Always been curious as to why people believe what they believe,so I thought I'd ask it here? Be honest, why do your really believe whatever you believe? I know that for me, even at 32, a lot of it has to do with what I was taught as a child. My family was very religious and attended church 2-3 times a week, so I was pretty heavily indoctrinated. I have left much of it behind, but if I really consider why I believe what I do I must admit it still is an influence. It's just easier to fall into old and familiar belief system than to search out truth.
I think that the majority of people still believe,at least in part, whatever they were taught to believe as a child. The people on this site seem to be different in that they seem to have truly searched and tried to find truth, but if you look around you I think you'll find most people stay the course.
I try to question everything I believe and take for granted as truth to see if it really holds up. I used to believe the bible was the infallible word of God and would never consider questioning anything in it. However, I started asking myself why I believed that. Did God or Jesus say it was his word? No. Did Jesus write it or any part of it during his 30+ years on earth?No. Is there anything to suggest that it should be taken as Gods literal word? Not really, but for many years I took it as Gods word anyway. I still believe the Bible contains many powerful truths, but no lionger feel the need for it to be Gods word.
That made me backtrack to the beginning,to see if I actually believe there is a God. It took a while, but in the end I found that I could not believe that everything that is,was and will be happened by coincidence or accident. I looked at both sides as fairly as I could,and I believe there is indeed a God. I don't pretend to know exactly what the naure of God is, or how he operates, but I do believe in a intelligent creative force. I'm sure that no matter how fair and objective I try to be, those old beliefs will creep in to some degree and influence me, but I try to keep it as fair as possible.
I'm curious as to how other s came to believe what they did. I see many here who have beliefs that I'm not really familiar with and would love to know how they came by those beliefs and what gives them faith in what they believe.
I think that the majority of people still believe,at least in part, whatever they were taught to believe as a child. The people on this site seem to be different in that they seem to have truly searched and tried to find truth, but if you look around you I think you'll find most people stay the course.
I try to question everything I believe and take for granted as truth to see if it really holds up. I used to believe the bible was the infallible word of God and would never consider questioning anything in it. However, I started asking myself why I believed that. Did God or Jesus say it was his word? No. Did Jesus write it or any part of it during his 30+ years on earth?No. Is there anything to suggest that it should be taken as Gods literal word? Not really, but for many years I took it as Gods word anyway. I still believe the Bible contains many powerful truths, but no lionger feel the need for it to be Gods word.
That made me backtrack to the beginning,to see if I actually believe there is a God. It took a while, but in the end I found that I could not believe that everything that is,was and will be happened by coincidence or accident. I looked at both sides as fairly as I could,and I believe there is indeed a God. I don't pretend to know exactly what the naure of God is, or how he operates, but I do believe in a intelligent creative force. I'm sure that no matter how fair and objective I try to be, those old beliefs will creep in to some degree and influence me, but I try to keep it as fair as possible.
I'm curious as to how other s came to believe what they did. I see many here who have beliefs that I'm not really familiar with and would love to know how they came by those beliefs and what gives them faith in what they believe.