Need help

[noclue]

Hey guys, I just joined the forum and after reading through a few topics I must say this seems like a very supportive and friendly forum so I hope I can find answers to my questions!

As you can see from my personal info I am an agnostic. I have been brought up in a secular family where religion simply didn't come up in conversations so I had to come to all my conclusions on my own.

Based on my observation and research, most religions seem to have 2 things in common once we get down to the foundation:

- the exsistence of an omnipotent god(s) on whom the believer can rely at an times, and

- the notion of the afterlife


My next 2 observations are about human beings. Again, once you strip away all the cultural/social/educational attributes, all people are:

- social beings and

- alive

If you add to this the creativity and imagination of humans, my question is, how could I follow any religion with full conviction and faith if at the fundamental level everything suggests that humans have the motivation and the means to create ideologies to supress their inherent fears.

I am looking forward to your answers

Thank you!

 

[ebia]

Hey guys, I just joined the forum and after reading through a few topics I must say this seems like a very supportive and friendly forum so I hope I can find answers to my questions!

As you can see from my personal info I am an agnostic. I have been brought up in a secular family where religion simply didn't come up in conversations so I had to come to all my conclusions on my own.

Based on my observation and research, most religions seem to have 2 things in common once we get down to the foundation:

- the exsistence of an omnipotent god(s) on whom the believer can rely at an times, and

- the notion of the afterlife

My next 2 observations are about human beings. Again, once you strip away all the cultural/social/educational attributes, all people are:

- social beings and

- alive

If you add to this the creativity and imagination of humans, my question is, how could I follow any religion with full conviction and faith if at the fundamental level everything suggests that humans have the motivation and the means to create ideologies to supress their inherent fears.

I am looking forward to your answers

Thank you!

Those two are rather less universal than one might think. For instance neither confucianism nor classical Buddhism have gods. A number of religions - most notably ancient Judaism - dont have much of a clear idea of an "afterlife". Even when there is such, there's massive difference between reincarnation, resurrection, becoming one with the universe, etc.

 

[talitha]

Hi, noclue, and welcome to Christian Forums.

What many outsiders don't understand is that this thing we call Christianity is not at the bottom a logical conclusion we have come to. Jesus said that no one can come to him unless the Father draws him. It's a thing of the heart, more visceral and elemental, if you will, than a system of logic.

I was raised in a Christian home, but as a young adult I explored other ideas and beliefs and lifestyles. It took just a few years for me to miss the connection I had had with God when I was younger, but I couldn't find my way back. I felt like I had become too intelligent to believe those things anymore, but I wanted to. I found myself illogically praying to a God I didn't believe in, that I could return to "simple belief". And over the course of a few years, he changed my mind. I don't know how else to describe it. If we give him our hearts, he will change our minds. Even my political stances have completely changed, and not because I decided to change them; I simply found myself seeing things differently.

You are right when you say that humans have the motivation and means to create ideologies. One example of a man-made ideology is Islam. But the existence of these does not negate the existence of real ultimate truth.

 

[Adoniram]

If you add to this the creativity and imagination of humans, my question is, how could I follow any religion with full conviction and faith if at the fundamental level everything suggests that humans have the motivation and the means to create ideologies to supress their inherent fears.

I am looking forward to your answers

Thank you!

Quite right...all religions but two are the product of man's imagination, and not worthy of your consideration. The exceptions are Judaism and Christianity. Those two God himself instituted in speaking with select people who conveyed his message.

Christianity separates itself from all other religions in one other key area as well. All the others claim that one must do good works to earn his/her way into heaven, nirvana, or what have you. God says through the Bible that good works cannot get you into heaven, that you must have faith in Jesus Christ.

Anyone here can give you more information on that if you desire.

 

[ViaCrucis]

One thing to consider is that "religion" is a broad umbrella term to describe diverse systems of thought, conviction, practice, and belief. There is no such "thing" as religion, but rather there are religions.

