I am questioning my faith.. Help

Cain_Elenbaas

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?
 

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This thread is being moved to the Questions by Non-Christians forum. See you there!

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seashale76

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?

Cain Elenbaas,

Personally, I think that questioning is a very normal thing to do. Don't be alarmed at yourself for 'going there'. As they said on an old Saturday Night Live sketch, "Simmer down now." There's nothing wrong with reading. There's nothing wrong with learning about philosophy. There are more views than the one you've been raised to believe. Parsing which view is actually truthful is another matter. Learn about other religions. However, don't think you know everything there is to know about Christianity until you've really studied it. There are tons of Christian groups out there and there is significant variance in beliefs. I encourage you to really study Christianity, Church history, the early Church, the Early Church Fathers, etc. before choosing to discard it. (It took me years, and I still don't know nearly everything there is to know about my own religion.)

If you are this disturbed, please note that no one is forcing you to give up your faith. At the very least, you can suspend your judgment until you've given things serious consideration.

I'll tell you now, that your notion of salvation and hell seems to veer significantly from my own. Also, Christianity actually was around before the New Testament. Our religion is much more than the Holy Scriptures, though they are quite important. Religion as a means of control implies a conspiracy of some sort. Cults are a means of control by the cult leader of his/her followers. Religions tend to actually have goals of some sort in mind (for lack of a better way to phrase it).

We should all examine our faith. Everyone must come to a point where they figure out if they truly believe and why they do so. Those who do not make this conscious decision are probably just floating along. However, please note that faith is definitely an action word. It is not simply an intellectual assent to believe something.
 
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OldChurchGuy

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?

Seashale76 gives good advice.

Yes, I ponder these questions also. Personally, I cannot say with absolute certainty that a given religion is the only one and that all who are not members of that religion are doomed to hell. As regards Christianity it seems to me that final judgment is with God, not us.

There is a lot of controversy and research on where our ideas of right and wrong originate. Some say it is part of the brain in its amazing capacity to grow and adapt over time. Others maintain that a sense of right and wrong is from God. Personally, I have no problem with God being the ultimate source of our sense of right and wrong.

Regarding the question of religion being a means of control, I suppose it depends on our viewpoint. For some, religion is a means of controlling others. Leaders such as Jim Jones and David Karesh come to mind. For others, religion is seen as a way to achieve control. Put another way, a person can say, "By having faith in God and putting trust in God, I can face the problems in my life and cope with them."

I understand your reluctance to be filled with pills, but I urge you to consider visiting a sleep clinic or a physician who specializes in sleep disorders. There may be methods / techniques that you can apply which do not involved medication.

Are you taking any prescriptions for the panic attacks?

Sincerely,

OldChurchGuy
 
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unkern

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The original followers were followers of the way they no long followed along a religion instead a better way of life by following in Christs footsteps.

True they will go to Hell, but not because they were bad, but because they chose to go there, If you choose the absence of God on earth you get that for eternity. You get what you wanted. The bible is much older than 2000 years. dont forget about the old testament which goes all the way back to Moses.

I used to have Panic attacks as well, i was diagnosed with OCD, anxiety, what seemed like the works. I stopped believing in it and let God heal me. You can do the same, you just have to let him do it.

God be with you bro
 
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KTKat

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I question my faith a lot too. I also suffer from anxiety and panic attacks (that's where I seen this original thread). Anyway, I always wonder what happens to people that were never introduced to Christianity, but were good people. Do they go to hell for not worshiping "God"? I read a lot of philosophies on life and death. Sometimes they make me question the whole heaven and hell, and life after death. Death is a big fear of mine, so the thought of nothing terrifies me, but I can't help but question it. The "gates" and "streets of gold" just don't seem probable. where is this heaven? Do we die, and then magically appear there?
As you can see I have lots of questions, many that can't be answered. But I really do try to keep my faith!
 
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Alcamo

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Hi there,

Jesus said no one comes to the Father except through him. This sounds so intolerant in our “politically correct” culture. Some people react with shock at the mere suggestion, not because they have a well-formulated way of showing it to be untrue, but because it sounds unloving…. ‘How could a loving God send people to hell?’ If we’re going to talk about God sending people places, let’s talk about him sending his Son so we don’t have to.

With all due respect, why would or should God cater to any number of lies mankind comes up with to replace him? If I start a new religion, is God morally obligated to bend his nature to my expectations and accept me and my followers just as he would someone who acknowledges his truth?

Certainly a relationship with God is a matter of the heart, yet Scripture clearly teaches that those who have a right heart come to him and leave the lies behind. The argument ‘what about those who’ve never heard’ isn’t Biblical. There are plenty of stories of people in ‘deepest, darkest Africa’ to whom God reveals himself directly and they accept Christ, only to be found some time later by missionaries. God can and does communicate directly to people, regardless of culture or location.

