Which religion is true?

2ndpillar said:

And yet, you have yet to interpret what it says about who the woman is, or the beast she sits on. Out with it, are you afraid of how silly your answer is?

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Look God does not leave it to me or anyone else to interpret the book of Revelation, God thru his angels has already done that.

If you follow along with the angel what the angel is giving to John who the woman is that sits on the beast and who the beast is.
the angel is giving to John who she is and who the beast is. Throughout the book of Revelation.

But as it is, you think your smarter than God and his angels, that's why you are so far off base when it comes to the book of Revelation

Gerry said:

Christians claim the Bible as the word of God, yet they also claim their religion to be the only pathway to God.

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Which Christians do you mean though? Lots of different kinds that teach different pathways.

Gerry said:

The Bible says that God’s wisdom and knowledge has been given to everyone on earth (through all religions).

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I believe that God does bless all people of all nations in all eras of time with a degree of truth and light concerning him and his plan. As we follow whatever degree of true light we enjoy in our lives, through whatever religious tradition, we are drawn closer to God and our lives are better for it. This does not negate the fact that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone. Eventually, whether in this life or the next, all people who are saved will do so only after accepting Christ and covenanting to keep his ordinances and to follow him.

Scott C. said:

This does not negate the fact that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone.

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That's a "belief", not necessarily a "fact".

Gerry said:

This seems illogical to me.

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Religion is one... There is only one way to God, and religions are talking about it in different languages (Revelation 10:11).

The condemnation on the 'world' in Isaiah 34, is the same as we find in Zoroastrianism, and in Hindu texts about Kali Yuga, that the blood thirsty sinful types are to be removed.

It is all about perspective, and some people limit theirs, thinking that is 'following the narrow path', when that is just narrow minded.

In my opinion.

metis said:

That's a "belief", not necessarily a "fact".

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I believe it's a fact.

Scott C. said:

I believe it's a fact.

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I believe your fact is a belief.

BTW, on a more serious side, I really have a hard time accepting the idea that God would judge someone merely on a politically-correct basis as to how they may look at the nature of Jesus. The Sermon On the Mount and the Parable of the Sheep & Goats don't seem to be constant with that belief, along with Jesus' statement that he "came to serve, not to be served".

IOW, it seems more about the message of love, compassion, and justice for all versus political-correctness. Just my opinion.

Naturally I think Buddhism has the most truth. Otherwise I wouldn't see much point in being Buddhist, rather than something else.

I think Hinduism and Jainism have roughly equal amounts of truth to Buddhism, because in many ways- Indian religions are all approaching the same questions with pretty similar answers. India is a society whose people decided long ago which questions about life and the world concern them. Most Indian religions are about answering those questions.

That being said- if I didn't think Buddhism had the most truth, I wouldn't see much point in my insistence to remain there. I'm pretty well convinced that Shakyamuni Buddha had the awakened eye of enlightenment. That he knew all phenomena inside and out, and taught truthful answers to human questions about reality.

I also think everyone has to be convinced in their own minds that they have the truth, or know something true about the universe- like atheists say there is no god.

I'd find it odd if a person was holding a view they didn't think was true. Truth is important to humans.

Buddha Dharma said:

Naturally I think Buddhism has the most truth. Otherwise I wouldn't see much point in being Buddhist, rather than something else.

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I always have to laugh when I see threads like this. Almost everybody seems to fall into one of two groups -- those who say, "My religion is true. Period. The end. And that makes yours false," and those who say, "It doesn't matter. All of them are equally true." There aren't very many who are willing to answer as you did. The way you put it is pretty much the way I see it (if you were to substitute "Mormonism" for "Buddhism.") In other words, "Naturally I think Mormonism has the most truth. Otherwise I wouldn't see much point in being Buddhist, rather than something else."

Samantha Rinne said:

All of them. Except maybe Mormonism and Islam (largely I say this, because those two fall into "I saw an angel and he told me I should lead you people" cults of personality).

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"Cults of personality" generally don't last long after their founder dies. Both Mormonism and, to an even greater exist, Islam, have survived and thrived, even though their founders are long dead.

I'm not going to speak on behalf of Islam, but I will say that Mormonism doesn't tell anyone who is looking into it as a possible religious path to just follow Joseph Smith and hope you're right. It stresses the importance of every person praying for guidance in his decision.

It's like blind folk touching an elephant, and deciding that it is one thing or another. Reality is what we get when we line all the parts up.

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I think there's a lot of truth to that old tale, but I also believe there is such a thing as "absolute truth." I'm not 100% convinced that any one religion holds the monopoly on it, though. I believe some religions probably have more of it than others, but that most religions have a great many truths to teach their adherents. Naturally, as a Christian, I see belief in Jesus Christ as being ultimately essential to salvation. But as a Mormon, I recognize that the more a person knows about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more he comes to realize that endings in this life really aren't endings at all. (That may take some explaining to make sense, but I'll leave it at that for the time being.)