While it's certainly possible to identify both superficial and deeper points of convergence in thought processes (especially in religious traditions that share points of reference); it is best to understand any religious tradition as being unique in its own right. One can also explore religious "families" (such as the Dharmic Religions or Abrahamic Religions); but also recognize that even in these there is radical uniqueness inherent to the tradition.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[food4thought]

Hey guys, I just joined the forum and after reading through a few topics I must say this seems like a very supportive and friendly forum so I hope I can find answers to my questions!

As you can see from my personal info I am an agnostic. I have been brought up in a secular family where religion simply didn't come up in conversations so I had to come to all my conclusions on my own.

Based on my observation and research, most religions seem to have 2 things in common once we get down to the foundation:

- the exsistence of an omnipotent god(s) on whom the believer can rely at an times, and

- the notion of the afterlife


My next 2 observations are about human beings. Again, once you strip away all the cultural/social/educational attributes, all people are:

- social beings and

- alive

If you add to this the creativity and imagination of humans, my question is, how could I follow any religion with full conviction and faith if at the fundamental level everything suggests that humans have the motivation and the means to create ideologies to supress their inherent fears.

I am looking forward to your answers

Thank you!

As others pointed out, not all major religions believe in any "god", let alone an omnipotent one. That said...

The creativity and imagination of humans is not sufficient to account for the Bible, particularly of prophecy fulfilled. Even laying aside the fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ, which are compelling, we have much of ancient history laid out in advance by the Hebrew prophets. I sincerely hope that you get a good commentary and study the prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel in detail. If you do this, you will discover that man is not capable of having created these books of their own will and understanding. Once there, agnosticism will no longer be possible, and you will be left with a choice of whether to just shrug and move on with your life or continue on in your study to the life of Jesus Christ, the messiah of Israel that both prophets predict. I would hope that you are willing to give a few hours a week in study to reach an honest conclusion on these things.

Please, for your own soul's sake, look into Daniel and Isaiah... take the time to look at their prophecies in light of what we know about history.

 

[Powerkitejunkie]

Hi there and welcome to the forum!

I'm no great intellectual, but i can tell you about my own experiences with God in brief....

Was a complete athiest until the age of about 29, then reached a 'crisis' point in that I began to question the fact that the things we put our security into on earth can, at any point, be taken away from us, and I began to ponder 'What is secure?'

To cut a long story short, I went searching for God for about 10 months, and I regularly got down on my knees (not in a church or anywhere posh like that!) but in my bedroom, which looking back on it was quite a grubby place at the time....

I questioned God regularly about all sorts of things such as, 'What about all the other religions? Why believe the Bible? What about evolution?' and suchlike. I also asked God that surely if he had been the one who had given me a brain in the first place, surely it is right that I should be questioning these things rather than just blindly saying, 'I believe!' but actually not really having a clue!

Anyway, it's too long to write, but my conversion basically, God spoke to me eventually in a dream, but what freaked me out was that what I had dreamed about was then backed up in a DVD which I happened to see the next day and all sorts of things started happening which were too much of a coincidence to not be from God.

If you would be interested, I have a copy of my personal testimony which I would willingly e mail to you in a private message at some point....

My main advice is to keep praying and searching and questioning God....I started to read the Bible of my own accord, and started to bully all my Christian friends to try to find answers....originally, my intention was to read the entire Bible but to try to disprove it, but in the end God converted me....one of the reasons i believe the Bible is the fact that my conversion DIDN'T take place in a church or anywhere posh (yes, having become a Christian, i do now go to church) but the fact that God came down to reach out to me, in my hovel of a bedroom which had empty beer bottles and stuff strewn around on the floor at the time....

Life is much better as a Christian as I know that I'm going to Heaven when I die (because Jesus died for my sins) but it is also harder as knowing that fact, I can't just live for myself and go out to get drunk or get up to mischief, if this makes sense, as there is a lot at stake....i get tempted to do all sorts of things, including trying to seduce some of my male friends, but I KNOW that i want them to come to Heaven too so I run away from those kinds of temptations now....

