the right religion

[Triumphant_Loser]

To find the right religion, pray to God to show you which is the right religion.
Tell God you want to find Him, and ask Him to reveal which religion He is from to you.
A simple prayer you can use:"God, show me which religion you are from."

I did. For years actually. He tends to not like answering back so I eventually just gave up, hence why I am a Deist.

 

[1robin]

I did. For years actually. He tends to not like answering back so I eventually just gave up, hence why I am a Deist.

Deist is a strange position. It is the proposition of believing in the one thing you will never have any direct evidence of and which of no practical use to anyone even if he exists. That is unless your in one very unusual sect or something. Actually the bible does not simply say ask God and get an e-mail back from him, it says this:

…16"By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. 17"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. 18"Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.…

New Living Translation
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me

This last one is the most emphatic:

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

It is not wandering around inquiring, it is down to business heart and soul scouring. For me, I was raised in church, bible study, camp and all that then when my mother died I set out to dismiss the faith I grew up around. So one day many years later I decided to end this Christian question once and for all. 6 months in I gave that up and started looking for good in scripture and nature constantly. A few months later I was born again and experienced Christ just as the scriptures say. Only after serious and sustained effort did that even begin to occur.

 

[metis]

I did. For years actually. He tends to not like answering back so I eventually just gave up, hence why I am a Deist.

I long have admired and used Gandhi's approach, which is that God (however defined) may talk to use without words but with feelings, and that if we feel strongly we should do something, do it, but first make certain that it's moral. It was by far the best religious suggestion I have ever received.

 

[Ingledsva]

Deist is a strange position. It is the proposition of believing in the one thing you will never have any direct evidence of and which of no practical use to anyone even if he exists. That is unless your in one very unusual sect or something. Actually the bible does not simply say ask God and get an e-mail back from him, it says this:

…16"By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. 17"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. 18"Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness.…

New Living Translation
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me

This last one is the most emphatic:

Deuteronomy 4:29
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.

It is not wandering around inquiring, it is down to business heart and soul scouring. For me, I was raised in church, bible study, camp and all that then when my mother died I set out to dismiss the faith I grew up around. So one day many years later I decided to end this Christian question once and for all. 6 months in I gave that up and started looking for good in scripture and nature constantly. A few months later I was born again and experienced Christ just as the scriptures say. Only after serious and sustained effort did that even begin to occur.

When your rebuttal includes Bible quotes - you have obviously misunderstood Deism.



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[Triumphant_Loser]

When your rebuttal includes Bible quotes - you have obviously misunderstood Deism.



*

He might as well be using "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

 

[1robin]

I long have admired and used Gandhi's approach, which is that God (however defined) may talk to use without words but with feelings, and that if we feel strongly we should do something, do it, but first make certain that it's moral. It was by far the best religious suggestion I have ever received.

If God only communicates by feeling how is it we verify that our feeling are moral. Many opposite feeling felt by two different people may feel moral to each. One man's righteous beheading of an infidel is another man's murder. Feelings come from the human heart most of the time and the bible says our hearts are desperately wicked in general.

 

[1robin]

When your rebuttal includes Bible quotes - you have obviously misunderstood Deism.



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They were not used to comment on deism but to define what "looking for God means"

 

[1robin]

He might as well be using "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

That is pathetic, trite, and immature. If you want to know what "looking for God entails" the most logical place to look would be the most widely accepted book attributed to God and see what it says about it. You can certainly go on from there but personal metaphysical speculation is about the worst form of theological wisdom possible.

 

[Triumphant_Loser]

That is pathetic, trite, and immature. If you want to know what "looking for God entails" the most logical place to look would be the most widely accepted book attributed to God and see what it says about it. You can certainly go on from there but personal metaphysical speculation is about the worst form of theological wisdom possible.

Thing is... Im an ex-Christian...I have read it. I've waited years to hear back from this "god" you guys say will answer back. It's kind of funny how there are people out there who have never read one word of the book and God "speaks to them" all the time, yet I've read almost the entire book and haven't heard a peep from him in my entire life. It's almost as if people "hear" what they want to hear.

 

[Ingledsva]

When your rebuttal includes Bible quotes - you have obviously misunderstood Deism.

They were not used to comment on deism but to define what "looking for God means"

You missed the point.


You quoted a religious book to rebut a DEIST.



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[Ingledsva]

He might as well be using "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

That is pathetic, trite, and immature. If you want to know what "looking for God entails" the most logical place to look would be the most widely accepted book attributed to God and see what it says about it. You can certainly go on from there but personal metaphysical speculation is about the worst form of theological wisdom possible.

Again - you are missing the point,


He is a Deist.


No religious book has any authority for him.



*

 

[Sabour]

I did many times... All I get is silence and an uneasy feeling that I'll never find out.

And an attachment to Islam and weird feeling when you tried to go away from Islam. Plus dreaming about it. just saying.

