Can a person choose to believe?

[MonkeyFire]

An opinion is of your own, you choose it yourself, religion is focused on faith, which is a form of opinion.

Certainly this is true, but there is nothing wrong with an objective faith to govern all men.

 

[Kenny]

Of course our understanding of science changes as new facts are discovered. That is what the scientific method is all about. But, unlike religion, it doesn't claim to be never changing absolute truth. Rather, it always stands ready to change when new facts emerge that challenge our current understanding.

You say "Love that forgives, it never changes".

I assume you are referring to the jesus myth. Well, with over 35,000 different sects of Christianity, it seems there is no such thing as a "never changing" view of Jesus.

Besides, is Jesus really that "forgiving" ? Below is what he preaches. I don't see a whole lot of forgiveness for the billions of non-christians in these teachings.

Mark 16:16. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.”

2 Thessalonians, 8-9:"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power."

John 3:36 : “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Luke 12:5: "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."

John 15:6 : "If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."

You shall have no other gods before Me.

It seems you answer to a simple question was to flood the response with irrelevant statements that have no flow, rhyme or reason.

Do you have a perspective on love that has changed?

 

[Mohammad Nur Syamsu]

Certainly this is true, but there is nothing wrong with an objective faith to govern all men.

"Objective faith" implies opinions are wrong.

 

[Right lane]

Correct.


No country has had their people flung throughout the whole of the world for 2,000 years and come back and create their country again with the same language and customs. This is a known scientific fact.


I beg to differ.

We have evidence in our own congregation. She was told she had stage 4 cancer and had 6 months to live. She was completely healed in 3 months and doctors can't explain why. We can! And no imagination is necessary.

And what about all those that died despite prayers ? Would that suggest sometimes God decides to help, and sometimes he doesn't ? I would imagine the most common prayer spoken by billions of devoted people a billion times for thousands of years would be for world peace. Those prayers seemed to have gone unanswered.

 

[Right lane]

It seems you answer to a simple question was to flood the response with irrelevant statements that have no flow, rhyme or reason.

Do you have a perspective on love that has changed?

Sure, love is a feeling or emotion. Both change all the time. A person meets another, initially, he doesn't like him. After getting to know him better, he finds he really likes him. And of course the opposite can happen. The fact that the divorce rate is about 40% to 50% certainly indicates that love can change. Interestingly, divorce rates are lower among atheists than conservative Christians. See: U.S. divorce rates: for various faith groups, age groups and geographical areas

 

[Right lane]

"Objective faith" implies opinions are wrong.

What is "objective faith" ?

 

[MonkeyFire]

"Objective faith" implies opinions are wrong.

What?

 

[Kenny]

And what about all those that died despite prayers ? Would that suggest sometimes God decides to help, and sometimes he doesn't ? I would imagine the most common prayer spoken by billions of devoted people a billion times for thousands of years would be for world peace. Those prayers seemed to have gone unanswered.

If I go by scriptures, world peace that is headed by mankind will never be world peace. It is an obvious position to hold for, as we know, complete power in the hands of man completely corrupts.

As far as God helping, I don't think He says "today I want to but tomorrow I don't". If I were to look at the life Jesus, we find that there are many reasons prayers weren't answered and none because he didn't want to.

 

[Kenny]

Sure, love is a feeling or emotion. Both change all the time. A person meets another, initially, he doesn't like him. After getting to know him better, he finds he really likes him. And of course the opposite can happen. The fact that the divorce rate is about 40% to 50% certainly indicates that love can change. Interestingly, divorce rates are lower among atheists than conservative Christians. See: U.S. divorce rates: for various faith groups, age groups and geographical areas

Or, people don't understand love and confuse " I like, I enjoy sexual encounters, I love your friendship, et al" for love.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Right, when Jesus said there would be illness,storms, etc. - Matthew 24 and Luke 21 - Jesus was Not teaching such things from God.
Rather, Jesus calmed the stormy sea and healed the sick and resurrected the dead. On the other hand, Satan is the one called the ' god' of this world of badness at 2nd Cor. 4:4. Satan will come to a final end - Jesus will destroy Satan - Hebrews 2:14 B.

What remaining unknowns ?
The next or final signal, so to speak, is found at 1st Thess. 5 vs 2,3 when ' they ' (powers that be ) will be saying Peace and Safety or Peace and Security as a precursor to the great tribulation of Revelation 7:14. The words from Jesus' mouth will be as sharp as an executioner's sword to rid the earth of wickedness - Isaiah 11 vs 3,4; Rev. 19 vs 11,15 - before Jesus, as Prince of Peace, ushers in global Peace on Earth among men of goodwill.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

And what about all those that died despite prayers ? Would that suggest sometimes God decides to help, and sometimes he doesn't ? I would imagine the most common prayer spoken by billions of devoted people a billion times for thousands of years would be for world peace. Those prayers seemed to have gone unanswered.

Seems as if some people are conditioned to believe that God exists to be their personal servant.
Whereas Satan challenges all of us at Job 2 vs 4,5 that touch our ' flesh ' ( loose physical health ) and we would turn away from God.
Also, when Adam broke God's Law, then Adam was taking the Law out of God's hands, so to speak, and placing the Law into man's hands. Adam set up People Rule as being superior to God's Rule. The passing of time shows that mankind's history can Not establish Peace on Earth nor cure mankind's ills.

