Young Writers Society

*random fact*

Historains still dispute the existence of Jesus because the only record of him is found in the Bible and those records were written after his supposed death. and Jesus never wrote anything, this also provides a problem as most historians use written documents by the people such to prove without a doubt they existed. The Bible does not count as a historical document due to it's religious bias.

Huh. I thought it was undisputed that there was a historical Jesus as well as a "religiously based" Jesus [though of course they're the same person, just in different contexts].

Huh. The things you never knew.

Well, I think they can prove that a person named Jesus existed, but whether or not it is the same person is undetermined. I mean, the Romans cricufied a lot of people.

But how many people were named Jesus, even back then?

Do you beleive the sun exists even in the night. you dont see it at that time. so is it still shining?

If you truly want to know God, all you have to do is ask Him.

I myself cant see how the human race is an accident, created my two molecules who just happened to connect. come on seriously every person is unique. i dont understand alot of what or why God does things. but if you look at nature, He is there.

I can feel Him when i talk to Him. I cant see Him. But i have no doubt .

Its like when the wind blows you feel it, you see the leaves move, but you cant see the wind itself.

when you seek and find Him, you wont have to ask if it is real. you just know it is.

It's not really that. It is the fact that there is reasonble doubt to whether he was actually there because he never wrote anything during his life, documents about his life were written after his death and Jesus never actully wrote anything.

It is like science. You don't want to publish anything unless you are absoluteley sure. The same goes for history, you don't want to say a person existed unless there is undeniable unbiased proof.

Now that is just from the historian standpoint. At least from what I have been taught in Western Civ class.

Well, you don't have to label yourself anything. I read the bible and I went to church, and the god they were teaching didn't sound like one I wanted to praise or worship. Besides that, he was kind of over the top and schizophrenic: Loving father one moment with infinite patience, the next minute damning some poor soul to hell for being a liar. Besides that, he wanted you to praise him every night, (for what, I still don't know. Past actions, perhaps?) and if you explored new gods, he would send you to hell.

Who wants to worship that guy?

So I explored and drifted, and decided on this:

Higher power that is neither male nor female, and that makes an appearance in every thing and one.

No, it is not in your iPhone.

As in, a little piece is in every single human being, and the pieces are infinite. In turn, in everything we create, we put a new piece into it.

No, we aren't putting a piece of the higher power into your couch.

And when you ask for guidance, you don't have to be on your knees like you're begging, and you actually get a reply most of the time... most of the time not in the way or form that you wanted it, and it can come like a kick in the pants.

The reason we're here is to learn, and if we screw up our lives, we don't go to hell, we take our lessons, learn from them, then come back and redo it, trying to come out better. Once we've learned the lesson, we can go on to the next life if we choose.

So what's my label?

I believe in Jesus Christ, if that helps. I don't think an angel swooped down and picked up his body, though. I think he woke up, thought, 'oh well', and walked away. After all, he was only on the cross for three hours.

Christian? Sure. Pagan? Let me research it a bit more. Devil worshiper? To be that, I'd have to believe in the devil. In any case, I've decided that if I must have a label, it will be gnostic, where you seek to know.

I just recently came to this conclusion, and for a while I was pretty sure I would just be an atheist. Look at all those other gods. People worshiped them and believed in them just like people today believe in god. What about those gods? What happened to them when people stopped believing in them? What would happen to god if people stopped believing in him?

I was also about your age when I began giving up on believing in god. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't make myself really believe that this guy from the bible and church was real. He was just another god to me, as real as Zeus.

Don't give up, and keep looking. After a while, you might have a different piece of every religion, and then put them together into your own. I took the piece that I believed in from religion A, then one from religion B, and so on, the result being that above. ^^ Silly, possibly, but what's the point of having a religion religion if you don't believe in all of it?

Adam_Atlantian wrote:It is like science. You don't want to publish anything unless you are absoluteley sure. The same goes for history, you don't want to say a person existed unless there is undeniable unbiased proof.

