:confused:

You don't join religion for the perks, you join a religion so that you can worship god in a way that YOU feel is right. You should join the religion that best conforms with your world view and that you believe is right.

It's not up to us at all. It's totally up to you and your beliefs.

Edit: Editing the question after people have answered could be considered rude.

Cap,
That is so true.

Superwario,
I suggest a good knowledge of the monotheistic faiths will help you compare and choose.
I am a firmbeliever in my own faith because I accept all of it.

The Bible is about relationship, with Jesus. He rebuked the Pharisees for their "religion". They did not worship Him, but worshiped their own knowledge. Christians are called to trust in Jesus for their salvation, not to make it happen by anything we do. True Christianity is summed up as: Mark 12:29-31 (New King James Version)
New King James Version (NKJV)
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.


29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'[a] This is the first commandment.[b] 31 And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

And true religion is:
James 1:26
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.
James 1:25-27 (in Context) James 1 (Whole Chapter)
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.


True Christianity is not about do's and don't's. It's about worshiping the LORD and loving Him with all we have, are and ever hope to be. In loving Him, we will love others. In serving Him, we will serve others. This is done through the Holy Spirit at work in us, not by our own strength. Our own strength fails every time. We have to trust what Jesus did on the cross, He bridged the gap and made a way. Anything less is human effort.

It is individual, hopefully through research and experience.

I think it wrong to pit one against the other, but better to show respect for the individual's choice.





Grace and Peace

In Christianity, salvation is ours to accept, freely given by the grace of God to the believers. Islam is a return to the Jewish concept of earning your salvation. That gives sinners no hope.

In Christianity, salvation is ours to accept, freely given by the grace of God to the believers. Islam is a return to the Jewish concept of earning your salvation. That gives sinners no hope.

That is not exactly right.
Sinners have to stop their sinning and return to the right way,by heart,body and soul and they too have a chance.
Forgiveness is in the hands of the Almighty.

Even believers are not guaranteed entry into Heaven by just believing,it is out of the Almighty;s mercy that we are allowed into Heaven.

EDIT::::::::::::::

Sorry!
When I answered the OP, I had not realised it was in the Christianity thread, as the question was quite general.
I apologise for stating Islamic views here, but if anyone wishes I will delete this post.

Ok, you are asking this question in the christian board, so of course here Christianity is far better as decided by Christian members who post on the board. If you post this on the Islam board their opinon would be different, if you ask iton the Jewish board, I am not sure who they would say.

This should be on "Other religions" in order for the OP to get a balanced view without anyone feeling bad.
Just a suggestion.

Why would you ask that? Its your opinion.

Why would you ask that? Its your opinion.

I totally agree, and it is my opinion that they are both just as bad. Both religions are responsible for the death of millions and millions of innocent people just for not believing.

Religion is the number 1 cause of death on this planet and that cannot be disputed. I don't care how many religious people claim they were not true christians or they were not true Islams etc etc. they carry around the same beliefs in their bible's today that was taught and preached back then. In my opinion if one chooses to believe in Christ then they have nothing wrong with what's been done in his name. Same with Islam. Who would want to be part of a religion that has caused so much pain and suffering in the world? Religion should be looked at and studdied as to make sure we don't make the same mistakes, not to follow and try to recreate the same mistakes.

Onan: fyi


The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century (http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm)

The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century (http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm)

The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century (http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/holocaust.htm)

Genocide (http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/Slouch_power4.html)


From:
Alan Colmes and I Debate the Inquisition - News Bloggers (http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2007/10/17/alan-colmes-and-i-debate-the-inquisition/)

"atheism, not religion, is responsible for the mass murders of history. My book has chapter and verse on this. The Spanish Inquisition, for instance, killed some 2,000 people over a period of 350 years. That's 2,000 too many, but it's also about how many an atheist regime like Stalin's killed on a good weekend. I show that during the twentieth century the atheist regimes of Stalin, Hitler and Mao murdered more than 100 million people"




Grace and Peace

"Religion is the number 1 cause of death on this planet and that cannot be disputed. I don't care ..."


And now for the real causes:

In the US
QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Death Rates for the Five Leading Causes of Death --- United States, 2001--2004 (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5539a9.htm)

Worldwide
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779147.html


Funny I don't see "religion" as a "cause of death"





Grace and Peace

I totally agree, and it is my opinion that they are both just as bad. Both religions are responsible for the death of millions and millions of innocent people just for not believing.

Religion is the number 1 cause of death on this planet and that cannot be disputed. I don't care how many religious people claim they were not true christians or they were not true Islams ect ect. the fact of the matter is they carry around the same beliefs in their bible's today that was taught and preached back then. In my opinion if one chooses to believe in Christ then they have nothing wrong with whats been done in his name. Same with Islam. Who would want to be part of a religion that has caused so much pain and suffering in the world?? Religion should be looked at and studdied as to make sure we don't make the same mistakes, not to follow and try to recreate the same mistakes.


Religion isn't the only cause. Yes, It has killed a lot of people, But so have other things, Like Cancer, AIDS, etc. Id say religion is only a small part, and its ALL religions, you can't just single out Christianity and Islam.

Religion isnt the only cause. Yes, It has killed alot of people, But so have other things, Like Cancer, AIDS, etc. Id say religion is only a small part, and its ALL religions, you can't just single out Christianity and Islam.

I would just like to point this out in case you didn't notice.

You just compared religion to disease.

