Why do you believe in God and why do you believe the Bible is his word? (Revelation, beliefs)
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As someone from a similar background, I basically gave up my faith in my 30's as well - or, more precisely, my faith left me simply because of lack of evidence. In my case, the final nail was having my career destroyed in mass layoffs and being unemployed for years (and then underemployed, and now again out of work - yeah) while also seeing connected idiots and bums keep their jobs for life. That was the last straw for me. I simply was no longer able to accept the notion of an all-knowing, infinitely loving, and all powerful God who would stand by and allow such a thing to happen. I had done more than expected every step of the way and kept to his word, and my career was destroyed as a reward. I'll probably end up dying in poverty while arse-hats who've made it their life's goal to make the world a worse place will retire in luxury. Where is God in all this?
I searched for answers for a while, but in the end, I found none. In the years since, I've simply seen no evidence of his presence. Sure, there may be a God out there, and maybe some divine being did create the universe right before the Big Bang, but he clearly either doesn't care at all about the good people suffering on this earth, or he's completely powerless to change anything or even prove he exists. If it's the former, why worship him, and if it's the later, we'd have no way of knowing.
Anyway, I'm sorry to give you an answer that would, if anything, weaken your faith, but I felt a need to be honest about the situation. It all comes down to proof. Ironically, the Bible itself speaks in favor of this idea. If one believes the stories in the Bible, the prophets of old didn't believe in some unseen, unknowable entity that never did anything to be worthy of worship - they worshiped a God that called down pillars of flame, filled the sky with locusts, and raised the dead. Nowadays, there's simply none of that, and it is apparently too much to ask for a single lucky break that wouldn't even require anything supernatural.
I too have experienced extremely unsettling setbacks both financially and emotionally in my life, to the point it feels unfair and makes me want to hate the concept of God. I feel ashamed to even say it, but seeing non-believers succeed and be wealthy temps me to reject God out of anger. However, the book of Job helps me, and explains to me that I am actually blessed. This life is temporary, and Christ's kingdom is not of this world. To be unattached to it both financially and emotionally makes it that much easier to leave it behind. Like the disciples and their nets, we must realize none of this matters and take up our cross and follow him. How wealthy was Jesus? Did he prosper and have his wishes fulfilled here on earth? Quite the opposite. He was murdered and God himself sanctioned it. Now that would be pretty unfair but Jesus never rejected God even though he knew his own fate. Even now, in your hour of bitterness to him, you are missing his blessings and unable to see what would truly have happened if your prayer was answered. It may have destroyed you. Faith is not wavered by circumstance or disappointment. It cannot survive if measured by what we think should be. Faith is taking whatever comes and accepting that it is his will. I pray the Lord bless us both through our tribulations. Peace be with you, friend.
This is one of the problems am having... If we can't believe the whole Bible how we accept any of it? I says that "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God". If this is true shouldn't we accept all of it? But if people are willing to discard the parts they don't like and only hold on to the parts they do like, this is inconsistent and IMO pointless.
Don't be offended, but there is not a single Religious Organization that has ALL truth.
This is true in that all truth may not be revealed. However, it is true that ONE Church has all REVEALED truth. Here is a diagram to demonstrate:
All that may be known about God is U (extending infinitely in all directions). The Catholic Church knows B which represents the total extent of public revelation. Non-Catholic denominations are represented by A, and A will be of varying sizes depending on which non-Catholic group is being considered. A would be large for Orthodoxy and much smaller for Mormonism, for example.
There is no known truth about God that the Catholic Church does not have; therefore, no part of A is represented outside of B.
First, the bible does not claim that all of it is true. One verse in one book of the bible says that all scripture is valuable for teaching, reproof and correction. So, first you have to decide if that book, much less that verse, is true. How do you determine that? And, even if it is, now you are left to determine what exactly did that particular author recognize as "scripture". And then, if you could determine that, what changes have occurred in that scripture over time due to the "lying pen of the scribes"?
More importantly, this isn't about what people want to believe or don't want to believe. It's about what makes sense. Does it make sense that the God who IS love is also vengeful, wrathful and capricious? Of course not, so it's quite easy to determine that those views of God contradict and cannot both be true.
Amen!
Quote:
Originally Posted by No2Monsanto
This clearly shows me you don't understand the Bible, nor the character of God. When parents become angry and punish their children for wrong doing to build character, do we then assume when they say they love them the next day, its not true because it appears to a contradiction?? When you disobey God, you will sow what you reap; He will address that disobedience the way He sees fit, and we are not to question that. Remember that God is not required to explain Himself, and when you continue to journey through the Word of God with this academic, simplistic approach, you will remain in the place that you're in, writing posts like what you are writing.
One thing people need to understand is that God is infinite; and we, with our 1+2 must equal three finite minds, cannot use this approach with the Bible and in understanding who God is. He is something beyond our understanding, and some things in the Bible you may NEVER understand until you meet Him face to face, if that is your fate.
