A question about the bible, the koran and other 'holy' texts, and I guess mankind's religion in general.

Why do people believe, almost without question, the things written in said books and reiterated by preachers or pastors ([some of whom may be] charlatans) the world over to be the 'gospel' truth?

I don't mean to cause offence, but ...

Everyone has The right to believe in Whatever theyw ant to believe in .

that's great (not that it even vaguely answered my question) but if these texts and the messages they convey are lies (for want of a kinder word) then isn't dangerous to society and to the children/vulnerable/needy members of the community who have these view points enforced upon them

i mean it's not like these scriptures were written in places where there was no culture of documenting events...yet there is a complete dearth of corroborative data for a number of the important 'events' recorded within the 'holy' texts...my question is why?

I really don't know why. I also have Questions upon questions about religion/the bible. "Just live life in peace" That's my motto. I don't know if these things are real/holy...but that's what we are meant to believe.

@hot-angel you are not meant to believe. The bible counsels against the love of God becoming just a human commandment. I believe there is a section of Romans that says you should prove everything and hold steadfast to the truth. Don't just be a christian because my mum says so. I believe you should have a reason for being one. Find out about evolution(and why contrary to popular belief, it is not a theory but an hypothesis). Find out about proofs for prophecies that came true.

@exu I will be willing to provide you evidence why the events contained in the bible are true. But please confirm. the bible praises the people of berea because they did not just accept the word from their leaders but sat down to verify the veracity of their suggestions.

To provide some help i have included a link to a site that has such info

http://www.watchtower.org/library/t13/why_trust.htm

I believ cos i just believe. Not cos my mommy says so.

@hot-angel Don't get angry. I was only referring to your statement as to whether these things were holy or real, that implies ignorance. And what i know from my academics is that you cannot believe what you don't know and what you don't know you can't understand. I have had such low periods. My quarrel with catholic doctrine led me to question the faith itself. i believe I have found it again, though walking the path is a lot harder than finding it.

Aww hun, i sounded angry? i didn't mean to. I totaly understand what u were saying.

the bible praises the people of berea because they did not just accept the word from their leaders but sat down to verify the veracity of their suggestions.

that's great but there are a lot of people who follow religion like headless sheep, simply because someone told them that 'this is the truth'...


just wondering if you knew if the very existence of jesus christ has been proven...as far as i know 'jesus' is just a collection of legends made into one supreme man/god type character...

i realise that there are some people who will denounce me as the 'enemy' or the 'evil one' but these are questions that everyone should ask...

The existence of jesus christ has been proven. Letters from A roman centurion to his uncle (i think they are published under the name of theophilus letters or something like that.) talk about a joshua who was crucified and tallies with all the phenomena recorded.

there are other proofs. i have little time left.

@exu


In this temporary world, there are lots of questions we need to ask but there could be only few answers that we need to know. GOD is enough ! All I know is I believe in the Bible and I believe there's a God... Have you ever thought why Jesus Christ died on the cross ? Think of it now ! You might be one of the lost sheep... and He is waiting to return to His care.

the holy books and other religious texts exist for real and jesus existed too. i read that there were other books that were found too that were not added to the bible because they contained some contradictory information.

littlebaby:

@exu


In this temporary world, there are lots of questions we need to ask but there could be only few answers that we need to know. GOD is enough ! All I know is I believe in the Bible and I believe there's a God... Have you ever thought why Jesus Christ died on the cross ? Think of it now ! You might be one of the lost sheep... and He is waiting to return to His care.

yes the world is temporary and there are questions that should be asked...

you say that 'God is enough' but for me only the truth is enough...but who/what is 'God' How do you know who God is Is it because someone told you that 'this is who He is', and you believe them there are too many inconsistencies within the christian message (especially) but also islam (from what i've read) to accept either as the truth...

from where i'm standing religion is a man mad construct full of inaccuracies and mistakes, like all things man made...a series of lies made in order to cover up more lies...

i apologise if i've offended anyone but questions should be asked...

men has always looked up to something to believe in, to give him answers to his numerous question. there's a limit to the power of technology and also science can't explain everything.

but for me: i believe in what i c!

I don't believe proving that people in the bible were really alive means that the whole bible is true. What people don't realize is that besides the technology, people in those days were just sophisticated as us. If you think about it, the logic behind it is not sound. People had no way of keeping track of people or a way to keep them moral. So, you create a collection of stories to tell your children in order for them to be good. I believe alot of these stories were told and not written at first. I would even bet that many of them changed like they would in the game telephone. As these stories were passed down to each generation, the next generation would question it just as we are doing now. So, just add something to the story to remove doubt, I.e saying that the book was inspired by God ect, The new testament was written many years after the fact. Also, only A couple people can testify that Jesus arose from the grave. People viewed Jesus as they would David Koresh, or Warren Jeffs. Today we blow cults off as nonsense, however some do get big such as scientology. I think why people clinged to the new testement is because it was a little brighter than the old testament. With jesus, I believe it was predicted in samuel that the messiah would be kin to David. David descended from Joseph, who was not married to the virgin mary makeing David un-related to Jesus. Now, you can loosely interpret this, but I believe the more logical answer is that she got pregnant and was not married. Under the laws in those days, you would be stoned to death for something like that. Makes a good incentive to lie. There are also stories of women in polytheist areas that would claim they were impregnated by zeus when the child came out and didn't look like the father. You cannot use the bible to prove the bible. It is a lost cause to prove that it was really written by men inspired by god. So, you just gotta have faith. I do want proof though. I cannot just blindly believe. So, unless God comes down himself or we can prove his existance then i will just stick with the hypothesis that he is not real. I figure if you need to have faith in order to believe it, then there is something fishy going on.

IF god is real, then god abandoned us in the first century. The only people he talks to these days are people who kill their babies.

My Faith is not based on Text but on Experience!

Pastor AIO:

My Faith is not based on Text but on Experience!

Which of the following did you experience? And did the experience inform you about the truth or otherwise of these events?

1) The creation as narrated in Genesis
2) The Noah Flood
3) The near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham
4) The virgin birth of Jesus
5) The trinity
6) Resurrection

How did you experience these foundational tenets of Christianity? Is your experience purely subjective?

huxley:

Which of the following did you experience? And did the experience inform you about the truth or otherwise of these events?

1) The creation as narrated in Genesis
2) The Noah Flood
3) The near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham
4) The virgin birth of Jesus
5) The trinity
6) Resurrection

How did you experience these foundational tenets of Christianity? Is your experience purely subjective?

1) The creation as narrated in Genesis

No.

2) The Noah Flood

NO.
3) The near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham

No
4) The virgin birth of Jesus
NO.
5) The trinity

Yes.
6) Resurrection
Yes.

Excellent forum topic should get more hits

N E how:
Its good that this topic has people thinking [I hope]
Why just accept something because a book says them[whatever the book]

Don't get me wrong now. I have benefited from counsel and instruction in the Bible,
and realize that things mentioned such as sexual purity and responsible sexual behaviour
would put a serious check on things like HIV etc.

But if you are going to try to convince someone simply with the argument that 'Your book'
says so, [no disrespect intended] how do we decided which book to follow?

Wouldn't each book defend itself as the supreme guide to follow?

[center]Some people think that people can no longer think thanks to Cable TV, Video games, music, and drugs/alcohol,
but I say : Yes We Can![/center]

i need site to download yoruba bible to my phone