what makes one better than the other?

[JudaicChristian]

Reasons to believe: Dr. Hugh Ross | Reasons To Believe

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

So my question is, what makes the god of the Christian bible anymore significant/real than the rest of the gods still worshipped today?

Sacrifice through love.

So to reiterate, I am asking what makes the bible more true than the rest of the religious scriptures still followed today?

That is not a reiteration really, it is totally a different question. This one will have many answers and opinions. In my opinion, it was Jesus Christ, the Savior I never met as a muslim. I was raised believing all previous scriptures to Quran was corrupted by men, but somehow Quran was preserved. Of course I no longer believe that.

 

[ArteestX]

And fwiw, I almost deleted this a dozen times because one thing I have learned is that it's easy to be vulnerable in front of God but not so easy in front of Christians,lol. But I did want to answer you fully and honestly...despite the cost to my fee-fees.

Thanks for posting this. I didn't see anyone else respond to it, but if you're still reading this thread, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate your writing all that down. Thanks!

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Sacrifice through love.

I don't even know what that means.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

I am asking what makes the bible more true than the rest of the religious scriptures still followed today?

Nothing. Jesus taught all the same. The reason God has different word than the word God is becuase they do not speak english. God is the english word we use. The speak their own language. We each speak our own language.

But different religions disagree on pretty basic things, such as the number of deities.

 

[Jesusfreekwanabe]

( i did not read all the posts )

" what make one religion better than the other "


it is varry simple just cry out address , not nessacaly to any religion , But to the Lord God almighty Maker of all the universe , seek him seek him seek him , pray that he open your eyes to find him , and when He dose hear your prayer Mean bissnunss when he calls you to repetance , after that He him self will show you perty much every thing .He will call you his child and you will call him your daddy and you will share love like u never known it .

thats what happend to me any way , the only exception is that i belive he was chassing me in the first place

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

There is one truth and a multitude of lies. ]
Now it's just a matter of elimination.

Sounds pretty simple to me

 

[MichaelNZ]

I see a lot of bigotry and intolerance going on here. Statements like "There is one truth and a multitude of lies. Now it's just a matter of elimination." Who are you to go and tell someone that the way he lives his life is wrong and he should adopt yours? It would be like saying "We think the world would be better if everyone had blue letterboxes. We think you should paint your letterbox blue". Who are they to tell you what colour to paint your letterbox? It's your letterbox, and you might want it to be green, since green's your favourite colour.

The reason that there are different scriptures is because God gives people the spiritual message in a form they can understand. Think about this: a First Grade/Standard 1 student would not be able to solve the equation 3y + (5x x 8) x 5. This is complex mathematics that a 6 year old wouldn't be able to understand. Therefore, it is simplified to a level that he can understand, like 2 + 2 = 4. However, as he progresses through school and learns more, it gets more and more complex. If he goes onto college or university, he will be studying even more advanced formulas. At such a leve, he would find first grade mathematics extremely boring and simple.

In the same way, people are at different spiritual levels. Most people cannot fully understand God, who is so much greater than His creation, just as a watchmaker is so much greater than the watches he makes. Therefore, God has simplified the spiritual message accordingly. The most detailed account of God can be found in the Hindu Vedic Scriptures. They are so vast, with so much information that it takes decades to study them in their entirety. They contain the most accurate, concise and complete view of God.

However, most people aren't ready for that sort of commitment - spending their whole lives reading scripture. So God has sent down other scriptures - much simpler ones for the common people such as the Torah/Old Testament, New Testament, Guru Granth Sahib, Kitab-i-Aqdas and Qur'an (although I do not know if the Qur'an has a divine origin since I started reading Prophet of Doom by Craig Winn - it looks like Muhammad may have just made the Qur'an up). In doing so, he has had to simplify various concepts for those who are morally and spiritually degraded. These scriputres were revealed to various people at various times according to various circumstances. Not everything in them may be applicable to the modern world.

For example: The Qur'an states that a man may only have sex with his wives or female slaves. "[Successful indeed are] those who guard their chastity, except from their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess, - for then, they are free from blame;" (Qur'an 23:5-6). The pre-Islamic Arabs indulged in free sex - this was Muhammad's way of stopping that practice.

The Bible states "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Here God is telling the Israelites not to have sexual relations with those whom they are not married to. At that time, adultery was common so God forbade it.

The Hindu scriptures have no prohibitions against premarital or extramarital sex - not because Hinduism condones these actions but because there was no need for such instructions at the time these scriptures were revealed. The Vedas were revealed when Indian society was at its best, as was the Bhagavad-Gita which contains the essence of the Vedas. Vedic culture says that a man is to treat all women who are not his wife as his mother.

