans...a knowledge far beyond that of man at that time or even this time (biology, science, etc.. are still discovering new consequences of failure to follow one of God's instructions such as the consequences of eating certain foods). The OT contains more than enough wisdom for me to conclude that God was the original designer.

Next I would turn to Jesus and the New Testament. When I look at the message of the NT, I see a strong consistency between the God described there and the God described in the OT. Since I accept the OT as the truth, I have to also accept that God made a specific covenant (contract) with two groups of people: the sons of Issac and the sons of Ishmael. The rest of the world was (is) covered only by the covenant God made with Noah.

The "new covenant" of Jesus is consistent with all three of these original covenants and the message of unity suggests that this covenant, like the covenant with Noah (and unlike the covenants with Issac and Ishmael), is available to anyone who chooses to accept the terms of that contract. Now for the choice...the covenants of Issac and Ishmael aren't options for me because I'm not a descendant of either of those men. That leaves me with the choice between the terms of the contract with Noah or the terms of the contract with Jesus.

I accept the covenant of Jesus because it is consistent with promises made to the sons of Issac...that through them, all men would come to know God. This suggests that God had a plan for extending the benefits of his covenant with Israel to all of us...Jesus fulfilled that promise. Thus, I accept that Jesus is the only way for ME to walk with God.

This doesn't mean that I think any of the old covenants are "null and void"...that isn't my call, but I would find it somewhat inconsistent for the God described in the OT to decide to break his promises. The way I remember it, those original contracts didn't have an expiration date and I don't think Jesus added one. If the sons of Issac and the sons of Ishmael want to stick to the terms of the original contract then I believe God will honor it just as I believe that God will honor the contract with all of us that he made through Noah. Jesus said that his burden was light and I believe that...his covenant is easier to bear than the burden of the earlier covenants.