Now that is just from the historian standpoint. At least from what I have been taught in Western Civ class.

Hehehe... cold fusion. xD

But I think history is radically different from science. Science can be repeated, in calculations, in proofs, in experiments, and so on. History is a one-shot deal sort of thing. So, while you can be somewhat sure about science, you can never be completely sure about history. We can't scientifically test whether Jesus existed and then repeat the experiment in a controlled environment. Instead, we allow scribes and other figures from that time record what has happened in that time and interpret their work into our own terminology. Obviously, some stuff gets lost and other things may be added, which may or may not be true. But that doesn't invalidate that an actual event happened.

Finally, good historians are simply the interpreters of what has happened in the past. Nothing less, nothing more.

So yeah. History is not a science! Don't treat it as such.

"Give me your opinions on God! I am very interested in religion and would love to hear from you!"

The lovely thing about religion and god is that there are so many to choose from! If you want my advice, just figure out whatever works for you and run with it. Or read a whole bunch of John Lennon quotes

I say that because I like Lennon's definition of God. He said "I think of God as something inside everyone of us" or something along those lines. Then again, the wacko claimed to be bigger than Jesus... Better than actually claiming to be Jesus like some people I guess.

Let's see... Now what would I say on this subject? That's easy:

I don't care what religion you are as long as you don't preach. Nothing annoys me more than some crazy-person sitting on a street corner raving about the end of the world or accepting Jesus into your heart. Or claiming to know or have felt God. Personally I do not believe in "God" but I have enough reserve to honor the possibility that there could be one. Preach all you want! Death will reveal the truth. Dumbledore has it right in that aspect. What happens, happens... Right?

I took a lesson from history and created my own religion. There is currently only one member, being me, but I am always looking to expand! LoL. I am kidding, of course, about recruiting that is. I do have my own religion and to this day only one person has ever asked me in person and I refused to tell him. Why? Because that, friends, would make me a hypocrite. My explanation brings me peace, just like all the rest of the happy-ism-people. And just like all of them, I hope that I am right.

Ayra wrote:Um..yeah.
*majorly uncomfortable*
I'm not asking for people to just tell me what to believe in. I'm asking for some facts and practicions practiced by certain religions- so that I can learn more about them and decide which one would be suitable.

I'm not a preacher, just so you know. I hate preachiness. It comes across as self-righteous and bogus. But you're asking, so I'll tell you the things I've learned from people more knowledgable than me.

~ The human eye is more complex than the most incredible supercomputer in the world. Someone created the supercomputer, and yet so many people are so ready to believe that nobody created the human eye.

~ The Bible talked about human civilizations that modern-day mankind did not believe existed - until archaelogists dug them up, in the same places they were talked about in the Bible.

~ There are manuscripts up to wazoo talking about Christ and his mircales. There was a Roman philosopher name Josephus, I think, who was not a Christian or anything, who talked about the miracles of Jesus. The Dead Sea scrolls were another manuscript that supported prophecies made about Jesus.

~ There are over one hundred prophecies made about Christ in the old testament. The chances of only seven of those prophecies coming true are 1 in, like, 10 to the five billionth power. Basically, it's impossible. But Christ fulfilled ALL of them. Born in Bethlehem, traveled to Egypt as a child, pierced but not broken...ALL OF THEM.

~ To me, God and Jesus just makes sense. Think about it.
*God creates perfection, leaving mankind the option of leaving perfection if he wanted. Mankind and God had a relationship.
*Mankind disobeyed God, perfection was destroyed. The relationship was broken.
*God told man that someday the relationship would be restored through one final sacrifice. Until then, smaller sacrifices were needed - goats, sheep, cows, blah blah blah.
*Jesus came. He was man but he was God. He had a relationship with man but he was awesome, powerful. He died. The ultimate sacrifice. God becoming for man, dying for man, and therefore destroying death.

