Who Am I? There’re only three possible answers: a believer; an unbeliever; an atheist.
A Believer
A believer believes in the existence of one true God.
Only three religions are monotheistic (believing in the existence of one God): Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
In Judaism, the Jews believe that Abraham was the father of the Jewish people in the first two chapters of Genesis in the Old Testament. The Jews believe that Jesus was only a teacher, not a god, who opposed the Jewish teachings and who was subsequently sentenced to death by crucifixion.
In Christianity, Jesus was the Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary and who died on the Cross to save mankind from sin. Christians believe in the Old Testament about God’s teachings and His prophets predicting the coming of the Savior, as well as in the New Testament about the teachings of the early Christian churches regarding Jesus’ resurrection and the spread of the Gospel.
In Islam, Prophet Muhammad grew up in a pagan environment. One day an angel revealed to him his duty to reject idol worship and to serve only one true God. Unlike the Christians who believe in the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), Muslims believe in only one God. Jesus was no more than a prophet, although the Virgin Mary was a miracle. Islam is not a redemptive religion.
Other religions don’t involve one God. In Buddhism, Buddha was not a god, but a prince who left the palace after witnessing the sufferings of mankind. In Hinduism, there’re many gods and they didn’t create the world. Other religions are only moral practices to improve human behaviors for better life and living in this material world.
An Unbeliever
One of the qualifications of being a believer is “accountability” to God. Given that humans are prone to “rationalization”, there’re many unbelievers who rationalize why they should not be held accountable for their doings: God, if He does exist, is neither fair nor just with so much discrepancy between the good who suffer and the bad who seem to prosper; the church is not to be trusted because of the prevalence of sexual crimes committed by pastors and priests; the police are not to be obeyed because of their corruption and racial prejudice; the laws are made to be broken because many lawmakers also break the laws they’ve created.
However, there’re many who’re spiritual but not religious, believing that there might be a Higher Being who oversees the world. But it’s also their belief that if they’re “decent” human beings, doing no evils, they will survive and thrive in this material world without their accountability to God.
An Atheist
There’re many who don’t believe in the existence of god or gods. They simply detach themselves from any faith or religion. Why are there so many religions if there’s only one true God? Many religions don’t involve God; they’re only systems of beliefs with moral codes and righteous behaviors to attain better understanding of the true meaning of human existence.
Buddhism comes from Buddha who wasn’t a god, but a prince who became enlightened when he witnessed human miseries and sufferings.
Hinduism involves many gods.
Judaism believes in one true God, who promised Abraham, who was childless in his old age, that he would have a nation with millions of descendants. God had overseen the nation with instructions and messages from prophets. His people had disobeyed and rejected Him. God used Moses to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt, and ultimately gave them the nation of Israels as He had promised.
Christianity comes from one true God, whose Son Jesus Christ was born of the Virgine Mary to teach and save the world through His death on the Cross and His Resurrection.
Islam believes in worshipping Mohammad, a prophet just like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Quran is made up of many events with moral teachings of Islam.
According to believers, God comes from nothing. God created the world and the universe, and everything in them. God is a timeless uncreated Creator with eternal existence and no origin. God gets everything from nothing.
According to atheists, the universe comes not from God, but from nothing too, due to its complexity and its presence over millions of years. There’re many theories, including the Big Bang Theory, that explain how the universe came into existence without creation.
WHO AM I?
There’re only three
possible answers: a believer; an unbeliever; an atheist.
A Believer
A believer believes in the existence of one true God.
Only three religions are monotheistic (believing in the existence of one God): Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
WHO AM I?
You are a believer.
Stephen Lau
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