"atheism, not religion, is responsible for the mass murders of history. My book has chapter and verse on this. The Spanish Inquisition, for instance, killed some 2,000 people over a period of 350 years. That's 2,000 too many, but it's also about how many an atheist regime like Stalin's killed on a good weekend. I show that during the twentieth century the atheist regimes of Stalin, Hitler and Mao murdered more than 100 million people"


Hitler was a christian, how in the world does he fit in with atheists? I believe he was a practicing Catholic. It was the NT anti semetic story that fueled his hate for the Jews.

I don't have time right now but I will address this better later.

you can't just single out Christianity and Islam.

I did say all religion.

I totally agree, and it is my opinion that they are both just as bad. Both religions are responsible for the death of millions and millions of innocent people just for not believing.



I don't care how many religious people claim they were not true christians or they were not true Islams etc etc.

To me, That's not saying every religion.

Religion is the number 1 cause of death on this planet -by me

I singled out the 2 because that's the to the question was about but I believe my quote above explains pretty clearly I feel all religions are guilty

If you have any questions about Islam, PM me.

"Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one cometh unto the Father but through Him." Jesus is the way. Read God's word and study to learn what you must do to be saved. You can't know what God is telling you by asking others opinions. Study it yourself. Believe, Repent, be Baptized into Christ, and never depart from His Word and you will receive the gift of eternal salvation.

To Onan: Religion is not the cause of death of millions of people; it is people. The teachings of both these religions primarily teach peace and love. They also teach that God makes the ultimate decisions about people's bad deeds and their salvation. People take bits and pieces of religious teachings and interpret them to suit whatever they want to do in their lives. It is not the fault of God or religious writings.

"Jesus is the way."
Being a Christian is being a 'Child of God', but it takes more than just saying you are a Christian to be one. I have heard preachers say that all you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart (or say a certain prayer) and you are saved, but if we read God's word (the Bible) we will see that accepting God is only the first step. Most TV preachers won't tell you the whole truth because the don't want to offend someone and loose a viewer. (The road to destruction is wide and many false teachers are leading souls down this road.) Everyone needs to know the truth and reading the Bible is the best way to know what the truth is (please don't depend on others to tell you what the truth is--including me-- read it for yourself). God says--Confess that Jesus is the Son of God--Repent of your sins--Be Baptized into Christ (not into a church but ito Jesus Christ our Lord)--And remain Faithful until the end and you will receive the 'Gift' of eternal life. ("Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a 'few' find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV) Search for that narrow road today by reading and studying God's Word.

Christian beliefs work on LOVE and not hate. Read both the Bible and The Kuran for yourself. As far as religion is concerned, there will be NO religion in Heaven just the worship of GOD.

If you want a simple answer--Christianiaty. But that is just an opinion.

Lots of people think that just accepting Christ will get them to heaven. Please read God's word. Doing God's will--will get you to heaven. God asks us to Repent, Confess, be Baptized (into Christ), and never depart from His word. This will get you to heaven.

Ok Donna, my favorite, the man on the cross, was never baptised, did he go to heaven

A man accepts Christ, but dies in a car wreck before he can get baptised.

While yes, we are to do all of those, if you would read ALL of the bible, you would also find that just accepting is what saves. Works do not save, and living a certain life ( which we should) also does not save.

[QUOTE=Fr_Chuck] the man on the cross, was never baptised, did he go to heaven

I am not sure which man on the cross you are speaking of. I'm assuming you meant the thief because we all know that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Matt. 3:13-17

I believe the only thing we know about the thief on the cross is what God chose to tell us in Luke 23:32-43. And this tells us nothing of his past. It is possible that this man could have been baptized by John and later gone astray. But even if he wasn't, anything is possible with God. But I can't say that he will be saved. No one can. Jesus told him He would see him in paradise, He didn't say heaven. When we die we will all go to paradise or hades. We won't see heaven or hell until the judgement day when Jesus returns in the clouds, and neither will the thief.

Only God knows a man's heart and if he dies on the way to being baptized it is possible for God to save him. But why would anyone take the chance of being saved without baptism? When God's word tells us what we must do to be saved.

You are right, works do not save (baptism is not works), but living a life for Christ and doing what he tells us to do, can.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matt. 28:19-20

"And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name."
Acts 22:16

Obviously, I vote for Christianity. For several reasons. These are not all, but some reasons. 1. The Holy Book. The Q'ran was written by one man, Mohammed. The Bible was written by many (Holy Spirit inspired) men over the period of about 2.000 years, and form the basis for Christianity. 2. The fruit of the belief. Christians do not engage in terrorism, any person claiming to be Christian who does so is promptly denounced as false. As to religious persecution by something claiming to be the church, that orginazation never was Christian. Christians do not strap bombs to children or mentally challenged people and send them into crowds. Now I know that the majority of Muslims will never do such a thing, and some are vocally condemning such acts. Nevertheless, those who do them find justification in their Holy Book. Even the crusades were an act of declared war, not terrorism. 3. Better promises. The teachings of Christianity teach salvation based solely on faith, not works. (I think works may be the basis of many religions) Not to say that works are unimportant once that a person has been saved.

I will even go there, Jesus baptism, since he was not bapitised in the Name of the Father , Son and Holy spirit, today there is few christian churches that would accept Jesus baptism valid if it was done today.
Heck many don't accept baptisms of other Christian churches.

So I guess Jesus would have to get re=baptised to join most christian churches today?

Just trying to show you that the bible is not as direct as you appear to have been taught by your denomination. All of your points are good and need to be done, but you are restricting the truth of salvation which is really dangerous to the faith of some.