Where did other religions come from?

[Umaro]

According to the bible, humanity started with just two people and grew from there. This population also had direct contact with God for several centuries, yet where did all the other religions come from then? It makes sense that there would be some change over time (like the variations in Christianity) but what about the ones that are polytheistic? The majority of these show no relation to the Christian God, and could not have evolved out of the single initial belief as you faith would claim. Then theres the Native Americans, whose spirit beings hold almost no similarity to the Christian God. Even when we examine history, monotheism was a relatively late belief. If man was originally created with belief in one specific God, where'd the others come from?

 

[Blesss]

"Why are there so many different religions?"
"It has been well said that "religion" is man’s way of trying to deal with his guilt. Different religions have different ways of attempting to rid their adherents of sin and its consequences. They fast, pray, deny themselves legitimate pleasures, or chasten themselves, often to a point of inflicting pain. They do this because they have a concept of what they think God (or "the gods") is like, so they seek to establish their own righteousness, being "ignorant of God’s righteousness." The Good News of the Christian faith is that no one need suffer the pains of religious works. Christ’s blood can cleanse our conscience from the "dead works" of religion (Hebrews 9:14). Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, and He is the only One who can save us from sin and death. See Acts 4:12 and John 14:6."

- By - WWW.WAYOFTHEMASTER.COM

 

[Umaro]

"Why are there so many different religions?"
"It has been well said that "religion" is man’s way of trying to deal with his guilt. Different religions have different ways of attempting to rid their adherents of sin and its consequences. They fast, pray, deny themselves legitimate pleasures, or chasten themselves, often to a point of inflicting pain. They do this because they have a concept of what they think God (or "the gods") is like, so they seek to establish their own righteousness, being "ignorant of God’s righteousness." The Good News of the Christian faith is that no one need suffer the pains of religious works. Christ’s blood can cleanse our conscience from the "dead works" of religion (Hebrews 9:14). Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, and He is the only One who can save us from sin and death. See Acts 4:12 and John 14:6."

- By - WWW.WAYOFTHEMASTER.COM

That didn't answer my question really. I asked about the origins of religions, this quote tells me that there are many different religions with many different beliefs. I knew that much already.

 

[desert_island_1]

Judaism was present long before Christianity. Also, if you look at many texts of other religions, they have similar stories. (creation stories, a great flood) But, we also know that other religions existed at the time of Jesus becuse it is talked about in the bible. These religions came about in people not beleiving as Jews and wanting something else. They would create their own religion. Kinda the same way that new religions are created today. People are not happy with what they have and so they create something that theey think will fufill their needs. In reality, the only way to be fufilled is through Jesus.

Kristy

 

[Shubunkin]

Genesis 4:15 proves there were more than two people on the earth.

Cain was afraid of being killed... so who would kill him if there were only his immediate family there?

 

[Confess]

Well while there seems to be many different religions, my church teaches that there really is only two religions.

Boiled down to their essence there is the religion:
1. Of law = That is the religion that makes you work for your salvation. This is the religion that people tend to be drawn to. People want to be in power over their salvation. They tend to want to be able to say, "See! Look at what a good person I am, I deserve salvation."

This religion is filled with thousands of names from Buddhism, Hindu, Muslim etc.

2. The Gospel = That is a religion where you do not earn your salvation. This religion is the religion where salvation is a free gift to all those who believe. This is the religion where God sends his Son to sacrifice himself in order for all who believes in him to be saved.

This religion has many different denominations like the Catholic church, Lutheran etc.

 

[Calminian]

According to the bible, humanity started with just two people and grew from there. This population also had direct contact with God for several centuries, yet where did all the other religions come from then? It makes sense that there would be some change over time (like the variations in Christianity) but what about the ones that are polytheistic? The majority of these show no relation to the Christian God, and could not have evolved out of the single initial belief as you faith would claim. Then theres the Native Americans, whose spirit beings hold almost no similarity to the Christian God. Even when we examine history, monotheism was a relatively late belief. If man was originally created with belief in one specific God, where'd the others come from?

CS Lewis wrote often about the God consciousness in man. He reasoned that the only explanation for this could be the existence of God. All of us have a void that only He can fill. If we don't fill this void with the true God, in whose image we're made, then we must fill it with something. Thus the necessity of religions.

 

[Umaro]

Judaism was present long before Christianity. Also, if you look at many texts of other religions, they have similar stories. (creation stories, a great flood) But, we also know that other religions existed at the time of Jesus becuse it is talked about in the bible. These religions came about in people not beleiving as Jews and wanting something else. They would create their own religion. Kinda the same way that new religions are created today. People are not happy with what they have and so they create something that theey think will fufill their needs. In reality, the only way to be fufilled is through Jesus.

Kristy

So you're saying that the Native Americans, after descending from Adam and Eve, somehow managed to erase every single aspect of anything even remotely close to your God from their belief system, destroy completly all knowledge and evidence they ever had anything to do with a God their people would have witnessed directly at some point, and made an entirely new concept to follow? I'm not talking about at the time of Jesus, if everyone started from Adam and Eve, every religion should be very similar.

 

[Umaro]

CS Lewis wrote often about the God consciousness in man. He reasoned that the only explanation for this could be the existence of God. All of us have a void that only He can fill. If we don't fill this void with the true God, in whose image we're made, then we must fill it with something. Thus the necessity of religions.

I don't have some unfulfilled void deep down inside, so where do I fit in?

 

[Calminian]

I don't have some unfulfilled void deep down inside, so where do I fit in?

