if god revealed himself to everybody..then how does he know who truly have faith and dont..who believe him cause of faith and belifs and who follow him out of fear..it is all about tests of faith and belifs..its like having a test and the answers..how can u tell those who studied and understood from those who memorized the answers..

torontotrance
is it ok in the bible if you call your parents idiots?

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Originally posted by Pheobius One thing i would also like to add: Christianity is not a religion in the normal sense. If you look at all other religions they have set rules, pray at certain times of the day, confession, clothing, diet rules etc. Religion is a set of rules to live by in the hope you will please god. Christianity is the beleif at we, imperfect beings as we are with no chance of coming close to pleasing a being that in itself is perfect, accept the truth that Jesus Christ, as a perfect being also, took our punishment onto himself so that we might be saved. This means that Christianity is not a set of rules but the knowledge that whatever we do, as long as when wee do wrong we realise and repent, we are safe in the hope of heaven. To summarize it very cheesily other religions are DO religion, as set of rules of things you must do, Christianity realises that the things that secure our immortality have already been DONE. It is also worth noting that in Christianity sexual sin is not its own category, it goes along with things like theft, greed, selfishness etc. It is never to late to ask for repentance.

I thought religion was a belief in a higher power. The details of those beliefs are subject to the specific religion you subscribe to.


and I think the topic has strayed quite a bit. started with sex and psychology, now its religion.....

but I forget what we are talking about in regards to religion..

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Originally posted by bass drive torontotrance is it ok in the bible if you call your parents idiots?

i dont think he reallu meant it, prolly just frustrated a lil

Coming from a spiritual/somewhat religious (I try) point of view, I think when God created man and woman, and a penis and vagina, he created them so that there would be a harmonious union between the two people who would produce offspring….not so we can screw everyone we date until we find the “right one” and then cheat on them and then think we are saved because we show up at church every Sunday (or once or twice a year for holidays). That’s why I don’t go to church when my mom asks me to go, because I would feel like a big hypocrite. And plus I’m at a stage in my life right now, where I am questioning my faith and religion in general.

I think somewhere along the road, there was a bad seed planted and society just went to shit. I mean, since when did 5 year old children become fair game for grown men (or even priests for that matter)?? People just do what they want, and when they want these days with no regard for anything/anyone but themselves. And another thing that bothers me is people who stretch the laws like Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, etc. I don’t think our forefathers wrote that stuff so we can have disgusting and morbid pornographic websites for our pleasure. It’s all just very wrong.

___________________

My soliloquy may be hard for some to swallow, but so is cod liver oil.

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Originally posted by notelfreak man i can't believe i tried to come off as responsible in that other thread, i am so full of shit just don't tell anyone

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Originally posted by sExY pErSiAn I totally agree with u... but according to the bible... even if i am safe and not hurting anyone... I'm still going to hell.

jul, what's you religion? christianity or muslim or hindu or Buddhist? who's wrong who's right? there are no simple answers.

according to the bible everyone else who's religion isn't christian based is going to hell too. i don't believe that at all. nobility doesn't necessarily come with religion you know, as a matter of fact i've met far too many hardcore christian folks who are quite frankly hypocrites to christianity and by the same token i've seen many examples of people who are not so religious but rather SPIRITUAL, some of this same folks are just as sound if not more solid as a real christian, but who am i to say that the christ believer who is merely spiritual will go to hell because he is not religious? i firmly believe that the bible's reference to sexuality where placed there to protect our selves (humanity) from our own stupidity, as are many other types of mandates found in the bible.

be at peace with what is good about your persona and try your hardest to separate your self from what hinders your soul.

___________________
i am a thinkerer, an oldschooler, a nurturer, a hopeless romantic with no one to romance and a VINYL WARRIOR still fighting.

i don't want to get into a whole debate like what has happened in other threads, but i'm just really curious as to what believers think about the foundations of christianity and why you read something like the bible and believe what is says? please lets not argue about who's right, but seriously, i'm really curious as to how you justify your belief in certain things.

i know that religion is based on faith and that you shouldn't question, but how can you believe a book that was written by a bunch of preists and consider it the word of God? isn't it the congolmerate of the intellectuals of the time who happen to impose the teachings of a man, just a philosopher not unlike any other man, jesus. What makes what Jesus taught the truth? what distinguishes him from someone else in the Jewish sect at the time. Jesus was the self proclaimed son of God, so really at what point do we come to believe that and accept him as such?

like i said...i'm not trying to belittle or change your belief, but i'm curious as to the believers thoughts on some of these things. it just seems that more often or not, religious people shirk the issues others pose with the answer or "faith is not having to question", but how can one truly believe without first questioning and coming to a conclusion on one's own?

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Originally posted by Floorfiller i don't want to get into a whole debate like what has happened in other threads, but i'm just really curious as to what believers think about the foundations of christianity and why you read something like the bible and believe what is says? please lets not argue about who's right, but seriously, i'm really curious as to how you justify your belief in certain things. i know that religion is based on faith and that you shouldn't question, but how can you believe a book that was written by a bunch of preists and consider it the word of God? isn't it the congolmerate of the intellectuals of the time who happen to impose the teachings of a man, just a philosopher not unlike any other man, jesus. What makes what Jesus taught the truth? what distinguishes him from someone else in the Jewish sect at the time. Jesus was the self proclaimed son of God, so really at what point do we come to believe that and accept him as such? like i said...i'm not trying to belittle or change your belief, but i'm curious as to the believers thoughts on some of these things. it just seems that more often or not, religious people shirk the issues others pose with the answer or "faith is not having to question", but how can one truly believe without first questioning and coming to a conclusion on one's own?

eh, it is all based on faith man. If you truely believe what you feel and the bible does it for you, you will not question it and lead a life to it.