In all religious scriptures (except the Buddhist scriptures), the following themes are found:

1. God is one and love of God
2. Obedience to the laws of God
3. Service and devotion to God
4. Return to the Kingdom of God
5. Turn away from sin and towards righteousness
6. Sacrifice and renunciation of material pleasure for spiritual gain/enlightenment

This is the essence of all the major religious scriptures of the world. The specifics may differ in many respects, but the essence is the same.

However, the Buddhist scriptures don't speak of God at all. This is because they are a pre-theistic message: "Do good and strive to become the best person you can, and you can overcome suffering and reach enlightenment". Following this teaching can bring you to a state where you can begin to understand God and serve Him.

if I go to the middle east a Muslim is going to tell me that the only way to get to heaven is being a Muslim and following their beliefs, a Hindu will tell me the same but that I'd have to be a Hindu...so why should I believe a Christian when they tell me the same thing? just as a side note, most Nazi only did what Hitler told them to do so that they wouldn't be killed, very few of them actually stood for what Hitler believed in, they just greatly feared death.

It's obvious from this quote that you know little about Hinduism. Hinduism doesn't say that you have to be a Hindu to get to heaven. In fact, heaven is not the highest spiritual world in Hinduism anyway. The goal of life according to Hinduism is to attain moksha or liberation from rebirth. Eventually the soul will merge with Brahman (God). And YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A HINDU TO ATTAIN MOKSHA.

Always lines up? the bible contradicts itself left and right, once again, no offense intended, but please do expand.

Does it matter if it contradicts itself? It's provided spiritual guidance for millions of people over the years and is still doing so nowadays. It's helping people grow in their relationship with God and progress towards Him. Does it really matter if there are a few copyist errors in it?

 

[iAtheist]

I see a lot of bigotry and intolerance going on here. Statements like "There is one truth and a multitude of lies. Now it's just a matter of elimination." Who are you to go and tell someone that the way he lives his life is wrong and he should adopt yours? It would be like saying "We think the world would be better if everyone had blue letterboxes. We think you should paint your letterbox blue". Who are they to tell you what colour to paint your letterbox? It's your letterbox, and you might want it to be green, since green's your favourite colour.

Thank you.

The reason that there are different scriptures is because God gives people the spiritual message in a form they can understand. Think about this: a First Grade/Standard 1 student would not be able to solve the equation 3y + (5x x 8) x 5. This is complex mathematics that a 6 year old wouldn't be able to understand. Therefore, it is simplified to a level that he can understand, like 2 + 2 = 4. However, as he progresses through school and learns more, it gets more and more complex. If he goes onto college or university, he will be studying even more advanced formulas. At such a leve, he would find first grade mathematics extremely boring and simple.

Great analogy.

In the same way, people are at different spiritual levels. Most people cannot fully understand God, who is so much greater than His creation, just as a watchmaker is so much greater than the watches he makes. Therefore, God has simplified the spiritual message accordingly. The most detailed account of God can be found in the Hindu Vedic Scriptures. They are so vast, with so much information that it takes decades to study them in their entirety. They contain the most accurate, concise and complete view of God.

Yet, even though he purposely presented himself this way to people of different regions/cultures, he still decides to damn them to hell for not believing in Jesus? And this same god is all loving?

However, most people aren't ready for that sort of commitment - spending their whole lives reading scripture. So God has sent down other scriptures - much simpler ones for the common people such as the Torah/Old Testament, New Testament, Guru Granth Sahib, Kitab-i-Aqdas and Qur'an (although I do not know if the Qur'an has a divine origin since I started reading Prophet of Doom by Craig Winn - it looks like Muhammad may have just made the Qur'an up). In doing so, he has had to simplify various concepts for those who are morally and spiritually degraded. These scriputres were revealed to various people at various times according to various circumstances. Not everything in them may be applicable to the modern world.

So god intentionally had certain people lack belief in Jesus, did he fear heaven would fill up too fast so he made it so a good amount of people would be damned to hell no matter what?
Also, did god make up Zeus and Hera for the ancient Greeks as well?

For example: The Qur'an states that a man may only have sex with his wives or female slaves. "[Successful indeed are]those who guard their chastity, except from their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess, - for then, they are free from blame;" (Qur'an 23:5-6). The pre-Islamic Arabs indulged in free sex - this was Muhammad's way of stopping that practice.

