Looking for answers, Help me understand your religion

[Looking2426]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

 

[drich0150]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

If you are looking for absolute proof in something before you put your faith into it, then respectfully you have missed the point of true faith.

Faith in of itself is not complete foolishness, Faith is defined by Hebrews 11:
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

When we first exhibit even the smallest amount of "faith" then the proof comes. Not before.

 

[AvgJoe]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

Evidence of God and why Christianity is correct?

The Bible is evidence of God and why Christianity is correct.

The Bible was written over a period of 1,600 years, by 40 men, who lived on 3 separate continents and they all wrote about the same thing, the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. There were no mail delivery trucks, no drop ship planes, no Federal Express, no UPS and no email, yet when all of the writings were put together they present one unified message. The Bible is truly the Word of God.

If the Bible is true, Christianity is true. How much research have you done on proving the validity of the Bible? Following are some topics and links I hope you will look into, concerning the validity of the Bible. Please lay your doubt aside and proceed with an open mind, and heart, and see what the evidence has to say.

An excellent ebook on the subject: http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/idobi.pdf

Proof of Textual Evidence
Old Testament: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/266
New Testament: http://www.carm.org/questions/textualevidence.htm
More on the Bible: http://www.carm.org/bible.htm

Proof of People Living at the Time of Christ
http://www.carm.org/questions/extrabiblical_accounts.htm
http://www.carm.org/questions/Josephus.htm
http://www.probe.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=fdKEIMNsEoG&b=4282487&content_id={005E52EB-F7CA-4F87-BC5E-E5D53148B439}&notoc=1

Proof of Archaeology
http://www.christiananswers.net/archaeology/home.html
http://www.biblicalarcheology.net/
http://www.carm.org/questions/evidence_archaeological.htm

Proof of Science
Statements Consistent With Paleontology
Statements Consistent With Astronomy
Statements Consistent With Meteorology
Statements Consistent With Biology
Statements Consistent With Anthropology
Statements Consistent With Hydrology
Statements Consistent With Geology
http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/science.shtml
http://www.carm.org/bible/ms_science.htm

Proof of Prophecy (Messanic & dealing with nations)
http://www.sotl.org/public/proofs.htm (about Israel-incredible)
http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/m_prophecies.shtml
http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/fulfill.shtml
http://www.carm.org/bible/prophecy.htm
http://www.prophecyrevealed.com/index.html
http://prophecyrevealed.com/friendbook.htm (awesome book)
http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/b_proof.shtml

If the Bible is true, Christianity is true. In Christianity, faith is required but it does not have to be a blind faith.

Faith comes from hearing/reading the Bible, God's Word. Its an excellent place to start, especially the Book of John. John is the 4th book of the New Testament.

 

[lucaspa]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

The evidence for God is the same as evidence for anything else: personal experience. What we see, hear, touch, taste, smell, or feel emotionally.

Millions of people have had personal experience of God; most a long time personal relationship. They arrived at that by searching for God within themselves, their thoughts, their feelings, etc. The Bible has been, for many (but not all) a starting point and a help in starting the search for God, but eventually the Bible becomes irrelevant; the relationship operates on its own between the person and God.

Nor am I promising you will get "stability". You will, by all reports, get a life-long relationship and friend. But the relationship will be demanding and God will be demanding. Your life will quite possibly be turned upside down more than once. But God will always be there for you, which may be what you really want.

As to Christianity, I think it more important to concentrate on finding God and establishing that relationship than focussing on Christianity. You may find that Christianity fits you best, but you could also find that you are more comfortable with the forms of some other religion.

Many Christians will try to "prove" Christianity by trying to defend the Bible. There are flaws in all those arguments. But really, you don't care about whether the Bible is accurate or not, you care about finding personal experience and relationship with God. Some Christians try to "prove" God exists by science. That doesn't work. Science is agnostic. The best science will give you is that it does not contradict the existence of God. People who try to "prove" God with science must misrepresent science.

Christianity being correct does not automatically mean that the other religions are wrong. God could try to reach different people by different approaches. I personally think Christianity is (also) correct because I find no alternative hypothesis except resurrection that would explain why the disciples (not to mention the women) gave up their former lives for ones of hardship, poverty, danger, and (for most) eventual execution. I can't see them doing this for fraud (they would only expect an earthly reward which they didn't get). Perhaps delusion, but so many? And for decades? No. Faced with persecution, imprisonment and execution, you would expect at least some of them to recant. None did.

But that is me personally.

 

[ebia]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

Are you looking for stability and true family, or are you looking for "empirical proof" of an academic fact?

 

[Jpark]

Never mind.

