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A Christian told me today that Christianity is the only TRUE religion and that all other religions are "False" religions. So is Christianity the only TRUE religion?
If ANY religion were "true" that would make it easy, huh? It's not about any religious practices or beliefs, it's all about how you relate in your everyday life that matters, and that is a matter of commitment to community and relationships.
Actually, it's about whether or not the claims it makes are correct. Doesn't much matter what kind of warm fuzzy feelings one gets if it's a lie.
The issue I have with these types of statements is what does being a good, kind, decent moral human have to do with being caught up in arguments for a specific religion being the one true religion?
What exactly does that do for a person's character? Nothing.
People who spend their entire lives running around trying to promote their god or their religion are not working towards bettering themselves or humanity.
Instead of finding their own path to higher consciousness and spiritual growth, they instead waste their time and attention on proselytizing their god or their religion.
This is why you find that those who self proclaim religion and their god the loudest are the ones who display no higher consciousness, show zero inner peace, often times display a lack of moral character and zero spiritual development.
Religion really is dead but those who cling to it as a life line don't know it.
Thank you for this post.
I won't be specific here because we have a poster who I think is a good person, and if I got specific I would offend them. But the same situation could work for several major religions. When I lived in Northern Virginia, I often saw missionaries surround Central American immigrants attempting to convert them. Pick on the most needy among us, bring them into the fold, and then benefit from their regular offerings to the collection plate. I found it disgusting. If they wanted to help these poor immigrants...just help them. But no, there has to be a payback.
And while this is not a church, it's another example of this kind of thinking. The PTA at the school where I was principal decided to do a drive for the homeless, and donate the goods to a shelter in that same neighborhood where the immigrants were. The PTA got its stuff all together, and then came to me to deliver it. And I said no, not unless you and some of the students go with me. "Why? Are you afraid to go there?" "No, I shop at a ethnic market right next to the shelter every week. But you all wanted to help these people...as long as you don't have to interact with them. They begrudgingly went with me...and they couldn't wait to get out of there. And then, when they got back to the school, they wanted to know how to publicize their charitable act in the school newsletter and local newspaper. Again, there had to be payback.
A decade ago I stopped declaring my charitable gifts on my income taxes. I decided that it was wrong (at least for me) to want any kind of payback for doing the right thing. Unfortunately, most churches haven't figured that out. There's always a hook looking for a payback.
It is difficult to explain, I have found. What I meant by my question, though, is I thought that was pretty foundational to being a Christian.
Well, whether it is these days or not, it certainly wasn't prior to 325 A.D. If you can find any evidence otherwise, I'd be interested in seeing it. And when I say, "it," I mean evidence that in the years prior to the Council at Nicaea, Christians believed in a three-in-one God, a single substance that was somehow three persons. Show me any apostolic writings that taught a thing.
It doesn't matter to me what 90% of early Christians believed. People have not really evolved in their religious beliefs since then. When I read the Bible I get a different understanding, and I don't understand how anyone else could not see.
That sounds like the epitome of faith in ones' own opinions (which appear to be a regularly reinvented Christianity to keep pace with humanist ethics) and a mind closed to anything else.
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Originally Posted by OzzyRules
But the brain is a physical part of the body. Our beliefs get hard-coded into our brain/body. They get passed down genetically. Some people have a stronger connection to their ancestral beliefs because of their biology which they have no control over. BUT they can change their beliefs and they can get new "hard coding" onto their existing brains.
The beliefs get handed down rather by education, though a feeling of trust and reverence is genetic, I agree. So we are on the same page. You are right that they can be convinced to change their beliefs. Given that they are willing to listen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OzzyRules
Not in any way. Unless God evolves too. But I tend to think that people are the same today as they were when the Psalmists were alive.
On the contrary, or rather, yes, man is very much the same, but society, technoilogy, science and also ethics has evolved. And religion has had to evolve to keep pace with it or be left behind - as you left a kind of Christianity behind - and lose influence. Religion has always had to walk a tightrope between resisting change and risking losing credit with a changing populace.
I think that we are seeing a social battle going on between a last ditch attempt to control society to prevent social change, and even roll it back, and a change that will break the power of religion over society for ever.
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 12-08-2018 at 03:09 PM..
Would you trust any religion that said it wasn't the "true" one?
Apparently it doesn't matter in the slightest to some people. I'm not saying which one is "true" and which ones aren't, but I find it really strange how many people would rather belong to one that doesn't make that claim than to one that does.
