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How is faith in God attained?
- Thread starter nds1
- Start date
I wasn't.
If you were born in China, India, Africa, or the Middle east, do you think you would have been a Christian?
I'm guessing not. People take on the religion, for the most part, that the majority of people around them take on. We live in the U.S. where almost everyone is a Catholic or other denomination of Christian. So we are comfortable with choosing Christianity because our parents said it was the truth, and because everyone around us agrees.
If you were born in India, you would probably have Hindu parents, and live in a Hindu society, so you would feel comfortable choosing Hinduism.
If you were born in China, you would hae Buddhist parents, and would live in a Buddhist society, so you would feel comfortable choosing Buddhism.
If you were born in, say, Iraq, you would have Muslim parents and would live in a Muslim society (Sunni or Shiite), therefore you would choose Islam as your religion since you would feel comfortable with it.
If you were born in Africa under a tribe there, you would worship whatever god(s) they worship because it would be all you know, and would be in your comfort zone.
I just don't like the idea of choosing a religion based on what your parents chose, or what the society around you chooses.
I'm guessing not. People take on the religion, for the most part, that the majority of people around them take on. We live in the U.S. where almost everyone is a Catholic or other denomination of Christian. So we are comfortable with choosing Christianity because our parents said it was the truth, and because everyone around us agrees.
If you were born in India, you would probably have Hindu parents, and live in a Hindu society, so you would feel comfortable choosing Hinduism.
If you were born in China, you would hae Buddhist parents, and would live in a Buddhist society, so you would feel comfortable choosing Buddhism.
If you were born in, say, Iraq, you would have Muslim parents and would live in a Muslim society (Sunni or Shiite), therefore you would choose Islam as your religion since you would feel comfortable with it.
If you were born in Africa under a tribe there, you would worship whatever god(s) they worship because it would be all you know, and would be in your comfort zone.
I just don't like the idea of choosing a religion based on what your parents chose, or what the society around you chooses.
The Gospel is being preached in almost all of the world now.
We'll see how it all ends up, you know future history is described in the Bible, is it in the Bhagavad Gita?
Does the Bhagavad Gita include prophecies?
"In the Kali Yuga, wealth alone will be the deciding factor of nobility [in place of birth, righteous behavior or merit]. And brute force will be the only standard or deciding what is righteous or just."
"Mutual liking [and not family pedigree, social status, etc.] will be the deciding factor in choosing a partner in marriage; cheating will be the order of the day in business relations; satisfaction of sexual pleasure will be the only consideration of male or female excellence and worthiness; and the wearing of the sacred thread (Yajnopavita) [and not pious behavior or Vedic or Shastric learning] will be the outward index of being a Brahmin.
In the Kali Yuga, only one quarter of each of the four feet of Dharma [panance, truthfulness, compassion and charity] remains. And that too goes on decreasing day by day while the feet of Adharma [unrighteousness] increase greatly. So that in the end Dharma becomes extinct."
"In that [Kali] age, people will be greedy. They will take to wicked behavior. They will be merciless, indulge in hostilities without any cause, unfortunate, extremely covetous for wealth and women. High social status will be attained by Sudras, fisherman and such other classes..."
"When deceit, falsehood, lethargy, sleepiness, violence, despondency. grief, delusion, fear, and poverty prevail, that is the Kali Yuga..."
"...mortal beings will become dull-wittwd, unlucky, voracious, destitute of wealth yet voloptuous, and women, wanton and unchaste.
Countries will be laid waste by robbers and vagabonds; the Vedas will be condemned heretics; kings will exploit their subjects, and twice-borns like Brahmanas will only think of the gratification of their sexual desires and other appetites.
"Celibates [of the Brahma Carya ashrama] will cease to observe their vows of study, purity and celibacy; householders will take to begging [instead of giving alms]; hermits [of the vanaprastha ashrama] will resort to villages [leaving their retreats in the forests]; and Sannyasins will be extremely greedy for money.[in short, the whole system of the Varnashrama Dharma will have broken down.]"
"Petty - minded people will conduct business transactions and merchants will be dishonest."
In the Kali Yuga, men will abandon their parents, brothers, friends, and relatives. They will occupy high seats [and pulpits] and will [pretend to] preach religion.
People will have their minds weighed down with constant anxiety and fear. This will be due to devastating famines and heavy taxation. The land will not grow food-crops, and the people will always be in fear of impending droughts.
There are similar prophecies in many other passages of the Hindu scriptures such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. Baha is believe that all of the conditions described in these books have come about today.
Swami Vivekananda, a prominent writer wrote: But greater than the present deep dismal night...no pall of darkness had ever before enveloped this holy land of ours. And compared with the depth of this fall, all previous falls appear like little hoof-marks.