Note to the "Super Evil Scary Liberal for Love Peace and Unity": You're my kind of people.

Katzpur said:

Note to the "Super Evil Scary Liberal for Love Peace and Unity": You're my kind of people.

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Aw thank you @Katzpur

I enjoy your presence here too

Faithofchristian said:

Look God does not leave it to me or anyone else to interpret the book of Revelation, God thru his angels has already done that.

If you follow along with the angel what the angel is giving to John who the woman is that sits on the beast and who the beast is.
the angel is giving to John who she is and who the beast is. Throughout the book of Revelation.

But as it is, you think your smarter than God and his angels, that's why you are so far off base when it comes to the book of Revelation

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You can't say, because as stated in Daniel 12:10, the "wicked" will not "understand". As stated in Malachi 3:18, you can not even distinguish "between the righteous and the wicked". You forget, we are in the "end times" (Daniel 12:9), there is nothing hidden any longer, except from the wicked. Matthew 10:26-27

Matthew 10:26So do not be afraid of them. For nothing is concealed that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.…

metis said:

I believe your fact is a belief.

BTW, on a more serious side, I really have a hard time accepting the idea that God would judge someone merely on a politically-correct basis as to how they may look at the nature of Jesus. The Sermon On the Mount and the Parable of the Sheep & Goats don't seem to be constant with that belief, along with Jesus' statement that he "came to serve, not to be served".

IOW, it seems more about the message of love, compassion, and justice for all versus political-correctness. Just my opinion.

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I'm not sure why you refer to this as political-correctness. The message of Jesus is definitely about love and service. But it's also a message of redemption that comes only through the atonement of Christ. No matter how much we love or serve, we are all still in need of redemption. Jesus established the terms of that redemption, which he can do, since he is the one who paid the price of our transgressions.

Gerry said:

The Bible says that God’s wisdom and knowledge has been given to everyone on earth (through all religions).

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I have a belief which is probably unique to the Latter-day Saints. I believe in a literal Adam and Eve. I also believe that after their fall, the Lord taught them the whole story of the plan of salvation, the coming of Jesus Christ, the need for baptism, how mankind could be redeemed from the fall, the future resurrection of mankind, and the future suffering of Christ on the cross. God taught them to offer sacrifices and explained to them plainly that those sacrifices where a metaphor or symbol of the sacrifice that the Son of God would one day make. In essense, Adam and Eve knew the gospel of Jesus Christ and taught it to their children, who taught it to their children.

I remember sitting in a public High School class circa 1975 in California, and we were learning about Asian religions. I learned for the first time some basics of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and others. As I sat there and heard about Karma, reincarnation, nirvana, bottisatva, moral codes, and some other principles, some similarities to my beliefs were startling. That's not to say that I believe in Karma or reincarnation, etc., but I saw similarities. The idea of eternal progression struck me for example. The idea that one lives multiple lives in a pattern of learning, and growth and development, until one reaches the final goal was fascinating. I compared that to my belief that we lived with God before we were born, we come to earth to live a mortal life, we die and live as a spirit, and then we are resurrected into a physical body through the atonement of Jesus Christ. We go through these phases of eternity as part of a pattern of eternal progression.

I sat there in class and wondered if the similarities could be because every human being is a descendant of a common set of parents who knew and taught specific gospel principles. Could it be that over time, those ideas were changed and they morphed into other ideas, but there remain common threads that connect them?

I decided to write my class research paper on a comparison of LDS theology with Asian religions. I drew the conclusion that the commonalities found, are due to having come from one source in the beginning. I got an A+ so I know my teacher liked it. But he did mention that maybe I got a bit over religious for a public school paper.

We believe all the major religions are true. They are all rays of the same sun and waves of the one sea.

InChrist said:

I don't believe Christians who understand the scriptures claim their religion is the only pathway to God,

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Most Christians do claim that, but apparently you don't?

InChrist said:

but Jesus claimed ...“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

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One of the most misunderstood verses of all time....

Jesus was the Way to God during His dispensation, but Jesus was not the Only Way to God for all of eternity. When God sent another Messenger, He was the Way.

The latest Messenger of God who has come to earth is the One God wants us to follow. Otherwise, why would God send a "new" Messenger?

To me, the only criterion for a healthy belief system is whether it helps you to become a kinder & more compassionate human being.

Of course I could be totally "wrong" - I don't claim to be inflammable!

Geoff-Allen said:

To me, the only criterion for a healthy belief system is whether it helps you to become a kinder & more compassionate human being.

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I wouldn't agree that it's the "only criterion," but I would agree that it's right up there near the top. Religion should help us be better human beings. Any religion that does so has a lot going for it, regardless of what else it may teach.

Of course I could be totally "wrong" - I don't claim to be inflammable!

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I couldn't decide whether to rate your post "Funny" or "Winner" so I went with "Winner."