The Bible states "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Here God is telling the Israelites not to have sexual relations with those whom they are not married to. At that time, adultery was common so God forbade it.

The Hindu scriptures have no prohibitions against premarital or extramarital sex - not because Hinduism condones these actions but because there was no need for such instructions at the time these scriptures were revealed. The Vedas were revealed when Indian society was at its best, as was the Bhagavad-Gita which contains the essence of the Vedas. Vedic culture says that a man is to treat all women who are not his wife as his mother.

In all religious scriptures (except the Buddhist scriptures), the following themes are found:

1. God is one and love of God
2. Obedience to the laws of God
3. Service and devotion to God
4. Return to the Kingdom of God
5. Turn away from sin and towards righteousness
6. Sacrifice and renunciation of material pleasure for spiritual gain/enlightenment

This is the essence of all the major religious scriptures of the world. The specifics may differ in many respects, but the essence is the same.

I'm not allowed to post links yet so I'll just say: Has it never occured to you that the morals you speak of have been around much before the bible and your god were ever even mentioned? Do a google search for any of these, "ancient roman morals", "ancient greek morals" or "ancient egyptian morals" and see if what you find isn't along the same lines as the morals you speak of. Be sure to notice, like I said, that your god is never mentioned nor any god similar to yours.

However, the Buddhist scriptures don't speak of God at all. This is because they are a pre-theistic message: "Do good and strive to become the best person you can, and you can overcome suffering and reach enlightenment". Following this teaching can bring you to a state where you can begin to understand God and serve Him.

Atheists don't speak of God at all either and most of us are good people who strive to become better, for ourselves and future generations. That's not what leads to believing in god, that's what leads to being a functional member of society. What leads to belief in god/gods is the huge empty feeling people get when they have nothing to attribute these morals and good deeds to (not to mention the lack of a conclusive solution to the origin of the universe and the species among it but that's a whole different conversation). Then they hear about this god dude who suddenly answers every question they have about life and the world around them. If only it were that simple.

It's obvious from this quote that you know little about Hinduism. Hinduism doesn't say that you have to be a Hindu to get to heaven. In fact, heaven is not the highest spiritual world in Hinduism anyway. The goal of life according to Hinduism is to attain moksha or liberation from rebirth. Eventually the soul will merge with Brahman (God). And YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A HINDU TO ATTAIN MOKSHA.

Remove the sentence that I wrote about Hindus and my claim will still hold.

Does it matter if it contradicts itself? It's provided spiritual guidance for millions of people over the years and is still doing so nowadays. It's helping people grow in their relationship with God and progress towards Him. Does it really matter if there are a few copyist errors in it?

Yes it does matter if it contradicts itself. Copyist errors? Really? Plenty of the contradictions found in the bible can be found within the original hebrew text. I've been living without a "relationship" with god for almost 8 years now (before then I was too young to fully comprehend my disbelief but I did have my doubts about his existence) and I'm doing pretty well for myself as are many people in this world that don't believe in god, past and present.

 

[iAtheist]

Atheist, you may post directly to me through my email if you want to. I am interested in discussing whatever you want to. Unlike some, I belive everyone should be heard.

I'd love to send you an email but I've not got enough posts yet to do so, could you possibly PM me your address? If you have MSN messenger or AIM, those would probably work better. Thanks

 

[A Guidance Without Doubt]

my answer to you is this experiments:
experiment 1: get all the religion scriptures, read them and check which one has no contradictions at all.

experiment 2: go to all religion mens ( ex, priest , Rabbi, Sheikh .. etc) and ask all the question u have in mind and see who gives u best logical answers.

experiment 3: saying that religion is a company , and it produce people, get a sample from the best (not scholars) religious mens of each religion, and find the best product

experiment 4: read the history of all religions, and its effect on the followers

result: when you finish: you'll know which one is true and right

now talking about morals , morals comes with religion or taken from religion
because if i'm an athiest and i lie alot , who will judge me? what punishment will i get ?
and if I can kill someone and there was no laws, who cares ? if i have the power then its ok according to laws of evolution
in most religion theres a way of punishment for that.

 

[Eudaimonist]

result: when you finish: you'll know which one is true and right

No, you'll know which one does the best job at hiding its flaws and contradictions. You'll know which one is most dishonest and sneaky about it.

because if i'm an athiest and i lie alot , who will judge me? what punishment will i get ?

That's easy. You will live a less than honest life. You will fail to achieve the honor of living an honest life. This is the worst punishment of all.

and if I can kill someone and there was no laws, who cares ?