 

[illykitty]

And an attachment to Islam and weird feeling when you tried to go away from Islam. Plus dreaming about it. just saying.

Apart maybe for a slight bit of attachment left sometimes. I don't have those things happen anymore. I had a dream about Buddhism a few nights ago though.

 

[Sabour]

I believe You have to explain why you think so.

Verses are talking about future comming of a prophet.

What words are causing you trouble?

The key words are he who does the will of my Father in heavens.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

I don't beleive I have done so.

What did you mean by works are not enough ?

 

[Sabour]

Apart maybe for a slight bit of attachment left sometimes. I don't have those things happen anymore. I had a dream about Buddhism a few nights ago though.

I dont recall you saying bit, I think you said strange, wierd or huge. Something like that.

It is normal that it doesn't happen anymore since you made your decision my moving away from it. I think those feelings will come back if you opened your heart to Islam again.

Well yeah about Buddhism it may happen to that you see a dream too.

But when you wake up, I think you can tell with dream meant something, and which dream didn't mean much.

 

[Muffled]

I long have admired and used Gandhi's approach, which is that God (however defined) may talk to use without words but with feelings, and that if we feel strongly we should do something, do it, but first make certain that it's moral. It was by far the best religious suggestion I have ever received.

I believe feelings are not dependable. I often will feel like not doing anything but I get myself going and do things anyway. Perhaps he was talking about intuition which is sometimes described as a feeling but even that is not dependable and neve worked for me at the roullette table.

 

[metis]

I believe feelings are not dependable. I often will feel like not doing anything but I get myself going and do things anyway. Perhaps he was talking about intuition which is sometimes described as a feeling but even that is not dependable and neve worked for me at the roullette table.

Maybe you shouldn't be at the roulette table?

Gandhi never meant that we should act on impulse without careful scrutiny first, and I agree with that.

What I could do is to give you a list of how taking his advice on this made such an unbelievably profound effect on my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined when I started using it almost 30 years ago. My mother passed away 20 years ago, and I well remember one of her last words to me: "You sure do get around". She would be far more shocked as to what has happened to me over the last 20 years.

There were many times when having an impulse to do something, and then contemplating it thinking "You gotta be kidding!", having no clue where it was going to lead me-- but later to be shocked at which doors became opened that I never could have anticipated.

As I have periodically posted, it was the single best piece of advice that I ever received, and it changed my life in so many ways.

 

[Muffled]

Verses are talking about future comming of a prophet.

I have completely lost the context on this.

The key words are he who does the will of my Father in heavens.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

I have no problem with those words or that they are the key words.

What did you mean by works are not enough ?

I believe I mean when people think they are doing God's will and the works they are doing is enough when it is not God's will and therefore can never be accepted simply because they appear to be good works.

For instance terrorists will think they are doing the works of God and following the qu'ran but they are not and their works will not be accepted.

This is why Christianity is superior to other religions in that The Holy Spirit is with us to help us understand what God wants at any particular time.

 

[Muffled]

Maybe you shouldn't be at the roulette table?

Gandhi never meant that we should act on impulse without careful scrutiny first, and I agree with that.

What I could do is to give you a list of how taking his advice on this made such an unbelievably profound effect on my life beyond anything I could have ever imagined when I started using it almost 30 years ago. My mother passed away 20 years ago, and I well remember one of her last words to me: "You sure do get around". She would be far more shocked as to what has happened to me over the last 20 years.

There were many times when having an impulse to do something, and then contemplating it thinking "You gotta be kidding!", having no clue where it was going to lead me-- but later to be shocked at which doors became opened that I never could have anticipated.

As I have periodically posted, it was the single best piece of advice that I ever received, and it changed my life in so many ways.

LIve and learn.

I believe this is the equivalent of playing roullette but I do agree that it would provide adventures.

 

[illykitty]

I dont recall you saying bit, I think you said strange, wierd or huge. Something like that.

It is normal that it doesn't happen anymore since you made your decision my moving away from it. I think those feelings will come back if you opened your heart to Islam again.

Yes, but that was while back. People constantly change. Recently there's been a change in my thinking, in which I don't think one religion can help.

I also put less focus on things we cannot know for sure. To me better use of time would be to try to improve myself, focus on humanitarian ideals and then give simple thanks to the source or all things, without expecting anything in return (no answer, no favouritism, no reward). I'd prefer to believe in a god that answers, that comforts, that gives rewards... But that is not my experience. I have to accept reality even if it's uncomfortable.

I do think about lessons from various religions and even do some practices (like meditation) but no one religion I can fit in. Even Islam has some good in it, but I can't accept some parts that, imo, is old tribal mentality. By thinking about it critically, that's what I concluded. Even my heart, while it was feeling attachment before, didn't feel it was right. That's why I kept leaving and that's why I couldn't stick with one religion either. I read about so many, even some that most people don't know. There wasn't any that satisfied my intellect and heart.

Hopefully you don't think god would punish someone for using their brain and heart!