What makes your religion the "right" one

[GREEN_ALIEN]

I am a little confused here. With 22 +/- Major religions and tens of thousands of subsets therin what makes your choice the "right" choice? Why will you go to the mythological place of heaven while others get the heat turned up? What is the actual evidence you are right and someone else is wrong? Why is the book you read the right book and someones elses book a work of fiction?

Ted

[Catalpa]

There are only two religions in the world.

One religion (under many guises) teaches that you reach heaven by your own deeds, by what you do for God.

The other teaches that you reach heaven by what God has done for you.

I believe in the latter. No one could ever do enough good, be a perfect enough person, be so completely without sin, as to enter heaven on their own merits or by their own deeds.

But Christ did. As true God and true Man, He is and was without sin yet He paid the penalty for all of our sins. He has given me eternal life as a gift, not as something I have to earn. And in that blessed assurance is such peace!

[flatwater]

There is only one way to God and thats through Jesus Christ that was sacrifised for our sins. The rest is stuff that people like to argue about some more important than others which is call doctrine. Churches have different doctrine but if the salvation plan is the same then that is OK . Part of this nations problem is the Christians fight amoung themselves so much they have forgoten who the real enemy is. Thats one of the big reason prayer is not allowed in schools. Any church that denies Christ is the son of God and was born of the virgin Mary . was sacrifised for our sins , was resurected and is sitting at the right of the Father. And that Christ when he was ressurected left the Holy Spirit to give us power and confort and that there is a trinity (Father Son and Holy Spirit) If they don't believe in the above they are not Christian. Now for the non Christians that read this , don't argue with me , God started it.
Flatwater

[gardenfay]

catalpa and flatwater:
all i can say is a hearty "Amen!"

[wy0mn]

Thats why they call it FAITH!

Religion is a personal path. You don't have to explain your beliefs to others nor they to you.
I find most of the world belief systems to be shot full of holes & flawed to their rotten cores.
Just use history... find one religion that didn't steal, borrow, or modify itself from an older preceeding religion!
Remember the 'rumor' game at school? Whisper something into someones ear, and let it make the circuit of the class? See how grossly it changed before reaching the other end? If I were looking for truth I'd look past the current acceptible faiths.

I have nice acquaintances from many faiths. I don't give a diddly what they worship, so long as it doesn't require the ritual sacrifice of me or my family!

[MooseToo]

if you don't know, it's not right -

there's a major, major difference between opinion and belief when it comes to religion -

[RangerRick]

I don't have any religion, never saw it do anyone any good so I passed on it.

However, if you are "really" meaning what church I'd have to say that is because it follows God's Word as Written Scripture closer than any church body I've come across. Afterall, isn't that what it's really all about, following God's Written Word?

Rick

[lsg]

This from Billy Graham. I can't say it any better.

"Over the years I have talked to thousands of people who have asked me how to find their way to God. Some have sat in church pews all their lives but never come to personally know God. Others have sought for ultimate meaning in all sorts of ways but never found the peace of mind for which they were searching. Some simply realize that there is something vital missing in their lives.

The Bible teaches that this sense of lostness is rooted in the fact that we live in a fallen world in which we are all handicapped by a sin nature: we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And despite our best efforts we are unable to remove the haunting weight of guilt that separates us from our Creator.

God sent his Son to solve our dilemma. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Jesus Christ made the way to God for us by his death on the Cross. He purchased our salvation by the shedding of his blood. His death and resurrection made a new and everlasting covenant between God and humanity.

Jesus told his disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He did not merely point the way to God. He himself claimed to be the only way to the Father and the source of eternal truth and life.

The way to God is through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Intellectual acceptance of Christ is not enough. You must come to him determined to turn from what displeases him, with a total trust in Christ's saving power for you.

Christ promises those who turn to him: "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed from death to life" (John 5:24).

Today you can come to him by surrendering your life and heart to Christ. The Bible says: "To all who received him (Jesus Christ), to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

Right where you are you can pray something like this: "Lord, I know that I have sinned and need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and rose from the dead. I invite you into my life to be my Lord and Savior."

