Why do you believe what you believe?

[openmind77]

I’d like to know what those things that Baha’u’llah knew nothing about are openmind

I, too am openminded to listening to other sources of knowledge, please do share …

On another note, you mentioned a little earlier that you have no doubt, and “unhesitatingly”, acknowledge that Baha’u’llah was a great Prophet. May I ask, what is your understanding about the connection between a Prophet and God? What exactly is a Prophet in your understanding?

Most impotantly, can a Prophet lie?

Prophets are just regular human beings who are spiritually highly developed enough that they understand reality better than the rest of us and often they can see and predict the future to some extent. But Prophets are not God - their knowledge is not complete and they can be mistaken. And so it is with Bahauallah.

 

[Gullveig]

“Why do you believe what you believe?”

Some have had experiences that they attribute to God, miracles per se. How do we know that these miracles/experiences are not simple coincidences? And if they are an intervention of some form of Divine Providence, what are the factors which contribute towards believing in Christ, Moses, Muhammad, or Baha’u’llah?

How do people rationalise their beliefs?

What is the difference between true faith and blind faith?

Finally, what is the difference between belief and superstition?

I would be very interested to hear peoples stories and rationalizations of their experiences

.

I am an Asatruar because (a) I was raised to be, thank the gods, (b) the religion and its precepts make sense to me in the context of the world I observe around me, (c) following the tenants of the religion make me a happier and better adjusted person, and (d) personal spiritual experiences that have convinced me that I am where I should be.

I don’t think belief is rational by definition. Belief, to me, entails the acknowledgement of some amount of objective uncertainty while choosing to trust non-objective sources of information. If I walk into a room in which there is a broken lamp and a kid who claims not to have done it, I don’t objectively know that the kid broke the lamp. I have to choose to believe that the kid did or didn’t break the lamp based on contextual clues, what I know about the kid, and my gut feeling.

I really dislike the term superstition, as it’s too often used to denigrate aspects of ancient folk religions and cultures, but superstition to me entails a sort of OCD-like rote belief, where a ritual behavior must be compulsively avoided or completed in a certain way in order to fend off evil or draw in good. In that way, a superstition is sort of hyper-belief that has been separated from its original context. In some forms of ancient paganism, a person who was in constant fear of the gods’ wrath and obsessively engaged in ways to placate them was considered to be “superstitious”. Belief, then, is an integrated system of multiple ideas, knowledges, rules, etc. that allow the person to put their life and the world in context as well as engaging in interaction with their god(s). A superstition in that context would be an isolated supernatural belief or group of beliefs that results in some sort of irrational compulsive behavior.

To give you an example: Archaeologists in my region have a quaint superstition about the song “Ghost Riders in the Sky”. Anytime a storm kicks up, we all start singing it to ward off any damage from the storm. It’s completely irrational. No one even knows where this got started. There’s no reason to believe that that song has any effect on anything, but we do it anyway because it helps keep people calm and maybe, just maybe, there’s something to it. In contrast, I, as a Norse heathen, take an offering for the landwights with me whenever I start a new dig. In my religion, it’s just a polite thing to do if you’re going to disturb them, plus angry landwights = you’re going to have a bad time. The difference between the two examples is that singing Ghost Riders at a storm is irrational and has no context other than it doesn’t hurt anything and it’s just better to do it in case it helps, while bringing an offering for the landwights every time we break ground has context within my religion and is a rational thing to do within my belief system.

 

[FacingEast]

Belief in God has always been a natural for me. It’s the only thing that makes sense of our world. Nature itself is compelling evidence, to me at least, of a Creator.

A study of the Christian faith, as well as others, has led me from the faith I was born in, Southern Baptist, to Catholic, to Orthodox Christian.

 

[daler]

Belief in God has always been a natural for me. It’s the only thing that makes sense of our world. Nature itself is compelling evidence, to me at least, of a Creator.

A study of the Christian faith, as well as others, has led me from the faith I was born in, Southern Baptist, to Catholic, to Orthodox Christian.

Facing East,
. (I like your handle, by the way… My path was Methodist on the Yankton Sioux Reservation, with much influence from the Lakota beliefs in the Great Spirit, to Buddhism and Hindu exploration, a brief encounter with the Quran, to a born again Christian experience, to the Baha’i Faith.

. Have you ever read Herman Hesse? “A Journey to the East” If you find time, it is not long, and a fantastic read…

.

