not a thread meant to challenge the beleifs{or non beleif} of beleivers. instead, the intention here is for people to tell, as far as they can, their deepest reasons for beleiving what they beleive{i.e. im not looking for objective statements of beleife like- i beleive because jesus christ is the way the truth and the light. instead im looking for why YOU feel like there is something of a place in relegion for you, what your beleif does for you/adds to your life, and why your being, feels gravitated to calling yourself a beleiver instead of a non believer.}, so i guess the point is to be truthful of your motivations/desires/fears etc instead of giving lofty/respectable answers that increase other's oppinion of u{whether they are critics or whether it is the favour of the almight herself that you are trying to gain}. this is also a thread encouraging people to describe what it MEANS for them to be a beleiver and which parts of their beleif they find most important in life.
as such, i would suggest we minimise criticism or challenges of proof or arguments between non agreeing parties{justified or otherwise}.
I believe because I have a feeling that my human family each has great importance and significance. The blessing and the curse it is to be in so much control over one's experience can't be coincidence in my mind. We can be wonderful and many choose to be horrible because both choices can be explored fully by us. Raised in the church I was led to Christ at an impressionable age. I remain adamantly in his service because his gospel is the greatest gospel promoting peace that I've ever heard to this day.
Because I saw her face. Now there's not a trace of doubt in my mind.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
The only thing I believe in is that no one knows the answers, and those that feel the most certain one way or another are subject to the greatest failure. The world we live in is nonsensical and absurd, and many discoveries and facts we unearth are often abolished and replaced by new ones soon after. There are some truths that seem to stand the test of time, but in the grand scheme of things, we truly know nothing.
__________________ That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
What a fantastic thread idea. I personally am a Christian and I believe that Christianity offers the truth for a number of reasons.
My outlook is based on cummulative approach in that a few things help to construct why I am a Christian.
First and formost would be personal experience. I found that when I challenged God and challenged the Bible, the more I scrutinised it, the more robust it became. The more I looked for evidence of failure I found success. Where I would try to show through scripture that God couldn't be, I found Jesus and his salvation for anyone who asks of it. I went straight to the source and found God there. Then I discovered, being God, he knew about me all along. I then gave my life to God and have entered into a wonderful relationship because of what Jesus has done
This has led me into a faith that not only makes the most sense to me but also in many ways transcends understanding. I wouldn't say my theology or philosophy is by any means complete. I still have questions of the Bible, but on the whole, it seems to me to speak only truth and I am convinced enough that I will gladly stand by that.
Secondly I would say that as a result of personal experience which I have a faith in God, in Jesus and how great his love is for us. I think faith is incredibly important for anyone whether they are Christian, Buddihist, Muslim, Atheist, Mormon, Catholic, Jewish etc etc. I think my faith as a result of personal experience is founded in a truth that I wouldn't claim of other belief systems but we all agree on the necessity of faith itself not simply for its powerful emotonal value but also as an important tool for learning and understanding.
Thirdly I would say that there are good arguments and evidence for my belief that can be found in issues of theology, Biblical historicity, moral arguments and philosophical reasoning. Whilst this contributes to or bolsters my belief, I would maintain my belief even if these arguments did not exist, due to my personal experience that convinced me of God's authenticity. It kind of comes back to the personal experience that provides a solid foundation from which everything else becomes a framework.
Well first, I bought books on all the religions that we have to day and compared them, then I traced all of their roots to their beginnings. That lead me to the Catholic church. I bought and read through all the founder writings and read all the Cannon writings along with early council writings. I read through the ancient historians accounts of the periods too. Then I read about the popular religions of those cultures that influenced the newer beliefs. After that, I read through ancients religions and how they lead up to our current religious views and why they splintered off. I bought a Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic Concordance to translate verses and found a great site to get some translations from the Vulgate. I soon came to realise that what we believe today were only earlier, more ancient religions that included the many of the same miracles and deeds with only the name of the person doing them changed. This was before Jesus was supposedly born. When I read through the council meetings of the Holy Roman Empire (Catholic Church), I could see how many of our celebrations were instituted on earlier pagan or astrology/astronomy beliefs and His Divinity was put to a vote by mere men. All this was instituted for the purpose of control of the people and money resources.
At least that was the conclusion that I came to.
__________________ Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
KMC Community Forums
Dec 30th, 2010 07:17 AM