If you sincerely put your faith in Christ, God promises not only to forgive you, but also to receive you into his family. It's the greatest discovery you will ever make!"

[bookwormom]

quote:
I am a little confused here. With 22 +/- Major religions and tens of thousands of subsets therin what makes your choice the "right" choice? Why will you go to the mythological place of heaven while others get the heat turned up? What is the actual evidence you are right and someone else is wrong? Why is the book you read the right book and someones elses book a work of fiction?

millions believe the way they do because that is what they learned as children, and everybody around them believes so too, so it must be right, everybody says so, especially the priest, imam etc. And if I am right, you must be wrong, or could we both be right? Or maybe you could be as right as I am and I could be as wrong as you?

[theresehirko]

I took several theology courses in college and studied the different religions of the world. My own faith, Judaism, has always felt right to me and did so even more after studying the different religions. I personally believe that all religions that believe in G-d, do no harm to others, and believe in ethical living are on the right path. It's up to the individual to decide which one is personally right for them. I love being Jewish and fulfilling mitzvot on a daily basis.

BTW-I was not raised Jewish. I have a Jewish dad and a Catholic mom and was raised Catholic. I came to Judaism on my own. I don't think my mom will ever forgive me.

[flatwater]

Theresehirko , I just have to ask you this. Do you believe in jesus as the son of god and your personal savior?
Flatwater

[theresehirko]

No.

[Vidman]

I was born and raised Catholic. I moved to East Texas in early 2006. Many, not all, but many many Baptists here were down right hostile. They would come to our home and ask us to come to their church and when we informed them we attended mass at the Catholic Church we were insulted and accused of worshipping graven idols. Now I am VERY thankful to these people. In the course of my many conversations and debates with these folks I have sought the knowledge needed to answer the questions they asked of me. I have studied very hard so that I could find the answers. I have gone looking for the bible passages they used to explain why my Faith was wrong and theirs was right. The more I studied, the closer I came to my faith. I used their bible, their literature, their scripture quotes, and in their presence many times and have come to the conclusion that my father raised me in the correct faith. There have been a few who came to sit with me to convert me that have considered joining the RCIA program at the Catholic Church. I have constantly wondered how an intelligent person can consciously take a bible passage out of context and claim it as a "truth" and then ignore 20 more passages that clearly tell them that their "truth" is an incorrect assumption.
Blessed are the Baptists who challenge us to be Catholic!

[Vidman]

Theresehirko, I am not very astute when it come to the Jewish people. I ask out of genuine interest... Does the Jewish people give any credence at all to the Bible? I understand that they do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God and could not believe that he is, otherwise the Jewish would have his Crucifixition on their hands. How does the Jewish People account for the Bible and the Crucifixtion and Ressurection and Ascension?

[BrentL]

Ted:

I guess I am a little confused here. With 22 +/- Major Governments and tens of thousands of subsets therin what makes your choice the "right" choice? What is the actual evidence you are right and someone else is wrong? Why is the book you read the right book and someones elses book a work of fiction?


can you answer this?

[theresehirko]

Dear Vidman:

Yes Jewish people put credence in the Bible. Our Bible is what christians call the Old Testament. The first five books that christians call the Pentateuch, we call the torah. These are the scrolls that the New Testament talks about Jesus reading in the synagogues. The Jewish idea of the messiah is very different from the Christian messiah. In the early christian church, there was a huge debate about pagans (mainly Greeks) becoming christian. The Petrine Jews said that in order to become a follower of Jesus, they must first become Jewish. The Pauline Jews said that so, they didn't need to be Jewish. I think that the Biggie was the whole circumcision thing. How many grown men do you know that would willingly volunteer to be circumcised? the only way to get out of it was for all of the laws to not matter anymore. Hence, the Christians didn't have to follow the Judaic law anymore, including being circumcised. It was a novel way to convert masses and the people who didn't agree stayed Jewish. Jesus and his followers were all observant Jews.

