qs commonly asked by atheisths

[pondre]

hey can ya tell me y there are some many religons its confussion i dont know if the bible explains it if it does i thinks its in with the tower of babalon thing-o
thanks alot
your answres will be apriceated

[Willowbirch]

That's a huge question, pondre!   Part of the reason for so many "religions" is the human need for something greater than itself. Most of us know we aren't all-powerful; we must have been created by Something, and we know how badly we need rules to guide our lives; otherwise there would be choas. So people try worshipping the stars, or dead relatives, or animals, or land. Or they try to put a name to the Something that they know is out there, and give Him human attributes but eternal life, goodness, etc.

True Christianity is not a "religion". We aren't trying to make up our own theories and laws. We aren't perfect, either, like some folks would like you to believe; we're just normal people doing our best to follow the Truth and live it out in our lives.

[Brother Love]

That's a huge question, pondre!   Part of the reason for so many "religions" is the human need for something greater than itself. Most of us know we aren't all-powerful; we must have been created by Something, and we know how badly we need rules to guide our lives; otherwise there would be choas. So people try worshipping the stars, or dead relatives, or animals, or land. Or they try to put a name to the Something that they know is out there, and give Him human attributes but eternal life, goodness, etc.

True Christianity is not a "religion". We aren't trying to make up our own theories and laws. We aren't perfect, either, like some folks would like you to believe; we're just normal people doing our best to follow the Truth and live it out in our lives.

Right On!

Amen

Brother Love

[pondre]

thanks but that didnt realy explian any thing
how did they start if people wherer already into the one true god, our god,
and also y are there different languges wats up with tat
thanks

[Willowbirch]

thanks but that didnt realy explian any thing
how did they start if people wherer already into the one true god, our god,
and also y are there different languges wats up with tat
thanks

Well, it was a pretty general question you asked - someone would have to write a book to cover it all, and I don't think there's room for that on the forum!  

There is a big issue that affects we humans today - its called Sin. Literally, it is a direct affront to the authority and truth of God. And when you're sinning against God, its an uncomfortable situation. The willingness of Man to create false gods, or worship himself, is a re-enactment of the First Rebellion; they doubt or dislike the Truth, and like the taste of a Lie instead.

The record of the separation of languages can be found in Genesis 11:1-9. Until then, Mankind spoke the same universal language; after the flood, people were told to spread out populate the earth, and the confusion of their speech helped to make that happen.  

[Jesussavedusall]

Yeah, Christianity is not a normal religion. It's the other people who are delusional. But how come the history of Christianity isn't much different than other religions?

[nChrist]

Yeah, Christianity is not a normal religion. It's the other people who are delusional. But how come the history of Christianity isn't much different than other religions?

The vanity of man and the desire to be the creator instead of yielding to THE CREATOR.

In Christ,
Tom

[Sower]

thanks but that didnt realy explian any thing
how did they start if people wherer already into the one true god, our god,
and also y are there different languges wats up with tat
thanks

It all started when Lucifer, the highest-ranking angel of God's creation, decided to rebel against God [therefore he is now called Satan and the devil].  He and his other rebellious angels were cast out of God's heaven and became eternal enemies of God.  When God created Adam and Eve, they too rebelled by disobeying God. Had Lucifer and  Adam never sinned, all mankind (and all angels) would have continued loving and worshipping the one true and living God, the Creator. That would have put an end to any talk about "religion".

Since sin entered into the world, God made a provision for all mankind to be saved through the shed blood of Christ and His finished work of redemption on the cross.  This is NOT religion but REDEMPTION. However, Christ would not come into the world until about 4000 years after the creation of Adam.  In the meantime, God taught the ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, that the only way to worship God and enter into His presence was through the shedding of the blood of innocent animals [to portray Jesus Christ the Lamb of God].

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel.  Cain followed his own heart while Abel followed God's direction. CAIN WAS ALSO THE FIRST "RELIGIONIST", since he believed that God would be impressed with the works of his own hands rather than by simply sacrificing animals as God had commanded.

Thus, from the very beginning, there have been those few who worship the true God as He commands, while the majority of mankind follow the deception of "religions" created by Satan through rebellious men, the first and chief rebel being Nimrod. That's why God broke up the union of sinful mankind for the purpose of idolatrous worship by giving different languages at the tower of Babel and scattering humanity to the far corners of the globe. That did not eradicate idolatry, but spread it throughout the world.  Thus the paganism of Babylon was also that of India, China, Greece, Rome, as well as every other nation under heaven. The Roman Catholic Church allowed this paganism into the church of Rome after Contstantine's conversion, and this added to the religious confusion that exists today.