Actually, it's about whether or not the claims it makes are correct. Doesn't much matter what kind of warm fuzzy feelings one gets if it's a lie.
Well done, BapFun. I totally agree. Feelings don't matter (at least as far as truth goes); facts matter - insofar as we can discover them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katzpur
Apparently it doesn't matter in the slightest to some people. I'm not saying which one is "true" and which ones aren't, but I find it really strange how many people would rather belong to one that doesn't make that claim than to one that does.
I think that a lot of people who still are theist are seeing that the rival claims to be the true religion raises serious doubts about whether any of them can be.
I think that a lot of people who still are theist are seeing that the rival claims to be the true religion raises serious doubts about whether any of them can be.
That's a legitimate concern, but it still doesn't make sense to me why anyone would affiliated with a religion that, in essence, says, "Maybe what we're teaching is true and maybe it isn't. At any rate, it doesn't matter." It is entirely possible that no religion (and no Christian individual denomination) is 100% true, but it is mathematically impossible for more than one to be, since no two are teaching exactly the same thing. To me, one very significant function of any religion is to make people better than they'd be without it. As a theist and a Christian, I personally believe that, when we stand before God to be judged, He's going to put a lot more emphasis on how we behaved than on what we believed. I don't see there being an entrance exam to be accepted into Heaven where one has to score about 90% (or any other arbitrary percentage) in order to be granted admitttance. I think our integrity in living our lives in accordance to what we sincerely believed is going to be a very important factor. If it turns out I'm wrong, I guess I'll have to deal with that when the time comes.
That's a legitimate concern, but it still doesn't make sense to me why anyone would affiliated with a religion that, in essence, says, "Maybe what we're teaching is true and maybe it isn't. At any rate, it doesn't matter." It is entirely possible that no religion (and no Christian individual denomination) is 100% true, but it is mathematically impossible for more than one to be, since no two are teaching exactly the same thing. To me, one very significant function of any religion is to make people better than they'd be without it. As a theist and a Christian, I personally believe that, when we stand before God to be judged, He's going to put a lot more emphasis on how we behaved than on what we believed. I don't see there being an entrance exam to be accepted into Heaven where one has to score about 90% (or any other arbitrary percentage) in order to be granted admitttance. I think our integrity in living our lives in accordance to what we sincerely believed is going to be a very important factor. If it turns out I'm wrong, I guess I'll have to deal with that when the time comes.
what is 100% true. Only a cast will work. or only a wrap with crutches will work.
errr, its a cut doc, how about some thread and a band aid?
what is 100% true. Only a cast will work. or only a wrap with crutches will work.
errr, its a cut doc, how about some thread and a band aid?
I don't know all that much about non-Christian religions, but with respect to Christianity, there are dozens upon dozens of doctrines that each of the thousands of denominations disagree upon. For instance...
1. How is a person "saved"? Is it by grace alone, works alone, or a combination of these?
2. Once "saved," can a person lose his salvation? Yes or no?
3. Is baptism essential? If yes, when should it be performed -- when a person is an infant or when he's old enough to chose for himself? How should it be performed -- by immersion or sprinking, or does it even matter? Who may perform a baptism -- any other Christian or someone holding specific authority?
4. Is the Bible inerrant or not? Is the Bible a complete record of God's dealings with mankind? Is it the only record of God's dealing's with mankind?
5. Are the elements of the Eucharist (i.e. the Lord's Supper) actually transformed into the blood and body of Christ before they are presented to believers, or are they rather symbolic?
6. Are all or even any of the Christian "sacraments" essential to salvation?
7. Does apostolic authority matter or do all believers hold the priesthood?
8. Does the Gift of Tongues still exist? If so, is it a qualifying characteristic of a Christian?
9. Is God a Trinity, a single indivisible substance made up of three persons or are the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost three distinct individuals who are "one" in some way other than physical?
10. Is there still a chance for redemption after death? If not, what happens to the bilions who have lived and died without ever having heard of Jesus Christ? Are they destined to become God's eternal firewood?
So, when I say,"100% true," I am referring to the religion (or Christian denomination) that is accurate in its teachings of every single Christian doctrine. I'd say that there are proably right and wrong answers to each of the questions I listed, but then that raises another question: Does it even matter? I think it does, but only to a certain extent. I think God wants us to believe correctly, but I don't believe that He's going to condemn everyone who doesn't to an eternity of torment.
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I totally agree. Feelings don't matter (at least as far as truth goes); facts matter - insofar as we can discover them.
