Why do people believe / have faith in religion and believe it's teachings?

From another thread that's un-related, so I thought I'd make a new post. Interesting seems like the religion forum has the least traffic on this site, but anyway, here is the question i proposed, would really appreciate answers..

a quick question for people who believe in the endtimes, antichrist, revalations, religion, etc.

WHY?
--

Why do you really believe in religion, end times from the bible, etc, because it's in a book? Sorry if I sound ignorant or like i lack in "faith" but i've never understood it...

All I am looking for is sincere, though out, smart answers to why you hear something about the antichrist ening the world in the bible or wherever, then immediately look for the anti christ like he must be real and will come no matter what.

Call it an expirement in thoughts, beliefs, psychology, whatever, but please just anyone who believes or halfway believes anything you read including endtime in a religous book why o u believe OTHER THAN FAITH, because you can have faith in anything, if FAITH is the only answer you have, please elaborate what gave you this faith?

Hopefully we can get good answers here, if not, expect another thread

ps - what makes you think you're right and everyone else is wrong?

There was a thread that asked this question yesterday.
See Here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

so i read that thread but it is not at all what this thread is asking...

this is not about atheism or chirstmas or any religion in general

this is a questio of what makes people believe in one religion or another, then, why do they believe any and all stories taught by that religion.

so i ask again, why do YOU believe, the christian, jewish, muslim, catholic, or any other religion is correct, and why do you believe it's teachings, this had NOTHING to do with athiesm at all and i am not advocating it or not believing in religion, just a simple question, would really be awesome to hear some answers from people who have strong faith and hear why they have that faith and why they feel their religion is correct and other are wrong...

I have no idea why. I astounds me actually. One day I found myself wondering 'how is it that we, humans, the most intelligent being in the known universe, can blindly believe in something that we have ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF of whatsoever? How can we not see that ANY religious ideaology EVER, was thought up by a human. ANY religious writings EVER, were written by a human. ANY religious anything EVER, was thought up by a human. And we blindly follow as if these stories of magic and impossibilities are real. Smart a? Not at all'.
So I do hope someone answers your thread with something better than "ya just have to have faith" or "blah blah blah crap"
Does ANYONE have ANY proof whatsoever that the religion they blindly follow is actually legitimatly real?
The world being beautiful is NOT proof. The world being the only known planet with life on it is NOT proof. Life being complex is NOT proof.
And does anyone out there actually truely believt that two thousand years ago, a woman, a poor woman, who had never ever had sex, became miraculously pregnant, unexplainably, and gave birth to a magic man who was executed in public and then came back alive? Do you truely believe that that story is real? That that actually happened? If you do, I believe, you're not smart, at all.
That story was written by, wait for it, a human or group of humans. Now correct me if I'm wrong but don't humans exaggerate? Don't humans lie? I think they do. So the chances of that story, which was written over 1500 years ago, being true, are absolutly zero.
So enlighten me people, WHY is it that you blindly believe in something just because you've been told it is real. Just because you've been told, that's the only reason any of you have, that's a fact.
Just because you've been told, is that smart? Believing something so unbelievably absurd, just because you've been told?
No, it isn't.

I'm not a religious person and I don't have a set religion at all, but what I am going to say is based off of my younger years as I was brought up as a catholic.

At that time, I believed the books and spoken words from priests because it was given to me as facts. Without thinking about the proof, it was kept as a mysterious world to me. It was like, the only way to find out if this is all true, I must die to know if there is a heaven or a hell. I was confused but I also had a different type of view and respect for the god I imagined. I wasn't too fond of jesus or mary. They were just mysterious people. I looked towards god, some mass unknown figure that I suppose, created out of imagination from the stories and "facts" my parents told me.

So there it is, I was brought up by it with no real proof but a bible and words of the holy men. The same goes for stories like santa and how the dinosaurs went extinct. Only in religion, I feared the place called hell.

Honestly, I still view god the way I did as a child. Just some unknown force that is within my imagination that is forced to be real because I believed it.
I see god more as a conscience of great power. But I no longer take up any religous ways.

