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To: balrog666; Dimensio; PatrickHenry
There are ways to evaluate the world's religions. What should a religion do if it is true? It should provide practical instruction for man as to how to live and it should tell him how he relates to god(s) and the world, and what his purpose is.

Meaning and Meaninglessness

"One way is to divide the religions is between meaning and meaninglessness. Only those belief systems which regard the world, man and the cosmos as real both in their existence and purpose can provide meaning for man. This would eliminate the many forms of Hindu, Buddism, most easter religions.

As Dimensio said of Hindu, it doesn't matter because we will all get to try again. To which I will add, it doesn't matter, because according to Hindu when the cycle of birth and death is over the end result is our soul merges back into the soul of the cosmos and we as individuals cease to exist.

Why not just be an athiest than to practice a religion of meaninglessness. The end result is the same. And no doubt the atheist has fewer rules. In fact under the Hindu cosmos, the atheist lives longer.

Real Guilt and Illusion

A second way is whether the religion deals with real guilt or illusion. Only those belief systems which take man's sinfulness seriously can hope to provide a satisfying answer.

Again if there is no good and evil, if guilt and sin are illusions, then what good is that religion? This criteria also eliminates Hinduism, Buddism, most eastern religions. The better to be an athiest comment applies again.

Self-Help or Salvation

Once you eliminate the Eastern religions, you are primarily left with the montheist beliefs of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and with the nontheistic belief of Atheism.

As I've pointed out before God doesn't judge on a bell curve. He judges according to His own standards, and He is holy. He knows no sin. He tells us in the bible to "Be Holy for I am Holy." God ain't going to settle for mostly good. The great difference in Christianity is that only in Christianity is salvation a free gift from God. Practically all other religions teach you have to earn your salvation. Which is an impossible feat if the goal is holiness... perfection.

Logic and Truth

Christianity views itself as the fulfillment of Judaism, the fulfillment of the prophecies contained therein. It fully accepts the sacred works of Judaism as authentic revelations from God. It's not too hard to verify the prophecies. In fact here is a pretty good link from a former atheist who did just that...

Is The God Of The Bible Is Really God?"

Islam views itself as the corrected form of monotheism. But does this claim hold up? Is it logical that a God that knows the future, would give two revelations only to put His foot down on the third version and say "This one I'm not going to be allowed to be corrupted?" Is it logical for the Koran to tell Jews and Christians to search their scriptures only to have Jews and Christians reject the Koran when they do?

Conclusion

The eastern religions can be ruled out because they give no meaning to life. They cannot be viewed as superior to atheism. Islam can be ruled out because of it's internal inconsistencies.

The choice is now down to whether there is no god or whether the God of the Bible is God. The previous link answers that with prophecies. But there are other ways to know as well. One is to go seeking Him to see if He is.

Is The God Of The Bible Is Really God?"

Comparative Religions

168 posted on 01/14/2004 12:03:03 PM PST by DannyTN
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To: DannyTN
"One way is to divide the religions is between meaning and meaninglessness. Only those belief systems which regard the world, man and the cosmos as real both in their existence and purpose can provide meaning for man. This would eliminate the many forms of Hindu, Buddism, most easter religions.

In other words, only the religions that say what you want them to say are true. Therefore, any religions that you don't like are false.

That is not logical reasoning.

Why not just be an athiest than to practice a religion of meaninglessness. The end result is the same. And no doubt the atheist has fewer rules. In fact under the Hindu cosmos, the atheist lives longer.

I can't speak for Hindus, since I've not met many and I don't know the religion that well, but the understanding that I've gotten is that Hindus believe that their lives are ultimately more fulfilling with their religion. They believe that their religion is true, that's why they are Hindus. Why not live as atheists? They believe that their gods exist. That makes them theists. You're suggesting that people could just will themselves to be atheists or theists -- this is not the case. Your argument for religion is silly and devoid of any serious thought.

A second way is whether the religion deals with real guilt or illusion. Only those belief systems which take man's sinfulness seriously can hope to provide a satisfying answer.

Assuming the conclusions (man's state of sinfulness). Again, projecting your expectations of religion and assuming that only those that meet your expectations can be true. Argument from wishful thinking.

Again if there is no good and evil, if guilt and sin are illusions, then what good is that religion? This criteria also eliminates Hinduism, Buddism, most eastern religions. The better to be an athiest comment applies again.

Hindus that I've met disagree. Buddhism is not always theistic -- there are atheist Buddhists out there, thus treating Buddhism and atheism as mutually exclusive states is nonsensical.

As I've pointed out before God doesn't judge on a bell curve. He judges according to His own standards, and He is holy. He knows no sin. He tells us in the bible to "Be Holy for I am Holy." God ain't going to settle for mostly good. The great difference in Christianity is that only in Christianity is salvation a free gift from God. Practically all other religions teach you have to earn your salvation. Which is an impossible feat if the goal is holiness... perfection.

Once again, assuming the conclusion.

Islam views itself as the corrected form of monotheism. But does this claim hold up? Is it logical that a God that knows the future, would give two revelations only to put His foot down on the third version and say "This one I'm not going to be allowed to be corrupted?" Is it logical for the Koran to tell Jews and Christians to search their scriptures only to have Jews and Christians reject the Koran when they do?

Is it logical for Christians to tell us to search the Bible, only to have us reject it when we do? Or are we just not reading the Bible properly, just as a Muslim can claim that you're not reading the Koran properly when you reject it or the Bible correctly when you accept it as absolute truth?

The eastern religions can be ruled out because they give no meaning to life. They cannot be viewed as superior to atheism. Islam can be ruled out because of it's internal inconsistencies.

In other words, Eastern religions can be ruled out because you don't like them -- not that your dislike has any bearing on their truth value. Islam can be ruled out because you think that you've found inconsistencies in it that Muslims will dispute, and you ignore inconsistencies that people point out in your own religion.

Do you have an argument that isn't rife with poor reasoning and logical fallacies?
169 posted on 01/14/2004 1:25:34 PM PST by Dimensio (The only thing you feel when you take a human life is recoil. -- Frank "Earl" Jones)
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To: DannyTN
There are ways to evaluate the world's religions.

Yes, there are. Unfortunately, your screed isn't an effective one.

173 posted on 01/14/2004 2:51:54 PM PST by balrog666 (Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.)
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