what you believe

stacky1 · #1 Nov 1, 2009, 07:42 PM

hey! i just had a quick question for people.

do you believe what you believe:
1) because it is what u think has happened or what u think is true or what u think is right
-or-
2) because it is what ur denomination says is right or true

(examples: ur stand on homosexuality, or if there is purgatory or not, or if you need to go to confession to be forgiven of ur sins)

i was just wondering what it is for most people

thanks!!

450donn · Nov 1, 2009, 08:44 PM

Please do not use txt speak it makes your questions very hard to read and understand.
Since confession seems to be primarily a Catholic thing I am guessing you are a Catholic? So what does the Catholic church teach you about these questions?
Generally speaking Christians believe what the Bible teaches us on the subjects of sin, homosexuality.

Wondergirl · Nov 1, 2009, 08:58 PM

I read up on all sides of an issue, talk to all sorts of people, make my own observations, and then make my own decision about it. And I'm not afraid to change my mind in case there's new information.

arcura · Nov 1, 2009, 10:27 PM

stacky,
I believe that which I believe is true.
That includes the Holy Bible and what it says.
I also believe what My Church teaches because it teaches what the bible says and has done so for 2000 years.
I hope that helps you with your question.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

TUT317 · Nov 2, 2009, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stacky1

hey! i just had a quick question for people.

do you believe what you believe:
1) because it is what u think has happened or what u think is true or what u think is right
-or-
2) because it is what ur denomination says is right or true

(examples: ur stand on homosexuality, or if there is purgatory or not, or if you need to go to confession to be forgiven of ur sins)

i was just wondering what it is for most people

thanks!!

"Do you believe what you believe" is a tautology. In other words, it is a self-evident truth and as such can not be proven false. On this basis I would dismiss proposition 1) as saying anything meaningful.

As far as 2) is concerned I think that it is meaningful because it can be investigated at an empirical level. Well, some of it can be investigated at an empirical level. Such things as purgatory cannot . This is what makes your question so difficult.

I think I know what you are getting at so I will approach it from this angle.

In reality the various denominations of Christianity cannot agree about the rules which make up Christian conduct. Five hundred years ago this was not a major problem, but today it is a major problem. We live in a complex secular world, things are not simply black and white. We have science to thank for that.

For example, the practice of artificial birth control is regarded as immoral by the Catholic Church but not immoral by Protestants. Why do Christian religions differ in practice, even though they tend to agree on basically the same philosophy?

The answer appears to be a distinction between "ethical theory" and "applied ethical theory". Ethical theory pretty much stands on its own. The bible says such and such, so end of debate. Applied Christian ethics on the other hand is a bit more flexible and takes into account the complex nature of society and the problems that arise when traditional ethical theory clashes with applied ethics.

To put this is a simplified form I guess we can say that some churches move with the times and other don't.

adam7gur · Nov 2, 2009, 01:50 AM

I believe in Jesus Christ because He revealed Himself to me.I am a believer not by knowledge or by any other human means, I believe in Jesus Christ by revelation and I am obedient to that revelation.
Peter recognized who Jesus is because the the Father revealed the Son to him.Saul changed from an enemy of Christ to an apostle of Christ because He revealed Himself to him and later he states that he did not dissobey the heavenly vision. Noone can come to the Son unless the Father reveals the Son.Revelation makes faith solid and faith has much to do with obeying God's commandments.
Why do I obey Him? Because He is my Father and He knows better than me what is good for me and what is not.
I believe what I believe because I trust my Father and it has nothing to do with denominations or rules or manmade traditions.If my Father says so then so it is!
It is a sonship we should be asking, a Father and son relationship.

arcura · Nov 2, 2009, 07:00 PM

TUT317,
One thing you mentioned is very interesting.
That is birth control.
What is interesting is that the founders of protestantism also believed in that and their denominations did so for many years until little by little they change and mostly (but not all) from pressure offered by their parishioners who dod not want large families.
That's history,
Peace and kindness,
Fred

TUT317 · Nov 2, 2009, 11:59 PM

Nice to hear from you again Fred.

Interesting comment. I didn't know that.

Thanks
Tut..

ETWolverine · Nov 3, 2009, 02:26 PM

I think this is an interesting question.

For the most part what my religion believes and what I believe tend to be the same. So the question is whether I believe these things because of my religion, or whether I chose to stick by my religion because of what I believe.

To a certain degree BOTH are true.

As many of you who follow my antics on the Current Events discussion forum know, I tend to be Conservative... slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan, to be exact.

As it also happens, my Orthodox Jewish beliefs tend to be similar to my Conservative values. The views on homosexuality, personal responsibility, abortion, war/security, etc., tend to be similar in both.

The truth is, I can't really tell which came first. I have been an Orthodox Jew my whole life. I have also been Conservative my whole life. And I can't really sepparate the two in my mind.

Yes, I know, politics are not the sum total of my beliefs and experiences... but they are the clearest example I can find of how my beliefs and my religion can't really be sepparated into two parts.

I believe what I believe because life experience has led me to that belief. Part of my life experience is my religion. So I don't think that the two can really be sepparated in any meaningful way.

Just my thoughts.

Elliot

TUT317 · Nov 3, 2009, 06:29 PM

Hello Elliot,

It is interesting,but I don't know the answer. Perhaps we are the sum total of a lot of things.

I want to make a correction to what I said earlier. When someone says "They believe what they believe", I wasn't implying that what they believe in is meaningless. These types of sentences are meaningless NOT that their beliefs are meaningless. If someone has a belief then of course it is meaningful.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.