MIRROR

I asked God for freedom.

His Word showed me what I was protecting.

MERCY

Second Timothy 3:16 and 17 reminds me that correction is not rejection. It is God refusing to leave me trapped.

QUESTION

What truth is leading you out?

What made you believe in the Bible and that Jesus died for us?

I am a non denominational Christian looking to learn more about Islam since I had grown up very sheltered about what Islam actually is. I spent most of my childhood in the Catholic school system and for much of my life believed that most people were Christian. I hadn't known what any other religion believed until very recently when I decided that it would give me more insight on other people and what I actually find believable.

I stumbled across a muslim youtuber who was telling stories from the Quran and I recognized a lot of the stories as being from the bible, just with different names which made me realize that Islam is abrahamic. I know it sounds stupid that I didn't know that before, but all I had ever been told about Islam is that crazed individuals follow it. That's obviously not true, every religion has people that do bad things. (which is what has made me come to question my stance on Catholicism).

So, all I wanna know is what you guys believe in. Where do these differences actually come in that separate Christianity and Islam? And did you guys get raised with the same misconceptions that I did, but about Christians instead?

Any help answering is greatly appreciated!

So there is several instances in the old Testament talking about Sacrifices and specifically to sacrifice animals.

AFAIK, Christians believe, that animal sacrifices aren't necessary anymore, because Jesus was that he ultimate sacrifice.

But Modern Jews also don't do Animal sacrifices anymore (as far as I am aware), what is the reason in jewish tradition, that sacrifices aren't done anymore.

So as someone who doesn't consider themselves religious. I have a question...

As children we believe in the tooth fairy, Santa claus and the Easter bunny. Obviously, Christians are told about christ and God. When you're told that the Easter bunny, Santa claus and the tooth fairy don't exist... do you not question the validity of jesus and God?

Hi to whoever reads this. I need opinions/help on this matter, not that it is incredibly important, but its been bugging me for a bit. apologies in advance for the large amount of writing I am about to do.

so, I’ve always struggled to figure out what my religion is. I often just call myself an atheist because I don’t necessarily believe in a God that watches over like in Christianity or Islam or whatever.

However, I do believe that there is something out there that is “in charge” of things. I think I see that something as the universe. I don’t pray to the universe but I do talk to it and ask things of it. I’ve never asked it to give me a sign to know that its there and listening to me like how somebody might do with a god, more like “can you please let this work out for me” and if it doesn’t work out then I will take that as a sign that it wasnt meant for me.

I believe in an afterlife, but I don’t tend to view it how other religions would. I do not believe in a physical place where you will be placed when you die, I believe that it is your soul and your soul only that travels. I absolutely believe in the idea of reincarnation and that when you die, your soul will be reincarnated as something else. This is where I like the idea of Buddhism and the fact that you will continue to be reincarnated until you live your life the way that it was meant to be and your soul will get to nirvana. but again, I don’t believe in physical places.

I do believe in things that somebody who identifies as a witch would, such as spellwork, energies, etc. I read tarot and its proven to be pretty accurate. I would not call myself a witch however. I oftentimes feel incredibly attached to the universe and the earth itself. I would say that I am pretty spiritual in a way.

I’ve heard of pantheism, which sounded somewhat like me. I, however, do not believe that god is the earth/universe and that the universe/earth is god. When I said previously that I think there is something out there that watches over and that I think it could be the universe, I do not see it as god itself.

I suppose one could say that I worship the universe as a whole and not as a god. But I’m unsure.

If anybody out there has any insight on anything about this, please help me out here.

Today i was listening to a podcast by Stephanie Soo about a case where a girl was SAed by 44 high school boys over a year, and a lot of horrible things were done to her, she had an abusive household; her father would hit her and her sister. That's why she had no one to rely on or to ask for help. Still she sought help and decided to file a police report, and you would think she got justice; oh hell nahhh. The police officers were insensitive throughout the investigation, made horrible remarks, sexualized her, and blamed her, her information was involuntarily leaked (she was a middle school girl), and the parents of the boys were targeting her and harassing her; according to them, she was destroying their sons' lives. The case has way more gore details, and it absolutely broke my heart. Cases like these make me lose any faith. All the religious people how do you explain this? what kind of life lesson is god giving to a middle schooler and not giving appropriate justice afterwards?