 

[HeadingBackHome]

I believe in a almighty God becouse it fall natural for me to do so.
I mean the atheist “brain damaged” idea that the entire universe has just sort of made it self doesn’t seem compelling to me.

That’s why I believe in God
The reason why I am Catholic is becouse I feel unworthy of the presence of the almighty God, I know by myself that Im a sinner and if I had to earn salvation I would most likely end up in hell.

Christianity match the way I look at life better than any other religion, Jesus saves all those who believe in him and I need a Savior. I think it’s a pretty good match

The reason Im Catholic and not Pentacostal, Lutheran or anything else is becouse I rely on a unbroken chain of tradition back to the apostles and I believe that the Papacy are indeed how Jesus wants the Church to be led.

• Pax Christi

 

[daler]

I believe in a almighty God becouse it fall natural for me to do so.
I mean the atheist “brain damaged” idea that the entire universe has just sort of made it self doesn’t seem compelling to me.

• Pax Christi

Heading,
. What a wonderful and refreshing insight that for you it is “natural” to believe in the Almighty, who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Praised be to God for granting you such a sense of harmony with His will, that being expressed in all the universe.

. “Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world.” . Bahá’í Writings

. It would appear that you are indeed a man of discernment…

.

 

[Anne88]

I believe in God, because of what He has done in my life. The way He has led in the past and continues to lead me today. I follow Him because He is God. I love Him because He first loved me.
I am a Seventh Day Adventist Christian because that is the religion I have found that follows most closely the teachings of God’s Holy Word.

 

[kaneata]

openmind,
. My friend, I appreciate very much that you speak as you believe, and how you do not yet see Baha’u’llah as He is seen by his followers. For us, however, reading your words, we see very clearly in your wording that you do not discern His station as the Lord of Hosts foretold by the Jews, **the One Promised by Christ, **the Mihdi of the Muslims, Shah Bahram of the Magi, Maitreye of Buddhist prophecies, the awaited Avatar of Hindus, the Morning Star of the Native Americans. He is all of these - the Promised One of all religions, and you still speak of him as a man who didn’t know this or didn’t know that.

So where does Christ say this?

So you see Baha’u’llah as God?

 

[daler]

So where does Christ say this?

So you see Baha’u’llah as God?

kaneata,

. As John the Baptist fulfilled the promise of the Return of Elijah, that is, as He was that One Who was to appear, although physically not the same person, but rather He held that Station spiritually, as Jesus confirmed: “If you will receive it.”, even though John denied being Him when asked, “Art Thou that Prophet?”

. So, too, do Baha’is believe that the “Return” of Christ refers in the same way to One Who fulfills that Station spiritually. That is, while John is not the “same physical human being” as Elijah, Whom the Jews expected to literally come down from a physical heaven, He was indeed that promised “Return” of the expected “Elijah”, as Christ indicated.

. Baha’u’llah is not “God”. His name translates into the “Glory of God”, Who is the One prophesied to come. He is not physically the same person, Jesus, but rather He holds that Station spiritually, which was promised in all the Holy Books.

. Each religion looks forward to the Return of “their” Prophet, or Promised One, each calling Him by a different Name. As Baha’is, we believe that Baha’u’llah is the Promised One of all religions and the fulfillment of the One Shepherd, and that the One Fold is inclusive of all of humanity, from all the different tribes and religions, which is now being gathered together.

. This is not a superficial claim, nor one without substance. An independent search for the truth is required of those who would investigate such a claim in order to verify the veracity of its merits and realize its implications.

.

.

 

[daler]

I believe in God, because of what He has done in my life. The way He has led in the past and continues to lead me today. I follow Him because He is God. I love Him because He first loved me.
I am a Seventh Day Adventist Christian because that is the religion I have found that follows most closely the teachings of God’s Holy Word.

Anne,
. I associate regularly with 7th Day Adventists, visiting a local church in my mountain community, not far from Loma Linda, and have studied fairly extensively the general beliefs and interpretation of prophecy. The year 1844 AD is indeed the fulfillment of the 2300 days (years) from Daniel, whose vision appeared to him while he was in Susa, in the province of Elam, which is today Southwestern Iran, formerly Persia.

. It is also interesting to note that the year 1260 AH (from the Muslim calendar) is in fact the very year 1844. This is not coincidental. Rather, the intersection of the 2300 and the 1260 occur simultaneously. One is solar, the other lunar.