It has all the elements of a good story, doesn't it? And somehow, it makes sense. It works. At least in my mind.

Yeah, bad things happen in the world. But there are bad people in the world. Perfection was destroyed, remember? Man chose to live with out God, to do his own thing, and God will not dishonor that. It's crazy, and screwed up, and we don't understand it, but He will not violate free will, even the free will of murderers and rapists. What He does do is offer us peace and hope and future. He offers us the chance to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

You think God's not doing anything in the world today? Read a great book called "Always Enough" by Heidi Baker. Read accounts of missionaries in Africa and Las Angeles and China. Miracles happen. Lame people walking, blind people seeing, sick people healed. Sure, maybe it's all in their heads. Maybe God is just a crutch we use for emotional support. Maybe after we die it's just death and darkness. But if that's true, I'm keeping my crutch because it's changed my life.

I'm sorry if I sounded preachy. That wasn't my intention. I just get excited easily lol. Ultimately, what MadHatter and chocoholic said is true. Your faith and your life is your decision. But since you asked, I thought I'd let you know my views and my discoveries.


PM me if I wasn't clear on something or if you just want me to screw off lol.
~Sunny

what i find sad in your question, is that you had to post it here to find your answers.

you wont find them here. no one is going to agree on one thing. i think this is actually going to confuse you more.

if it is actually God you are seeking then honestly read the new testament in the bible. Find a church, talk to Him.

if it is religion you are seeking, then there are many. go to your public library and pull hundreds of books off the shelves and read them. even use the internet for the facts on the religions.

But God Himself can only be found by you alone, that is a choice of freewill that you are given, dont turn it over for someone else to make for you. You have your own mind. and instead of letting others make it up for you. you should use it yourself. you might just find what you are seeking.

I wasn't saying history was science. I was making a comparison as to the point that neither wants to make a statement about a subject without concrete facts or evidence.

I know they're not the same. I was just making a comparison to help make my point more clear.

I'm labeled as "None of the Above" amongst my friends as far as religion.

Their religions, however, range from Cristian, to Buddhist, to Satanist.

They don't judge each other or me, and I return the favor.

I don't think any religion is bad. I just think some people need a security blanket to explain what goes 'bump in the night'.

So, in truth, I don't care what you believe in. So long as you respect what I believe and don't try to force me into believing, I respect what you believe.

Plain and simple.

We all believe in SOMETHING. Now, what I say may seem like total bull to some other people, but that's how I feel. I don't believe in any superior being. None at all. I believe in right here, right now. This is where I'm living my life. I worship no 'God'.

Religion is a tricky subject... especially in my area. My town is right smack dab in the Bible Belt.

Anyway, religion is religion. Believe what you want and don't let people tell you that you're way isn't the right way.

There is no right path. Only left ones!

CrewGurl

Kim wrote:what i find sad in your question, is that you had to post it here to find your answers.

you wont find them here. no one is going to agree on one thing. i think this is actually going to confuse you more.

if it is actually God you are seeking then honestly read the new testament in the bible. Find a church, talk to Him.

if it is religion you are seeking, then there are many. go to your public library and pull hundreds of books off the shelves and read them. even use the internet for the facts on the religions.

But God Himself can only be found by you alone, that is a choice of freewill that you are given, dont turn it over for someone else to make for you. You have your own mind. and instead of letting others make it up for you. you should use it yourself. you might just find what you are seeking.

Out of curiosity, do you not see the irony in your post?

"You can't find God here, only you can find Him. And to do that, you have to believe what I believe: go join a Christian Church and read the New Testament."

And I'm not even gonna touch Lyrical_sunshine's post, for fear of starting a debate.

I agree with you crewgurl93.
I'm sorry I haven't been participating in this conversation as much as I'd like to, but I've been busy. Anyways, it seems like you guys are keeping it going fine ^^
So yeah; conclusion [for me] of the thread:
Religion is religion. Nothing more, nothing less.
But feel free to continue talking everyone!