Creativity of Belief: The question of belief is not what but why do we beleive as we do?

There are some aspects of religion (and/or the bible), where you could argue there are no downsides!

For example when it says something along the lines of "Those whom man has rejected I will make the cornerstone of the world".

Its hard to argue with this one either, quote:
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful"
 
My mother was never good at explaining anything and when it came to religion, she accepted it blindly because that was 'what you did'. The last time I saw her was when she was in a nursing home. When I went to leave, she suddenly said "You don't believe in God, do you". No sense in trying to explain anything, so I just said that seeing the world as I did, I couldn't reconcile that with her views. Her final words to me were, "I thought so". I don't think we ever understood one another.
 
Aww... @Capt Lightning ,there is a verse in the New Testament that says, "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed...but blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Your Mother chose to believe and I'm sure it wasn't for a trivial reason like "because that is what you did". She will be blessed for believing "blindly" as you say and according to John 20:29.

Maybe someday you will see you mother where we have complete understanding of one another if, like her, you believe without seeing. She'll be so surprised and so happy to see you there. But I respect your free will to make your own choice.
 
@grahamg Those are good examples. A little clarification though for the first example. That scripture was referring to Jesus being the rejected one by the Jews who crucified him. Then the verse goes on to say Jesus will be made the cornerstone of the world.
 
There have been many replies here. But I will stick to responding to most of the original post statements, as they relate to my life.

Beliefs Created From Life Experience?
I would say this is true for the first part of my life. I was raised in a traditional church, and was taught in catechism that if I had an unconfessed (to a priest) mortal sin, I would go to hell. Also, I got the message from church that you would most likely go to heaven if you were a fairly good person. This always left me with a lack of any kind of peace or assurance. As I got older, I observed some hypocrisy in connection with the religion I was raised in, and this led to me placing religion on a shelf and living a wild life as a young man. But then I briefly became involved with some Born-Again Christians in my second year at college and an older Campus Crusade leader shared scripture verses that related to the Four Spiritual Laws (see below). I rejected these "laws" for 7 years and subsequently returned to my wild living. A downturn in my life then had me reconsidering the scriptures shared with me. I then accepted Christ and turned to the bible for teaching. So yes, experience played a large part, but the scriptures, plainly explained with regard to salvation, also played a large role. And I firmly believe that prayers of others also played a very important role in my salvation.

God is a form people create for themselves for whatever reasons?
My God is the God of the bible that took the form of a human, having compassion on the worst of sinners. I know some will state how God allows some to die, or even commanded the deaths in Old Testament passages. So yes, this affects my thoughts on God too. God is all-powerful and the wrath of God is certainly to be feared. But also, there is blessed assurance for those that belief in Christ as the deliverer. This is the consistent with the scriptures "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

There is no right or wrong way to understand God. Whatever God may be to you God is as you believe?
I understand God as presented in the scriptures and described above. With that in mind, Jesus stated "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but by me".

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Mr. Ed said:
From the response of

Creativity of Belief: The question of belief is not what but why do we believe as we do?​

Beliefs are made at an early age, some beliefs come from family, others come from experience. Does it matter what I believe or what you believe or anybody else for that matter? What matters is respect and the freedom to discern. I followed the religious train wreck of my dad and all the while watched him cower away from his responsibilities as a dad and a family man. As a narcissist the love he had for himself was sufficient and the family was simply a source of broken support.

The way people think about God and religion has changed in 50 years. It is true people don't think about God or religion the way they used to. For what is worth, I feel outdated. Whatever I might think about God or religion is irrelevant to anyone else, so what's the use in standing for something if no one is interested.

I am fascinated about God and spirituality as they have close to human behavior. Why are there so many ideas and concepts of God? There are perhaps as many ideas about God and religion as there are people in this world. I don't get it, is everyone is basically the same, why so many opinions? God is known or denied by many, yet no one believes exactly the same.
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I agree with the first sentence in your post.
As for the last paragraph, from my POV, religion/spirituality/etc. (choose your favorite term) was essentially for the purpose of explaining the otherwise-unexplainable.
Example: from something I read by Native American- Father Sky and Mother Earth;
Example: the tribal religions some of my ancestors practiced in Africa (before missionaries came in and turned them into Catholics :) ;
Example: telling children "GOD took" Grandparent or parent away.

Re: differences- if you look closely at religions, denominations, etc., it appears that those who take an Authoritarian view of people and life in general take a 'wrathful God' approach, whereas those who take an egalitarian approach to people and life in general are more likely to take the 'loving God' approach.
 
Pepper said:
That's it. The Jews. People like you led to the Holocaust and vicious acts throughout history. I wish your lips could never say the word; I wish your fingers could never type it. Your arrogance is revolting.
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Out of curiosity who are you directing this at? @Pepper
 
Pepper said:
For God's sake, who do you think?
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Well, 😂, if I knew, I would not have asked. Perhaps in my old age I am even less able to read minds and God forbid I guess wrong. I might be damned to hell for all eternity 🤪. You can always PM me the answer 😊
 
I'm not sure who you are talking to either Pepper, but you have grossly misunderstood scripture and overreacted. Jesus loved the Jews and as He suffered on the cross He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

God said in Revelations that He will protect the Jews from judgement and they will be given a special purpose on the new and perfect earth. I don't know much nor understand Revelations very well so don't ask me for details but I do know that much.
 
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That's it. The Jews. People like you led to the Holocaust and vicious acts throughout history. I wish your lips could never say the word; I wish your fingers could never type it. Your arrogance is revolting.
 
Lara said:
I'm not sure who you are talking to either Pepper, but you have grossly misunderstood scripture and overreacted. Jesus loved the Jews and as He suffered on the cross He said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

God said in Revelations that He will protect the Jews from judgement and they will be given a special purpose on the new and perfect earth. I don't know much nor understand Revelations very well so don't ask me for details but I do know that much.
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So, what do you think our "purpose" is on this earth???
 
I don't know what your purpose is JaniceM. It's personal. Where's this anger coming from? I know what my purpose is. I have two that come to mind and there are more as necessity calls. One purpose is to be a good mother to my children. Another purpose is to help clarify scriptures for those who misunderstand it or misinterpret. I do the best I can with that.
 
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Instead of being humble and apologizing, some people need to say the other is misunderstanding poor them. Well, no one is misunderstanding you. Show humility and ask for forgiveness. You have offended. Someone like you who knows everything knows that much. Right? Or is pride standing in the way?
 
What's wrong with the word Jew? Same thing as saying Christian. It's a person of a certain faith. We both believe that Jesus existed. The difference between our faiths is that the Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah and the Christians believe He is. The Jews are still waiting for the Messiah to come. I accept their free will to choose what they believe. Are you Jewish?
 
So in other words, you are too filled with the sin of pride to offer a sincere apology when you have offended? You seek to blame the one you have injured for the explanation as to why you must look into yourself? Such a person thinks too highly of themselves to be a Christian in their heart of hearts. Do you willfully misunderstand?
 
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