"The bigger the lie, the more they believe"
Most of it is star arrangements and sun worship at the source. I see nothing wrong with giving thanks to the stars for our existence. If this is all the result of letting hydrogen atoms play for a couple of billion years then cool. I get that.

because certain prophecies in the bible came true in the past. thats the simplest answer i can give you.

its like, if you have a friend who never lies to you ever. and then he says to you that on saturday he wants to take you bowling, would you have any doubt regarding what you are doing saturday?

several prophecies that stand out as amazing.

coming messiah and the his before the destruction of jerusalem

Some time before 500 B.C. the prophet Daniel proclaimed that Israel's long-awaited Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25-26). He further predicted that the Messiah would be "cut off," killed, and that this event would take place prior to a second destruction of Jerusalem. Abundant documentation shows that these prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in the life (and crucifixion) of Jesus Christ. The decree regarding the restoration of Jerusalem was issued by Persia's King Artaxerxes to the Hebrew priest Ezra in 458 B.C., 483 years later the ministry of Jesus Christ began in Galilee. (Remember that due to calendar changes, the date for the start of Christ's ministry is set by most historians at about 26 A.D. Also note that from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. is just one year.) Jesus' crucifixion occurred only a few years later, and about four decades later, in 70 A.D. came the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)*

betrayal of jesus

In the fifth century B.C. a prophet named Zechariah declared that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem's poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a "potter's field," used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew 27:3-10).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1011.)

jesus' execution

Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel's King David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah's death in words that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken, contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cruz, and his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he was, indeed, dead.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1013.)

cyrus conquering babylon

The prophet Isaiah foretold that a conqueror named Cyrus would destroy seemingly impregnable Babylon and subdue Egypt along with most of the rest of the known world. This same man, said Isaiah, would decide to let the Jewish exiles in his territory go free without any payment of ransom (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; and 45:13). Isaiah made this prophecy 150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats (and he did, eventually, perform them all), and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 1015.)

the barren babylon (keep in mind, there were attempts to restore it)

Mighty Babylon, 196 miles square, was enclosed not only by a moat, but also by a double wall 330 feet high, each part 90 feet thick. It was said by unanimous popular opinion to be indestructible, yet two Bible prophets declared its doom. These prophets further claimed that the ruins would be avoided by travelers, that the city would never again be inhabited, and that its stones would not even be moved for use as building material (Isaiah 13:17-22 and Jeremiah 51:26, 43). Their description is, in fact, the well-documented history of the famous citadel.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 109.)

the barren edom

Jeremiah predicted that despite its fertility and despite the accessibility of its water supply, the land of Edom (today a part of Jordan) would become a barren, uninhabited wasteland (Jeremiah 49:15-20; Ezekiel 25:12-14). His description accurately tells the history of that now bleak region.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 105.)

anyway you get the point.

if god didnt lie before, then why would he lie again?

I have been wondering the same thing myself recently.
I was brought up as a Catholic, stopped attending Mass at 13 because I just didn't get it.

I recently moved to a midwest state where everyone is super religious and I have to confess, I sometimes envy them, the sense of belonging and community that gathering in church gives them.

I also don't get it when. if I'm going through a rough time someone will tell me to pray, that God will lend a helping hand. The times when I've started to pray I frequently stop mid-prayer (or conversation) because I feel like an idiot talking to the empty air.

I make exceptions though, if I know that someone I care about is sick, or if I see children suffering, I will ask God to help them. Who knows, it might work, or at least, I feel that I am sending them positive vibes.

two reasons:

1. Indoctrination from childhood onwards by parents
there is no choice as a child. If you question the religion or ask questions about God, very religious parents will just shout at their kids that he exists and that the conversation is over and that they are going to church lol. a common one iIve heard is, how can God have no mummy or daddy, therefore he must not exist, and I've seen kids get an absolute earful from their parents for asking innocent questions about religion.

2. The feeling that there is something more to our existence, and people exploring their spirituality and going with what religion makes sense to them in terms of their spirituality.

Originally posted by miriam0566
because certain prophecies in the bible came true in the past. thats the simplest answer i can give you.

