Re: Which religion suits me?
real life wrote:Eorl wrote:I hear people say that they find a religion that fits with the things they believe.
To me, that is the most obvious clue that you are deluding yourself.
You are correct.
Eorl wrote:You would think that if a religion was the "truth", then you'd just have to accept the bits that didn't fit with what you thought was right...... wouldn't you?
Yep that's the way it works.
For example, the Bible teaches that all have sinned. That goes against the grain of human nature, because we all naturally like to justify what
we have done. Others may not have been right to do it, but somehow when we do the very same thing we have a justification for it, don't we?
That's one of the reasons that Biblical theology cannot be man-made.
No one would intentionally impose upon himself a religious standard that constantly condemned his own actions; especially if he knew all along it was of his own making.
I disagree. The cynical argument has already been provided, but still rings true. If salvation can only come not through your own actions, but from above, and that 'above' is represented by the institue of the church, it confers to that institution an enormous amount of power, at least as long as it's subjects rank their coming existence in heaven as more valuable then their current existence on earth.
There is also another argument, which is indeed human nature. You see, by miring all of men's actions in the realm of sin, it also alleviates men of the responsibility for his own atonement. For he cannot get it on his own. By this criterium, people need divine intervention regardless of what they do. So just live your life, confess, repent and ask the local clergymen what to do to atone for the commited sins. Do that, and hope it is enough.
real life wrote:
Also the Biblical history of the people of Israel cannot be man-made. Some have claimed it to be a 'self serving' account of pseudo history, but that is far from the case.
The Bible consistently paints the Israelites as stubborn, stiff necked, disobedient to God, undeserving of His care, unthankful for it also, idolatrous and sinful in spite of repeated admonishment and punishment, having to learn the same lesson over and over, weaker than their enemies and the cause of their own defeats at the hands of their neighbors and enemies. Their leaders are depicted as vacillating, sinful, duplicitous and vulgar. The common people are depicted as wayward and unspiritual and the priests as hypocritical, scheming, disobedient to the prophets, disregarding the Torah and poor leaders.
What man would have made up such a history that constantly brings out the worst side of his nation and the people who share the same faith as himself?
This problem is magnified, because even if one were to assert that one individual WOULD indeed be masochistic enough to devise such a religious standard or such a history, the Old Testament contains the writings of dozens of men over the course of many centuries , in various political climates and social arrangements; yet the same common themes throughout.
I have always been taught that much of the Old Testament was written down while the Israelites were exiles living in Babylon and later Persia. Keeping that in mind, it's easy to see the recurring theme, and why it is chosen thusly.
I cannot be sure this is how it happened, but possibly some of the following arguments are valid.
Here I am, sitting at the river Eufrate, taken prisoner and deported from my country. Why did this happen?
The obvious reason was of course that the Babylonians came and conquered, but why would their God allow them to do so? Was he perhaps defeated? Given the premise that JHWH is an all powerful creator of worlds, and that no other god can exist, this seems absurd. So the only reason for this to happen to his professed chosen people was because they let him down. God was disappointed and either refused to help, or, perhaps even worse, chose to punish his people by sending the Babylonians.
Now the burning question of course is: "When can we return?" Given the premise that God has punished them, or refused to help them at least, it seems that the Israelites are in disfavor. But will this last? Will they never return to their own lands? This is where their own past is used as a reminder that,
no matter how disobedient and obstinate the Israelites have been, JHWH has always forgiven them their sins.