. Jeremiah the Prophet also foretold the coming in the same land of Persia in the latter part of Chapter 49: “The Lord shall set His throne in Elam”. You can read it in context. It refers to the appearance of One called “the Bab”, or Gate, which in fact historically happened in Shiraz, Iran on May 22, 1844. He was killed in 1850, and foretold the coming of “Him Whom God shall make manifest”, a reference to the coming of Baha’u’llah, the Glory of God, in 1863, which is the year 1280 AH, also foretold in Daniel.

.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

kaneata,

. As John the Baptist fulfilled the promise of the Return of Elijah, that is, as He was that One Who was to appear, although physically not the same person, but rather He held that Station spiritually, as Jesus confirmed: “If you will receive it.”, even though John denied being Him when asked, “Art Thou that Prophet?”

. So, too, do Baha’is believe that the “Return” of Christ refers in the same way to One Who fulfills that Station spiritually. That is, while John is not the “same physical human being” as Elijah, Whom the Jews expected to literally come down from a physical heaven, He was indeed that promised “Return” of the expected “Elijah”, as Christ indicated.

EXCEPT . . . Acts 1:10-11 talks about Jesus coming back the same way
he went up into Heaven. If you haven’t read the Bible, by the time Jesus ascended
to the heavens, he was in the form of a man, about thirty-three years old, holes in
his hands, feet, & side, that’s how he was when he went UP, thus shall Jesus re-
turn. So neither the Bab nor Baha’u’llah came here as Christ should return.

Baha’u’llah is not “God”. His name translates into the “Glory of God”, Who is the One prophesied to come. He is not physically the same person, Jesus, but rather He holds that Station spiritually, which was promised in all the Holy Books.

The Bible talks about only one Promised One and ONLY ONE: Jesus Christ.
No manipulation, bending, or twisting of Scriptures can reconcile Christianity
and the Baha’i Faith.

Each religion looks forward to the Return of “their” Prophet, or Promised One, each calling Him by a different Name. As Baha’is, we believe that Baha’u’llah is the Promised One of all religions and the fulfillment of the One Shepherd, and that the One Fold is inclusive of all of humanity, from all the different tribes and religions, which is now being gathered together.

“Promised One of all religions,” oy vey, let me go over the list again: Krishna, Zarathustra,
Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Baha’u’llah . . . only two of these go together: Jesus
and Moses. You can’t reconcile any of the other religions.

 

[andrewstx]

Belief in God has always been a natural for me. It’s the only thing that makes sense of our world. Nature itself is compelling evidence, to me at least, of a Creator.

A study of the Christian faith, as well as others, has led me from the faith I was born in, Southern Baptist, to Catholic, to Orthodox Christian.

FacingEast, my story is a lot like yours. I have always believed in God too. My mom was S. Baptist and my dad was church of Christ. Their spelling. I remember reading the bible and contrasting it to what I had been taught by my parents and their churches.

What I read in the bible did not agree with what I was being told. I read “this is my body” when I was taught it was just a symbol. I read that baptism forgives sin and entire familes were baptized. I had been told that baptism is just symbolic too and done in only a certain age and a huge amount of water. They said that baptism is done after your sins are already forgiven by “gettin’ saved”.

So when I became and adult I became Catholic and then Orthodox, that’s where I am now.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

Anne,
. I associate regularly with 7th Day Adventists, visiting a local church in my mountain community, not far from Loma Linda, and have studied fairly extensively the general beliefs and interpretation of prophecy. The year 1844 AD is indeed the fulfillment of the 2300 days (years) from Daniel, whose vision appeared to him while he was in Susa, in the province of Elam, which is today Southwestern Iran, formerly Persia.

. It is also interesting to note that the year 1260 AH (from the Muslim calendar) is in fact the very year 1844. This is not coincidental. Rather, the intersection of the 2300 and the 1260 occur simultaneously. One is solar, the other lunar.

. Jeremiah the Prophet also foretold the coming in the same land of Persia in the latter part of Chapter 49: “The Lord shall set His throne in Elam”. You can read it in context. It refers to the appearance of One called “the Bab”, or Gate, which in fact historically happened in Shiraz, Iran on May 22, 1844. He was killed in 1850, and foretold the coming of “Him Whom God shall make manifest”, a reference to the coming of Baha’u’llah, the Glory of God, in 1863, which is the year 1280 AH, also foretold in Daniel.