We MUST understand this one important thing: ONLY, the Holy Spirit can reveal the true meaning of God's Word and bless us with the clarity we are seeking; but only if out hearts and minds are OPEN to truly receiving it. Approaching it ready to debate and prove it wrong, will never give us the blessing of TRUE, CONCRETE, understanding. This isn't a political science or philosophy college course; we change our thinking.
The only thing you're required to bring to table are sincerity of heart, and FAITH. You must have faith. I can't stress this enough.
But dogmatists do NOT bring sincerity of heart and question their heart for what God has written there under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Comforter). They bring their dogma and "precepts and doctrines of men" and ignore their heart when it contradicts what they have been told to believe about God and our relationship to Him. They ignore the unambiguous example of God's TRUE NATURE revealed by Christ in favor of the ancient ignorance about the nature of Jehovah in the OT. They contradict. Sincerity, an open mind and a loving heart (like Christ's) is needed to discern the truth because only Jesus IS the Truth.
Amen!
But dogmatists do NOT bring sincerity of heart and question their heart for what God has written there under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Comforter). They bring their dogma and "precepts and doctrines of men" and ignore their heart when it contradicts what they have been told to believe about God and our relationship to Him. They ignore the unambiguous example of God's TRUE NATURE revealed by Christ in favor of the ancient ignorance about the nature of Jehovah in the OT. They contradict. Sincerity, an open mind and a loving heart (like Christ's) is needed to discern the truth because only Jesus IS the Truth.
In the event that anyone lurking might be interested in a better understanding of why dogma is a good thing, here are some working definitions:
Dogma, Doctrine, Discipline and Devotion
Dogma
A dogma is 1) a divinely revealed truth which 2) has been proclaimed as such by the infallible teaching authority of the Church.
1) A dogma must be found explicitly or implicitly in the deposit of faith given to the Church by Jesus in Sacred Scripture and/or Sacred Tradition.
2) A dogma must be infallibly taught by the Church as divinely revealed.
All dogmas are infallibly taught as divinely revealed truths, but not all infallibly defined truths are taught as divinely revealed. In the latter case, the infallibly taught truth would not be considered a dogma.
Doctrine
A doctrine is a way of understanding divine revelation and which is taught authoritatively by the Magisterium of the Church. Doctrine may be defined either infallibly or non-infallibly. All dogmas are doctrines, but not all doctrines are dogmas.
Discipline
A discipline is a rule of the Church which requires obedience due to the authority given to the Church by Jesus. Disciplines may be changed during the course of history based upon the needs of the Church. Examples of Church disciplines include fasting during Lent and the celibacy of priests in the Latin rite.
Devotion
A devotion is a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation. Devotions directed toward God are rightly called worship while devotions directed toward saints are classified as veneration.
Amen!
But dogmatists do NOT bring sincerity of heart and question their heart for what God has written there under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Comforter). They bring their dogma and "precepts and doctrines of men" and ignore their heart when it contradicts what they have been told to believe about God and our relationship to Him. They ignore the unambiguous example of God's TRUE NATURE revealed by Christ in favor of the ancient ignorance about the nature of Jehovah in the OT. They contradict. Sincerity, an open mind and a loving heart (like Christ's) is needed to discern the truth because only Jesus IS the Truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRCarson
In the event that anyone lurking might be interested in a better understanding of why dogma is a good thing, here are some working definitions:
Excellent description of authoritarianism and the reason science and religion split ways. It is also why dogmatism is NOT a good thing. There is no seeking for truth . . . there is only the promulgation of dogma as truth. There is no thinking, reasoning or attempts to know and understand God or Jesus. There is only obedience to what you are told to believe and do. This is the epitome of the "pets in obedience training" model of our relationship with God. Obey. Obey. Obey. It is the opposite of the "children in the process of maturing" model. Learn to love. Learn to love. Learn to love. For God IS love.
Don't be offended, but there is not a single Religious Organization that has ALL truth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CRCarson
This is true in that all truth may not be revealed. However, it is true that ONE Church has all REVEALED truth. Here is a diagram to demonstrate:
All that may be known about God is U (extending infinitely in all directions). The Catholic Church knows B which represents the total extent of public revelation. Non-Catholic denominations are represented by A, and A will be of varying sizes depending on which non-Catholic group is being considered. A would be large for Orthodoxy and much smaller for Mormonism, for example.
There is no known truth about God that the Catholic Church does not have; therefore, no part of A is represented outside of B.
Hope this helps.
I am really trying HARD, not to pop that B = BUBBLE!
Excellent description of authoritarianism and the reason science and religion split ways. It is also why dogmatism is NOT a good thing. There is no seeking for truth . . . there is only the promulgation of dogma as truth. There is no thinking, reasoning or attempts to know and understand God or Jesus. There is only obedience to what you are told to believe and do. This is the epitome of the "pets in obedience training" model of our relationship with God. Obey. Obey. Obey. It is the opposite of the "children in the process of maturing" model. Learn to love. Learn to love. Learn to love. For God IS love.
Yep.
(For 95%. Not sold on the last sentence.)
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