I have a wide variety of christian/jewish/catholic family and have recently met a few muslim friends. I have troubles formulating opinions on the non empirical (thus why i simply self identify as agnostic even tho its technically a misuse of the word). It seems recently a large portion of these acquaintances have decided to engage in a philosophical "tug of war" to sway me to their beleiefs, now being a semi-imperical thinker i have noticed that they seem to be using the same kind of arguments "look around, there's evidence of god's handiwork in all of nature" type arguments, is there any way to point out that the god that designed the trees/nature belongs to a certain religion? or is it fairly safe to say they all believe in the same god they are just nit picking details (The latter causes all kinds of non-contradiction problems, but it's the only explanation i can think that explains how all these religions are using the same argument)

Tldr- everybody want's me to be religious, but i don't know how to choose with any modicum of accuracy

first of all catholicism is christianity, not sure why they try to say they're different...

judaism is what christianity originally stemmed from (Jesus was Jewish)

Islam also believes in the "same God"

The three religions are called the Abrahamic religions, meaning they all trace their history back to the man Abraham, who served the one God described in the Bible and Koran.


The reason I believe in Christianity over the other two is that it makes more sense. I see the promises described in the New Testament and see how they correlate to my own life.

John 8:31-32

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”


If you live by the Bible, and give Christianity a real chance, I believe that you will also be convinced that it is true.

The catch is, you have to live by it before you can actually see the truth (which is the exact opposite of the way the world thinks, another reason I think Christianity makes the most sense), which is why faith is required.

This post was edited by DiS505 on Oct 19 2014 06:31pm

catholics (at least the ones in my immediate circle) differ from the (protestant)christians in that they are expected to confess in a pew and repent in the form of a prayer (right word?) repeated several times in front of the cross, both the catholics and the christians claim the other is misguided and will likely perish in fire (again this is only the ones near me, i cannot speak for everyone of course)

judiasm denies the existence of jesus, and is still waiting the day the saviour will come (instead of return) and is under the infleuce of "old laws" (old testament rules).

My Muslim friends believe that their ancestors compiled the bible and the "christian ancestors" came and defiled and corrupted its teachings and will burn eternally for misrepresenting the one god revealed through mohammad, allah, they think I as an agnostic do not get permanent hell but rather a temporary stay until i've "learned my lesson"

here is my problem, in my mind, i have given each a real chance, but if you asked any of the proponents i have mentioned they would all unanimously agree that i have not given any a fair chance, i have read each of their bible, done each of their prayer rituals, honestly and 100% asked each god to reveal himself to me, it has gotten to the point i feel if i went to all 4 private schools and got 4 different doctorates in each theology, but still had questions they would still claim that i was never truly faithful. how can i be faithful? What do i need to do to acquire faith? I promise i want it, but how can i not question teachings that make miraculous claims, how can i possibly believe in something 1000% if there is a 1/4 chance they are wrong (thats only in my life, some may have it even worse) ?

This post was edited by dude_927 on Oct 19 2014 07:19pm

All monotheistic religions believe in the same god. They have different idea of how to best serve it.

Hell and heaven are actually serving in the house of god, which is feeling exactly the way you felt when before you were born. Hell and heaven are simply references to how sins and bad things and thoughts affect everyone else living with you on this planet in a bad way, so you "deserve hell", but it doesnt actually mean something different will happen to you after you die.

If you have muslim "friends" who try to force their version of their religion on you with retarded arguments perhaps you need some different friends instead.

This post was edited by Ulfus on Oct 19 2014 11:11pm

i haven't even mentioned one of my muslim friends arguments, and this is not the forum to do so in (i did imply they were very similar to my christian family's) what makes you think they are retarded? perhaps it is not very christian to speak like that, and remember they are not the only ones attempting to force beleifs onto me (in fact they aren't even the most prominent), are you implying i should also ditch my friend who tries to get me to go the the gym 6 times a week? or the one that tries to get fall down drunk every weekend? you don't have to 100% agree on everything to be friends.

Hell is one of the major reasons everyone is so adamant that i follow a religion, if it is just a figment of their imaginations in the first place what does it matter if i don't choose a side? I really don't think insisting that hell and heaven are made up is a great course of action in my current situation, taking the "atheist" approach tends to aggravate the situation.

the difference between catholicism and other forms of christianity is a difference in doctrine, not in basic core belief. (that Jesus is the Son of God, he died for our sins and rose three days later)

i never said christianity was the same as judaism or islam, but only that they all trace their religions back to the same man, so it could be said they all serve the same God.

I recommend reading books on the subject.

A good one (obviously I'm recommending it from a Christian bias) is "Compelling Evidence for God and the Bible" by Douglas Jacoby.

I would encourage you to read books on the other religions as well if you're truly trying to decide between them.

Aside from that just be patient.

Matthew 7:7-8, if you're really seeking you will find answers