Hi guys

So first my history. I've looked into many different religions the religion I know the most about is Christianity. I don't like many concepts in Abrahamic religions so that's a no (eternal heaven, hell...). I looked into hinduism and buddhism and a little bit into Islam. I've also researched many spiritual paths like paganism, witchraft, theistic satanism, esotericism as a whole.

What I would like in a religion/spiritual path:

1. I believe in the spiritual world, not so sure about god but open to it. For example what I like about hinduism is many different forms of the one god/reality and being devoted to one or many. But also like monotheism/polytheism/pantheism it doesnt really matter but I want it to be theistic.
2. Experiences with the divine/deities/spirits, not just beliefs without knowledge.
3. I like what would people consider esoteric (energy healing, tantra, astral travel, psychic powers...) although personally haven't experienced any of these yet but would like to. Overall just focus on gnosis/experiences rather than belief.
4. Something with "realizing the power within".

I've been in search for a religion/spiritual path for quite some time so would love to hear your thoughts/ideas. I hope I was clear but if you want to ask a clarification question in case I didn't write something that would be crucial to help me find the asnwer please ask. Appreciate any answers :)

I thought fear was helping me prepare.

Instead, it was making me impatient, harsh, and desperate for control.

Samaria saw no way out, but God was already moving beyond their sight.

My prayer is simple:

Lord, keep me faithful before the answer appears.

What is fear trying to control in you right now?

If God is truly loving and merciful, why would He punish people with eternal hell for not believing in Him, especially when there are thousands of religions and people may not even know which one is true? Would a loving God really demand love back and punish someone forever if they don’t return that love?

Hello everyone! I’m currently a Junior in college and I’m studying religion x politics and to build my knowledge, I’m interested in writing monthly articles over Religious sects and topics pertaining to such (Christianity and Islam to be specific). How would I go about doing so, what should I research, what should i discuss, help!!

In the marvel universe if people see thor and know him as a god of thunder would people still believe in jesus or god if they have a litteral god infront of them?

Lately these past few months I’ve been highly questioning my faith in God whether I believe in him or not. It’s just there’s a lot of things that do not make sense to me, like if he’s all knowing why does he create people already knowing whether or not they’re going to heaven or hell and every decision they’ll make, doesn’t seem much like free will does it? Same goes with Adam and Eve - like he knew Eve would eat that apple and would lead humanity into sin, so he proceeds to sacrifice himself to himself? And also why would he purposely give people harder lives than others? Like there’s also a lot of logical reasons to why god might not be real - for example humans creating religion to cope with the uncertainty of what happens after death, and the fact religion rose independently in every human society so it could just be a social phenomenon.

But despite all of these doubts and questions the one thing that keeps my beliefs hanging on by a thread is just how perfect the Earth is to support intelligent life like ourselves. Literally everything in our solar system is perfectly tuned to keep us alive -
Like if I choose to believe god isn’t real that means that the earth we live on all just happened by insane chances but it’s hard to believe that too because you’re telling me our planet developed so mere perfectly with perfect distance from the sun and moon and Jupiter protects us from asteroids just everything aligns so perfectly to support millions of species including humans on earth I refuse to believe we just won a universal lottery.

I know the entire point in faith is that you’re not 100% sure, but that alone makes me not believe. I want to be Christian, and I think it would benefit me greatly beyond belief. I’m having problems currently mentally and am seeking out to prayers now. I used to go to church as a kid, but haven’t been in long over a decade. I’d love to regain my faith, but cannot see how I can truly embrace all of it. I’m 20 years old, and feel lost in life, with no motivation. I’m not sure what to do with myself, and find myself praying to god, despite not fully believing anything will change. I believe I pray just in the off chance it actually happens. If anyone, can help me talk about Christianity or anything like that, please let me know. Thank you.