There are also prophecies that we are seeing today of the breakdown of the caste system and the abandonment of religion: "The observance of caste, order and institutes will not prevail in the Kali Yuga; nor will that of the ceremonials and rituals enjoined by the Sama, Rig, and Yajur Vedas. Marriages, in this age, will not conform to the ritual; nor will the rules that connect the guru and his disciple be in force. The laws that regulate the conduct of husband and wife will be disregarded; and oblations to the gods with fire will no longer be offered..."
The doctrines of false teachers will be held to be scripture... In the Kali Yuga, those who practice fasting, austerity and liberality will do so in whatever way they please [and not according to the law]. And men will call this righteousness...
Men of all degrees, filled with conceit, will consider themselves to be equal with Brahmins...
In the Kali Yuga, men, corrupted by unbelievers, will refrain from adoring Vishnu, the Lord of sacrifice, the creator and lord of all. They will say: Of what authority are the Vedas? What are gods, or Brahmins? What need is there for purification with water?
"When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth. He will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent brahmin of Sambhala village, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the barbarians and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then re-establish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the Age of Purity."
All the Hindu scriptures are agreed that when conditions have reached this point, when things have deteriorated and mankind has sunk to the lowest depths of moral degradation, then the Lord will again manifest Himself as the Kalki Avatar.
When Vedic religion and the dharma of the law books have nearly ceased and the Kalki Yuga is almost exhausted, then a part of the creator of the entire universe, the blessed Lord Vasudeva [Vishnu], will become incarnate here in the universe in the form of Kalki.
Baha'i scholars have demonstrated that the prophecies in the Manu Srmiti and other books indicate the exact date of the end of the kalki Yuga and the coming of the Kalki Avatar.
____________________________________________________________________
So I guess Jesus IS NOT the last Son of God, is he?
"Mutual liking [and not family pedigree, social status, etc.] will be the deciding factor in choosing a partner in marriage; cheating will be the order of the day in business relations; satisfaction of sexual pleasure will be the only consideration of male or female excellence and worthiness; and the wearing of the sacred thread (Yajnopavita) [and not pious behavior or Vedic or Shastric learning] will be the outward index of being a Brahmin.
In the Kali Yuga, only one quarter of each of the four feet of Dharma [panance, truthfulness, compassion and charity] remains. And that too goes on decreasing day by day while the feet of Adharma [unrighteousness] increase greatly. So that in the end Dharma becomes extinct."
"In that [Kali] age, people will be greedy. They will take to wicked behavior. They will be merciless, indulge in hostilities without any cause, unfortunate, extremely covetous for wealth and women. High social status will be attained by Sudras, fisherman and such other classes..."
"When deceit, falsehood, lethargy, sleepiness, violence, despondency. grief, delusion, fear, and poverty prevail, that is the Kali Yuga..."
"...mortal beings will become dull-wittwd, unlucky, voracious, destitute of wealth yet voloptuous, and women, wanton and unchaste.
Countries will be laid waste by robbers and vagabonds; the Vedas will be condemned heretics; kings will exploit their subjects, and twice-borns like Brahmanas will only think of the gratification of their sexual desires and other appetites.
"Celibates [of the Brahma Carya ashrama] will cease to observe their vows of study, purity and celibacy; householders will take to begging [instead of giving alms]; hermits [of the vanaprastha ashrama] will resort to villages [leaving their retreats in the forests]; and Sannyasins will be extremely greedy for money.[in short, the whole system of the Varnashrama Dharma will have broken down.]"
"Petty - minded people will conduct business transactions and merchants will be dishonest."
In the Kali Yuga, men will abandon their parents, brothers, friends, and relatives. They will occupy high seats [and pulpits] and will [pretend to] preach religion.
People will have their minds weighed down with constant anxiety and fear. This will be due to devastating famines and heavy taxation. The land will not grow food-crops, and the people will always be in fear of impending droughts.
There are similar prophecies in many other passages of the Hindu scriptures such as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. Baha is believe that all of the conditions described in these books have come about today.
Swami Vivekananda, a prominent writer wrote: But greater than the present deep dismal night...no pall of darkness had ever before enveloped this holy land of ours. And compared with the depth of this fall, all previous falls appear like little hoof-marks.
There are also prophecies that we are seeing today of the breakdown of the caste system and the abandonment of religion: "The observance of caste, order and institutes will not prevail in the Kali Yuga; nor will that of the ceremonials and rituals enjoined by the Sama, Rig, and Yajur Vedas. Marriages, in this age, will not conform to the ritual; nor will the rules that connect the guru and his disciple be in force. The laws that regulate the conduct of husband and wife will be disregarded; and oblations to the gods with fire will no longer be offered..."
The doctrines of false teachers will be held to be scripture... In the Kali Yuga, those who practice fasting, austerity and liberality will do so in whatever way they please [and not according to the law]. And men will call this righteousness...
Men of all degrees, filled with conceit, will consider themselves to be equal with Brahmins...
