Because Most believers don't actually look up what they believe in. 80% of Christians treat the bible like a software agreement. They scroll down tot he bottom without reading anything and click "I agree". Most don't realize that a lot of Christianity's teaches are influenced by the beliefs that came before. You will find Soo many Norse (viking) references clearly written into the stories.
The main reason people blindly follow the bible is because they seek salvation. They aren't doing it to be a good person or to help mankind. They are brainwashed into believing or they will "Burn forever in hell". Yet NO where in the bible does it even describe a place. Its so sad that this info is really well know and its like 2nd grade knowledge that you will find even on Wikipedia. The Bible translated a handful of words all describing completely different places into 1 word being hell. And none of these being a place of eternal suffering.
The Bible is a great book teaching Man of its sins and a great way to pass down morals from generation to generation. But like all books its not meant to be taken SO literal.In America where people sought out a place to praise any God and believe what they want has become the very thing the people who founded this country tried to escape. Blind ignorance in large numbers. People trying to convert others but they themselves have never read the book. Proof? Look at the childrens bible story of Noah and the ark. It says and shows everywhere that he brought "2 of each animal" into the ark. but It does NOT say that in the bible. The number is far different.And even though this is common knowledge people knowingly accept this as "Fact".
Like the previous comment below said, Christianity is rather new, but once time goes by and a dozen more people tell us the worlds going to end and the rapture is here it will fade away and become a myth like the rest. In today's world Religion is becoming so old fashion. Its this blind believing that's holding the world back.If the great minds and explorers didn't break away from it then the world still might be Flat. the earth might be considered the center of the universe and the electric guitar,TV, electricity and modern medicine would all still be the "devils" work.
I'm not Christian, but I always believed people gave more credibility to the Christian god over any of those pagan polytheistic ones because of how the pagan gods are perceived to have come to existence within those cultures. It seems like ancient Romans, Greeks, Mesopotamians, or whatever region/religion you look at that does have multiple Gods, seem to arbitrarily designate a god for almost anything that happens. Feel a breeze? There's a god for that. It's warm out today? There's a god for that too. Did your cow disappear during the night? There's a god who's responsible for that too.
It's always been my belief that people lend more credibility to a Christian god over those is that it seems more believable to some that there is just one God who rules over everything, instead of there being 500 that rule over one thing.
But, the believe in either a polytheistic or monotheistic religion depends on faith. It doesn't matter how illogical it may sound to have one god for every little thing that happens, there is no proof one way or the other that one's belief in 500 gods or one god is true.
Nice Question! Please feel free to skim.
For me, Christianity appeals to me because I was raised into it, so God and the Bible were both with me from the beginning. For me, up to a point, it was pressured upon me, by family and church, "believe in God or beware isolation". Now, I really couldn't care more or less of what people think about my beliefs, but yes, I do still believe in God, but for my own reasons. But for a lot of other people, they're not as strong. They're religion, in a way, is what holds them up to the rest of society. Without it, they are just the weirdos, or my favorite, "they're 'lost' ".
For the appealing part of the question, as another guy said, Christianity appealed to the poor people, something no other religion had ever done before. Nearly all religions have a class system and a group of people that was-is always persecuted. Using India as a reference, before the arrival of Christianity, nearly everyone there were Hindus. After the arrival, the majority of the converts were the poor, sick, lying and the destitute. Even the criminals! A lot of people saw Christianity as a second chance, and it seemed more real, and more forgiving.
Christianity is also nicely settled in because it was preached to literally all four corners of the world. Another reason why Islam is gaining followers. The other religioneres just stayed confined to their habitat, mainly because their religion reflected their culture and no one else's. Say tomorrow, you decided to convert to Hinduism, it would be hard, because not only do you have to read the manual for Hinduism, you have to also read the manual for learning how to deal with the culture and the people, who, in which case, might have a hard time accepting you cause your not Indian.
Christianity meanwhile overlooks race, gender, class, money status, sickness, etc... For the most part. I'm just referring to the what the people have done to certain aspects of it.