.

It doesn’t matter if you can play around with the math and numbers to make it “look right.”
What do the Scriptures say (talking about the Bible). Jeremiah 49:35-39 is talking about
the end of days when God will come, establish his throne, wipe out all the “rulers of this
world” (the demons), and bring all his chosen back to him in harmony. You are the one
who should be reading it in context.

 

[tonyfish58]

It doesn’t matter if you can play around with the math and numbers to make it “look right.”
What do the Scriptures say (talking about the Bible). Jeremiah 49:35-39 is talking about
the end of days when God will come, establish his throne, wipe out all the “rulers of this
world” (the demons), and bring all his chosen back to him in harmony. You are the one
who should be reading it in context.

Good thing is we do not have to "play"with the Maths - The sums are in the Bible and it was not Baha’is that came up with these results, we just use them as Baha’u’llah is the Sum and the Answer!. Gods word is Gods Word. The Truth is the Truth!

All that was foretold has happened as it was to be. The explanations are available, the promised Day of God is revealed in all It’s Splendor, to all that will let go and look!

Baha’u’llah has already as you suggested "wiped out all the “rulers of this world” These letters and predictions are available to study!

Regards Tony

 

[tonyfish58]

I believe in God, because of what He has done in my life. The way He has led in the past and continues to lead me today. I follow Him because He is God. I love Him because He first loved me.
I am a Seventh Day Adventist Christian because that is the religion I have found that follows most closely the teachings of God’s Holy Word.

May your Love of God grow from day to day

Regards Tony

 

[roselily]

I have strong faith; I knew that human could not come from random .

 

[tonyfish58]

EXCEPT . . . Acts 1:10-11 talks about Jesus coming back the same way
he went up into Heaven. If you haven’t read the Bible, by the time Jesus ascended
to the heavens, he was in the form of a man, about thirty-three years old, holes in
his hands, feet, & side, that’s how he was when he went UP, thus shall Jesus re-
turn. So neither the Bab nor Baha’u’llah came here as Christ should return.

The Bible talks about only one Promised One and ONLY ONE: Jesus Christ.
No manipulation, bending, or twisting of Scriptures can reconcile Christianity
and the Baha’i Faith.

“Promised One of all religions,” oy vey, let me go over the list again: Krishna, Zarathustra,
Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Baha’u’llah . . . only two of these go together: Jesus
and Moses. You can’t reconcile any of the other religions.

Yes the Bible does Talk about all this, but it may not be as you expect, in fact why would the Bible warn us if it was going to be so easy. The deception may have been greater than given credit for. The deception that man clouds His vision with.

Regards Tony

 

[tonyfish58]

I have strong faith; I knew that human could not come from random .

Strong Faith is a Bounty from God, we all have to look at what Foundations our Strong Faith have been built upon

May you find the Strong Foundations of this Bounty of God

Regards Tony

 

[roselily]

Strong Faith is a Bounty from God, we all have to look at what Foundations our Strong Faith have been built upon

May you find the Strong Foundations of this Bounty of God

Regards Tony

Thanks!

 

[Servant19]

EXCEPT . . . Acts 1:10-11 talks about Jesus coming back the same way
he went up into Heaven. If you haven’t read the Bible, by the time Jesus ascended
to the heavens, he was in the form of a man, about thirty-three years old, holes in
his hands, feet, & side, that’s how he was when he went UP, thus shall Jesus re-
turn. So neither the Bab nor Baha’u’llah came here as Christ should return.

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

Do you really think the heaven in Acts is a “literal” place Judas? Because if Jesus is to come back from the “literal” sky, then it would be a place that we “know where it comes from”… unless, of course you are saying that Jesus was NOT born of the Spirit?

"I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?" (John 3:12)

Is the blue sky, and the white, fluffy clouds “earthly” things, or “heavenly” things Judas?

**“No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” ** (John 3:13)

Did Jesus have no physical birth, Judas? Did He come down from the heaven that you are talking about, and that is mentioned in Acts?

Jesus clearly says here that He came from heaven. Is that the same place that He will come down from upon His Return?

What is the spiritual meanings, can you overcome your attachments?

Bible talks about only one Promised One and ONLY ONE: Jesus Christ.

Do you have a quote to back this statement Judas?