Did it ever cross your mind that all those guys that actually wrote the letters 60 some years after Jesus died knew the Torah and wrote crap to fulfill those prophecies.

What hogwash.

Originally posted by Article11

Originally posted by miriam0566
because certain prophecies in the bible came true in the past. thats the simplest answer i can give you.

Did it ever cross your mind that all those guys that actually wrote the letters 60 some years after Jesus died knew the Torah and wrote crap to fulfill those prophecies.

What hogwash.

so you assume it all wrong and that make you automatically right?

even if you take jesus out of the picture, explain babylon or edom...

Originally posted by miriam0566


so you assume it all wrong and that make you automatically right?

No sweetie. According to the infallible word of God if even one part of it is wrong, then it's all wrong, and I'm automatically right.

Originally posted by icu20
WHY?
--

Experience. Many people aren't hard-headed like I was though. I demanded answer and truth until I got it. Unfortunately, I went about it the wrong way. The right way would've been to ask God, "Do you exist?" and wait patiently for a reply on His terms.

Originally posted by icu20
Why do you really believe in religion, end times from the bible, etc, because it's in a book? Sorry if I sound ignorant or like i lack in "faith" but i've never understood it...

It's cool, I don't think it's demeaning. I was directed to the Bible after going to God.

Originally posted by icu20
Call it an expirement in thoughts, beliefs, psychology, whatever, but please just anyone who believes or halfway believes anything you read including endtime in a religous book why o u believe OTHER THAN FAITH, because you can have faith in anything, if FAITH is the only answer you have, please elaborate what gave you this faith?

Hopefully we can get good answers here, if not, expect another thread

There may be some people who can go by "blind faith" but not all faith is mere acceptance without any reason or substantiation. I believe the chair I'm sitting in will continue to hold me up, not because it's "blind faith" but because I can understand how it would do so. I trusted it to even before I sit down. That faith is validated after sitting.

[edit on 17-12-2008 by saint4God]

Allow me to pose a question that relates to yours:
Why do you believe as you do, why does anyone believe anything?

reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows


That question is already being discussed in this thread

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Article11


I starred ya for your answers and your signature!

Many people actually feel touched by GOD when they decide to go to him, NOT RELIGION. I know I was personally touched by the hand of GOD and he healed me INSTANTLY, I know that he healed me and I know that he is real because he healed me. Faith is what many have in their answers to the big question (WHY ARE WE HERE). I do not buy into the mainstream Christmas and Easter Christians of today. I follow GOD'S WORD and I try to do as HE says not as some pastor or Pope says. Man will lead you astray the Bible will lead you to Heaven.

Jesus says to the Disciples in the Bible that is is cool that the disciples and others there believed in him but they saw him do miracles and raise the dead He said how great are those that believe but have NOT seen...

The Prophets are 100% correct not one mistake, any prophecy that doesn't happen means that Prophet isn't sent by God. Daniel and Ezekiel and Jeremiah, Zephaniah etc are all 100% accurate...

So if you cans see His Prophecies come true and you can actually feel Him touch your life is it really ALL FAITH or can I expect it like I expect that chair to hold me up?

reply to post by gYvMessanger


Authored by you no doubt.....

reply to post by icu20


Similar to what Miriam mentioned, it stems from the amount of prophecies regarding the end times. Statistically, over 25% of the Bible is prophecy related and there are more prophecies relating to the end times than anything else.

Miriam mentioned prophecies that were fulfilled accurately in the past as a reason to trust future prophecies but I would like to add to that and mention another point:

Because we are seeing the fulfillment of the prophecies now. There is even a website that shows 100 end times prophecy-types either already fulfilled in our time or we can see how world events are lining up to prepare for their fulfillment.

So it's not just that we can trust the Bible and go on from there on faith. It's that we are seeing hundreds of prophecies filled before our eyes, recently fulfilled, or the fact it is obvious the stage is being set to make their fulfillment possible.

It's not blind faith at all.

Reply To: Watcher-In-The-Shadows

So ? I started it yesterday and it was exactly the question you asked.

[edit on 17-12-2008 by gYvMessanger]