In all seriousness, how DOES one determine which religion of the many out there is the correct one?

What conclusion have you reached?

Watch the movie Noah and then bow down to the power of ROCK MONSTERS RAWRRR!!!

As a Christian who very recently wrestled with this question I have come to the understanding that it takes a leap of faith to assume God has spoken to his creation. We can come up with philosophical and logical arguments until we are blue in the face that 'prove' Gods existence but we can never 100% be sure that God spoke to his creation(did he speak using the quran, bible, avesta? )

I think the single best evidence linking the theoretical existence of God to any one belief system/work is the life of Jesus Christ.

So I would start with studying Christ and the claims he made and the things he did.

By dying.

All traditional religions pretty much leads to the same esoteric truth. Just pick whichever religion that suits the culture of your upbringing, so long as it has had direct transmission of holy tradition that can be traced back to time immemorial (which automatically leaves out Protestantism, Wahhabism, New Age cults, and neopagan larpshit).

>His shitty fate was to prove a point
Given that Job's fate was eventually reversed, what's wrong with that? Isn't G-d allowed to use his creatures for his own purposes as long as he treats them justly in the final analysis?

>Just pick whichever religion that suits the culture of your upbringing
Well I mean isn't that what people do? It's not just coincidence that religions seem to be geographical.

yeah that guy's advice is moronic.

For the most part humans have always just adopted whatever religion is dominant in their region and to them it's the right one because well they have it and things are working out pretty well for them.

This
Every question one can ask about theology and the afterlife can be answered by killing themselves

>Well I mean isn't that what people do?
Not always. Indonesians used to be Hindu before converting to Islam in the 15th century even though India is geographically closer than the Middle East.

Yeah but Indonesia also had a volcano destroy half of their entire island chain and spew out so much smoke and dust that it created a nuclear winter, with the Islamic missionaries there saying "you see, this is what happens when you don't believe!"

It was kind of an exception

Evolution is a fact.

Any religion that somehow ignores the route of evolution and natural selection is objectively not real.

This does not mean God isn't real, but His existence must conform to the reality of science.

That said, Abrahamics are def the fakest shit ever. They can all be literally explained in their socio-historical contexts.

Catholics accept evolution now though.

That's only plausible if they exclude the Old Testament from the Canon Scripture.

But i'm p sure the pope and bishops are saying all that and shit like "gays go to heaven" to look hip and not lose any more adepts.

Yes, religious people either don't give two thoughts about their religion or are as insane as people in that thread :

>haha relax bro I know you lost your family but I got you this new family all is well

??????

Catholics don't think the Bible is literal fact.

Some do, some don't. 600 years ago every word was a literal fact to them. Religions evolve.

If everyone was perfectly christian, everyone would be celibate and it would be the end of humanity.
What the point?

No religious thinker before the 18th century ever thought Genesis 1 should be interpreted literally in all respects. Many such as Maimonides and St. Augustine explicitly said the opposite. I dare you to Prove me wrong.

Where does the Bible recommend celibacy as a course for everyone? The OT explicitly says "Be fruitful and multiply"

Given that we live forever doesn't Job's fate seem sort of trivial?

>600 years ago every word was a literal fact to them.
>citation needed
>citation needed
>citation needed.

Paul speaks of marriage as a lesser evil.

And men of the OT were polygame so you see, things change.

>The OT
The old testament is below the new testament

that's an oversimplification of what he said. I'd like to see where you think he describes in any way as "evil". Any in any event Paul erroneously believed that Christ would return in his own lifetime. His thoughts on marriage, procreation, and the long-term human future need to be understood in that context

And yet they're in perfect harmony if you take seriously Christ's statement that he did not come to abolish the law.

This
Even if you wear a fedora you have to admit that Jesus had his finger on the pulse of humanity more than anyone else except maybe Buddha

In all seriousness, why would you think we had found the "correct" religion yet? Our scientific theories are constantly updating, we don't yet know 90% of the physics that is out there, surely we have to know THAT before we can understand god sufficiently to make a "correct" religion?

A lesser good is maybe a better qualification.

Yes that would be more accurate.
Also I'm not a Christian either I was playing avocatus diaboli.

>In all seriousness, how DOES one determine which religion of the many out there is the correct one?

Ask for ID.

youtube.com/watch?v=r_hYhhCpDoo

History.

Which came first, the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church?

all of the abrahamic religions are pretty much rip-offs of earlier faiths. Judaism has roots in old Canaanite religion with elements from mesopotamia, Christianity is just Judaism+, Islam is just a worse version of the previous two

>"Buddhism" is good
>Buddhism practiced by asians is bad
>Atheism somehow that worse than agnosticism and muh scientism *tips cross*
>vegetarians and ecologists cannot be catholics
Was that chart made by a catholic Jack Chick? I'm surprised to not see humanism, democracy socialism at the bottom.

