how do i approach religion?

[Anonymous No.19017279]

long time athiest that as a kid, used god as a thing to ask for things
was superstitious and decided to completely deny God and any kind of magic as a teen
am older now and keep finding myself noticing patterns or coincidences
as if lessons were taught, chances were given

personally i feel that life works in some not fully observed way where our actions generally make certain results
i see heaven and hell as states of being on earth and i feel as if i'm in hell
to me, God is the nature of this strange universe
God is society
The word of God is lessons learned and written because of mistakes oh so common to the human condition

What parts of the Bible should I read?
I don't see it as literal accountings, more as narratives, poetry, proverbs, etc.
How do I better understand what I read is teaching me?
How do I pray?
I feel directionless, chasing money and thrills at the cost of my life and relationships

[Anonymous No.19017529]

>>19017279
>What parts of the Bible should I read?
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus and the rest.
>I don't see it as literal accountings, more as narratives, poetry, proverbs, etc.
Ironically most theologiand thought the same but new archeology is showing us that the cities were real. Obviously there's a good deal not 100% accurate though.
>How do I better understand what I read is teaching me?
Just read it first.
>How do I pray?
Only you can decide but Christ recommends in private and not in a church.
>I feel directionless, chasing money and thrills at the cost of my life and relationships
Amen.

[Anonymous No.19017764]

Start here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://legacyicons.com/content/didache.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi91dX_iPPyAhVZcCsKHV4kCJYQFnoECAMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3R0zB6nUX97UTtVtIk-Cz0

Great early Christian text. Trust me.

>>19017279
>i see heaven and hell as states of being on earth and i feel as if i'm in hell
Not so.
>“And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Isaiah 66:24. But:
>Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. - John 5:24
>For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. - Romans 8:13
>God is the nature of this strange universe
>God is society
Also not so.
>Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
-1 John 4:8
>The word of God is lessons learned and written because of mistakes oh so common to the human condition.
Not so:
>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1

I read it straight through. I'd say Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, the Samuels, Kings, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah 53, then the gospels and the epistles of John. Then go back and do the rest.
>Better understand / Prayer
All this is a mute point if you don't believe God created the universe. If you do ask Him for understanding and to be guided into the truth. Say the Lord's prayer three times a day. Go to a church and ask about baptism.
God bless

[Anonymous No.19018054]

>>19017279
Detachment.

Material = satanic

Spiritual = Divine

Ask around. And come to the same obvious conclusion. A man of God is "not of this world".

[Anonymous No.19018165]

>>19017279
Any words about the Creator are not divine. If you think you know the Creator or the Creator’s intentions are in a book, you are treating the Creator as a little toy of yours. In spite of all vain attempts of man, not everything can be spoken of, not everything can be known, and man is nothing in comparison to the Creator. The alpha and the omega.

[Anonymous No.19018458]

>>19017279
>How do I pray?
You could head on over to /x/ and ask how to create your own personal Jesus tulpa

[Anonymous No.19018484]

>>19017279
>God is society
Are you more fed up with your inadequacies or do you despair at the state of society? This may affect what writings will have most of an impact on you.

[Anonymous No.19018486]

/lit/ Religion & Politics

[Anonymous No.19018777]

>>19017279
I'll start by telling you about other religions and circle around back to Christianity, since you seem to be personally drawn that way and have experience in that culture. I am not as versed in Christianity (actually I am partial to Mahayana Buddhism) so I will handle it this way.

>personally i feel that life works in some not fully observed way where our actions generally make certain results
>i see heaven and hell as states of being on earth and i feel as if i'm in hell
>to me, God is the nature of this strange universe
>God is society
These remind me heavily of the Dharmic religions, particularly esoteric strains were the divine is not only transcendent but also immanent and is the fundamental nature. The Hindus describe the caste system by identifying the castes to parts of Vishnu's body: the priests are the head, the arms are the warrior-kings, and so on. The West has something similar to this in "divine right of kings", but that is a much narrower understanding than "God is society". Some religious traditions identify both microcosm and macrocosm as equally Godhood, whereas most only place God as the king sitting above the macrocosm. In some of your statements I see some intuition of divine providence, karma, or something like that.

