The Search for God Page 5.7.1
Ultimately, choosing which religion to study is your decision. But after considering all the following things:
- Human abilities
- Reality that applies to 100% of humans
- Philosophy
- Science
- History
- Communication
The choice of religion is yours.
I started with Judaism. Most people will not like my conclusion; Judaism is one of the smallest religions in the world and Jews are often reviled. I had and have no animosity toward any group of human beings based on something as foolish as race or culture.
So what my conclusion took me 2 years to determine is that, if any religion in the world is correct, Judaism or a branch of Judaism, would be correct. Christianity and Islam claim to be supported by Judaism, so why not go to the source?
How will you determine which religion to study?
I have witnessed many approaches, such as:
- Cultural
- Feelings
- Trial and error
- Random, shotgun approaches
- Skeptical
- Reasoned
Cultural
This approach is by far the most common. Where you grow determines which religion you study. This is understandable but flawed. The only way this is feasible is if all religions lead to god. This approach maintains harmony in society and within families.
This approach is effective in isolated and remote populations. This approach leads to polytheism, animal worship, and numerous other religious pursuits. If you chose this road, again, it’s your choice, but imagine what people in other cultures and religions think is true? Can everyone be right?
With all the information available these days, why don’t we examine other religions? Mostly because of fear and pride. We are afraid that we might be wrong. We are afraid what others might say. We are afraid of the implications in our family. We are afraid for our own lives. I suggest that the cultural reason to study a religion is a poor reason.
Feelings
For those in more ecumenical societies and cultures that allow for more interaction and exploration of religions, many choose which religions to study based on what sounds good. We hear information or might be invited to some meeting when we are depressed, lonely, or maybe seeking comfort.
We jump around, we blindly find a revival, a meeting, a group of people with similar thoughts where we feel accepted and appreciated. These individuals might study religious texts, or para-religious texts, those written by famous authors, or maybe attend a service that provides emotional excitement, like speaking in tongues.
For such individuals, often the feelings of satisfaction derive from a sense of happiness and pride. One can feel that God is true, you can feel that something is satisfying your need or desire, but does that make it true? So are feelings unhelpful in studying religions or the search for God?
No, of course not. Feelings can help us when we evaluate things like understanding communication or the moral law of right and wrong. But our feelings and happiness or how we feel about a religion should not be the main barometer of which religions are true, or which ones we include and exclude, and ultimately choose.
Skepticism
Skepticism is a form of reason. Skepticism can be filtered through our emotions or our reasoning mind. Skepticism is present at every encounter in new relationships.
- Who is this person?
- What do they want?
- Is what that person said true?
Skepticism though, does not help us determine which religions to study, but which religions to not study. Most people think skepticism is a form of doubt. However, doubt is more a probability, whereas skepticism is looking at information with a critical eye.
So people study religions for skepticism to prove another religion false. However, I propose we should be careful to not doubt immediately but accept that a premise or claim is true to understand the religious position, then we apply skepticism to question the initial assumption.
We should apply this to our own beliefs, as well. By applying skepticism principles consistently, it prompts us to develop pros, ask questions, and develop cons. So by accepting the position first to understand we develop pro arguments, then applying skepticism we ask questions to develop con arguments.
Once we have the pros and cons, we can then apply probability to the evidence to affirm or deny the claim, or in religious terms, believe or doubt the religious claim.
Reason
Clearly, reason is the approach I took in this book. I tried to think through each area and rid myself of emotional bias, cultural bias, and religious bias. My goal I claim is truth. However, reason can mislead just like any other approach.
We can develop pride in our reason. We can assume our approach and thought process is so correct that we fail to consider other viewpoints. Our reason can be blocked by emotions, culture and skepticism. Allowing oneself to consider all religions can become confusing.
Most people don’t have the time to go through the mental processes. Often the decision process is easier when made based on culture or feelings. Knowledge and pride are the two greatest stumbling blocks to our reason.
Faith
Since religions demand faith, many people, whether studying through reason, feelings, or their culture, make faith their bedrock. Faith is a reinforcing feature when we have already decided which religion to study, but if you are seeking God, then you are not studying religions from faith, except maybe faith in your own pride, like me.
So through all my research and study, I did have faith in my conclusion, in my own pride, and in my own reason that if any religion in the world has communication from the God of the universe, Judaism or a branch of Judaism, is true. I felt great about the method of my conclusion.
But once I came to the conclusion about Judaism, I did not feel excited, nor did I feel settled in my knowledge. Why? I began to realize that I put all these stipulations on who God should be based upon everything humans knew.
In addition, every box, every single attribute, was checked-off. What would I do? What are the implications? I mean, I wanted truth, but did I want to submit to the truth of such a being who might be the judge of my life?
“I am a good person,” I reasoned, and perhaps I’m “better than most.”
I never killed anyone, so I should be fine. I am just seeking truth, or do I have to believe in that truth? Okay, so the Jewish God, Jehovah, checks all these boxes. So then what? What does that mean?
Well, let’s return to our original questions.
- What happens after we die?
- Why is there evil?
- Why is there injustice?
These are the questions we want answered. At that point I had to dig through the texts to answer the question, “What does the communication from Jehovah say?” But even before we examine the words, can we trust the texts?
The Hebrew Bible was the last class during my last semester of college. Have the texts been corrupted, added to, or altered? Are the documents we have today faithful reproductions of the original manuscripts? That’s what I wanted to know next.
So, I decided to continue my research, however, my college career came to a close. I would no longer be challenged by college classes to push my thoughts. My focus became medical school, my new girlfriend, and buying my first car. It would be seven more years before I finished the search for Judaism’s texts.
What Next?
- What is the crucial concept?
- You choose which religions to study, but hopefully I have helped narrow the choice down.
- What Signs Would Communication from God Display?
- Why I Hated Christianity
- Why is that significant?
- Judaism checks all the boxes. Study those texts first.
- If you agree, the next steps.
- If you disagree, please consider reading.
References and Links
- Islamicity – Christianity and Islam
- E-International Relations – Cultures and Religions
- Taylor & Francis Online – Ecumenical Societies and Cultures
- Blue Letter Bible – Every Single Attribute