Posted by rayww on July 28, 2009, at 12:11:28
In reply to Re: What is your faith in god based on? » rayww, posted by Cass on June 2, 2009, at 0:33:58
> You could call it keeping the commandments, but most religions emphasize love and compassion. I find it remarkable sometimes that people I know are very ethical, kind, compassionate, but some of them do not consider themselves spiritual or religious. I think to myself, those qualities make you spiritual!
> I think you are right in your definition of faith. By that definition, I have faith. But I need to be able to allow god to guide me. You may ask why I want god's guidance if I don't believe in a personal god. But I believe that you can turn your life over to the will of god, in other words, to that great spirit that consists of goodness, compassion, forgiveness... People do it. My husband did. It can transform one's life.In my religion we have never had a set creed, or a list of specific ways to view things. We embrace all that is good from every nation, and religion. We intentionally seek it out, study it, then if it is good we embrace it. No one tells us how fast we need to move through it. We're left entirely on our own in that regard. It's a journey between the person and the higher power. We follow the light and it leads eventually to all truth.
"But" we do have a qualifier. In our religion we believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, that the Angel Moroni also appeared to him and directed him to the record that he helped write in 400 AD, and instructed him until he was ready to translate it into the Book of Mormon. Mormon was a real person, Moroni's father, who abridged and condensed all the records kept by holy prophets in America during the time the Bible and the Torah, and the Kuran was being compiled in the Holy Land. The Book of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus Christ, with mention of Him on nearly every page.
The people in Bible times and in Book of Mormon were taught to seek after the good, and to love one another. If you don't believe in a personal god, you are far better off to live as you describe, than turn to evil. The time will come when God will reveal Himself to all people everywhere, but until that happens we live by faith and believe the words He has revealed through His prophets, the best we can.
I love to listen to the Book of Proverbs. It's all about understanding, wisdom, and knowledge, and about what happens to our life when we gain those things, as opposed to how self-destructive other paths can be.
If you would like, here is a quick link: Scroll down to Proverbs: http://www.lds.org/mp3/display/0,18692,5297-62,00.html
rayww
poster:rayww
thread:881116
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20080809/msgs/908988.html