Wow that was a lot! Sorry
hindu gods and greek gods and egyptian gods came first, they go back 5000 years, hinduism even recites traces of evolution and humans being derived from primates, that's how old it is! I think the abrahamic faiths read into the plural form word "gods" too much and just think the whole religion is wrong because there can only be one god, but really is god someone sitting up in the sky the clouds resting and eating philadelphia cream cheese? no right, there's no evidence, but there is god - the one supreme being in our hearts in our soul in our mind, and that same one supreme being can be manifested into other souls and messengers sent down to us humans and animals, that's why in hinduism you call them dieties, because these idols were once normal living ordinary people at a certain time in history may be 3000 2500 600 years ago, but god-the supreme being sent them down to us to deliver a message, to teach us something, to reveal an oral biblical message that's where these idols, gods (plural), dieties, messengers, angels whatever you wanna call them that's why they exist. because god-the one supreme being can take form in any shape to deliver us a message, whether its through a prophet, a messenger or idol or another 'god'.
because Christian beliefs are excepted and pushed by our society/American culture. Christianity makes our world bearable for most people, if we were another religion, our society would push us away. Just think if you were a native American living in the city in today's day, with people driving hummers and disrespecting the land.. or a buddhist monk, calm and happy in a place as intense as New York. modern society pushes them away, because culture and religion go together, you won't last long if your surrounds are not supportive of your beliefs. Personally I identify with many religions, and use them at different times in my life, I have no concrete beliefs, just whatever I'm feeling at the moment, probably more Buddhist than anything.. I find that my preppy and more materialistic friends are christian and my hippy friends are more Buddhist, the ones that have pain/emo/hardcore, whatever, are more atheist. we are usually the religion that our environment and friends support. Like Robo girl said, there's not many ancient greeks anymore, therefore not many people believe in it (society must support it, a person must have culture and friends that support their beliefs)
Opinion
20Opinion
I'm a Christian, & the true reason I believe in God is because I can feel it in my heart & soul that he is real. When I'm in pain, he comforts me, & when I'm in need, I pray, & he answers my prayers. It's hard for someone who isn't a Christian to understand, but what it really boils down to, is that I can feel he is real.
I also did research for a paper in college about whether or not there is a God, & I found a lot of proof that there is a God. The biggest thing was the fact that so many prophecies in the Bible have come true, & many of which came true because of Jesus. Here are some sites that speak of fulfilled prophecies: link link
But, evidence can be argued with & I'm not hear to argue about those sort of things. When it comes down to it, the real proof is in my heart, & you can't take that away from me.
to someone that really has a reason to believe that, it would take a lot more than a quick response on here to do so. but if you want to know why I believe in christ then check out a book called "more than a carpenter" by josh mcdowell. you can read it in one day and its real cheap (like $5). it does a great job of breaking this all down. it is logic and rational for people who don't like a bunch of "religious" talk. it uses a lot of science and statistical probability and things you don't usually hear when talking about christianity or the bible. it will definitely make you re-think us crazy christians, lol. it doesn't have to tranform you or convert you but at least you will have a solid understanding of why the very few real christians out there believe what they believe. the rest of them don't know why they do it was just passed down from mommy/daddy/grandma/etc., along with a bunch of man made rules that somehow just got infused in with the bible and it is just rediculous. drinking any alcohol at all is a sin and all that b.s. for example. that's what I call "churchianity".
Wars and decay, as time went by the winners would absorb the losers in many ways, one of them being culturally, that's why the Romans have different names for the Greeks gods since they integrated their culture when they "conquered" them, but here's the thing as the roman empire grew so did social differences the rich the poor and so Christianity became popular since Jesus preached in favor of the poor and other humble factors in people, which where not found at the time in the roman society, so Christianity grew and grew until it became the most popular religion. It was not until this specific roman emperor that came in(cant remember the name) and used the cross as a part of his wining strategy in a war that he converted the roman empire into Christianity, from then on the Greek myth's was believed to be false an the Christian true, a cultural paradigm shift and so the biggest empire followed that religion spreading it through out the world at that time, and that's it basically, al though shortened and I missed a few important things to mention since I am in a hurry but that's basically it
Ok I'll try to explain this but I'm sorry if I get off topic. OK well your parents probably raised you to be Christian which is totally fine, you believe in one god and think that he is almighty and you believe he created the heavens, earth and water ect. I was raised in the Greek religion, and I live in America. As you can imagine I am constantly teased about my gods, but off topic. I was raised to believe that Zeus is the almighty, Poseidon is the ruler of the seas and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld which is where we go when we die, we are either punished or we live in sort of what you call heaven, it's separated by sections but I won't explain the technicalities now. Then there are many other gods in which we believe in. Well this is how we were raised it's our reality so when people tell me that they believe that 1 "God" single evenhandedly takes care of the entire world/ universe I think " there's absolutely no way that's even possible!". My religion makes sense to me because everything adds up, my prayers are answered and my faith is strong. But I will say that no religion is more politically correct than the other, it's your choice in what you want to believe in but it is also mine. Hope I answered your question. :)
I think a lot of it has to do with how extravagant Greek Gods seem. They had these magical powers involving lightning and other things. Although there's been stories about the sea parting and things like that, I think God just sounds more realistic to people than Zeus. No one believes in magic anymore because there's no such things as magic. However, I'm not saying there is or isn't a Zeus or there is or isn't a God. Not religious, never have been. I just think it's easier for people to believe in God because he doesn't seem so extreme.
