What I Believe About God And God

It is said that man, to survive, has always needed something or some belief to hold on; be it science, religion or magic. Man without a belief lacks hope (Walker, 1997). Lack of hope makes a man vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances. To avoid this vulnerability man has been holding onto different belief systems.

Stephen Prothero’s “God Is Not One” is a survey of world religions, comprising vital information on a vast array of different sets of belief. As someone who has never studied religion before, nor belongs to a particular faith, the variability within these religions is staggering. One might be satisfied to define religion as “how a person goes about believing in God,” but soon finds that even that definition has its holes. Thankfully, “God Is Not One” does an amazing job of cluing its reader into the nuances that are sometimes forgotten about the religions it approaches.

Will Langas Religion exists in every culture, ranging from monotheism to polytheism, and everything in between. Many may believe that the extreme diversity of faiths eliminates any common benefits, but each and every religion shares a common ability. Although no two religions are the same, the one value that every religion has is the power to satisfy followers spiritually. Whether it is through prayer or just religious contemplation of life’s deepest questions, religion serves as a tool for responding to life’s greatest mysteries. In a modern world where many believe that being religious is a waste of time, it is important to remember that a strong foundation of faith can provide one with the answers needed to answer life’s most meaningful questions.

James Fowler developed his stages of faith after conduction in-depth interviews of 359 people. The sample subjects were predominately white, with equal numbers of males and females and included a wide range of ages, from three and a half to 84 years old. Fowler’s interviews consisted of 30 plus questions regarding the subject’s life experiences, relationships, values, commitments and religion. After analyzing the responses, Fowler placed each subject in one of six faith stages. The responses indicated that as the subject’s age increased, so did their stage of faith (Hutchison, 2015).

The focal purpose of the article ‘Americans get an ‘F’ in religion’ by Cathy Lynn Grossman is to explain how ignorant Americans are when it comes to other religions around the world and their own. Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs; a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons and sects. Being ignorant to something as vital as religion scares the author of this article

Presented with the task of assessing someone’s faith development required the answers to three essential questions. How has social learning played a part in the individual’s religious development? How has attachment played a part in the individual’s religious development? Upon answering these questions we must then evaluate the stages of faith development in which the individual is in according to James Fowler and David Elkind. After thorough evaluation has occurred the question pertaining to the role of doubt can then be answered. With these questions in mind, the theory that religious beliefs and adherence to spiritual faith are ultimately tested and proved during adolescence was the driving thought throughout the process of interviewing

During times of terrible trajedy, a person’s belief in religious faith may be shaken. Some people may not believe in a religion as strongly after they learn the truth or the story of that religion.

The North American community in today’s worlds has embraced Christianity, Muslim and other popular religious beliefs. Finding the ancient religious practices in action is rare, but not impossible. The communities had their own believes concerning gods and philosophies of good and evil before they were colonized. The communities have lost most of their beliefs and practices as they took place in the earlier community to popular religions which were introduced during and after the colonialism periods (Bonvillain and Porter 23-43).

The meaning of religion is something that scholars, along with society at large, have attempted to define for centuries. Although the term cannot truly have one solid meaning, it is clear that religion is much more than a set of beliefs and practices. In Religion: The Basics, author Mallory Nye discusses his approach to studying religion. In arguing that culture and religion strongly influence each other, he explains that those studying religion must make people and culture their focus, as variations even within the same religions exist and must be considered. Moreover, Nye explains how religion is, essentially, a universal concept, as it takes form in an array of shapes across the globe. With Nye’s argument, I have developed new insights

Numerous amount of studies have taken place on why new religious movements are so popular. It seems to be people have some mental disorder that leads them to believe that they have no purpose in life and everything they do is just a sham.”recent study by the National Institute of Mental Health found that approximately 20% of the general population has at least one psychiatric

How is one persuaded to belief in God? Social influences certainly play a role in accepting or rejecting Christianity. Many people raised in a Christian environment receive positive classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. However, numerous individuals do not grow up in a positive Christian environment or have had negative experiences related to Christianity. How are they persuaded to belief in God? Rick Wade (1998) in his article “The Relevance of Christianity: An Apologetic,” offers one dimension to persuading non-Christians to believe. Wade’s perspective, however, had little relevance to my own conversion.

Religion has been prevalent in society since the establishment of human civilization; not only does it provide ideals and beliefs for people, but religion impacts the behavior and mindset of individuals. Evidence of the effect of religion on the lives of today’s ancestors is documented through writings that were translated and passed down to modern day society. These writings contain values and principles to live by, such as treating others with respect and being truthful, that continue to persist today. The belief of there being a higher being, such as a god(s), is also mentioned in the readings to portray how groups of people revolved their lives around the rule of whom they viewed as their superior. Varieties of texts exist to demonstrate the influences of religion on society, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Holy Bible, and Laozi’s Daodejing.

Introduction: Belief systems have positively affected society, as can be seen in Australia, Switzerland, and my home country Indonesia. Although conflicts happen because of belief systems, such as the discrimination of indigenous peoples (“United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” 4-5), it will continue to affect the world this way unless certain actions are taken, but I am hopeful that belief systems will continue to be a positive impact towards the world. Global Perspective: Belief systems play a positive role in maintaining peace in Australia, such as Christians and Muslims sharing a safe haven together, but Christianity has 3 major positive influences today in Australia: the well-known international band Hillsong, and it can prove its positive effects by attracting a few hundred thousand people to a camp or a Praise and Worship concert (Houston, n.p.).

Religion has existed for countless centuries. Christianity is one of the major religions in this world, which had people be criticized, battle in wars, and killed for, but it still survived to this day. The purpose of this paper is to study the source of the religion, recognize the teachings, observe its spread throughout the world, and to identify how it stands among people today. Approaching this paper by a factual report I will explain these major points and why we need to know about this religion and other religions that existed before our generation.

Religious faith is important to most Americans, with approximately 95% of Americans reporting belief in God and about 50% being active in church organizations (Gallup & Castelli, 1989). Despite the widespread prevalence of religious beliefs in society, some researchers have maintained that religion and religious beliefs are often neglected in psychological research (Jones, 1994; Plante, 1996). This neglect stems from a couple of different factors. First, it is difficult for psychologists to overcome the fact that believers in many religions claim to have unique access to the truth. Secondly, truly theological questions such as the existence of God or the nature of an afterlife are often ignored by scientists. This may be in part a