To be an observant Jew is to follow all of the laws as well as can be done outside of Israel. Some laws are really nitpicky. For example, we are not allowed to handle money or conduct business on the Sabbath. We are not allowed to light fires on the Sabbath. Why? Because G-d commanded it. We are to be holy as he is holy. So when my favorite store is having a sale on Saturday and it ends on sunday, well there wasn't anything there that i really needed anyway.

Jews don't concern themselves with the hereafter too much. If we follow G-d's laws and live an ethical life treating all living things with compassion, then we will be blessed by G-d in the hereafter. How do I know? Because G-d said so.

Now before I get a million messages saying that the what is in the bible isn't true and how do I know that it's the word of G-d, etc. I have faith. i believe that what is in the bible is G-d's word. I believe with my whole heart and soul that if I follow G-d's laws, then I have nothing to worry about when he asks me questions on Judgement Day.

As far as the crucifixion, crucifixion was the standard way to execute in those days, unless you were a Roman citizen, then you got beheaded. Many people were crucified. Many people claimed to be the messiah. There are resurrection stories in almost every religion. I put more credence in G-d's word and his commandments.

[CarolAnn]

What a great thread! I've often wondered this myself - only more on the lines of "why do you believe what you believe?"

Some believe as they were brought up to. Others searched and found what they needed in their lives. Some follow because they are terrified that something bad will happen if they don't. Others don't care one way or the other and go to church for the social aspect. Others yet don't care and don't want to go to church - or to spare a minute thinking about any of it.

Faith (or lack of it) is such an intensely personal thing. Some cultures hold it as a private and personal concept that is not to be shared lightly with others.

I once read that the one thing all religions have in common is one core belief: "THIS" is truth - and all else is untruth. Whatever "THIS" is - it's what is important to them. That's the demarcation line of Who gets fried in the afterlife and who gets to go to paradise or heaven.

Unfortunately that aspect of belief in the true path is also what causes religious wars, family fueds and other human contrempts.

We're doing a pretty darn good job here of maintaining respect for each other's core beliefs!

(I am of that group that does not discuss my personal beliefs with others - but it's also interesting to see the beliefs of those who do!)

[suijurisfreeman]

There is only one way to God and thats through Jesus Christ that was sacrifised for our sins. The rest is stuff that people like to argue about some more important than others which is call doctrine. Churches have different doctrine but if the salvation plan is the same then that is OK . Part of this nations problem is the Christians fight amoung themselves so much they have forgoten who the real enemy is. Thats one of the big reason prayer is not allowed in schools. Any church that denies Christ is the son of God and was born of the virgin Mary . was sacrifised for our sins , was resurected and is sitting at the right of the Father. And that Christ when he was ressurected left the Holy Spirit to give us power and confort and that there is a trinity (Father Son and Holy Spirit) If they don't believe in the above they are not Christian. Now for the non Christians that read this , don't argue with me , God started it.
Flatwater

What exactly do you base the idea of the trinity on flatwater? *1 John 5:7? *According to the research that I've done 1 John 5:7 is not in the oldest manuscripts available, it was added much later. *Since I'm sure that you won't believe me check it out in numerous Christian Commentaries -- see what they have to say.

Check out: http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1186

http://www.kjvonly.org/other/wallace_text_prob.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_Johanneum

Also where does the idea come from that Jesus would be born of a virgin? Isaiah 7:14?

[suijurisfreeman]

Here's a site about the quote from Isaiah 7:14:
The Nativity Tradition
In a recent Email dialogue with a follower of the Eastern Orthodox Church, I expressed my lack of belief in the "Holy Trinity"—the concept shared by nearly all Christian denominations that Jesus was part of a tripartite relationship that embodies the Christian God. In response, he posed the following question: If Christ was not God, why was it necessary for the Holy Spirit to impregnate the Virgin Mary (the Incarnation)?