You do not need proof with faith. I think that is where your question is. You need to understand faith. Its a feeling that appeals to millions.

however it is getting tougher to truely have faith when science has its grasp on us all day everyday. Science tells us we need proof, while religion tells us we just need faith.

so I guess your only gonna get the answer your not looking for, faith and feelings lead people to follow religion. However there are some that are drawn to god from a "miracle" experience, which I am guessing is what your looking for, but those are few and far between.



for me I, I just try to learn about all the religions out there. I am hugely drawn to science so my faith in anything is really weak. However being raised up christian I do have tendencies to follow that.

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Originally posted by Boomer187 eh, it is all based on faith man. If you truely believe what you feel and the bible does it for you, you will not question it and lead a life to it. You do not need proof with faith. I think that is where your question is. You need to understand faith. Its a feeling that appeals to millions. however it is getting tougher to truely have faith when science has its grasp on us all day everyday. Science tells us we need proof, while religion tells us we just need faith. so I guess your only gonna get the answer your not looking for, faith and feelings lead people to follow religion. However there are some that are drawn to god from a "miracle" experience, which I am guessing is what your looking for, but those are few and far between. for me I, I just try to learn about all the religions out there. I am hugely drawn to science so my faith in anything is really weak. However being raised up christian I do have tendencies to follow that.

ok...i understand the whole faith thing, but at what point did people start to accept that faith without first saying...hey...who is this jesus guy...and why is his teachings correct. i know what you're saying, but hopefully what i'm saying is coming across somewhat. i think we probably are very similar in our approach to religions. i just think that people need to stop being sheep and read to understand and not just accept things because that is what their parents said. you're a scientist so how would it look if you said that the world is round, but you didn't have any scientific proof or reasoning to back it up? that wouldn't fly. now, i'm not saying people have to prove that god exists, i'm just saying that they should be able to rationally explain why they feel a certain way about things.

i truly believe that christianity is really only as big as it is because lets face it, back in the day, people were iliterate and ignorant to the world around them. so if you're parents tell you something you have no reason to believe different especially when you could be possibly killed for any kind of challenge to that. we look at such times and people in history such as the greeks and the renaissance as times of great intellectual advancement because of their challenge of social norms and ability to apply the human understanding to things, but then when we think about religion, for some reason that reasoning no longer applies.

i'm sure that the majority of people out there that would call themselves christians or catholic or any other religion believe so because they do not want to go to hell. well, if that is the only reason for believing something, is it really worth the blind exceptance?

lets say for a second that god does exist...since he would want only the devote, wouldn't it only seem logical that one that asks questions only to come to the conclusion that yes, god exists to me would be the most wanted and devote of all those who believe. i think that people's ability to prove why they believe is crucial to the true nature of religion. if you have no reason for believing then, how can you say that you truly believe. faith only is not enough, their must be logic behind that faith or else you are not as devote as you may think you are.

sorry i know that was a book hehehe...but hey i type fast and sometimes it just takes over hehehe...

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Originally posted by Floorfiller ok...i understand the whole faith thing, but at what point did people start to accept that faith without first saying...hey...who is this jesus guy...and why is his teachings correct. i know what you're saying, but hopefully what i'm saying is coming across somewhat. i think we probably are very similar in our approach to religions. i just think that people need to stop being sheep and read to understand and not just accept things because that is what their parents said. you're a scientist so how would it look if you said that the world is round, but you didn't have any scientific proof or reasoning to back it up? that wouldn't fly. now, i'm not saying people have to prove that god exists, i'm just saying that they should be able to rationally explain why they feel a certain way about things. i truly believe that christianity is really only as big as it is because lets face it, back in the day, people were iliterate and ignorant to the world around them. so if you're parents tell you something you have no reason to believe different especially when you could be possibly killed for any kind of challenge to that. we look at such times and people in history such as the greeks and the renaissance as times of great intellectual advancement because of their challenge of social norms and ability to apply the human understanding to things, but then when we think about religion, for some reason that reasoning no longer applies. i'm sure that the majority of people out there that would call themselves christians or catholic or any other religion believe so because they do not want to go to hell. well, if that is the only reason for believing something, is it really worth the blind exceptance? lets say for a second that god does exist...since he would want only the devote, wouldn't it only seem logical that one that asks questions only to come to the conclusion that yes, god exists to me would be the most wanted and devote of all those who believe. i think that people's ability to prove why they believe is crucial to the true nature of religion. if you have no reason for believing then, how can you say that you truly believe. faith only is not enough, their must be logic behind that faith or else you are not as devote as you may think you are. sorry i know that was a book hehehe...but hey i type fast and sometimes it just takes over hehehe...

well if u r trulllllllly believe in god..then u will feel him around u..he is in u and all around u call on him and he will be there..in good times n bad...thats wht true belivers dont need physical or scientific evidence..

I do see what your asking.

For me I think I was only truely faithful once. That was for a year culminating in my confirmation. I was goin to confirmation class for 4 years yet it was only the last one that made a difference. Then I just lost interest, it seemed like more of a hassle waking up and going to church.

well a lot of my friends just carried the belief form their childhood into adolescence and for some the "feeling" tok over so their parents belief passed onto them. However those kids never went ot college. Seems like most of my college buddies ended up questioning religion and usually stopped believing.


sounds like your describing Pascal's wager. He said you have nothing to lose in being religious. If there isn't a god you only missed out on a few hours a week tops. But if there is a god your all good. ALthough if you do not believe and there is a god, you lost a lot.

but that kinda goes against all beliefs and is more of a fake belief.

I think I almost touched upon your question somewhere in there.

i think his question was what makes us believe in god..what reason do we have..i sorta touched that in my previous post..check it out