Man made religions.

[Kcnorwood]

Could it be said of all religion that they are man-made? Christianty cliams that it was inspired by God but man still wrote it. Same could be said for other religions could they not? Paganism, Buddhism, Etc.

 

[sandandfoam]

Could it be said of all religion that they are man-made? Christianty cliams that it was inspired by God but man still wrote it. Same could be said for other religions could they not? Paganism, Buddhism, Etc.

I think it can be said. It is my view that religion is man made. I also think that mankind carry God inside.

 

[Storm]

I agree. Religions are a byproduct of our search for God.

 

[michel]

Religions are man made; they are to spirituality as politicians are to politics.

 

[tomspug]

Religion is what happens when man recognizes something that appears to not be man-made, or beyond man, and chooses to preserve and reproduce it. Whether or not it is man-made is entirely up to our judgment.

 

[Charity]

I have to agree with the theory on being man made......Man took what was the inspired word of God and twisted portions of it to fit their own needs. That is why their are so many different denominations today, if you like something you adhere to that scripture, if you don't like it you skip over it and find search until you find one that does.....I don't mean this to be the situation in every belief but find this to be true in some that I personally have attended. I think that is reflected in many of the Church doctrines and articles of faith.

 

[Wandered Off]

I firmly believe this to be true, thus my RF Religion label of "theological nonrealism". Don Cupitt, founder of the Sea of Faith Network said in his book, Sea of Faith:

The first conscious believers are appearing, people who know that religion is just human but have come to see that it is no less vital to us for that. Religion has to be human; it could not be otherwise, for it would not work as religion unless it were simply human.

After Kant we began more and more to see that all of our knowledge and our language are only human. In all our knowing, the mind conditions what it knows: the facts are profoundly shaped by the theories under which we view them and the language in which we decribe them. We are always inside our own language and our own human standpoint, and can never directly compare our vision of the world with the way the world is absolutely. We are only human. In short, we cannot claim to have purely-objective knowledge of THE world, but we can claim to have many very useful ideas about OUR world, the world we see and the ‘life-world’ we inhabit. For us, the only world is the human world, the world of ‘life’, and our beliefs are not pictures of the world, but tools for living.

Don Cupitt - about non-realism

 

[kai]

any religion would be a little useless without mankind wouldnt it.

 

[crystalonyx]

There is no god, so by inference religions are man-made.

 

[pwsoldier]

I read an awesome quote once, though I forget where I saw it or who said it. "Every culture has created a God, and it's always been in their own image."

 

[Quiddity]

I read an awesome quote once, though I forget where I saw it or who said it. "Every culture has created a God, and it's always been in their own image."

It's true. Although I'm sure we'd disagree on whether it's just an image.

In my own Church, you can see the differences of images by merely looking at our Iconography, statues, architecture, etc.

More interesting isn't that religion is the opium of the masses, but why those outside the masses don't want opium.

I think they do, they just don't call it relgion.

 

[ChristineES]

The religions themselves are man-made. But worship of God is different.

 

[Storm]

Howso, Christine?

 

[whereismynotecard]

I'd say every single religion is man-made.

 

[Quiddity]

Howso, Christine?

I know from my Protestant upbringing that "religion" was a bad word. All those other mega-church Christian churches are "religion" and the same with all those non-christian movements.

To be "religious" was to diminish the importance of your relationship with Christ. How? Beats me...

 

[ChristineES]

Howso, Christine?

One can worship God without any religion. Religion contains a set of rules that people must/should adhere to, while the worship of God is unconditional. The rules are set up by men-- but the worship is just done without the rules.

 

[Father Heathen]

One can worship God without any religion. Religion contains a set of rules that people must/should adhere to, while the worship of God is unconditional. The rules are set up by men-- but the worship is just done without the rules.

So could one cut out the middleman and worship god directly and still make it into heaven?

 

[Storm]

One can worship God without any religion. Religion contains a set of rules that people must/should adhere to, while the worship of God is unconditional. The rules are set up by men-- but the worship is just done without the rules.

Fair enough.

 

[ChristineES]

So could one cut out the middleman and worship god directly and still make it into heaven?

I think that may be possible.

 

[Storm]

Without religion, how does one know how to worship, though?