Does Anyone Really Know?

[Guest ok_with_not_knowing]

Just wondering here:


Do you guys see the many religions out there as simply different beliefs, opinions really, on the matter of God?

Do you agree that NO ONE really knows the truth? That everyone has their opinion, but no one really knows for sure what the answer is?

Or do you see yourselves as having all the answers?


TLDR: Is your belief an opinion; your own personal interpretation, or actual fact?

[CatherineM]

Basically, no, no one knows for sure, until it is too late to change your mind. I am open to believing, but I have made a choice on what I do believe.

[Hinter dem Horizont]

My belief is that we represent different paths to the same God. My spiritual director was the one that made that clear to me.

[MithLuin]

Basically, there [i]is[/i] truth, so some of us are definitely wrong. Thinking that everyone is right is just to not think about it. Most of us are wrong about something. But I do believe what the Catholic Church teaches.

Perhaps one way to say it is...God is real. There's more than one path to draw closer to Him, and some of us do take rather convoluted paths...and U-turns...and run away at times. But that doesn't mean that truth doesn't exist.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='ok_with_not_knowing' timestamp='1291848693' post='2191657']
Just wondering here:


Do you guys see the many religions out there as simply different beliefs, opinions really, on the matter of God?

Do you agree that NO ONE really knows the truth? That everyone has their opinion, but no one really knows for sure what the answer is?

Or do you see yourselves as having all the answers?


TLDR: Is your belief an opinion; your own personal interpretation, or actual fact?
[/quote]
Religion is the voluntary subjugation of ourselves to God. Revelation is God's truth revealed to us in an extraordinary way. God, unless he is caprious and unprincipled liar , cannot reveal Himself with one set of rules for one group and something totally different for another, so truth is not relative in nature, there may be many meandering twisty paths people follow, but only one main road leading to God. Once you get on the main road, each individual has a separate path on that road much like all drops of water in a river flow in the same direction. Some of us double-back in a eddy, stand still in a shallow pool, some us us refuse to follow the main current, but all journeys end in the same place, and we are asked the same question - who are you? who is God? whom do you serve?

There have been many religions as people look for God, but only two Revelations - there is one God - Lord Almighty and Creator who started with Abraham and ended with Jesus Christ, and that God IS with us. Everything the Jews believe came from the first, and everything Christians believe came from the second. History started with Abraham in the sense that his belief in the ONE God broke the cycle of reincarnation - the great wheel of endless cycles.

We are sure there is Truth with a capital T, and it is found in the logical teachings of the Catholic Church. Nothing else out there makes any sense.

[Luigi]

I believe the theology taught by the Catholic Church. The theology began with revelation and has been meditated upon and practiced for twenty centuries or so all over the world. I'm not quite as hardline about all Catholic practices - that's where cultures & individuals begin affecting the revealed theology. Does the Catholic Church have every answer to every question about God? Probably not - but it has more answers to more questions (than the other religions) because it's been doing theology more consistently, more consciously, for more time, in more places, with more people (than the other religions).

[Dara]

[font="Verdana"]I believe there are many religions out there that have a part of the Truth. Some more than others, and some religions have none at all. But I believe that Catholic Church holds the whole Truth, that it was founded by Christ and has been guided by the Holy Spirit in its teachings on faith and morals. Do I know this to be fact? No, no one does... that's why it's called faith.
(That said, to me personally, yes it feels like "knowing" more than "believing". That's just my own perception.)
[/font]

[Socrates]

[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1291852882' post='2191676']
My belief is that we represent different paths to the same God. My spiritual director was the one that made that clear to me.
[/quote]
Different religions teach many contradictory things, and logically cannot all simultaneously be true. (For instance, Christ cannot both be God as Catholicism teaches, and not be God, as the Muslims believe).

Sounds like your spiritual director is teaching religious indifferentism (belief that all religions are true), an error which has been condemned by the Church.

The Catholic Faith is the only religion which is God's revealed truth, though people can reach truths (such as that a God created the universe) through natural reason.

