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

JaniceM, I do believe too many people are deceived by the wolve's in sheep's clothing, but I don't think they've taken over the Word...except maybe on the Internet. The internet is the devils playground to deceive which is powerful, I agree. Just like the media.
 

rgp...just because people are grateful that God spared their lives does not mean God killed anyone. As you know, we aren't meant to live forever. We are all going to die eventually. There are over a 100 reasons why one dies at one time and another dies at another time...or why one suffers and another goes quickly. Perhaps one's purpose is complete here on earth and the other's isn't.
 
I was on a Atheist forum for a few weeks. I introduced the concept that atheism is a belief. Whoops! They jumped on me like they were tigers being fed raw meat. One women claimed that it ruined her life ( the religious indoctrination ) and should absolutely be eliminated from mankind. They had NO flexibility. I can understand how they got to that position because of the damage it does to people. ( we all know this ).
I seems to be a delusion to believe that one's beliefs are the ONLY way. I have studied the essential unity of all religions. Most all them understand man can't conceive of "God". They all practice some kind of ritual to connect with this essence.
My experience has brought me to a place where I think the universe evolved humans with the basic instinct to unite with itself. We feel separated from the universe because of all the distractions and survival needs. I try to live in the present moment and include the awareness of this connection.
 

Mr. Ed said:
Perhaps, beliefs are created from life experience. Where if at all does religion play a part in the lives of many? For people who do not believe in a Godlike figure I wonder why or perhaps more profoundly what happened to cause disbelief and possibly resentment?

Mysterious is life and the multiple variations of reasoning that describes us as individuals. As individuals everyone lives according the story they present and the story they disguise sometimes from themselves and from public view.

God is a form people create for themselves for whatever reasons. For some, God is good and God is not good and the consensus that God does not exist. God exists in everyone’s mind according to individual design.

There is no right or wrong way to understand God. Whatever God may be to you God is as you believe.
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I was raised with no religion, and actively kept away from it.. which never made any sense to me. When I was in my twenties I decided to follow a specific religion solely as a way to feel connected to some ancestors. However, it became much more than that a few years later when/because two things occurred: one was I had the flu and while resting up was rereading an old copy of the Diary of Anne Frank; the other was a 12-year-old girl was abducted while riding her bike home from church where her father was minister, and it was presumed she'd been murdered.

My questioning was how/why.. the Holocaust and an innocent child... and the answers solidified my faith/beliefs:
God does not stop bad things and evil because He does not interfere with free will.. to do so would take away one of the most essential parts of a human being.
While individuals are born as basically clean slates, each has the capacity for both free will and conscience... unfortunately too many only use the free will part and ignore conscience entirely. So too often innocent people are harmed/destroyed as the result.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I was on a Atheist forum for a few weeks. I introduced the concept that atheism is a belief. Whoops! They jumped on me like they were tigers being fed raw meat.
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That is interesting... Of course atheism is a belief. One cannot prove the negative, certainly not in this case. I am agnostic and pretty skeptical about the existence of a god, but I have to admit to uncertainty.
 
Lara said:
rgp...just because people are grateful that God spared their lives does not mean God killed anyone. As you know, we aren't meant to live forever. We are all going to die eventually. There are over a 100 reasons why one dies at one time and another dies at another time...or why one suffers and another goes quickly. Perhaps one's purpose is complete here on earth and the other's isn't.
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I respectfully disagree. ........ if we are going to praise him for all that is good ? ...... then equally he should be blamed for all that is bad. ........... If he even exsist ?
 
rgp said:
I respectfully disagree. ........ if we are going to praise him for all that is good ? ...... then equally he should be blamed for all that is bad. ........... If he even exsist ?
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Exactly. We may have free will to choose many things in life, but what about children born with deformities or incurable diseases? Who are you going to blame for that?
 
I just remembered something I read in the Bible..paraphrased "There is no excuse to not believe in God because we can know what he is like by observing nature." Isn't that in there somewhere? The idea that nature makes mistakes then means that God makes mistakes. I am all confused.
yep here it is

Romans 1:20

King James Bible
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
 
Mr. Ed said:
True and I agree, death of myself or others does not concern me, except the for possibility of loss.