Our european culture and that icludes of course the American culture too, is influenced not only from Greece, also from the jewish culture. Jewish religion, also islam and christians are religions of monotheism. Especially the christians stood in opposition to the Antique Rome. It was been the counter.point to the Antique slavery. Christian religion was influenced from Plato by Greece but also from the jewish culture. And there you find only one God, with the name Jahwe.
The grecian Gods were been such of the nature, in contrast of the monotheistic religions. Such are orientated by culture.
If I compare this both kind of religion, I would say not one is better than the other. Both are a kind of illusion, so it doesn`t matter if you beleave in one ore a heap of Gods. You can also beleave on goblins or other ghosts, if you like such.
Give it another thousand years or so and people will be asking "what makes zugabug more believable than jesus christ and mohammed?" If it's out of style, it's mythology. If it's in style, it's religion. People need something to have faith in so they don't feel hopeless and something to deride so they can feel there's something beneath them. It's just human nature.
Look at it this way:
Try to look at this from the perspective of someone who has never been exposed to any kind of religion.
Now show them Lord of the Rings, The Bible, and a pagan religious text. You think they would be able to say one is more realistic than the other? No.
It really all depends on how you were raised.
This question is really hard to answer, because everything I say will spawn another question. I actually have been mulling over how to answer this question the best way I can, and this is it. Its our beliefs. I have read into other religions and I always see valid points, but when it comes down to it, I believe what I believe because I have felt it inside me. There are those that have not felt the presence of God in themselves, and I feel bad. Those that believe other religions, I respect because all religions teach the basics of life. The Golden Rule, do on to others as you would like done to you. So really religion is a blessing to mankind. I pity the Al Qaeda for I have read the Koran, and it teaches you to be good, not to kill.
Well if you ask me, nothing (I'm an atheist agnostic).
However a lot of christian belief is based (or perhaps reinforced) by the following.
1: Being raised in that faith
2: Personal experiences (I prayed to god to get over my cold, and I got better, therefore god exists)
3: Popularity in numbers (IE, a lot of other people believe in Christian god)
4: Some facts (Whilst the bible has a number of historical errors, there are some correct facts, and these reinforce belief in the whole).
hmm.. nice question! I am Greek and, at school, we have something like mythology classes... there we get informed about those gods. if you make a study on them, you will come to the conclusion that they are all evil! they all want people to be afraid of them. still, they were jealous of the human. for example, Hera, Aphrodite and Demeter killed many women for being the girlfriend of the ones they loved!
Christian god is kinder and nicer from the ancient gods.. that's only my opinion! :)
The answer is: idiocy, my friend. Some people worship cows, some people worship the sun, some people worship vagina's, some people worship spiritual stuff, etc... These are all the same thing, only with different names. Nothing is more believable than the other, but if you're driving a Honda, no one can convince you that any other car is better than the one you have. Idiocy, y'know?
lol this is such an ironic question. I was brought up in a loosely christian household and when I began reading mythological qs I started questioning christianity. At the end of the day I don't know what the f*** is out there, but I can draw parallels between christianity and most mythological stories. I try not to label whatever the hell I am spiritually.
well it's crazy to believe that there are like hundreds of gods ruling our lives,and they're all described in detail,god is a bit less crazy (to crazy people anyways) to believe cause it's less of a stretch to believe. think of it as downsizing,hopefully,one day people will quit on the whole ''god'' thing all together.
There's not exactly many ancient greeks left to argue their case, since they're all a little busy being dead and stuff.
People generally believe whatever Religion they are born into, which is highly dependent on where they live. If you had been born in India, for example, you would most likely be Hindu and would not believe in the Christian god. I personally believe that all religions are equally believable/unbelievable.
This is my god now worship her link
Nothing makes the Christian God more believable. They are both just trying to explain the unexplainable the best they can. The Christian God has a more flexible definition, that is most likely the reason for it to be more believable to a wide variety of people, other than how the Greeks defined God/s in their metaphors.
i guess because greek methology doesn't excist anymore so that might be prove that religion lost its credibility...while the christian religion still excists I guess that makes it more believable, that is the only argument I have to be honest. I am not hardcore catholic but is the only reason that I can think of.
Because people are so vain and want to believe that god is like them - in looks and in behavior... And the Christian God is the most like a man of all of them.
Most Helpful Opinions