What Should I think?

[BAS]

Hello All! 

I try to respect reason, logic, and evidence. I have read Emma's post "The more I search, the less I find." In my experience, I do not think I can follow all of the Bible's commandments enough. I understand that "faith without works is dead." I understand that a "true Christian" cannot just believe and expect to make it to heaven.

My question is, "How does one know whether one has done or is doing enough to know that one's faith is not dead, but saving?" I have read and watched several deconversion stories, in which folks dedicate decades of their lives to trying to follow these commandments, but end up not being Christian anymore. Sometimes, sadly, they end up being married to a believing spouse.  

I see that there is more than one type of Christian (Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox). I do not want to waste my life in the wrong religion or with the wrong spouse. I would hate to find out that I had been living Protestant X for years, but only to find out that Catholicism was true. Worse yet, I had been married to an Orthodox spouse, but Islam was true. 

I understand that we all should use reason, logic, and evidence, and conclude that not all religions can be correct. And I understand that, as Emma said in said post, all religions are closed loops. How do I decide which close loop should dictate how I think, feel, and live? And how would I know that my close loop is correct, but not another's?

 

Like Emma, it seems impossible to keep the commandments enough, which is not to say that they are all bad. I am all for forgiveness, kindness, respect, etc.

 

However, I do not think I need to believe in any of those closed loops to have traits, nor to live a better life.

I have been crying out to God, as far as I can tell, for answers, for hours and days in a row, on and off for weeks. I do not sense or detect anything spiritual or supernatural.

 

What then, should I do? Should I keep waiting for God to tell me? Should I keep asking Jesus to save me?  

[TABA]

Welcome back, BAS!  One thing is for sure, there are many here who have wrestled with the same questions that you have.  You are very far from being alone.  

The truth is, the Bible, from which most Christians people get their theology, does not make clear what is enough to be saved.  Some will say that believing in God and in Jesus as his son is all that is needed.  Just faith.  Others insist, based on certain scriptures, that baptism is required.  So, faith + baptism.  Still others believe that's not enough, that the believer must show their faith by how they live: by avoiding sin and by doing good works: faith + baptism (maybe) + good works.  It is not at all clear how much sin can be tolerated or when enough good works have been done.  You would think that if a loving God wanted none to perish but for all to be saved, as the scriptures insist, that it would be a bit clearer, and that believers could relax and have peace.  But that is not the case.  Some Christians, for sure, find peace in their faith: they don't wrestle with whether they are believing or doing the right things.  But plenty of others do wrestle, and live lives that are burdened, often tormented by uncertainty.  

 

2 hours ago, BAS said:

My question is, "How does one know whether one has done or is doing enough to know that one's faith is not dead, but saving?"

 

My answer, then, is "You can't know".  Christians have disagreed for centuries and there is no sign of a clear answer from Heaven.  

 

Our member @Wertbag has been writing a series of posts on Reasons for Disbelief.  It is a long thread!  But I suggest you at least read the section "The Problem of the True Christian", which you will find here...

 

 

2 hours ago, BAS said:

How do I decide which close loop should dictate how I think, feel, and live? And how would I know that my close loop is correct, but not another's?

 

2 hours ago, BAS said:

However, I do not think I need to believe in any of those closed loops to have traits, nor to live a better life.

 

You are on the right track here.  I am convinced all these closed loops, these religions, are human inventions, not the word of any deity.  Do they all contain some wisdom?  I am sure they do.  But many of them also involve complex and often tortuous dogma that can drive people to distraction and despair.  The truth is that wisdom and guidance for living a good life are to be found in abundance outside of religion.  Greek, Roman and Asian philosophers had already tackled the challenges and joys of the human existence.  Fortunately, much of this wisdom is available to us today, as philosophies like Stoicism, Epicureanism, secular Buddhism and others are seeing a great and overdue revival of interest as theistic religion loses its grip.  

 

2 hours ago, BAS said:

What then, should I do? Should I keep waiting for God to tell me? Should I keep asking Jesus to save me?  

 

I and others here have already answered these questions by abandoning our former Christian beliefs.  Personally, I can tell you that rejecting theology and religious dogma has been very good for me.  It has cleansed my mind of unsupportable dogmas and obligations and allowed me to slowly add in better ideas and rules for living.  

 

I will not pretend that leaving Christianity or other theistic religions is a trouble-free process.  It certainly is not for most.  But there is more and more help available, here and elsewhere, and I have found it can be extremely rewarding at the end of the day.  But you must answer those questions for yourself.  I wish you well in this, and I hope you will stay around, read and ask questions as much as you like.  Feel free to contact me privately if I can be of help.  

 

Best regards

'TABA'