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Why I choose Bible scripture over others
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Why I choose Bible scripture over others
Quote: Anyway, you're among the rare who developed a belief in a god after having not believed and I (and possibly others) would be interested in what took you there.  My partner's son, in his 50s, and pretty much an atheist, had a stroke in his shower when alone at home and, semi-paralyzed, was only by fortunate circumstance able to get to a phone and dial 911.  His narrow escape convinced him some higher power was looking out for him and that he now owed god his worship and he became a Jehovah's Witness.

Do you have a similar story or did your belief take shape after deliberate study, or something else?

This should probably be best answered by starting a thread for it, rather than here in the introductions.

This is an appreciated quote from the introduction section. I hope it's okay to do this (transfer quotes from other threads to another) as it helps me in case I want to refer back to it. If not, I'll stop.

I was 21, and circumstances had me move in with a buddy I grew up with who became a Christian, and his Christian roommates. I had absolutely no interest in Christianity, and my roommates knew it, and were pretty cool about not coming on strong about it. Never went to church with them. I think I stepped into a church once when I was in high school. And I think it was just the cafeteria or conference room.

One day, when I was alone, I found myself thinking about Christianity. I actually tried to think my way out of the religion having any validity. However, I couldn't think my way out of it. So I ended up hiking up a hill I often jogged up, and when I got to the top I basically prayed. And this lead to seeing a vision, a bright light in the shape of a man I understood to be Jesus.

So my conversion was not a result of having a traumatic experience, or reading the Bible on my own as I didn't have any interest. I just basically started from what I knew through a general knowledge of the Gospel message.

Quote:As for scripture, at least some time should be spent explaining why your chosen scripture is any more believable (or worthy of study) than all the other 'scriptures' around.

Another appreciated quote from the same thread.

So as a starter, finding that Jesus is a real deity, that is...God, that would be the starting point. And then from there reading and researching scripture (including the references to scriptures deemed as evil by a number), researching other religions, etc. has only reinforced my belief. And of course there's the day-to-day experiences including attempting to run from Jesus/Christianity/fellowship with other believers, and not being able to. And when I mean run away, I mean from other believers, meaning completely alone.

Why am I so sure the vision I had was Jesus I encountered that day?

Humans have this uncanny ability to introduce themselves in such a way that I never question their reality. Any new person I meet, I never find myself thinking maybe they are not real, or even someone other than who they claim to be. So a creator, who as claimed in scripture created us humans in His image should be able to (for lack of a better term) introduce Himself in such a way that there's no question of His reality just like the person I met at Starbucks.

Could I be/have been wrong the whole time thinking I encountered Jesus? Sure! I could be a part of some alien experiment, and dreaming all this up, including posting in this forum. But I'm not going to not post in this forum because there's a possibility this forum is not actually here. The improbability outweighs the possibility. And it's the same principle with my relationship to Jesus/the Bible/Christianity.

What about people of other faiths and their experiences?

I can't ultimately answer for them, but if anyone believes in another god, or god of another faith, I'll listen, and we can compare notes. I do think that sometimes some people get the wrong idea that all faiths are the same. I don't think this the case. I've never read the Quran, but I've looked into the subject of relationship between Allah and man, and have seen very little reference to personal relationship. I won't say none, but very little. And I think it's generally understood, even among Muslims, that there's actually not really a personal relationship between man, or Muslims and Allah. Except maybe someone in a high position in the Islamic religion. And that generally Muslims are compelled to follow the teachings of the prophet Mohammed as a mediary between them and Allah. But I'm not an expert on Islam, so someone may very well school me on this.

What about that popular deity figure often referred to in these type of discussions: Zeus? Well, if anyone claims to have had a similar or comparable experience with said deity, I'm all ears.

So these are some reasons I personally believe the Bible scriptures, and in preference to scriptures of other faiths. I can't of course think for others, and wouldn't want to. I'm a firm believer in free-thought. I think some people assume free-thought will always result in non-belief/faith. I don't think that at all.
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Why I choose Bible scripture over others - by Camaro Dude - 11-25-2022, 10:03 AM



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