If I were you, I would start by reading the four Gospels in the new testament...I started with the Gospel of Mark as it tells you who Jesus was....

 

[oi_antz]

Hey guys, I just joined the forum and after reading through a few topics I must say this seems like a very supportive and friendly forum so I hope I can find answers to my questions!

As you can see from my personal info I am an agnostic. I have been brought up in a secular family where religion simply didn't come up in conversations so I had to come to all my conclusions on my own.

Based on my observation and research, most religions seem to have 2 things in common once we get down to the foundation:

- the exsistence of an omnipotent god(s) on whom the believer can rely at an times, and

- the notion of the afterlife


My next 2 observations are about human beings. Again, once you strip away all the cultural/social/educational attributes, all people are:

- social beings and

- alive

If you add to this the creativity and imagination of humans, my question is, how could I follow any religion with full conviction and faith if at the fundamental level everything suggests that humans have the motivation and the means to create ideologies to supress their inherent fears.

I am looking forward to your answers

Thank you!

Hi noclue, and again, welcome to the website. There are many ways to consider Christianity, so it is always interesting to hear the replies that are presented. I want to present you with a very simple perspective on Christianity that will help you to consider whether you might take sides with Jesus or not.

Here are two fundamental beliefs from Christianity:

1. That Jesus lived a blameless life, teaching righteousness according to His convictions, and
2. that He was publicly crucified by people who did not like the convictions He placed upon their conscience.

Why not read some of what Jesus said and see whether or not you think He was treated right:

Matthew 21 NLT - Jesus Triumphant Entry - As Jesus - Bible Gateway

I like what Talitha said: If we give him our hearts, he will change our minds. I think if you find yourself struggling to accept the information you get from Christians, this will be a good quote to remember.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

Hi,

As a seeker, I guess you are looking into the arguments for and against God. I will give you my arguments for God. I have had many spiritual experiences with God. And I will share with you one of my favorites. And give you a website link that contains other stories of God doing stuff. My favorite God experience is below.

One morning I got up and walked into the hall and I heard a voice that I believed was God say "How would you like to be stabbed in the Valley". The Valley was known as the rough end of town, and the voice scared me a little, I wondered if I had done something to offend God. I had planned to go down to the Valley to ask people out to church as was my habit at the time. In the end I went anyway regardless of the fear. I walked up to the first person I met and asked him if he would like to go out to church. He said to me "I am an atheist, I don't believe in God". I just said "fine", but hoped to change his mind. He then proceeded to unbutton his shirt and showed me scar marks up and down his chest and stomach. He said to me, "I was attacked by a knife wielding man in the Valley some time ago and spent months recovering in hospital, How could God allow that to happen to me". Then I knew why God had said in the morning "How would I like to be stabbed?". God understood this man, but had a good plan for him. Some weeks latter this man came out to church and became a Christian.

My website is Know God Personally

 

[OldWiseGuy]

- alive

I isolated this single thought as the most important one.

I think that it is critically important for any seeker to go alone to a beautiful and serene natural setting away from any human activity and contemplate life. Not the 'meaning' of life' as it relates to your own purpose for being, but life itself.

Without consideration of who you are think about what you are; a living creature.

Take a deep breath, as Adam did when he became a 'living soul'.

Look at the beauty around you (you did go to a beautiful place, didn't you?) and consider your eyes.

Pick up a stick or a rock, and consider your hands.

Walk through the forest and consider your feet.

Eat your sandwich (no pork please) and consider the sensation of taste and smell and the strength and satisfaction of it.

Smell the earth, look at the trees and the expanse of the sky, and the other creatures that you might see.

Take it all in and consider the wonder of it, and the wonder of yourself as a living being.

This is how Adam might have responded to being alive.


I believe that everyone should first consider life itself on the most personal level, and go from there. God bless.