Which God?

Let's assume that there is a god, who created the universe. How do you know that it's your god? There have been thousands of gods dreamed up by men over time. So, how can you tell that your religion is right, and the other 200 or so religions are wrong?

First, you have to seek God and read, asking Him to tell you what is true. Which one rings of truth and which one just looks like a neat set of axioms?
A person must first believe that God is, and then seek Him diligently with all their heart.
Following the Hebrew people through history is great evidence, too. The prophecies written in the Bible about Jesus he Messiah, Jerusalem, and Israel have come true. Today, we see the whole world looking at the Middle East just as the Bible foretold, and if there is war with Islam envolved as it surely will be, the first place attacked will be the Jews in Israel. The Bible speaks expresively and extensively about what will happen there. Even the fact that there is a nation "Israel" is a miracle that has happened over 2500 years after it was destroyed, dispersed, and then foretold of being born again in one day. That day happened in May 1948.
Jesus will return and restore the world to peace once and for all just when it seems that mankind will destroy it.

Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Proverbs 8:17 "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Zecheriah 12:3 "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

Isaiah 66:7 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.
8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

Ezekiel 29:21 "And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then at last your words will be respected. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

You are raising a unicorn. You get a call and discover you have the last unicorn on earth. You are offered 10 million to sell it. But then you start thinking. If it is the last one, next week you will be offered even more money.

But one day you get a call from someone who wants to breed your unicorn with theirs. You say, like what, I have the only one. So you drive out to this guys ranch and find he has 10. And then more and more unicorns start appearing over the next year. Pretty soon they are everywhere.

Where did they come from? For in fact, you had the only one.

Everyone knows that Unicorns are myths right? And Jesus is just a myth, right? But then where did all the Christians come from? Jesus died. Last of His kind. But you don't suppose.....nah. Never happened. But still...where did all these Christians come from?

Cheers,
Cosmic

RoseThorns said:

Let's assume that there is a god, who created the universe. How do you know that it's your god? There have been thousands of gods dreamed up by men over time. So, how can you tell that your religion is right, and the other 200 or so religions are wrong?

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The creator gave us His message in the Bible. How do we know if the Bible is true? The Bible is historically, archeologically, prophetically and scientifically true.
There is no other book on the earth that has precise predictions as the Bible.
There is only one God that rose from the dead. His name is Jesus.

texastig said:

The creator gave us His message in the Bible. How do we know if the Bible is true? The Bible is historically, archeologically, prophetically and scientifically true.
There is no other book on the earth that has precise predictions as the Bible.
There is only one God that rose from the dead. His name is Jesus.

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I'd like to back that up.

http://godandscience.org/apologetics/authenticity.html

See if this helps you.

Have you considered the difference between Christianity and "other religions"? Religions focus on changing behavior to appeal to the gods and hopefully attain a positive afterlife (Heaven, Nirvana, etc.). Christianity flat-out states that we can't achieve such an outcome on our own. We must have a relationship with God and He's already done everything (but accept His work for us) that must be done for us to have a relationship with Him. Thus, it's not about what we do, but Who we know. To me, the difference is telling and significant.

Rachel

Faith and the Bible.

God gave me faith in Him. I did not reject it. My faith has become stronger and stronger through hearing the Word, receiving the sacraments etc.

Rafael said:

First, you have to seek God and read, asking Him to tell you what is true.

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Which God do you seek first? How do you know when you've recieved an answer?

Rafael said:

Which one rings of truth and which one just looks like a neat set of axioms?

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But all the holy books seem to ring of truth to their followers. Is there a particular emotion you look for, or a particular feeling?

Rafael said:

A person must first believe that God is, and then seek Him diligently with all their heart.

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Once again, which god do you seek?

Rafael said:

Following the Hebrew people through history is great evidence, too. The prophecies written in the Bible about Jesus he Messiah, Jerusalem, and Israel have come true.

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How did these prophecies come true? Did the Bible make them come true, or outside the Bible?

Rafael said:

Today, we see the whole world looking at the Middle East just as the Bible foretold, and if there is war with Islam envolved as it surely will be, the first place attacked will be the Jews in Israel.

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True, but Muslims and Jews have been warring since biblical times. It wouldn't be THAT much of a stretch for the writers to assume it would still be occuring in the future.

Rafael said:

The Bible speaks expresively and extensively about what will happen there.

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How do you know that what the Bible fortold will come to pass?

Rafael said:

Even the fact that there is a nation "Israel" is a miracle that has happened over 2500 years after it was destroyed, dispersed, and then foretold of being born again in one day. That day happened in May 1948.

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Did the Bible say that Israel would become a nation on May in 1948?

Rafael said:

Jesus will return and restore the world to peace once and for all just when it seems that mankind will destroy it.

Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Proverbs 8:17 "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Zecheriah 12:3 "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

Isaiah 66:7 "Before she travailed, she brought forth; Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.
8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

Ezekiel 29:21 "And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then at last your words will be respected. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

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With all due respect, rapid-firing Bible Quotes means just as much to me as me rapid-firing quotes from the "Epic of Gilgamesh" would mean to you.

Thank you for posting, and please respond.

TheCosmicGospel said:

You are raising a unicorn. You get a call and discover you have the last unicorn on earth. You are offered 10 million to sell it. But then you start thinking. If it is the last one, next week you will be offered even more money.

But one day you get a call from someone who wants to breed your unicorn with theirs. You say, like what, I have the only one. So you drive out to this guys ranch and find he has 10. And then more and more unicorns start appearing over the next year. Pretty soon they are everywhere.

Where did they come from? For in fact, you had the only one.