I enjoy discussing theology, afterlife, death, religion, mind control/persuasion, the unknown, views and speculations about anything that is no known and can be proven.
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JaniceM said:
God does not stop bad things and evil because He does not interfere with free will.. to do so would take away one of the most essential parts of a human being.
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If there is supposed to be a supernatural with a plan for each of us.

1. Jeremiah 29:11​

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

There is contradiction in what people believe. Having a plan indicates to me free will isn't a reality. Good or evil has to fall under a plan.
 
  • Maybe, no probably the Bible is not inerrant and has been manipulated over centuries by those that think they were inspired. Just like they manipulated Moses OT books with endless rituals Jesus complained about.
  • Maybe an immensely powerful entity but not all powerful that I term a UIE?
  • Maybe not everywhere but rather always localized or an immense distributed machine?
  • Maybe not eternal but rather unimaginably ancient?
  • Maybe not all knowing while knowing vastly more than we can even imagine?
  • Maybe not all benevolent accordingly to our human moral sense but merely mostly so? I doubt our human ideas of morality and ethics fully square with that of a UIE level entity.
  • Maybe his thinking has changed over time though during the existence of us concerning us, maybe unchanging maybe not? Does that in fact matter especially since IMO that is illogical?
  • Maybe he didn’t really create all our universe but rather exists within it?
  • Maybe God doesn't constantly affect his Universe but rather once put in motion, he allows it to flow naturally.
  • Maybe God didn’t create the universe but created DNA life within it?
  • Maybe he isn’t the only god or UIE but rather the only one within our space time?
  • Maybe God has limitations of traveling through distances of space per the speed of light?
  • Maybe God and his angels are not aware of every thought all of us make throughout our lifetimes or maybe just external actions of the minor numbers baptised on the path to salvation?
  • Maybe God is so distant in Heaven with the speed of light a true limitation in the Universe, that he can only affect us through earth local angels or machines and the Holy Spirit with some level of powers left here on Earth?
  • Maybe we shouldn't blame God for everything happening negative or positive because the dogma he is controlling everything is false, is not supported clearly in the Bible, and IMO is not logically how a God would be.
 
I like religions and religious people, they have a stablilty. I also appreciate how religions have informed culture, society, families, marraige, law, universities, government and even architecure and urban planning, art, creativity, and much more as avenues to meditation, imagination, worship and more. I like religions so much I read about them and admire their traditions and I take a lot from them and practice some of them, well, 4 of them. They seem to have a good idea about what life is all about. I think Gd is in all of it. And of course I'm pretty sure they all admit Gd is even bigger than all of that too, bigger than all the rules and traditions etc. We ourselves aren't that big though as near as I can see, especially recently I haven't seen humans doing so well.

✨ 💛 🕊 🌸 🕊 💛 ✨
 
Most of us have the ability to think logically, and logically, the supernatural isn't possible. But if the ability to think logically was given to us by God, that presents itself with a conundrum. How are we supposed to accept God on faith alone? Wouldn't that be going against God's intentions, since he is responsible for our ability to think logically?
 
rgp said:
...if we are going to praise him for all that is good ? ....then equally he should be blamed for all that is bad. ....If he even exsist ?
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My faith-based answer is: Satan and natural consequences are blamed for all that is bad.
But God created you to have the ability to choose what you believe and He wants you to do just that.
So I would never try to change your mind.
 
Mr. Ed said:
Perhaps, beliefs are created from life experience. Where if at all does religion play a part in the lives of many? For people who do not believe in a Godlike figure I wonder why or perhaps more profoundly what happened to cause disbelief and possibly resentment?

Mysterious is life and the multiple variations of reasoning that describes us as individuals. As individuals everyone lives according the story they present and the story they disguise sometimes from themselves and from public view.

God is a form people create for themselves for whatever reasons. For some, God is good and God is not good and the consensus that God does not exist. God exists in everyone’s mind according to individual design.

There is no right or wrong way to understand God. Whatever God may be to you God is as you believe.
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This is a complicated statement and I honestly think it cannot be answered in a few paragraphs. There are theological classes in universities that spend hours on this topic of belief. If we only rely on the head for answers, we forget about the heart. Given that, I would never try and change anyone's mind about their belief in God. That's up to Him to do.

