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how do you know if your a chirstian? do you believe in God, his son (jesus) and the holy Ghost? do you believe that jesus was send from god to died for your sins. If you beleive this you are a chiristian -now find a good bible teaching church that offers bible strudy. your on your way ...be blessed
for instance, in my case, I've always believed there to be a God
Have you ever questioned why it is you've "always believed there was a God" What is it that makes the reality of a God so certain to you?
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, but how do I know which one it is?
Who is to say that it is any of them, or that there even is a God at all?
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for sure, the Bible and all the general literature surrounding Christianity makes the most appeal
Don't make the mistake of believing something just because you find it appealing, because whether it is appealing to you or not speaks nothing to it's validity. Often times what is real isn't appealing at all, but all the same, it is what is real.
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and sense to me
Christianity makes sense to you? How much time have you spent in the Bible?
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so how does one separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak?
You have to embark on an honest journey for answers and an unbiased examination of the facts and evidence. Thus far, you have failed. Reason? Because you start off with the assumption " there must be a God" so already, your journey is biased to an end result of a conclusion that has a God in existence, regardless of whether or not the evidence might point to there being no God at all. To find answers, you have to clear your mind of all of that, you have to put everything you have ever been told about God and religion aside, and let reason, logic, and adash of common sense dictate your thoughts. Until you can manage this, you may as well notlook for any kind of truth at all.
How do you know if you are a Christian, Agnostic, Theist, Spiritual person or just Atheist in disguise?
for instance, in my case, I've always believed there to be a God, but how do I know which one it is?
for sure, the Bible and all the general literature surrounding Christianity makes the most appeal and sense to me, but then do so many other similar things.
for example: Gnostic Christianity, some parts of Hinduism and Buddhism, and general Paganism/spirituality etc..
so how does one separate the wheat from the chaff so to speak?
I wasted many years trying to convince myself of what I felt was most appealing. As Whippersnapper suggested, you need to start from an assumption that there is no god because no evidence exists of such a god, especially the one described in the Bible. Then you need to follow the evidence to the Truth, though it may not be completely evident at this point in time.
Are we to understand that there's no such thing as absolute truth?
Yes. Science, artists, and spiritual seekers are on a lifelong quest to find it, and the beauty is that it is elusive and the real value is in the lessons you learn on the road to that goal.
I doubt that any of us will ever know 'absolute truth'. If we did, we would be gods, wouldn't we?
Sure, that's what one source says. But there are other sources that make different claims. Why should the OP, or anyone, take this source as valid but ignore others? I believe that is what the OP wants to know.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know if one source is more valid than another beyond "gut feeling."
Kenneth, I'd do as others have suggested, and always question, always seek to understand more, and keep an open mind. Because in the end, as evidenced by the fact that there are approximately a billion religions out there, there is no way of knowing what is ultimately true. Best you can do is try.
Even the bible says that the kingdom of god is within. To me, that means you must follow those inner feelings, and keep an open and observant mind and always be prepared to change as new revelations come your way. A lifelong spiritual quest should be an adventure. Your spiritual path will be as unique as you are.
Things that happened during my life have convinced me that we do continue and that there is a spiritual side to our existence. I also believe that there is great value in the positive aspects of being that most religions teach, love, helpfulness, compassion, etc. I do not know if a god exists, though. Perhaps that is not important for me to know right now.
Last edited by goldengrain; 08-19-2012 at 04:45 AM..
It's something you could bet the farm on - trying to make a case for God with 'Who made everything then?'
I find this somewhat amusing. If the religious folks idea of god is the creator of all, and the scientists are on a quest unveiling the secrets of the universe, then at that lofty level we just seem to be arguing labels.
Buddhism seems not to bother what we label on our quest for discovery of all that is. In doing so it respects each of us as being individual. It is a way of thinking that allows for both the scientifically inclined and the religious. Well, certain schools of Buddhism do.
Does it really matter? I mean, we are here, interacting, and should probably just start from there, from what we have, from what we are fairly certain of.
What you learn from books or what others tell you is second hand information. It may be able to guide you closer to reality, but that's what it is, guidance. Books and information are not, in themselves, reality.
How about the Universe - how could it create itself?
I don't know, but that doesn't make the case for a god.
Well, here we go. How could God create him/her self?
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It's something you could bet the farm on - trying to make a case for God with 'Who made everything then?'