Everyone knows that Unicorns are myths right? And Jesus is just a myth, right? But then where did all the Christians come from? Jesus died. Last of His kind. But you don't suppose.....nah. Never happened. But still...where did all these Christians come from?

Cheers,
Cosmic

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An interesting argument. However, the same could be said for other religions. Where did all of these Buddhists come from? Where did all of these Muslims come from, if their religions aren't true?

Thank you for posting, and I await a response.

texastig said:

The creator gave us His message in the Bible.

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The creators gave us their message in the Bhagavad Gita. How do you know that one is true and one isn't?

texastig said:

How do we know if the Bible is true? The Bible is historically, archeologically, prophetically and scientifically true.

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Please give me an example, or a link that could give me some examples. I can give you an example of a part of the Bible that doesn't appear to be 100% true. The 6000 year old universe. That means that the universe was created while the sumerians were inventing glue, and various other materials.

texastig said:

There is no other book on the earth that has precise predictions as the Bible.

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Examples please.

texastig said:

There is only one God that rose from the dead. His name is Jesus.

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Osiris supposedly rose from the dead before Jesus existed. How do you know that Osiris didn't exist and that Jesus did?

Thank you for posting, and I await your response.

JoeV, I have read some of that site previously, and have seen it's arguments, and I have never really been impressed. I could do a point-by-point refutation of all of their points, but I admit that I don't have the time to do that. If you could give me a specific part or point you want me to refute, I'll do it.

Robinsegg said:

Have you considered the difference between Christianity and "other religions"? Religions focus on changing behavior to appeal to the gods and hopefully attain a positive afterlife (Heaven, Nirvana, etc.). Christianity flat-out states that we can't achieve such an outcome on our own. We must have a relationship with God and He's already done everything (but accept His work for us) that must be done for us to have a relationship with Him. Thus, it's not about what we do, but Who we know. To me, the difference is telling and significant.

Rachel

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So, because Christianity is different from other religions, it must be true? That seems to be what you are saying. If I found a religion that was also rather unique like you believe Christianity is, then would you convert to that religion?

Thanks for the response.

chibitofu said:

Faith and the Bible.

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How is that different from somebody using faith and the Qu'ran to be a Muslim?

Confess said:

God gave me faith in Him. I did not reject it. My faith has become stronger and stronger through hearing the Word, receiving the sacraments etc.

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How do you know that you are having faith in the right god though? I've seen plenty of people with strong faith, that aren't Christians. Does that make their religion true too?

Thanks for responding.

RoseThorns said:

How do you know that you are having faith in the right god though? I've seen plenty of people with strong faith, that aren't Christians. Does that make their religion true too?

Thanks for responding.

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I was baptized at one month old. I had parents who could care less about the faith, yet I burned with desire for God. Only when I stole these little Bibles from other children at school did I feel comforted. I was about 7 years old.

I think my parents would throw the Bibles away, because everytime I wanted to read it, I couldn't find it and had to steal another one.

I was one that began reading at age 5. I still remember reading to my Mom before I began going to kindergarten.

My earliest memories are when my Grandmother gave my parents a beautiful book that had the best illustrations of the Passion. I remember taking it out several times just to be mesmerized by the pics.

What child, that young, desires such a thing on their own?

I believe it was all God. You may not believe, but I KNOW. Later in my life God proved himself to me over and over and over again.

RoseThorns said:

An interesting argument. However, the same could be said for other religions. Where did all of these Buddhists come from? Where did all of these Muslims come from, if their religions aren't true?

Thank you for posting, and I await a response.

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Nahh you have it mixed up.

See no one runs around going Buddha was a Myth, or never existed

No one runs around going Mohamed never existed... or was a myth

But.... they do say that about Jesus......

and yet..... where did all the Christians come from........

God Bless

Key.

Great question. Christianity can be compared to anyother world religion. When you consider their sources and Scritprues, there is just no contest.

Take any of the Sacred Scriptures of the world's religions side by side. The first test will be which one was spoken over centuries and centuries? It does not rest on one man's thinking. Already we have to scratch Buddhism which is nothing but a late 5th century phikosophy. Check Wikpedia.

Did you know that the Bible lists geographical specifics throughout? Most of these places have been discovered. A feat too great for any man or anyone writing in a closed periood of 50 - 100 years. The Bible steps in places that are beyond the history of anyone person. How does it do that?

Another criteria is honesty. If man say had written the Bible we would expect only great things to be said bout its founders. Why tarnish the pot? Yet we read about the failures of all important men in the Bible. Moses, Abraham, Jacob, the list goes on and on. Only Jesus was perfect.

Jesus' claims are astonish. He said, "I am the light of the world." Consider this statement from 33 AD when men only thought locally about their religions. What did we know of the world back then?

Muslims. We have to go on the say so of one man here. Mohammed. His attempt was not to invent a new one but to improve on the old Adam-Abraham faith of the Jews with some new twists. Not creative or that imaginative. You could have done a better job than that.

Christianity hinges on one key fact. Jesus rose from the dead or He didn't. Back to what I said earlier. If Jesus hadn't, there would be no church or Christianity. Others have claims of rising again from the dead. Where is that church?

The purpose of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is to show that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

Cheers,
Cosmic

RoseThorns said:

How do you know that you are having faith in the right god though? I've seen plenty of people with strong faith, that aren't Christians. Does that make their religion true too?

Thanks for responding.

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Good question.
If I found another religion which focussed upon a relationship to the deity rather than a set of rules to be followed (the concept of not being able to achieve a positive afterlife on ones' own), I would love to research it. Would I convert . . . probably not, but I really enjoy research and learning about such things.

Rachel