Thousands of Religious Sects - Which one is right?

Hindus believe we, as in our souls, get unlimited chances to be accepted into the heavenly realm while Christians believe that we get ONE chance on this earth to be accepted into the heavenly realm.

Hindus believe that there are 136 “hells” involving temporary torture while Christians believe that there is one hell, or Lake of Fire, which involves permanent torture.

Hindus believe hell is temporary. Christians believe hell (or the Lake of Fire) is eternal.

Hindus believe that all of the Avatars, such as Rama, Krishna, and Jesus are all separate, individual, spiritual enities with their own consciousness and that they all are equal in authority. Christians believe that the individual spirit of Jesus has been given sole authority over everything and every angel.

Hindus believe that people's souls are in animals. Christians do not.

Hindus believe that it doesn't matter whether or not you accept or reject Jesus as the sole savior of men. Christians believe that if you don't accept Jesus as that, then you cannot be saved and will go the eternal Lake of Fire.

Hindus (or Buddhists, or both) believe that when you die, if you were good, you will become one with God and will no longer be an individual. Christians on the other hand believe that when you die you retain your individuality as an angel and will still be held accountable for your individual actions in heaven.

I could go on and on and on about the differences between religions which lightgigantic calls "insignifigant differences," yet in reality these differences are very signifigant.

For example, the Hindu God has an entirely different nature than the Christian God. The Christian God is incredibly more harsh and unforgiving than the Hindu God. If you dissapoint or don't follow the will of the Christian God, you will go to hell and the Lake of Fire for eternity. Let me repeat: You will be tortured and in incredible unbearable pain for eternity. If you dissapoint or don't follow the will of the Hindu God, you simply turn into some kind of animal and work your way up to human status again to give it another go. Not a bad deal. Of course, in Hinduism, if you went against the will of God to a high enough degree you will go to timeout in one of the 136 hells of Hinduism. In these hells you will be cleansed of your sins and corruption through a bath of liquid fire, then you will go into an animal again until becoming human again.

So the Christian God is very scrict, very harsh, and only gives you one shot to get your shit together on this earth. The Hindu God on the other hand is much more merciful and forgiving, and is much less harsh. The Hindu God will give you unlimited chances to get your shit together and enter the heavenly realm.

Which God do you choose?

 

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differnt cultures with different dominant metaphors, for example, developed different interpretations out of their encounters with non-homosapian sentience.

Why did the Chinese have such a different idea of The Self?

does this mean their isn't one?

 

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I'm talking about concrete things such as reincarnation vs. no reincarnations, animals have spirits/souls vs. they don't, eternal hell and torture vs. temporary hell, vegetaraniam vs. non-vegetarianism, wife beating vs. no wife beating, circumsision vs. no circumsion, car bomb vs. no car bomb, divorce vs. no divorce, marriage vs. no marriage, polygamy vs. non-polygamy, arranged marriage vs. no arranged marriage, and many others.

 

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If the same God inspired "all religions and scriptures of those religions" finding an answer to your question is a waste of your time.

They are "different" and "they contradict each other"...because they were not "inspired by the same God"...

There is One God, and accordingly, One Revelation of that same God.

 

Unfortunately that "One Revelation", I am thinking that you are referring to the Bible here, has many contradicting ideas and themes in it as well! Depending on your version, the Bible actually claims to be about 66 different "inspired" revelations, not one. But are they really all "inspired"?

If there are genuine contradictions, and I believe that there are:

1) Does that mean that the contradictions were "inspired" to trick, or confuse, or to hide the truth from us?

2) Or does it mean that some of the authors of the Bible were "inspired" and some were not?

3) Or does it mean that none were ever "inspired" at all?

I am currently sitting somewhere between 2 and 3. I am trying to figure this out, but I am also not at all sure that it is even possible to figure this out!

Thanks

 

What about this verse, LG?

Acts 4:12
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."


I think the Hindu scriptures were around then since they are, what, 1 million years old or something. So this verse cancels out every Hindu avatar ever to walk the face of the earth.