We are nearing the coming ' time of separation ' of Matthew 25 vs 31,32 when the righteous sheep-like people can remain alive on earth, and continue living on earth, right into the time of Jesus' 1000-year kingdom rule over earth, when Jesus, as Prince of Peace, will usher in global Peace on Earth among men of goodwill.

Before that millennium-long day comes, first the good news of God's kingdom - Matthew 24:14 - would have to be proclaimed world wide. Today that proclamation is being proclaimed on an international scale as never before. Even modern technology has made possible rapid Bible translation into people's mother tongues or native languages so people can read and hear and understand Scripture in their own languages.

The healing or curing of earth's nations - Rev. 22:2 - comes during Jesus' millennial rule over earth. - Isaiah 33:24; 25:8; 1st Cor. 15:26

 

[peanutbutter63]

To the original question, the answer is no...you're either interested in such, or not. Don't force anything, or you'll go nuts...

 

[FreeTHinker4eva]

I have a question.
I consider myself agnostic because I have never felt any certainty about a God. I haven't had any religious experiences but I also cannot say that I decisively do not believe in God (or anything else, for that matter).
The only thing I know is that I don't know.
However, I have visited temples and churches. Sometimes because of my studies, sometimes because I was simply interested. In a Christian Pentecostal movement, I met some really nice (and extremely enthusiastic) people who told me that faith was a matter of choice. At one point, you simply have to decide to believe and reach out to God and then he will reach out to you. They told me that many of them had had doubts of their own, and they only went away when they completely devoted themselves to their faith and their church.
I simply don't understand. Or maybe I'm just not capable of doing what they say. How can you reach out to God if you're not even sure to whom or what you are speaking?
The same is for people who say they "decided" to join a specific group or community. How is it possible to choose what to believe? Either you believe it or you don't, right?
I am curious what your experiences are in this area. Especially those of you who are believers - was it a deliberate choice you made? Or did you simple "feel" it was the truth some day, whether you wanted to believe it or not?

Of course you choose to believe. Every one throughout their lives continually chooses to believe. We're hard-wired to seek beyond individual ego, posing questions such as "Why am I here?" "What is my purpose?". We are never done seeking unless we choose to say we're done asking questions. As years go by especially with technology aiding the search, we are continually confronted with new and divergent info. This fact causes the big question over and over again. Jesus as a youth questioned the elders re: Hebrew teachings. Seeking knowledge. Jesus taught through posing questions, through using parables(stories) to illustrate his point. We are finite beings here on Earth in the planes of matter. We cannot fully comprehend infinity with a finite brain. This is where faith begins. You choose to believe, Faith is natural to all humans. Atheists have faith in their choices, in their belief systems. Agnostics-chose to not choose definitively. Faith and belief expands, evolves, grows, if you choose to allow it. Your culture, your family, all impact your human/spiritual quest. The journey is inward, ever inward. Spirituality is within and without. Actions are the verbs of your beliefs, your faith. The afterlife is not concerned with human labels, nor human constructs that cloud or dismiss relative grasps of truth. There's that finite-ness working again. No human being of functional intellect escapes seeking. Faced with questions, we choose. Changing our minds when faced with new info. is part of life. Those who say belief is emotion are not wholly correct. We humans attach emotions to belief=conviction. We believe the sun will rise every day. We have faith it will. We don't know absolutely when the sun won't rise again. We believe, have faith we will awaken most of our lives. Even though one day we will not. Faith with or without God is inherent in humanity. Those who discourage questions, who try to box you in with only one answer, with a singular point of view, have obviously chosen to shut the door on further seeking deeper meanings, on Wisdom. Therein lies tragedy, for wisdom is only gained through experience. If you do not allow for the experience of questioning, of choosing, of evolving information, of deepening human faith you cannot grow in Wisdom. Wisdom such as-Science is not incompatible with 'God'. Science contains the finest tools we use to discover and grow in understanding everything that is already there. Humans don't invent life. Humans are life personified. Beware of the finite brain's limitations at work, believing(!) it has a corner in the marketplace of truth no other perceptions of truth allowed in-that my friend is also tragic. Be Of Good Cheer!

 

[leibowde84]

I have a question.
I consider myself agnostic because I have never felt any certainty about a God. I haven't had any religious experiences but I also cannot say that I decisively do not believe in God (or anything else, for that matter).
The only thing I know is that I don't know.
However, I have visited temples and churches. Sometimes because of my studies, sometimes because I was simply interested. In a Christian Pentecostal movement, I met some really nice (and extremely enthusiastic) people who told me that faith was a matter of choice. At one point, you simply have to decide to believe and reach out to God and then he will reach out to you. They told me that many of them had had doubts of their own, and they only went away when they completely devoted themselves to their faith and their church.
I simply don't understand. Or maybe I'm just not capable of doing what they say. How can you reach out to God if you're not even sure to whom or what you are speaking?
The same is for people who say they "decided" to join a specific group or community. How is it possible to choose what to believe? Either you believe it or you don't, right?
I am curious what your experiences are in this area. Especially those of you who are believers - was it a deliberate choice you made? Or did you simple "feel" it was the truth some day, whether you wanted to believe it or not?

I know this sounds harsh, but I think it depends on how gullible/trusting/lazy the subject is.