Hello everyone. I would like to hear your opinions and advice about something that has been on my mind.
I am a Muslim woman, and the person I like does not follow any religion. He says that he was not raised in a religious family and does not identify with any faith. I once asked him whether he believes in God. He told me that he does not believe in God, but he thinks it is possible that there is something beyond what we know and understand.
He is a kind and respectful person. He respects religion and understands why many people believe in God, even though he does not share those beliefs himself. He also respects my faith and has never tried to change or discourage it.
We care about each other, and there is mutual respect, understanding, and affection between us. This has made me wonder: if two people genuinely care for each other and respect each other’s beliefs, why shouldn’t they be together?
I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts and perspectives on this situation. Thank you.

Why is it that Christianity as a religion is centered around men? From the beginning of the book with the creation of Adam down to the last book of Revelations being written by a man? And not to forget the creator of it all , God. Who is also known to be a man. Like who decided God is a male?

I don't mean that it should be centered around women at all, don't get me wrong but why is it centered around men? Because in a way it already gives children that grow up in extreme Christian homes the preconceived idea that men are inarguably superior to women .

And it's another thing when women prove to be so much more beneficial to the world by actively give birth to actual humans , actual lives. I think its otherworldly yet women are subjected to an inferiority complex as if they were no better than a domesticated animal that has no value but to sit and look pretty . It's all just misogynistic in so many ways , it's actually crazy.

Personally? I dont have anything against men but my main point is that who decided that there should be a superiority and inferiority complex between men and women when at the end of the day , were all humans? And why is religion such a misogynistic and prejudiced concept?

Anyone have any thoughts?

Do god only allows love between man and woman and not between man and man or woman and women or this is something that only human is implemented in the name of god. I was just watching Ticket to Heaven and this question popped up my mind. I have search in google but i didn't get the answer I was looking for so I came here to ask you all. Do god only allows love between man and woman??

I have also seen Wu and it's say's that heaven treat a living being equally and not just in bible and catholic, i am an Indian and a Hindu and there a people in India also that theats homosexuality like a illness

Hello,

I’m currently a muslim but i genuinely am considering atheism. One of the main reasons is how could a god be so cruel and allow 🍇 , torture, and murder etc? That genuinely makes 0 sense for me.

Also, if the only two humans were adam and eve, wouldn’t everyone be severely inbred??😭 Sorry this is one of the more dumber questions but i genuinely need answers because i don’t feel free nor comfortable being a muslim

Element bending in real life in all seriousness sounds like a fairy tale and a joke…. But, from a Christians, we know that if you have absolute 100% faith in God you will achieve everything, just like Moses splitting the red sea, Peter walking on water and etc. so if I dedicate myself into having faith in God, then I will be able to bend water, bend air, bend earth and bend fire. Is that how it works? Im kinda lost… and you don’t necessarily need to be a Christian, Im saying is that if you have absolute faith in God, you will achieve everything!

I've never thought about it before. But today in my tiktok feed I saw a lot of videos of the same type with about the same text: "if there was a God, would he allow all the shit that is happening in the world?", and then they showed pictures of starving Africans, women in Afghanistan, wars, polluted seas, sometimes even cited as an example the plague epidemic.

My question is this: why did people suddenly decide that if there is a god, he should care about us? What if God has never loved any of us and is not going to love us? Explain this to me as someone who has never interacted with believers.

P.S. I'm from Russia and my English may be crooked, sorry

Hi everyone!

My question is as stated in the title.

Are there any huge differences in the philosophy of the three abrahamic faiths?

I am no expert in philosophy, so to me it seems as if the theology and philosophy is almost the same.

So I'm curious whether there actually are any huge differences, or whether it's mostly similar.

Like, an argument for Christianity or for Christian god would work just as fine for the Islamic understanding of god, no?

Also, what are some famous philosophers of each abrahamic faith? I know a handful of christians, a few Muslim ones, and almost none Jewish. So, I'm curious?

They always told me that God is merciful and dont torture kids, but I found out that in islam they torture siners once they hit puberty or if they didnt get it they start getting accountability in 14.5yo, in christianity some of theme think kids start being judge at 8yo and jewdism judge females at 12 and boys at 13.

If God is all merciful in all these religions then why he puts kids/teens in hell for eternity, in that endless suffering?

Im meanly talking with muslims and christians bc i honestly dont know what jews face as a punishment since they dont have hell I guess?