 

if the "we" mentioned in the verse refer to widely traveled persons who were likely to have come in contact with practitioners of the vedas, perhaps you would have a case

 

Yeah but I'm not widely traveled. I live in the U.S. and rarely go out of country. If I wanted to seek a Hindu practioner, I could. The same option applied to the people referrered to in that verse. They could go seek for Hindu practioner. Just because a Hindu practioner doesn't live down the street doesn't mean they have to be a Christian.

 

God's Sects and Religions

Sects:
many of them have mainly economic interests, want money from members...

Religions:
Any of them is good if it's belief and activity is good for mankind. A religion must IN NO CASE be harmful to people, NEVER claim exclusivity rights for example "claim to have the only right faith", NOT BE INTOLERANT against other religions ord the members of other religions. Also any religion IS NOT ENTITLED to restrict the freedom of it's own members in an unacceptable manner.


One special problem is that opinions about what is a sect and what is a religion, are commonly disputed. Nobody want's to have his own belief to be told a "sect".

 

nds1,

Some people say that the best way to get to Clifton from my house is to take route 287, some say it is to take the Garden State Parkway yet others say that taking route 202 and staying on side streets is ideal.
Can you say which of them is right or wrong?
Do they not all contradict each other, yet get you to the same place?

 

If the people that tell you to take Route 287 say that Route 287 is the ONLY way to get there (Christianity, Islam, many others) then they are wrong.

In any case, you've basically presented the same analogy LG did earlier, just in a different form with different variables. LG used a "water vessel" analogy in which the problem is quenching thirst.

Let me organize it this way:

one_raven's analogy

Problem: I need to get to Clifton. There are 3 ways to get there in which I can get there in the exact same time, and use the exact same amount of gas. Which way should I choose?

Solution: Any way you want. They are all equally as effective.

LG's analogy
Problem: I am thirsty. I have 3 vessels of water in front of me, each with an equal amount of water, and each the exact same distance away from me (radius). They are all different colors. Which vessel should I choose to quench my thirst?

Solution: Any vessel you want. They are all equally as effective.

Religion Problem:

Problem: I believe in a God and I want to serve him as best as I can and achieve the highest rank in heaven possible. There are 10's of thousands of religious sects out there. Which one would best accomplish my goal?

LG's and one_raven's solution: Any religion you want. They are all equally as effective.

NDS1's solution: There must be an optimum or better religion or optimum way to live life. There must be an optimum or better set of beliefs one can have. Either there IS a permanent eternal Lake of Fire or hell, or there ISN'T. Either Jesus is second to God or he isn't. Either God meant to create us or he didn't. Either this material world will come to an end (Christianity) or it never will (Hinduism). Either we are required to convert as many people as possible and we must reach quotas (certain Christian sects) or we don't have to worry about the "savedness" of others (other religions). (Etc, etc, etc, etc., etc., etc., etc.).

 

Generally, religions do not say they are the ONLY path, religious people claim such.

 

Are religous people part of religions? LOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!

So you are saying that the religons that these religious people are a part of who believe that their religion is the best are WRONG, or that their beliefs are FALSE or NOT TRUE.

Acts 4:12
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

 

All I'm saying that human beings are not perfect.

 

Look at what Jesus and the Buddha (for example) said - then compare what Christians and Buddhists say, and how they act.

The problem is not with the religions, it is with the religious.

 

You mean the problem is not with the scriptures, it is with the religions.

 

I can concede to that.

 

One Raven,

Do you believe someone can still get to heaven if they exclusively read and study the Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, etc.?

These scriptures seem to give the same message Jesus did (death to self, selflessness, not caring about self, meditation, etc.)

 

I don't like it when people assume I am Christian simply because I take the side of a particular argument that happens to "defend" the Christian point of view.

I don't believe in Heaven, and I am not an apologist.

 

nds1,

Love the truth like you already do.
Love others as much as is possible.
Don't do bad things.
Do good things.
Keep your mind pure.