You don't, that's why it's you "believe"

The Genesis account of God creating the universe Ex Nihilo is fundamentally different than every other pagan account of creation. Typical pagan creation accounts such as the Mesopotamian Enuma Elish have the world constructed out of the corpse of a dead god and this corpse/world motif can be found in the Germanic Eddas as well which claim the world was made from a giant's corpse. It's interesting that the same image occurs in two pagan mythologies that were separated by so much time and distance.. However, Genesis is completely unique in that it records a Singular Omnipotent Deity creating everything out of nothing by the power of His Word.

This.

im not sure mate whichever speaks to you the most? they all speak of the one god, talking about the dude himself

you can come chat if you like
discord gg/c37NwyB

>Buddhism practiced by asians is bad
They take it too seriously.

God is a Rock, so Geology the correct one.
Determination simple, Rock over mishkan.

For me, it has to follow and agree with all modern scientific findings. Honestly science is the only way to really know if something is trustworthy. The accumulative scientific knowledge of humanity is the only tool we have to determine if something is true or not true.

If God did speak to us, then certainly everything he said should stand the test of time. If God knows everything, he knows about evolution. He created it.

The "faith" method makes no sense, you're blindly believing something for no reason. Most Christians have a circular logic where they believe the bible is true because it says it is, and to think differently is heretical. I reject this idea, and all forms of Christianity that hold this view out of hand.

Gold cored 1.2m (4ft) below Rock

Which rock though, there's a lot of rocks in the world.

If I shattered this rock, did I kill god or cause the creation of multiple gods?

maybe they are all wrong

Not familiar with cores? Fair enough.
Shatter'd make it easier to excavate.

Islam was as fake as Norse paganism. How?
Norse paganism said - die in battle and you get Paradise. Vikings thus are fearless and get the job done.
Islam = slay the infidel and you get Paradise (with added virgin pussy) Muslims become fearless warmongers, taking all the Middle East, North Africa and most of Iberia - i.e. getting the job done. Later Muslim scholars were embarrassed of this doctrine and tried to skip around it, or say it was symbolic, etc.

Hinduism = be a good goy in your caste and you'll escape reincarnation one day. Don't try and rise up out of the mud, you filthy Untouchable! Just stay down there in the cow shit and don't challenge our Brahmin racial superiority.

Buddhism rejected this - but retained the whole reincarnation meme, making for a belief system that would never work if all adopted it (everyone would be sitting still and starving).

Taoism - same story as Zoroastrianism. Elitist and overly-mystical - like Gnosticism. Did nothing for China, but not as much harm as the stultifying, culture-impeding, progress-stopping Confucianism, which kept China back for millenia.

TRUE Christianity (i.e. Judaism 2.0) is my belief. History makes sense with it, the soul is at ease, and life can be progressive and better, hence why the West advanced and invented the modern world, even among endless squabbles and wars.
>God creates
>Man falls
>A promise-plan becomes apparent
>A people is "chosen" to be separate and an example
>They fail a lot, and end up slaves
>Moses leads the Israelites from Egypt
>The people boast they could do all God could ask of them
>They get the 10 Commandments and 600 other strict laws
>They can't keep the law at all
>God requires perfection
>People are imperfect
>They cannot please him or earn salvation by their own works, because they are sinful and unclean and thus can never reach God
>All religions are like this - you must work for salvation
>But this is impossible
>UNTIL

>God becomes a human being via the Incarnation
>He lives sinlessly
>He preaches strict, cold law – to remind the Jews of what they were SUPPOSED to be doing, under the laws of Moses
>They are angry and kill him
>He dies for the sins of the world
>The law is no more
>We are saved by FAITH – not works (Ephesians 2:8-9)
>Christianity is thus the only faith to rely on faith as a basis for salvation, not works – which only instil pride in ourselves for supposed righteousness – but do not propitiate God.
>Various organized “““Christian’’’’’’ churches arise and forget about this.
>They make things works-based, to enrich themselves
>People are still largely clueless about true Christianity

You can't. All the christards in this thread have is lots of words words words about their theology and doctrine while they blithely ignore the simple fact that all their claims rest on the unsupportable premise of magic being possible. If you want to take up a religion, pick one which appeals to you on an aesthetic level, nothing else makes any sense.

The problem with this is people CAN keep the law, and the bible says it.

> If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works
You're not saved by works but you don't have true faith without them. You can't just say you have faith, you need to act it out in your life.

>3948346
shoo shoo joo

Sticking your head in the sand doesn't make it go away.

Can you link some verses?
I want to read more about it

>people CAN keep the law
They can't. The Old Testament is a story of the Jews fucking up again, and again, and again, and again. Like they couldn't even wait ONE month for Moses to come back down with the commandments before they committed Idolatry. Moses and Abraham were both murderers and absolute scumbags themselves whose only redeeming quality was their absolute faith

The Jews were the example God used to prove that nobody could live up to his standards. They failed spectacularly every time and were punished by exile multiple times specifically because of that

Deuteronomy 30:11

>"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.

God says the law isn't too hard for man to keep.

Or are you calling him a liar?

Catholics introduced the innovations of filioque and papal supremacy, so Orthodox are closer to the original Chalcedonian church.