Well you are on a christian board and claim you are searching. If there is no God, where would that desire even come from?

And keep in mind, atheists are a very small minority of the population.

 

[Umaro]

Well you are on a christian board and claim you are searching. If there is no God, where would that desire even come from?

And keep in mind, atheists are a very small minority of the population.

What does the size of the population who are atheists have anything to do with this? And as I've said numerous times before, I'm here trying to understand Christians because I'm surrounded by them in America and American politics. I AM NOT HERE TO SEEK RELIGION.

 

[heron]

I don't believe that religions are completely based on an internal need. There are so many millions of stories of supernatural activity around the world and through history, we can't deny the phenomenon of unseen forces.

If someone tallied the percentage of supernatural activity in a random sampling of global individuals, and treated it as scientifically as other topics, it would become serious scientific data. We talk as if religion is just opinion and choice, but it's also people facing forces they can't contain.

 

[heron]

Tree spirits, Greek dieties, volcanic gods, totems, leprechauns, faeries,
sun and sea gods.. I don't believe that people just make these up.

People have experiences and fears of powers, entities with personalities that can't be tamed.

When Christians talk about demons and exorcism, they're not usually referring to spinning heads, but forces that impose themselves on us, with unpredictability and mixed motives.

Our God who made all that exists, presents Himself to us very honestly. He does not impose his powers on us, or infringe on our rights of choice. We have a book that shows what to expect from Him, and even though we can't contain or speak for Him, we generally know His heart.

I know that sounds very ethno-centric, but I would welcome anyone from any religion to stand beside the God Who Created all That Exists. I think that many have, and cultures have blended their understanding of Him with their perception of other forces.

Logically to me, the other forces fit into the category of unseen manipulative and greedy spirits.

 

[Davis]

So you're saying that the Native Americans, after descending from Adam and Eve, somehow managed to erase every single aspect of anything even remotely close to your God from their belief system, destroy completly all knowledge and evidence they ever had anything to do with a God their people would have witnessed directly at some point, and made an entirely new concept to follow? I'm not talking about at the time of Jesus, if everyone started from Adam and Eve, every religion should be very similar.

There are countless examples in scripture were people were walking with God one minute and the next they were worshipping some other idol. Like the people of Israel. God had just delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They went into the desert lead by Moses and they were getting upset over some things not going there way. So they got impatient and had a Golden Calf made and they worshipped it.

Some people think that when God does not cater to there needs that they need to find something else. The focus is not on God and thats why they stumble into a life away from Him. Its not about us. Its about God. So its easy to see why other false religions and belief systems are in the world. Satan being one of the reasons and mans stubborness and unfaithfullness.

 

[Confess]

I agree with Davis.

Since the fall man has tried to create his own god rejecting the True God.

 

[Umaro]

I don't think I'm being clear with my question, so I made a poorly drawn flowchart to illustrate. This is how the evolution of religions would have to go according to your Bible with creationism and such. Common sense tells us this chart is completly wrong, so is there something I'm missing?

 

[Davis]

Well there were other religions as well at the time before Christ walked this Earth so there needs to be some offshoots there. But the chart looks pretty good to me.

Whats not to understand. Like I said. Some people lost sight of God and started up religions on what they thought should be the norm.


Say somebody gave me some advice on how to live. They made me promises. But it was going to take some time. I followed the advice and path but than these things did not come into effect as soon as I wanted. Sometimes things looked hopeless. So than I decide to make choices myself and start a new direction of my life based on my thinking.

This kind of thinking is what causes some to stray. And it did cause some to stray like the Israelites thinking that they had a better way than Gods way.

The focus needs to be on Him. We need to trust Him even when thinks look impossible. The parting of the Red Sea is a great example.

 

[heron]

Honestly, historians and archeaologists are finding new things every day, and there is significant evidence of Asian civilization documented before Jewish history is documented. The book of Genesis was written long after the events occurred, so we don't know about the accuracy of dates -- even if the meanings of words or numbers changed over those hundreds of years.

That's not the point, though. Concerning religions -- Adam and Eve didn't subscribe to Judaism -- they just walked with God.

I don't think it matters what religion came first. God was there before any religion.

Here is a chart of sacred texts:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/timeline.htm

(See how complex history timelines can get at http://www.history-timeline.com/)


Thank you for taking the time to draw us a chart!

 

[Calminian]

What does the size of the population who are atheists have anything to do with this?

Everything, really. The fact that atheists are so few in number proves what the Bible says about the intrinsic knowledge of man about God (Romans 1 and 2). The truth is, atheism is a very insignificant anomaly. It doesn't happen naturally, it must be advanced by indoctrination through an educational system. And though they've put a vary affective system in place the numbers are still insignificant.

And as I've said numerous times before, I'm here trying to understand Christians because I'm surrounded by them in America and American politics. I AM NOT HERE TO SEEK RELIGION.

Fair enough. But you have your answer. Religiosity is natural for humans. It’s built-in. It’s really quite simple.

 

[Umaro]

Everything, really. The fact that atheists are so few in number proves what the Bible says about the intrinsic knowledge of man about God (Romans 1 and 2). The truth is, atheism is a very insignificant anomaly. It doesn't happen naturally, it must be advanced by indoctrination through an educational system. And though they've put a vary affective system in place the numbers are still insignificant.



Fair enough. But you have your answer. Religiosity is natural for humans. It’s built-in. It’s really quite simple.

First off, number of believers shows nothing. If it did, the world would still be flat. Secondly, atheism has absolutely nothing to do with this topic. If you are not going to contribute, please don't post here.