Anyway, there are so many ways of talking about "God", or defining him/it. I suggest reading about the many various ideas of God, not jumping to one conclusion, and suspending your judgement while keeping the knowledge of possibilities close. Buddhists don't refer to a God at all, but do talk about certain absolute and fundamental realities like dharmakaya, the "ground" of reality (rigpa), etc. and this is universal, beyond all concepts, without qualities, without subject/object distinction, and is completely compassionate, omniscient, and powerful, so it might sound like Buddhists have an idea of "God". Sometimes when Hindus talk about Brahman the idea seems so impersonal that one must ask if the word "God" is appropriate. Really I think the term is so fluid now and so complex that one must form their own view (while understanding their intellectual limitations of course).

As for how to approach Christianity, I think reading lots of commentary by theologians and scholars would be smart. What is important is forming your personal relationship to this ultimate source. You might not understand the absolute nature of reality, but simply paying homage to whatever it may be that controls life is honorable enough. Of course, if you do believe the divine is immanent within humanity, then this must compel you to act compassionately toward your fellow humans and to help them. It is just the rational conclusion that compassion and reverence for others is simultaneously a divine act and worship.

[Anonymous No.19018841]

>>19017279
is your father dead?

[Anonymous No.19019745]

>>19018841
Do not blaspheme. My father cannot die.

[Anonymous No.19019855]

magic mushrooms in a natural setting with someone you love and trust.

good luck OP

[Anonymous No.19019864]

>>19017279
Read Eliade's Sacred and Profane

[Anonymous No.19019871]

>>19017279
Once you've accepted atheism there is no way back short of a radically life-altering event.
You don't just mentally choose to be religious because you think it would be convenient or make your life better or whatever.
You're literally just a consoomer shopping for his next identity.

[Anonymous No.19019879]

Religion is only for the few, the elect.

[Anonymous No.19019886]

>>19019879
Metaphysics is only for the few, the elect. Religion is for the masses.

[Anonymous No.19019906]

>>19017279
Pray the Rosary. Pray it every day.

You'll thank me later.

[Anonymous No.19020047]

>>19018054
There are plenty of atheists that are associated with positive sounding adjectives and a significant amount of christfags with negative ones. Explain that.

[Anonymous No.19020385]

>>19017279
the majority of the churches nowadays teach works based salvation and lead people to hell. also, many people use corrupted bible versions. going to church, reading your bible, or doing good works won't save you because salvation is not of works op. watch this video if you want to receive God's free gift of eternal life and have the 100% assurance of going to heaven. after you get saved, read the king james bible which is the preserved word of God in the english language. get a kjv without any study notes on it, don't get something like a ruckman/scofield study bibles, they teach the dispensational heresy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dqw_fJeBD0&t=8s

[Anonymous No.19020486]

>>19018841
no. i just avoid talking to him as much as possible because i hold resentment

[Anonymous No.19020764]

>>19020385
>dispensational heresy.
What's heretical about it? I don't know much of it

[Anonymous No.19021255]

>>19017279
Read the Upanishads. Read the Old Testament. Read the Dhammapada. Read Plato. Read about ancient stoicism (Copleston's manual about Greece and Rome). Read the New Testament Read Agustine of Hippo. Read the Qur'an. Read Aquinas (Copleston's manual about Aquinas). Read Luther. Read Calvin.

[Anonymous No.19021271]

>>19021255
Well, the Old Testament is older than the Upanishads. 1000 BC vs 800 BC. So begin with it, or at least by it's oldest books within the Old Testament

[Anonymous No.19021299]

>>19021271
Also. Erasmus is a step between Catholicism and Lutheranism. And it's better than Luther. And I skipped the sufism because it's not really original (basically neoplatonism with eastern mysticism and peotics) but it's worth it to read, so it's up to you

[Anonymous No.19021355]

>>19018054
>Material = satanic
>Spiritual = Divine
Careful with that. This easily becomes gnosticism.
The material isn't satanic. God made the material, and he saw that it was good.
Satan warps and twists these goods through temptation.

[Anonymous No.19021483]

>>19018054
then Jesus was Satan?