[Selah]

[quote name='ok_with_not_knowing' timestamp='1291848693' post='2191657']
Just wondering here:


Do you guys see the many religions out there as simply different beliefs, opinions really, on the matter of God?

Do you agree that NO ONE really knows the truth? That everyone has their opinion, but no one really knows for sure what the answer is?

Or do you see yourselves as having all the answers?


TLDR: Is your belief an opinion; your own personal interpretation, or actual fact?
[/quote]


1. Yes. I don't see them as the same truth or "All Gods are one God" but just different ways humanity has come up with to find God and spirituality.

2. Yes. That's why it's faith and not fact

3. No. The idea that a fallible human being could have all the answers is amusing at best.

4. Obviously, our own way of seeing things. I believe Christianity to be true, but I could be wrong. We could all be wrong. But, I believe that Christianity is true and decide to be a Christian.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Selah

[Mark of the Cross]

[quote name='Socrates' timestamp='1292024114' post='2192039']
[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1291852882' post='2191676']
My belief is that we represent different paths to the same God. My spiritual director was the one that made that clear to me.
[/quote]
Different religions teach many contradictory things, and logically cannot all simultaneously be true. (For instance, Christ cannot both be God as Catholicism teaches, and not be God, as the Muslims believe).

Sounds like your spiritual director is teaching religious indifferentism (belief that all religions are true), an error which has been condemned by the Church.

The Catholic Faith is the only religion which is God's revealed truth, though people can reach truths (such as that a God created the universe) through natural reason.
[/quote]

You are misinterpreting again. He didn't state which religion is the most truthful or that they are all truthful. As long as his spiritual director realises that the only way is through Jesus Christ and that it is by the Spirit (Having Jesus in your heart) not by English text alone, then he is correct.

[sixpence]

[quote name='Dara' timestamp='1292018270' post='2192019']
[font="Verdana"]I believe there are many religions out there that have a part of the Truth. Some more than others, and some religions have none at all. But I believe that Catholic Church holds the whole Truth, that it was founded by Christ and has been guided by the Holy Spirit in its teachings on faith and morals. Do I know this to be fact? No, no one does... that's why it's called faith.
(That said, to me personally, yes it feels like "knowing" more than "believing". That's just my own perception.)
[/font]
[/quote]

This!

[Teen_Catholic]

I believe that there is only one Truth, as more than one truth cannot exist. I am blessed to know that the Truth is the Catholic Church. I do, however, understand that I'm a fallible human being who can't even comprehend the tip of the iceburg!

[Ice_nine]

agnosticism bores me

[WarriorForJesus]

[quote name='ok_with_not_knowing' timestamp='1291848693' post='2191657']
Just wondering here:


Do you guys see the many religions out there as simply different beliefs, opinions really, on the matter of God?

Do you agree that NO ONE really knows the truth? That everyone has their opinion, but no one really knows for sure what the answer is?

Or do you see yourselves as having all the answers?


TLDR: Is your belief an opinion; your own personal interpretation, or actual fact?
[/quote]

[color="#800080"]I see many religions out there as simply different beliefs, opinions really, on the matter of God. Why? Because I have listened to my coworkers and have been told different things about what certain passages of the Bible mean.

I do not agree that NO ONE really knows the truth. The Holy Spirit has taken great care to make sure His Truth is unblemished in the Catholic Doctrine. Because I know there is a Holy Spirit, I can be sure to know the Truth if I but follow the Church He guides and protects from error.

I do not see me as having all the answers, for I am quite sure I've not heard all of the questions, yet. However, the Catholic Church has all of the answers for the questions that have been asked thus far. If any new questions (possible heresies) arise, I am confident the Holy Spirit will guide the Catholic Church to the Truth of those questions, also.

My belief is fact, as the Catholic Church has not changed doctrine because the Holy Spirit protects that Truth from being adulterated.

Janice[/color]

[Brother Adam]

Yes, we can know God with certainty, and know the Catholic faith is the one true faith, revealed by God, our creator, with certainty, as fact. This starts with out knowledge of God through the natural world, culminating in his self revelation in words and deeds through our history. Outside of the Catholic Church there is no salvation.