The saddest thing of all is if one doesn't care oneself. The punishment is that one will live the life of someone who doesn't care about others. One will live a stunted life, like a diseased rose bush that produces thorns, but no flowers.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Wiccan_Child]

my answer to you is this experiments:
experiment 1: get all the religion scriptures, read them and check which one has no contradictions at all.

experiment 2: go to all religion mens ( ex, priest , Rabbi, Sheikh .. etc) and ask all the question u have in mind and see who gives u best logical answers.

experiment 3: saying that religion is a company , and it produce people, get a sample from the best (not scholars) religious mens of each religion, and find the best product

experiment 4: read the history of all religions, and its effect on the followers

result: when you finish: you'll know which one is true and right

Nope. You'll know which one is 1) internally consistent, 2) air-tight, 3) conducive to good works, and 4) historically non-violent. But that doesn't tell you which one is true.

If you can find a religion that has all these qualities, I'd be very, very impressed, and I'd even award it with my "genuinely unique religion" award. But such traits don't prove a religion to be true. After all, the exact same traits can be found in many fictional universes.

now talking about morals , morals comes with religion or taken from religion
because if i'm an athiest and i lie alot , who will judge me? what punishment will i get ?

Society will punish you.
It's worth mentioning that religious people are just as likely to lie, steal, and murder, as non-religious people.

and if I can kill someone and there was no laws, who cares ?

Again, the society does. Any society which allows its members to kill each other will not survive very long. From an evolutionary point of view, eschewing murder to any degree improves that society's odds of surviving the decades.

if i have the power then its ok according to laws of evolution

Evolution doesn't say anything is OK. It tells us what is and what is not. What we do with that information is up to us.

Science is descriptive, not prescriptive.

in most religion theres a way of punishment for that.

In most religions, sure, but such punishments are carried out either a) in the afterlife, or b) by humans in this life.
It's funny how God never steps in and punishes criminals himself...

 

[Witchy Bee]

Well, personally I think my path is just one of many. I don't see my gods and goddesses as any better than anyone's. I just didn't have a connection to the, for example, Christian view on divinity. So I found a faith that felt right to me, and I don't claim to know it's the "true" way, or that everyone should follow my religion if they want to be happy or live on in peace after death. Because everyone has their own unique path, like a finger print. What makes one person content may not work for another. And that's essentially what I think religion is, a way to help you cope with the fact that we don't know everything and never will.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

I don't even know what that means.

It is easier to ask and learn rather than posting about one's lack of knowledge.

 

[iAtheist]

my answer to you is this experiments:
experiment 1: get all the religion scriptures, read them and check which one has no contradictions at all.

experiment 2: go to all religion mens ( ex, priest , Rabbi, Sheikh .. etc) and ask all the question u have in mind and see who gives u best logical answers.

experiment 3: saying that religion is a company , and it produce people, get a sample from the best (not scholars) religious mens of each religion, and find the best product

experiment 4: read the history of all religions, and its effect on the followers

result: when you finish: you'll know which one is true and right

I know enough about religion to know that most of it is bs.

now talking about morals , morals comes with religion or taken from religion
because if i'm an athiest and i lie alot , who will judge me? what punishment will i get ?
and if I can kill someone and there was no laws, who cares ? if i have the power then its ok according to laws of evolution
in most religion theres a way of punishment for that.

No, morals do not come from religion. Morals have been adopted by religion. You think that just because we don't follow a religion that we think it's okay to do whatever we want? If so, then you know absolutely nothing about atheism. We're people just like you, we know right from wrong and we base it on common sense and laws.
Funny you mention murder, considering most serial killers I've heard of were religious. Charles Manson, Christian. Jeffery Dahmer, born-again Christian. John Wayne Gacy, Catholic. Dennis Rader (BTK Stranger), Lutheran. Albert Fish, a child molesting cannibal who suffered from religious psychosis, Christian.
Hitler was a Roman Catholic alter Boy and wrote of wanting to be a Catholic priest. He and his men in charge of killing six million Jews were Catholic religious fanatics until death.
Stalin went to college to be a Protestant Christian minister. He became president of Russia and time after time had millions murdered.
Bruce Lee murdered 26 people. The Flint Journal article says "Bible reading was his only consolations" and he quoted the bible saying "Matthew 6, verse 24 no servant can be a serve of two masters."
David Berkowitz (Corbis) called the SON OF SAM, murdered more than 10 women. The newspaper said "He called himself a born again Christian"
Berwid The article in the Flint Journal quotes him "I was searching the bible and soul searching and I decided God wanted me to do that."
The Yorkshire Rapier "was on a divine mission and felt he had been chosen to hear the word of GOD (JESUS)." Reported the Flint Journal. He murdered 11 girls.
Miller a serial killer had that thing called faith, believed in Jesus. The Flint Journal article says he was always carrying the Bible.
Sampson Kanderayi, a mass murderer called The Ax Killer, killed more than 30 people. The newspaper reported "he did it to appease evil spirits." He was a Christian
Watts, The Sunday Morning Slasher killed 11 women. This article says he did it "to eliminate evil spirits".
Jeffery Dahmer is a typical serial killer. He killed more than 23 young men and eat many of them.
A college professor at WSU wrote "Lionel was the son of Lionel Dahmer, creationist, I went to the library to read back issues of the Milwaukee newspaper on cd.
Jeffery Dahmer was a son of a fundamentalist.
Jeffery Dahmer was a son of a fundamentalist-creationist.
Jeffery Dahmer was a son of a Fundamentalist-creationist-first wife-abuser.
Jeffery Dahmer was a son of a Fundamentalist-creationist-second wife-abuser.
Need I go on?