[Anonymous No.19021536]

>>19020047
>christfags with negative ones
they failed
>atheists that are associated with positive sounding adjectives
they accidently succeeded
though I havent heard of many

[Anonymous No.19021537]

>>19017279
I can only give you the advice of praying to God Jesus Christ asking for him to help you know what to do. God bless you anon I hope you can find the way, remember to be careful of a lot of lies being said in this thread.

[Anonymous No.19021551]

>>19020764
he's a fundamentalist baptist
madmen

[Anonymous No.19021653]

>>19019855
Will shrooms help me to become more spiritual? I thought I remember Jung saying something about psychedelics being a fruitless shortcut.

[Anonymous No.19021681]

>>19019906
This might sound like an odd question but where should I get religious paraphernalia from? I would like a subtle crucifix to wear and and rosary with which to pray. It feels kind of disrespectful to use my credit card to get them on Amazon or something...

[Anonymous No.19021708]

Every fucking day with this thread. If you're actually interested, go talk to a priest

[Anonymous No.19022375]

>>19021551
that doesn't really explain why dispensationalism is heresy

[Anonymous No.19022379]

>>19019855
>>19021653
drugs are not a spiritual gateway, they are simply extremely novel experiences and you associate the interesting effects with the spiritual
salvation cannot be found in a substance, it is something you must cultivate within yourself

[Anonymous No.19022397]

Just read the Bible.

You will be surprised at how many misconceptions are out there about it and come to realize just how amazing it is and how all these books written over thousands of years all come together perfectly.

Also, take a week off whenever you can and camp in the woods away from society. If you are new to it then stay close to the edge so not to get lost.

[Anonymous No.19022562]

I used to be anti-Catholic, but I converted to Catholicism after going to church with my grandma which made me curious to see their arguments. I read and watched a lot of videos online and eventually I believed. Everything I thought I knew was from basic ignorance that's commonly spread by everyone including careless Catholics. One of the YouTube channels that helped me was How to be Christian.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_cZXWB6T4WRXyTZiyH_LDw
I suggest following a year plan for reading the Bible. The one by Ascension Press is popular and new. It's on YouTube, Spotify, etc.
https://media.ascensionpress.com/category/ascension-podcasts/bibleinayear/
I prefer to use personal prayers off the cuff. Try to pray for wisdom, help with sin, others in need, the souls of the dead, etc. Here's some books to help your prayer life:
https://pastebin.com/DWJjh7D8

[Anonymous No.19022692]

>>19019871
Taint so, Magee.

[Anonymous No.19022850]

>>19022562
>One of the YouTube channels that helped me was How to be Christian.
>https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_cZXWB6T4WRXyTZiyH_LDw

Thanks for this tip. I've just been checking it out, and the content is very good. The host approaches things in a very clear and straightforward fashion. He's quite logical, but using a logical path to make his points that I've never seen before.

[Anonymous No.19022864]

>>19019871
Wrong, I left gaytheism once I became philosophically literate

[Anonymous No.19022884]

>>19017279
>am older now and keep finding myself noticing patterns or coincidences
See a psychiatrist ASAP.

[Anonymous No.19022896]

>Christianity

More like Cringetianity

[Anonymous No.19022920]

immerse yourself in the art and the music, don't get bogged down in scripture, theology, ritual or the morality of it. also, prayer is just another word for thinking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCin6wpPzR0

[Anonymous No.19023080]

>>19020385
I've been looking into public domain bibles, which I think it's a little ridiculous that so many are copyrighted. Is the World English Version missing these verses and more as well? The KJV does truly sound like the best bible.

[Anonymous No.19023097]

>>19022896
Dude. That was so funny. Whole squad will be laughing any second. Just wait. Any minute now.

[Anonymous No.19023101]

>>19023080
this is a literature board, obviously you go KJV

[Anonymous No.19023107]

>>19023097
I laughed.

[Anonymous No.19023980]

>>19022920
brainlet

[Anonymous No.19024128]

>>19023080
I like the WEB because they include the Orthodox deuterocanonical books, KJV Apocrypha only includes the Catholic deuterocanon
KJV is one of the greatest works of the English language though, so I'd say it's worth at least reading some of it

[Anonymous No.19024328]

This thread was moved to >>>/his/11900627