Nonetheless, before the flood, the whole human race was in rebellion against God except for one man, Noah.  God wiped out sinful humanity through the flood but saved Noah and his family.  However, Noah and all mankind were still tainted with the "sin nature" (which always wants to rebel against God), so even Noah got drunk, and his descendants were generally sinful (starting with his son Ham).

Then God found a man who put his faith in the living God -- Abraham (a direct descendant of Noah).  But Abraham was also a man, and could and did sin. Nonetheless, he was a man of faith and "the friend of God", so God made Him a promise to bless his progeny (particularly the nation of Israel) and through them to bring the Messiah [the Lord Jesus Christ] into the world, so that eventually the whole world would be blessed.  

In the meantime the nation of Israel itself became one of the most idolatrous nations on earth, so God sent them into captivity, brough them back to Palestine,  and then scattered them over the face of the earth when they rejected their Messiah. The Jews have been in Israel since 1948 but in constant conflict with their Arab neighbours because they did not first turn to the true worship of God by receiving Christ as their Lord and Saviour.


The rest of mankind follows "religion", which includes the worship of idols (in reality demons), the worship of creatures, the worship of self, etc.  Ultimately all these people follow Satan because he controls "religion" behind the scenes, and it is ultimately Satan who has not only undermined the worhsip of the lliving God by creating all these false "religions", but he has also succeeded in dividing Christians into numerous denominations and cults, so that there is endless "religious" confusion, and very few know what to make of all this religious confusion "Babel" or where the truth resides.


However, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and many others mentioned in the Old Testament were all people of faith.  Those who have faith in the living God do not have "religion" BUT A GENUINE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LIVING GOD.  Today it is the same for all those who put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  However, relative to all of humanity, those who trust the living God are always a handful and a persecuted minority.

Therefore, if you care for your eternal soul, God gives you two sources of Truth -- His written Word, the Holy Bible (in the King James Version for English-speaking peoples, since Satan has caused all other English translations to become questionable], and His eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to worship the living God and live with him eternally, then you must come to Him through His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To become a child of God, you must believe (1) that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of the living God (which also means that He is God the Son) and (2) that Christ died for your personal sins and rose again for your personal justification. Therefore you must repent and be converted, i.e. turn from sin, self and idols to the living God, by agreeing with God that you are a hell-bound sinner [along with the human race] and that you need to be saved by God's grace through the blood of Christ.  If you will sincerely turn to Christ and ask Him to save you by His grace and through His blood and righteousness, and ask Him to enter into your innermost being and take control of you and your life, He will do so.  It is He who has said:

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK: IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP [COMMUNE INTIMATELY] WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME".   Revelation 3:20.

This is Christ's invitation to all mankind, including you.[/size]

[Tibby]

What is you beef with religion? Have you been taking 2bombs' pills again?

Ok guys, for real, why does everyone feel then need to plug RCC attacks into all their posts? Let's see some love, guys. You are not going to save anybody by calling them a Pagan. Anyways, you have Jueism, Islam, Buddhism, Hundism, Shintoism, Occultism, Wiccanism, the list goes on and on.

[Tibby]

My personal thoughts on the topic stem from St. Origin’s belief that God would not share the truth with just one group of people. He, being a Greek himself, thought that perhaps men like Plato and Aristotle where sent here to prepare The Greeks for the coming of the Lord.

C.S. Lewis calls them Pre-Christian yearnings for God. He theorized they where not, as many people think, are examples of Man trying to be God, but man, with no tangible knowledge, trying to connect to the simple truth with that fact that there is a God.

Looking at ancient Greek Philosophy, Eastern Philosophy, and even the principals behind Celtic Mythos, and you will find they are amazingly easy to apply to Christianity. Many of us are taught that we NEED God, that we are born with a hole inside of us, a void, only God can fill. That being the case, why would he explain this only to the Jews? Read about Thomas Merton. Read about the Celtic Church. Read about the Chinese Translation of Jon 1:1 and all it implies. This has been apllied and has worked before, and is still working.