In the Kali Yuga, men, corrupted by unbelievers, will refrain from adoring Vishnu, the Lord of sacrifice, the creator and lord of all. They will say: Of what authority are the Vedas? What are gods, or Brahmins? What need is there for purification with water?
"When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth. He will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent brahmin of Sambhala village, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the barbarians and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then re-establish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, the Age of Purity."
All the Hindu scriptures are agreed that when conditions have reached this point, when things have deteriorated and mankind has sunk to the lowest depths of moral degradation, then the Lord will again manifest Himself as the Kalki Avatar.
When Vedic religion and the dharma of the law books have nearly ceased and the Kalki Yuga is almost exhausted, then a part of the creator of the entire universe, the blessed Lord Vasudeva [Vishnu], will become incarnate here in the universe in the form of Kalki.
Baha'i scholars have demonstrated that the prophecies in the Manu Srmiti and other books indicate the exact date of the end of the kalki Yuga and the coming of the Kalki Avatar.
____________________________________________________________________
So I guess Jesus IS NOT the last Son of God, is he?
I didn't know there was such a thing as "future history" lol.
*************
M*W: There's not. Consider the source.
I am not the first to call accurate prophecy future history, I guess it went over your heads, no surprise.
We'll see how it all ends up, you know future history is described in the Bible, is it in the Bhagavad Gita?
What future history is described in the Bible and backed up by a source other than the Bible?
Just google Biblical prophecy, or fulfilled Biblical prophecies, or what-have-you.
G! thanks Iceage, I did google look what I found!
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/proph/nt.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH110.html
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/prophecies.html
G'sss I could on but why bother!
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/proph/nt.html
http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CH/CH110.html
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/prophecies.html
G'sss I could on but why bother!
Ok then, so all atheists are doomed. What strikes me as odd is how the religious seem to almost orgasm on the idea. Here's the thing, and I ask that you pay attention..
I want to do an experiment on you quickly:
Convince your mind right now, beyond any possible hesitation that leprechauns exist.
You'll find that regardless to how much you squeeze, you just can't do it. Hopefully now you'll understand the predicament of many atheists. I cannot, no matter how much I squeeze, have belief in gods. All it takes is for those gods to come and show me themselves, but I cannot force my brain to believe in something that is not evident. It's not choice, it's inevitable - and this is where most theists go wrong. You, (a general you), ignorantly think that we sit down and choose not to believe in gods. That's not how it is. If we were given the chance that the ancient jews were to actually witness god in the flesh as it were then we too would be believers, (knowers), and not damned to hell. The only reason we don't is that our brains were not 'created' that way. The fault therefore does not lie with us, and I resent the notion that I am destined to burn because of something I cannot change. I face the "wrath" of god because he created me with an inability to believe in things without evidence. I have absolutely no say on what my brain does or does not believe, I merely know what it requires to have that belief. The creation of my brain had nothing to do with me and everything to do with a being with unjustified wrath considering the circumstances. All this from an "all-loving" being no less.
Now, you cannot convince yourself that leprechauns exist. It stands to reason that the only way you'll believe leprechauns exist is to see them with your own eyes, (and even then you might be doubtful). Once you understand why it is impossible to convince yourself of their existence, how you are simply incapable of considering the truth of their existence yada yada, then you will finally understand my position and see the inherent problem with burning because of it.
With me it is probable you couldn't give a shit. What difference does it make in your life if I burn forever? None really.. Now, just for the sake of argument.. What if your daughter has the same problem? Your mother perhaps? Be honest, will you be ok with the knowledge that your child/mother is burning forever and ever because they didn't do something that they were simply unable to do? Kindly don't deny the timescale here.. In 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000 years your child/mother will still be burning. If that doesn't send the shits up your spine then you're not much of a parent/son. All of this because of an "all-loving" god... Do me a lemon.
My mother and father and some of my siblings do have your problem, And i wish they didn't. I do not like the thought of anyone spending eternity in the lake of fire but i know from scriptures that many will.
All Praise The Ancient Of Days
IceAge, Adstar, Photizon,
Were any of you born in China, India, Africa, or the Middle east?
I was born in Australia and i rejected the religion of my pairents. Also Christianity now has a global footprint. There are just as many Christians in China as there are in europe and from what i hear from europe there are probably more Christians in china. As for your declaration that Christianity is shrinking well in the western world it is, but in asia and africa it is booming. Also it has never been a numbers game Even Jesus declared:
Matthew 7
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
All Praise The Ancient Of Days
Still I have no answer from a theist to the VERY SIMPLE question...
Of all the religions that have existed, past and present, how do you KNOW you have picked the right one assuming all are equally valid?
IceAge I would love you to answer this please.
Of all the religions that have existed, past and present, how do you KNOW you have picked the right one assuming all are equally valid?
IceAge I would love you to answer this please.