I've got a couple of questions for you that might help. Perhaps they've been posed before, but I'm new, and my hope is that if this is a common way of thinking, I shan't be made the object of derision for raising it (yet) again.
First, ask yourself this: If you hadn't been RAISED in your faith, meaning it was something that was drilled into your head as a child by important persons with authority in your life (grandparents), is the whole Christian belief system the one you would have arrived at through your own, independent thinking? In other words, if it hadn't been TAUGHT to you, would you have any reason to believe it, or think it is a reasonable belief system upon which to base your life?
Second, if the belief systems of all religions were erased (how I wish!) in an instant, do you think when those systems were reinstated by humans, they would be exactly the same as what you've been taught? Are they true enough to repeat? Is there a chance they would be different? In considering this question, do examine how many disparate belief systems exist concurrently in the world TODAY, to say nothing of all those that have gone before. If you believe they might be different, then move on to the next question: Would the immutable laws of science be different? Or do you think they would be the same as they were rediscovered? (I think they would.)
That's the difference between "truth" and Truth. It's an important distinction, and one well worth learning. I hope this way of thinking about it all is helpful to you in some little way.
First, ask yourself this: If you hadn't been RAISED in your faith, meaning it was something that was drilled into your head as a child by important persons with authority in your life (grandparents), is the whole Christian belief system the one you would have arrived at through your own, independent thinking? In other words, if it hadn't been TAUGHT to you, would you have any reason to believe it, or think it is a reasonable belief system upon which to base your life?
Second, if the belief systems of all religions were erased (how I wish!) in an instant, do you think when those systems were reinstated by humans, they would be exactly the same as what you've been taught? Are they true enough to repeat? Is there a chance they would be different? In considering this question, do examine how many disparate belief systems exist concurrently in the world TODAY, to say nothing of all those that have gone before. If you believe they might be different, then move on to the next question: Would the immutable laws of science be different? Or do you think they would be the same as they were rediscovered? (I think they would.)
That's the difference between "truth" and Truth. It's an important distinction, and one well worth learning. I hope this way of thinking about it all is helpful to you in some little way.