 

[berachah]

You are taking the first steps to a wonderful turnabout in your life. I would like to give you some pointers;

1. Your revelation and relationship with God will increase in several ways. (prayer, reading the Bible and fellowship with strong Christians.) I suggest you establish a regular period each day and pray (talk) to God. Share your pain, fears and doubts and ask for guidance, protection and wisdom. Ask God to direct your footsteps to find those people, that church which will help your relationship with God increase

2. Be aware that Christians can also cause offense and pain and this should not be seen as God's doing. Realize that not one Christian has the fullness of understanding and there will be contradictary opinions you are exposed to. Ask God to make all things clearer to you, to know which is right and wrong.

3. The basics instructions of Christ are: believe that Jesus died for your sins, accept him as your Lord, be baptised, have communion on a regular basis and to grow in your faith. When you receive the Holy Spirit, (read the book of John) you will begin to have conviction (like a 6th sense) of what is right and wrong in God's eye's.

4. Thereafter God will begin the process of sanctification. That is, undoing all the things in your life that are contrary to God and the things that have caused you pain and suffering in the past. The closer you draw to God (through prayer/Word/fellowship) the faster and more effectively this restorative process will be.

I wish you all the best

 

[juvenissun]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

You may hear this advice and that advice on this religion and that religion. But this will not provide you with ANY stability. It, on the contrary, will increase your instability.

So, if you want stability, you should settle down with one, no matter what.

 

[salida]

More info:

Concept of christianity:
Are you a good person? The Good Test

www.TheBibleProofBook.com, The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell (overwhelming circumstantial evidence of bible) and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster (a former athiest).

http://www.emjc3.com/proof/ChristianityIsAFactYouCanProveIt.pdf　
http://www.emjc3.com/prophecy101.htm
http://www.emjc3.com/proof/WhyTheBibleIs100PercentAccurate.pdf
http://www.emjc3.com/DisprovingEvolutionInUnder1000Words.html

Internal Evidence (prophesies confirmed within bible)
Life of Christ
The Tribe of Judah, Gen 49:10 - Luke 3:23-28
(Genesis was written 4004 BC to 1689 BC)
(Lukes time period 60-70 AD)
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Royal Line of David, Jer 23:5 - Matt 1:1
(Jeremiah 760 to 698 BC)/(Matthew 60 - 70 AD)
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Born of a Virgin, Isaiah 7:14 - Matt 1:18-23
(Isaiah 760 to 698 BC)/(Matthew 60 - 70 AD)
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Rise of Empires
In the book of Daniel, Chapter 2 - four kingdoms are described in the interpretation of a dream of
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greek - Daniel 8:21, 10:20/and the fourth
great kingdom to follow- part iron and clay-which is the Roman Empire. During this empire Christ came and his church was established.
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Historical Accuracy
The bible is loaded with historical statements concerning events hundreds of years ago and has not
been proven incorrect in any.
(Bible compared to other ancient documents):
New Testament starts - at 25 years between original and first surviving copies
Homer - starts at 500 years
Demosthenes - at 1400 years
Plato - at 1200 years
Caesar - at 1000 years
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Number of Manuscript Copies-New Testament - 5,686/Homer - 643/Demosthenes - 200/
Plato - 7/Caesar -10
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Consistency/Written by God
Written by at least 40 men over a period of time exceeding 1400 years and has no internal inconsistencies.
It claims to be spoken by God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. No other religious book makes such claim.
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External Evidences (prophesies outside bible)
These cities were prophesied to be destroyed and never built again.
Nineveh - Nahum 1:10, 3:7,15, Zephaniah 2:13-14
Babylon - Isaiah 13:1-22
Tyre - Ezekiel 26:1-28
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Bible before Science- He hangs the earth on nothing-Job 26:7/Earth is a sphere-Isaiah 40:22
Air has weight-Job 28:25/Gravity-Job 26:7, Job 38:31-33/Winds blow in cyclones, Eccl 1:6
(Job was written at least 1000 years ago; some scholars think 3000 years ago)
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Documents that Prove Bible is True
Gilgamesh Epic, The Sumerian King List, Mari Tablets, Babylonian Chronicles
Archeological Finds
Excavations of Ur, Location of Zoar, Ziggurats and the foundation of Tower of Babel

 

[sb81]

I've grown up hopping from foster home to foster home, and now I'm looking for a little stability. A friend told me to look to Christ, and that it or he whatever this entity is has helped thousands find a sense of purpose and belonging that I am looking for but first I would like to see the evidence that there is a god or other omnipotent entity and why the Christian faith is correct and others are not.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubling times. My wife and I actually do foster care and although I could never totally relate to the kids, I do get a slight idea of what they go through.

My best advise for you is to give God a chance. Make an honest attempt to call out to him spiritually for his guidance and to make himself known to you.

You inspired me to write a blog entry, so if you are interested in further details here is a link - Romans 1:20 - Evidence for Christ: Finding God and Hearing His Voice

God Bless, and I hope you find the stability you are looking for.