I like how you chose a religion based on the utilitarian view

>life can be progressive and better

Deuteronomy 30:12-14

>"It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
>"Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
>"But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.

Christians need to read their bible and realize Paul was full of shit when he said the law was too hard to keep.

The need for Jesus falls apart when the law is shown to be entirely within our grasp.

That's not talking about the difficulty of observing the law but the fact they know of it.

>The need for Jesus falls apart when the law is shown to be entirely within our grasp.
But it's not

>"Hey guys, it's not so difficult."
>More people have been to the moon than have been found faultless by God's standards.
>There are provisions in the law specifically for when you fail to follow it.

He's a fucking liar.

It is absolute talking about the difficulty of observation.

Poor attempt to deflect.

>"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach."
>I-It's not talking about observing the law...only knowing about it!

Apologists are jokes.

>"It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?'
Who will go up to Heaven to GET it for us and make us HEAR is so that we my observe it. Are you retarded? It's very clearly talking about God giving the law directly so they don't need to go looking for it elsewhere.

Also the Jews got scattered around the world and exiled precisely because they were unable to follow the mosaic laws so it's a bit rich to say they can be followed when they failed to do so for the entire time they were the chosen. The Jews purpose has been served.

>>"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach."

Are you sure YOU aren't retarded?

>the entire time they were the chosen. The Jews purpose has been served.

Replacement theology is retarded and so are you.

So why weren't the Jews able to? It is objective fact that they couldn't otherwise Isreal would've been a flourishing nation throughout history

>We're still the chosen people goyim! You can trust me!
The Jews are cursed until they accept Christ. They had a job, did it and now any one of them who isn't Christian is destined for damnation. That's simple fact.

>So why weren't the Jews able to? It is objective fact that they couldn't

Except for the fact that many did. And many that did not always do so repented, which is what God asked of them.

t. Paul the confirmed Liar/Moron

>Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.
Modern day Jews are part of the Synagogue of Satan actively working against Gods will

t. Paul again

Do you really not realize he was a fraud? Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Torah/Tanakh can see that what Paul taught was wholly inconsistent with prophets, which Christians will readily say is the word of God.

Paul is a confirmed liar by anyone who is not in denial, and Paul is the founder of your religion.

You might want to reconsider your beliefs.

By mental gymnastics and willful ignorance

>You might want to reconsider your beliefs.
Not really because you are transparently a Jew who is desperate to try and justify that you still maintain the position of "chosen people". You're not. Christ fulfilled what was supposed to happen and the Jews went back to being just one of the peoples in the world that was supposed to unite in the body of Christ. The ones who refuse because they want to believe that they're still special (you) will have an unpleasant surprise.

It's pretty simple really

I'm not even a Jew.

I'm trying to help you. Paul was CLEARLY making shit up or a moron. He certainly was not a pharisee, and contradicts both Jesus AND the prophets constantly.

He is a fraud, Christianity today comes from Paul's teachings. Read your bible, really read it. See it for yourself.

>all of these events in christianity happened publicly
>only accounts whatsoever are from a few dudes who were his "disciples"
really makes u think

>I'm not even a Jew.
I'm not the guy you're talking to but you obviously are quite Jewish.

Josephus mentioned Jesus in his accounts.

>A very small public ministry
>Contradictory accounts of a resurrection in which he appeared to few people or even nobody at all
>A few of Jesus' cult members began telling people what they "saw"
>Paul, who never met Jesus, converts a bunch of people who don't know the Jewish scriptures well enough to call him out on his bullshit

I'm actually not. My family is very Catholic.

>He is a fraud
t. Jew
He contradicts your disgustingly self serving interpretations, that doesn't mean he was wrong, it just means you need to accept that the chosen of God are Christians who united in the body of Christ, not the Jews. Pauls teachings came directly from Jesus Christ

>He contradicts your disgustingly self serving interpretations, that doesn't mean he was wrong

No, he contradicts a simple reading of the text.

God is supposedly not the sower of confusion, but you and Christians insist he is when you try to claim that nobody can understand the bible without the so-called "holy spirit" that you can only conveniently receive when you become a Christian.

>Pauls teachings came directly from Jesus Christ

According to Paul. Who shows nothing but terrible exegesis and lies in his epistles and letters.

ah yes, josephus (((mentioned))) jesus. no coincidence of course his works were (((rediscovered))) and (((translated))) by a christian scholar.
by the way, he's the only person you have to mention jesus besides the bible.

>My family is very Catholic!
>St Paul was a fraud because he contradicts the Jewish interpretation of scripture they use to justify themselves as maintaining the position of the chosen people!

Look dude, it's really simple. Go read your bible. Really, truly read it. Pay attention to the "Old Testament", then compare what you read to what Paul teaches.

The difference is night and day.

No Christian biblical scholar supports your assertion and they live their entire lives studying the Bible. The idea that if your interpretation doesn't match a self serving Jewish interpretation that you're "not reading hard enough" is ludicrous.

>His existence must conform to the reality of science

God does whatever the fuck he wants

>question begging intensifies.

If there was a good answer to that we wouldn't have nearly as many religions and sects.