You also mentioned that killing is seemingly okay according to the laws of evolution. One has nothing to do with the other. Evolution is the scientific explanation of species adapting to the physical world around them. It has nothing at all to do with anything mentally whatsoever. Please don't confuse biology with psychology, they are two very different aspects of science. Furthermore, if I were to kill someone (which I wouldn't because I know that it's wrong) I would recieve punishment for it, it's called the supreme court followed by a lifetime in prison.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

Bruce Lee murdered 26 people. The Flint Journal article says "Bible reading was his only consolations" and he quoted the bible saying "Matthew 6, verse 24 no servant can be a serve of two masters."

Oh fail! Now did you also know that Bruce Lee was an atheist? I guess you just proved yourself religious texts can be used by anyone for their fitting purpose. That includes Hitler, Stalin and all that other evil you attempted to blame "faith and God" for.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

It is easier to ask and learn rather than posting about one's lack of knowledge.

In Britain, saying "I don't understand" generally invites the other person to elaborate on what they just said. Must be a culture thing.

Anyway, what does "sacrifice through love" mean?

 

[iAtheist]

Aside from Bruce Lee, every other person I mentioned were/are indeed religious. Hitler preached about God in his speeches. As far as Stalin goes, read this:

Stalin had a complex relationship with religious institutions in the Soviet Union. One story reports that while he studied at a seminary, he became a closet atheist. However, this story fails on several obvious accounts, including Stalin's remaining religious, even pious, for some years longer. One account states that Stalin's reversal on bans against the church during World War II followed a sign that he believed he received from heaven.
Historian Edvard Radzinsky used recently discovered secret archives and noted a story that changed Stalin's attitude toward religion. The story in which Ilya, Metropolitan of the Lebanon Mountains, claimed to receive a sign from heaven that "The churches and monasteries must be reopened throughout the country. Priests must be brought back from imprisonment, Leningrad must not be surrendered, but the sacred icon of Our Lady of Kazan should be carried around the city boundary, taken on to Moscow, where a service should be held, and thence to Stalingrad Tsaritsyn." Shortly thereafter, Stalin's attitude changed and "Whatever the reason, after his mysterious retreat, he began making his peace with God. Something happened which no historian has yet written about. On his orders many priests were brought back to the camps. In Leningrad, besieged by the Germans and gradually dying of hunger, the inhabitants were astounded, and uplifted, to see wonder-working icon Our Lady of Kazan brought out into the streets and borne in procession." Radzinsky asked, "Had he seen the light? Had fear made him run to his Father? Had the Marxist God-Man simply decided to exploit belief in God? Or was it all of these things at once?."
During the Second World War Stalin reopened the Churches. One reason could have been to motivate the majority of the population who had Christian beliefs. The reasoning behind this is that by changing the official policy of the party and the state towards religion, the Church and its clergymen could be to his disposal in mobilizing the war effort. On 4 September 1943, Stalin invited Metropolitan Sergius, Metropolitan Alexy and Metropolitan Nikolay to the Kremlin and proposed to reestablish the Moscow Patriarchate, which had been suspended since 1925, and elect the Patriarch. On 8 September 1943, Metropolitan Sergius was elected Patriarch.

If you'd like to learn about the rest then might I suggest you use Google.

 

[iAtheist]

Anyway, what does "sacrifice through love" mean?

If I had to guess, I would say that it means to sacrifice your life to "god" out of love for him. In other words, selling your "soul" to "god".