In order to better answer the question, I'll forego my feelings about the Trinity and specifically address the Virgin Birth:

The image of the Nativity has become so ingrained in our culture that no one thinks to question its validity. But two things have always disturbed me about the story of Jesus's birth. First, the accounts given by Matthew and Luke are completely contradictory on their face. I have heard apologetic arguments claiming that the two versions are reconcilable, but I find them unconvincing if not downright silly. Second, it is well documented in the gospels that Jesus's family never followed his teachings during his lifetime; not even his mother (see Mk 3:21, Mt 12:46-50, Lk 8:19-21, Jn 7:5). This kind of behavior seems rather strange for a God-fearing Jewish woman who had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit, and personally told of her son's identity by an angel.

Then I began to research the background of the prophecy of the Virgin Birth in Isaiah 7:14. The original Hebrew reads, "Look, the almah is withchild and about to give birth to a son. Let her name him Emmanuel." The Hebrew word almah literally translates to "young woman"—it could be used to mean "virgin," but not imperatively so. However, the writers of the NT gospels did not have access to any Hebrew texts. All of their quoted passages from OT scripture are lifted directly from the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation commonly circulated during the period. And the authors of the Septuagint had mistranslated the word almah into the Greek parthenos, which quite literally means "virgin."

What's more, the passage in Isaiah has absolutely nothing to do with the Messiah. The prophet is speaking to King Ahaz about a future leader named Emmanuel who will prevent Judah from going to war with Syria and Ephraim. Jesus had nothing to do with this conflict (which was back in the seventh century BCE), not to mention the fact that his name isn't Emmanuel!

It is easy to understand why the early gospel writers were compelled to quote these passages out of context. By the time Matthew and Luke penned their gospels, it had become obvious that the Jews had rejected Jesus as their savior, and that the future of Christianity lay with the Gentiles. Nearly all the pagan religions of the time (i.e., Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, and much of Greek mythology) professed a belief in a leader who was born of a virgin, and the Gentiles simply would never have accepted a savior who had been conceived any other way. (The same can be said of the supposed "tripartite" nature of God, which is not ever stated in the gospels, and which any orthodox Jew considers to be a violation of the first commandment.) This is not to say that the gospellers were being deliberately deceptive. Little, if anything, was known about Jesus's birth, and this void had to be addressed. Matthew and Luke simply authored scenarios that were in keeping with the expectations of the period. What harm was done by a bit of romanticizing?

Unfortunately, the pagan influence only grew stronger, and by the time of the Chalcedonian Definition in 451 C.E., Jesus's identity had evolved, from the lowly son of a poor carpenter in Nazareth who was anointed by God's Spirit to bring salvation for all humanity, to a physical manifestation of God himself. And I cannot understand how Jesus's baptism, temptation, death on the cross and resurrection in the flesh could possibly hold any meaning if he himself was the God for whom he professed such faith. The Jews were expecting a fully human Messiah, and I believe Jesus of Nazareth was exactly that, albeit the greatest human ever to walk the Earth.

Geoff Trowbridge, 12/96 (rev. 6/97)

[suijurisfreeman]

See also this site:

http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/virgin.html

[dwh]

I believe that God is big enough, powerful enough, loving enough to see to the spiritual needs of all of his people in all times. Judaism, and Christianity are often accused of “borrowing” stories and traditions from other religions. My BELIEF on this is that they are all the same. I believe that all religions share a basic theme, do good, love your brother, because they all come from the same creator.

Find a picture of Zeus, he looks like what many of us picture Moses looking like, and many people believe that is the face of God. In the movie Almost an Angel, when Paul Hogan died in the hospital and went to heaven, he thought it was funny that God looked like Charlton Heston. Is it a coincidence that Zeus and God look alike? It is my belief that Zeus and God were one and the same. God is of course Allah, but I think he was also the Native Americans Great Spirit. Name any peoples spiritual answer, and I believe you have named God. How many of Gods names are told in the Bible? How about this, How many of Gods names are not?

I believe God comes to man in the way man needs, in the way man can accept. I believe that is always good.

Sometimes though, and God/religion gets blamed for this; Sometimes man uses it to do bad.

Like making war on each other because we don’t believe in the same God.

So are we all wrong? Or, are we all right? Maybe if its right for you, that’s really all you need to worry about.