So, I have been wanting to really begin a journey to delve into faith. Mainly from a religious aspect because I feel called to do this and know that I will gain the added benefit of increased faith through my exploration. But also from a somewhat academic perspective at times, because I want to try to take on a skeptics attitude and figure out why it is that I believe in God outside of my own personal encounters (which I believe true skeptics would try to explain away anyway). I also, as I have mentioned before, want to explore the common ground of various religions in hope to bring a more unified view of the faithful in our world. (And I mean faithful Jews, Muslims, Christians etc. Not just one faith) So, my journey will be twofold and may jump back and forth between my two objectives.
In case there are others out there who share my curiosity, I have decided to record my journey. I have no specific plan right now, but am going to follow where my path leads me.
My biggest request is that if I am coming from the perspective of a faith that you do not share, that you open your heart and mind and do not let fear or pride stand in your way of hearing the message.
So, I am just jumping in. The past couple of days, the subject of fasting kept popping up to me. I was reading a book about the people of Medjugorje who have visions of Mary and receive messages from her. Several of the messages are on the importance of prayer and fasting. Then I was reading a random verse in the bible and it was also on fasting. So, I felt that I should do a fast. Though I had private intentions to focus on during the fast, I also began to think about the fact that many religions really do believe in fasting, so there must be something to this. So, the first stop on my journey is to delve into the importance of fasting in various religions.
More to come...
I love this Melinda and can't wait to learn along with you. Food has always been a source of comfort in my life so my initial reaction is Always fear of fasting but your posts are sparking a curiosity about delving deeper into my communion with God. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMelinda, I've been reading and processing these thoughts ever since you shared your blog with me. First, I love you and your heart - I always have! I appreciate that you are making yourself vulnerable and sharing the journey you are on. I believe, when we seek God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, that He will reveal Himself for who He is.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe the God of Christianity and Judaism to be the same, I do not believe that the gods worshiped by other faiths are the One, True God. And I do not feel that my belief is a reaction of fear, but my heartfelt conviction based upon my own study, searching, and personal journey.
It appears to me the question is whether or not all the different religious groups are experiencing the same God, but explaining it in different ways, with different emphases. When you look closely at the beliefs of each of the world religions, it isn't possible. Christianity and Islam cannot both be true at the same time. Neither can Mormonism and Buddhism both be correct simultaneously, nor can Christian Science and Hinduism.
All religions cannot be true simultaneously, because they teach many things completely opposite from one another. They all may be wrong, but certainly they all cannot be right, for the claims of one will exclude the other.
As to matters of salvation and the person of Jesus Christ, only historic Christianity recognizes Him as the eternal God becoming a man who died for the sins of the world and arose again the third day. Salvation is obtained only by putting one's trust in this Jesus.
The Jesus of Islam is not the Son of God who died for the sins of the world; neither is the Jesus of Mormonism- or Christian Science- the same Jesus as revealed in the Bible. These religions view Jesus in a different light, as a prophet or a good teacher, but not as the Savior.
Salvation is not by grace and through faith in these religions, but it is a matter of works. It can then be observed that we are dealing with different religious ideas that are not compatible with one another.
Even though many religions seem to be the same on the surface, the closer one gets to the central teachings the more apparent the differences become. All religions share the commonality of worshiping a higher power (or many higher powers in the case of Hindu), and perhaps some religions may share in other general practices (fasting, caring for the poor, etc.) but all religions are certainly not the same at the core of their tenents and beliefs in the very character of God.