Entry 182 - Three Predominant Viewpoints of God

1/10/20

1. Atheistic/Agnostic point of view

This belief can be on a spectrum of absolute Atheist to hopeful agnostic. Some enjoy that they don't believe in a God, that there is no purpose or meaning to life and thrive with that knowledge, while others might believe that way but hope they are wrong and that there truly is a purpose and a plan and life after death. The Atheistic view requires belief because it requires you to believe that our origin is the result of a cataclysmic fault brought into existence out of a highly improbable cause. 

Also, technically there is no meaning in the universe for our existence and that order was brought out of chaos. It uses science to believe in the process of science without a Creator, a Source, or Sustainer. It requires one to believe that chaos randomly assembled into order and the laws of the universe popped into existence, even though none of this was supposed to happen, and our existence is meaningless. It's strangely paradoxical, yet people cling to this understanding to make sense of how they wish to live.

In my personal opinion, to assume that you have no reason to exist, no purpose, no meaning, and you are utterly useless personally doesn't seem like a great belief to invest in. But to many, people consider it easier than others because it doesn't require one to be committed to a community, a set of shared beliefs, but rather a sole commitment to whatever is centered around their own existence.

 

Even though there's no reason for anything, they are still motivated by their desire to live a good life for their own pleasure. Many might go one step further and live for maybe their family and friends and maybe even more for the human race, but how does one motivate someone to live when one sees no importance in life itself? It's not merely denying the existence of the Source, but it also denies a plan, meaning, and a life of purpose so because of that, they must come up with a reason from within as to why they should live the way they do.

2.  Only one religion is true, while the other religions are not completely true. 

The other religions may have partial truth, but not all of it. If you grew up in India, there's a good chance you prefer your religion over others. If you grew up in the Middle East, there's a good chance that you believe Islam is the true religion. If you grew up in America, there's a good chance that you believe Christianity is the true religion and so on. Interestingly enough, Christians are very split on what qualifies some as a Christian, and tend to disqualify people who don't think exactly the way we think about God. 

For example, Evangelical and mainstream Christian's will write off Mormons, Jehovah Witness and Oneness Pentecostals as not Christian's because those groups don't view the Trinity the way the fundamentalist Christian's view the Trinity, even if they pray the same way, worship similarly and read the same Bible.

This could be a pattern in other religions. Maybe in Islam it is similar with fundamental Muslims and progressive Muslims, but it's very apparent with Christians. However, at the same time those who are within a Christian denomination will recognize they don't know for sure if their way is the right way (baptism, communion, etc) but they follow that way because it seems most right in their ways. However, Catholics and Orthodox will insist they are the one true church and any church outside of them is not the true church. 

So within Christianity, it is very interesting because you constantly have people declaring he/she is not Christian based off of their dedication to the way their denomination determines the truth of the Bible rather than that person's devotion to God. You could have someone completely dedicated to God, following Him, worshiping Him, loving Him but if they view the Trinity differently then how that particular church authorizes it to be thought of, you aren't a Christian.

I speak for more fundamentalist groups of Christianity, but it's still interesting the lack of consensus within Christianity and the different beliefs between each branch. Anyway, any religion holds to this view when they see all the truth in their respective religion, and they believe you must be in their religion to get all the truth. 

Many fundamental Christians believe you must be Christian to be saved, many fundamental Muslims believe you must be Muslim to be saved and so on, but at the heart of the matter there is an us versus them mentality within the fundamental side of each religion. We have the truth, they don't. Even if they read our scriptures, but they think differently about it, they will go to hell. Obviously, not everyone believes this way, but I noticed those who tend to be extremely fundamental and take things extremely literal tend to be like this.

3. It's not about which religion is true, it's about God, the Source of all.

Within and without each religion, there are those who rely either not at all or less on religion and more on the relationship with God. There is a certain level of fluidity, curiosity, and a yearning to grow from all regardless of what religion they are ascribed to. They don't hold their identity in their beliefs, nor are they triggered when someone isn't as open as they are. 

They realize that God meets each person where they're at and has hope and believes wholeheartedly that God will win and save all in the end. This group finds their meaning, purpose, life and everything else embedded in God with or without the help of religion. They still may be involved in the study of one or more religion, but they focus more on the relationship rather than on the religion.

They recognize multiple paths to God, not just one as the only true path. The only One that is true is not the religion, but God, the Source and goal of each religion. Each religion can be likened to a path up a mountain. Some might be windier and longer than others, while some might be shorter and more direct. The windier path might take longer, but maybe you see a lot of beautiful things within nature that you wouldn't have seen if you took the more direct route. The more direct one might not necessarily be better because on each path you might become enlightened at different points. 

So though you may have a preference, the religions centered on knowing the one true God eventually lead to the One true God who is at the top of that mountain. The religions that lead to lesser things and not to God tend to lead to that lesser thing rather than to God. Within each religion, this person recognizes there is a lesser path and a better path. They recognize there are a lot of shiny doctrines, people or things that get in the way of the Creator in each religion. They try their best to refuse to worship the creation and rather worship the Creator. 

They find that many religions contain in some way the worship of the creation and the worship of the Creator, a mixture. For example, the Orthodox and Catholic split their time praying to not only God, but to deceased people. They split their worship up and also praise and Hail Mary alongside God. Other religions have aspects of this as well. The oldest Hindu branch worships and recognizes a single Creator Force called Brahman, and other newer branches of Hinduism pray to lesser gods within.