You Can Know You Have Eternal Life
#1 What is Religion?
by Jim Mettenbrink
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We have all heard someone say Im
not religious, but I am spiritual. Although that
person might not belong to an organized religion, and regardless
how he might deny it, all people are religious and all people
have a religion.
Religion is defined as a set of
beliefs by which a person conducts his life. He might live
his life by adhering to a standard established by organized religion,
or simply by mere pragmatism, where a persons governing
principle is to do what he wants according to the situation at
the moment.
What drives mankind to be religious?
It is the longing for peace in his inner self. Man
is ever seeking this peace, which in turn has given rise to a
myriad of religions. In no place is this more evident than
in America where our constitution guarantees that government
can not interfere with religious practice nor establish a state
religion. As the people move farther from the Biblical
values that America was founded upon, our freedom has filled
society with all sorts of religions Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam, denominational Christianity, Judaism, Secular Humanism,
Paganism, Satanism, Atheism, New Age, Voodoo and ad infinitum.
Likely no other nation has such a religious smorgasbord.
A person may even foster his own religion.
The dilemma becomes which religion
is right, or are they all right, or all wrong? By what
criteria will a person choose religion? What gives inner
peace? Or do all religions give true peace? Is it
possible that there is only one true religion, one which will
give man true purpose in life and peace in his spirit? Our
freedom has given us marvelous choices, but has also contributed
to the religious confusion. The ancient Greeks suffered
a similar problem, believing that supreme beings, not man, ruled
the universe. However they did not know how many gods there
were or which, if any, was supreme. This was evident when
the Apostle Paul met with the very religious Athenian philosophers
and marveled that they had made an altar to the Unknown God (New
Testament, Acts 17:22-23). The Athenians concern
was there was a god which they did not know. Paul stated,
the God they did not know was the creator of the world, sustainer
of life, who demands mankind to live righteously and will resurrect
man from the dead. Is this even possible? Is religion
manmade? Or is it possible that a supreme God exists with
such creative power, who gives us a true religion and inner peace?
If so, how can we know for sure?
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