I am only going to try and answer Ed's question about why I believe in God, and it's because of miracles and because of the Holy Spirit. Please do not reply to this post because I don't really want to have a discussion. You will not change my mind. This is just a testimonial. Thank you for understanding!

I grew up in an Orthodox religious family. My parents come from an island in Greece that neighbored Patmos Island, where St. John lived in a cave. I have been to that cave and seen the indentation on the wall where St. John's head rested each day as he kneeled and prayed to God. He is the one who took Jesus's mother Mary to live with him and he is the one who wrote the Book of Revelations. I also saw the lightning strike that was written about in his cave. The monastery of Patmos ruled over my parent's island for many centuries, and the monks used the land for crops, etc. During Greece's war of Indpendence from the Turks in 1821, many refugees moved to this tiny island. My ancestors were some of them. A miracle occurred on the island in the 1940s when a peasant girl was praying to the icon of Virgin Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ. This icon is called "Panagia too Harou." The peasant girl's wish came true and she placed a stem of lilies on the icon as a token of appreciation. The lilies withered, but the following anniversary day in August, the lilies bloomed. They placed the lilies underneath the glass cover of the icon and each year the lilies bloom during that period. I have seen this happen. They consider this a miracle and each year have a parade around the island to commemorate this miracle.

I also believe in God because I have received visions through my dreams - many have come true. I have also experienced miracles in my own life, which according to nature, I would have died several times by now. This belief is deep inside me, inside my heart, inside my soul, and I feel this immense joy in knowing that God is there for me. I pray to Him every day and I have prayed for several people every day. I also get an immense joy when I see people helping each other. These are my thoughts. God bless and have a wonderful day!
 
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Modern Man didn't just appear. They appeared after many of iterations and improvements over about 2.5 million years. Of course, man wasn't the first life on Earth. From primitive life forms, through marine life, dinosaurs and early mammals, somehow it arrived at Homo Sapiens, and here we are. Of course, it seems very unlikely that we are the only ones. After all there about 100 Billion stars in the Milky way and around 2 Trillion galaxies in the universe.

I can understand ancient man trying to make sense of they could see around them and it was not unreasonable for them to think that they must have been created by a 'god'. . We are but specks of stardust, but day by day, we're learning more and maybe one day we will understand how we came to be here - without having to invent a supernatural being.
 
Mr. Ed said:
about prayer, prayer is merely a request to something called God...Praying to God is praying to you, to me and everything of everything, God is..
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My own Faith-based response is below...and yours is yours above...not trying to change you.

My prayers are not "merely requests" nor do I "pray to myself" nor "to everything". I look at my prayers first as praise, then creating in me a clean heart through confession of sins, repenting, receiving forgiveness and a then renewing His Holy Spirit within me.

If I can't think of specific sins, I speak generically. I ask that He restores in me the joy of my salvation. Then I pour out all my gratitude as I'm always filled full of being thankful.

Then I request specific blessings, healings, and guidance for my family, friends in this SF forum, our nation, our leaders, worldwide issues, and little things as well...maybe a stranger I passed on the street, an animal, etc. Then I say, "In Jesus Name I pray amen"...which is basically "if it be thy will, then thy will be done".
 
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Knight said:

Jeremiah 29:11​

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

There is contradiction in what people believe. Having a plan indicates to me free will isn't a reality. Good or evil has to fall under a plan.
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This is not a contradiction at all.

The Lord has "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
As you know, you were created with a free will to say "yes, I accept your plan" or "no, I don't want to follow your plan. I'll do it my way"

If you choose to make your own way, it likely won't be as prosperous according to the scripture verse you posted, it could even harm you, and you may end up without as good of a future. But you are free to choose to do it your way or to choose His way.

There are no contradictions in the Bible.
 
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fmdog44 said:
Why think about stuff like this when you know there is no correct answer? The truth will be revealed to you after your eyes close.
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Because it will be to late to choose to love God after "we close our eyes" since we'll be dead. God the Father and Jesus the Son want us to choose by faith while we are still living so we can enjoy the blessings of a loving relationship with Him now. Life here on earth is all about Love.
 
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