We should absolutely accept and love all people, but not necessarily all ideas. It seems strange to me that some Christians say things like ‘I don’t believe people of other religions necessarily go to hell when they die. That’s between them and God.” Since God has already told us that they do, why the confusion? Our culture has come to define spirituality not in terms of what is rational and evidential, but in terms of what seems loving to us. It’s as though, if you love someone, you can’t tell them they’re wrong. Of course, we would never apply this line of thinking to anything besides spirituality. That would be too obviously absurd.

In the Bible, truth and love are meaningless apart from one another.

On the highway to hell, there is an off ramp.

P.S., I am passionate about this (can you tell???), but not angry at anyone. Promise J
 
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Emmy

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Dear Cain Elenbaas. You had some good replies, enough to make you think. I believe that a good question to ask yourself is: " If I do not have Jesus, who died that I might live, who gives life abundant, who gives me His Love, His Joy and His Peace if I sincerely ask for it," what else, or who else is there? A true fact is, that thousands of Christian men and = women can, and will testify to the truth of this. ( Myself included.) I say this humbly and with love, Cain Elenbaas. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.
 
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T Man

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God is not a religion, Jesus is not a religion, nor is the Holy Spirit a religion, they are a way of life. Humans have limited understandings when they try to reason the scriptures with the knowledge of men, to find asnwers, you have to except the way of Life, in Spirit and truth according to God, not man and his limited understandings. The off ramp is the Spirit of God, giving you His knowledge in Spirit and truth via the Holy Spirit to your Spirit. To get it any other way is just an act of finding a back door into His Kingdom. Jesus said there is no back door. Fill your lamps with oil, there running low, become Spirit filled and seek the Master in Spirit and truth. Don't settle for second best, man made ideas or man made religions., To be Christian means to be Christ-like, ever seeking His Spirit, the Spirit of God. From this comes His truth to all things.
 
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aiki

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.

I struggled for over a year when I was in my early twenties with anxiety attacks and OCD behavior. Thanks to God, I'm free from all that stuff.

Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell.

The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus is the only Way. All other ways are false and lead to death.

John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?

For the Christian, the Bible defines what is right and wrong, if not specifically, then in principle.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

This 2000 year old "book" is unlike any other book ever written. I'd be real careful about how quickly you dismiss it as just another book.

Christianity has been politicized and thereby made a means of control and power over others. The Roman Catholic church in particular is guilty of this sort of thing. This isn't, however, the goal of the Christian faith. Christianity is about a relationship with God, not about exerting religious power over a culture.

John 18:36 (KJV)
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Peace.
 
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Catherineanne

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?

Hiya, Cain E. Your questions are reasonable. Read Matthew 25 and compare that with the claim that only Christians get to heaven. Then read the rest of the Bible and see where it actually says that, which is nowhere.

Then realise that what you are doubting is not our faith, but one interpretation of it. The church has never in history taught that only Christians go to heaven.

Our Lord says that no one comes to the Father but through him. This is not the same thing as saying that no man comes to God but through him, as some Christians like to claim. The Bible does not say so. Other faiths can address God as God, but we alone have the uniique privilege of calling God Our Father, through Christ.

Start with the gospels, and build your faith on the rock which is Christ. All else will follow. Any bits that get lost along the way, are not worth having, as long as you are grounded on that rock.

I wish you well. :wave:
 
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franklin

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?

I did. Now I'm a nonbeliever.
 
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Catherineanne

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Atheists are NOT to be posting in this forum. There are plenty of other forums on this site where you can spout your bitter antagonism toward God. Please do not post here again.

I'm sorry but this is not fair.

How can someone who does not believe that God exists be antagonistic towards him? How could I be antagonistic towards Zeus or Odin? :confused:

If atheists have antagonism, surely it is against the people who demonstrate false religion, who claim to do that which is right before God, but forget to love their brothers and sisters. And isn't this exactly the same challenge that Christ gave to the people of his day, and to all of us who claim to have faith in God? If Christians were as Christlike as we are supposed to be, there would be no antagonism towards us.

Anyone is entitled to doubt, or to question, their faith, and in my opinion it is up to their fellow Christians to offer reassurance and comfort at this time, because one day we may in our turn need such comfort.

I understand that it may not be appropriate for atheists to comment on this, because it is a difficult time, but it is enough to say so. There is no need to make unjust comments against them in the process.
 
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aiki

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I'm sorry but this is not fair.

How can someone who does not believe that God exists be antagonistic towards him? How could I be antagonistic towards Zeus or Odin? :confused:
How indeed? That atheists take such pains to discourage belief in God makes one wonder just how truly atheistic they are.