You want to know why there are so many religion? It is simple, we approach evangelism with a Imperialist attitude. We stop trying to relate things to what they know, and start telling him they have to be Baptist, or Catholic, or Anglican. There are so many religions because WE haven’t learned how to witness. The modern idea of evangelism is to go and tell someone why what they belief is wrong, and why what we believe if right. That works great of your on the O’Really Factor. That works great is you want to tick some people off. End the end, you don’t “convert” anyone, only convince people. Most of which where planning on making a change anyways. Evangelism isn’t a debate, but we treat it that way. We take the Jack Chic approach, and just tell them why we think they are wrong. That will only tick them off.

It is that simple, there are so many Religions because we are to busy playing Cowboy, and just shooting everyone down who disagrees, and we forget how to love and respect. They don’t  MEAN to be Buddhist or Muslin or Hindu. They don't do it just to tick us off.  No one has told them in a way they can understand.

[Willowbirch]

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

[Tibby]

nice

[Sower]

Looking at ancient Greek Philosophy, Eastern Philosophy, and even the principals behind Celtic Mythos, and you will find they are amazingly easy to apply to Christianity.

That may possibly be so, but the minute you present the Gospel, and the unique claims of Christ,  and the "offence" of the cross, you will get the same reaction as Paul did when he preached on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17:15-34). THE APOSTLE PAUL WENT AS FAR AS HE COULD IN CONNECTING THE PAGAN BELIEFS OF THE GREEKS WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD (verses 22-29), BUT IN THE END "SOME MOCKED" AND OTHERS SAID "WE'LL SEE YA LATER".  

All religions and philosohies and belief systems  are violently opposed to Christ and the Gospel, Satan being the mastermind and puppeteer behind everything. Therefore the simple and straightforward command from God is "PREACH THE GOSPEL".

You want to know why there are so many religion? It is simple, we approach evangelism with a Imperialist attitude.

Not so.  Scripture says "BUT [GOD] NOW COMMANDETH ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO REPENT" (Acts. 17:30) and that is God's truth, and that is God's command.  You and I do not have the right to water down or change the Gospel simply because it will offend others. A watered-down Gospel will not bring sinners out of their false beliefs, but will actually entrench them in their hearts.

We stop trying to relate things to what they know, and start telling him they have to be Baptist, or Catholic, or Anglican.

If that is what evangelism is, then it is false.  Evangelism is not the presentation of a denomination, but the proclamation of the Good News of salvation through the death, burial, and resurrrection of Christ.

There are so many religions because WE haven’t learned how to witness.

Please read the Parable of the Sower, and you will find out that even after the good seed of God's Word is scattered throughout the field, there will be "thorns" and "thistles", and "birds" and unproductive soil in which the Gospel will not take root.  In other words, religions are not a product of preaching the Gospel poorly but because God has a powerful array of spirit enemies who oppose the Gospel in every possibly way, and the human heart is "deceitful and desperately wicked".  The Gospel is not "natural", it is not "comfortable" it is not soothing to sinners becuase it is meant to prick their hearts into repentance.

We could go on and on with this, but the simple fact is that there is a spiritual battle raging throughout the world at any given time, and all the forces of darkness are opposed to the Gospel.  You could sugar-coat it all you want, but the truth is that in order to be saved, people first need to be confronted with the fact that in God's eyes they are sinners on their way to hell.  Otherwise they do not need a Saviour.  

Those who sugar-coat the Gospel end up with syncretism, in which every religion and philosophy has something good to offer, therefore the uniqueness of Christ and His shed blood is no longer relevant.  Is that what you are campaigning for?

Paul said: "BUT WE PREACH CHRIST CURICIFIED, UNTO THE JEWS A STUMBLINGBLOCK, AND UNTO THE GREEKS FOOLISHNESS" (1  Cor. 1:23).  That's how it will always be.

[Tibby]

Ok, this post may take a while, so I’m going to point out the problems with it. You judge the Philosophies by the reaction of the people who follow it, wrong way to go. Do you know how many Christians there are that set bad examples that we have to work thru and ask forgiveness for? If this is the case with the TRUE religion, would it not be the case?

I don’t think you read my post right, If you say we are commanded to evangelism Imperialistically, and in the next post, you say Imperialistic evangelism isn’t what evangelism is? What are you talking about?

I agree with your everything else, some People will not except. But other times, we put weed poison on fertile ground, and then call the ground bad when it doesn’t grow!

Read 1  Cor 1:22, it will make 23 more clear to you. 23 isn’t an excuse not to win converts among the Greeks and Jews, it is a warning on the things you will run into while witnessing to them.