If atheists have antagonism, surely it is against the people who demonstrate false religion, who claim to do that which is right before God, but forget to love their brothers and sisters.
This isn't what the Bible teaches. (See John 3:19, 20)

I'm sure there are Christians to whom atheists may point and say, "If that is what Christ is like, I want nothing of him!" But the shortcomings of these Christians won't be an excuse an atheist can use when he faces his Maker at the Last Judgment. Certainly, Christians may not be as loving as they should be, but this doesn't alleviate atheists of the obligation to observe common courtesy (like following the plainly posted rules of this forum).

And isn't this exactly the same challenge that Christ gave to the people of his day, and to all of us who claim to have faith in God? If Christians were as Christlike as we are supposed to be, there would be no antagonism towards us.
Again, this isn't the teaching of the Bible. It was because Christ was who he was that he was crucified. And the apostles following his example were also killed. I think that the more one is like Christ, the more one will be hated by the world. This is certainly what Christ taught:

John 15:18-20 (KJV)
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you...

Anyone is entitled to doubt, or to question, their faith, and in my opinion it is up to their fellow Christians to offer reassurance and comfort at this time, because one day we may in our turn need such comfort.
Of course. It is because the OP is in such obvious need of the reassurance and comfort you mention that I object strongly to those who would post here only to further his doubt and questions.

I understand that it may not be appropriate for atheists to comment on this, because it is a difficult time, but it is enough to say so. There is no need to make unjust comments against them in the process.
I cannot believe that Franklin's post was meant to do anything but increase whatever antagonism toward God is growing in the OP. For this reason, I don't think my words were entirely out of line.

Peace.
 
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jbm611973

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.
Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy. And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell. Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book. Are all religions just a means of control .Does anyone else think about this?


Col. 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of trhis world rather than on Christ.
 
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jbm611973

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Hiya, Cain E. Your questions are reasonable. Read Matthew 25 and compare that with the claim that only Christians get to heaven. Then read the rest of the Bible and see where it actually says that, which is nowhere.

Then realise that what you are doubting is not our faith, but one interpretation of it. The church has never in history taught that only Christians go to heaven.

Our Lord says that no one comes to the Father but through him. This is not the same thing as saying that no man comes to God but through him, as some Christians like to claim. The Bible does not say so. Other faiths can address God as God, but we alone have the uniique privilege of calling God Our Father, through Christ.

Start with the gospels, and build your faith on the rock which is Christ. All else will follow. Any bits that get lost along the way, are not worth having, as long as you are grounded on that rock.

I wish you well. :wave:

John 14:6
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
These are lambs are giong to heaven.
There is no other truth, no other way,no other life. These other religions are praying to the air. Their god is satan.

 
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Ryft

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I have never been able to sleep well but I don't want a doctor shoving pills down my mouth. I am an insomniac, and I have panic attacks.

Me too. I have been suffering from Dysthymic Disorder for many years; insomnia and anxiety attacks are some of the symptoms. On average I get anywhere between two to four hours of sleep per night. And sometimes the most ridiculous thing can set off an anxiety attack, like the price of gas going up by two cents. Stupid. And terrible. I hate it.

Lately i have been reading alot. I have started to learn about philosophy.

That can be a good thing. But it also can be a bad thing. If you read philosophical books without a properly functioning Baloney Detector, you can get duped into some pretty convoluted and indefensible beliefs. I always tell people, "Before you get into the deep waters of philosophy, learn how to swim first"—in other words, develop a solid understanding of logic and fallacies, learn how to think critically, learn how to detect bad arguments, non-arguments, bias, rhetoric, and bigotry. It will help you avoid intellectual train-wrecks like Richard Dawkins and many others.

And it makes me think is this idea that our god and only our god is the way to heaven.. are all else doomed to hell.

This is not as scandalous as one might think. It happens ANYTIME something is true, because the moment one thing is true, all alternatives must be false. If the city of Sacramento is the capital of California (and it is) then no other city is its capital. We have reason to believe that God is the only way to heaven; although non-believers can disagree with that, it does not render it false.

There is nothing wrong with affirming and believing a truth. And if you struggle with the truth of 'X' (e.g. God is the only way to heaven), find someone who strongly and rationally defends the truth of that 'X' and ask them questions. Learn what they have learned.

Is our very ideas of right and wrong simply determined by this 2000 year old book.

Not exactly. Right and wrong (which we call moral order) is determined by God; i.e., moral order is grounded in the very nature of God. But we are conscious of moral order because it is communicated to us by God, in part by our being created in the image of God but fundamentally by his divine revelation, the Word of God. In short, the Bible does not determine moral order; it simply reveals it. God is the source of moral order and he communicates it to us.

Are all religions just a means of control.

No. Some are, perhaps? But sweeping generalizations (e.g. "All religions are control mechanisms") are plagued with problems and errors. Some are institutions of control, some are not.

Does anyone else think about this?

ALL the time!
 
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