Do you really need a bible or religion to believe in God?

[Anonymous]

I've noticed that a couple folks in my area are turning away from bibles and religion. It makes sense. Wouldn't God be satisfied that you simply believe in him/her/it and are a decent person?

Someone can go to church every single Sunday (or read his/her bible every day) and still be a lying hypocrite that does bad to others. That person doesn't have God in his/her heart at that moment, no matter what they're claiming. A priest can still be preaching while molesting children behind closed doors.

Updates:

[FocusOfSuspicion]

This is actually a deeply complicated philosophical question, the basis of which lies in defining goodness and evil. It’s a simple seeming task, since we all know we can feel in our gut when something is wrong, evil. But it’s more complicated because, while everyone has those internal alarm bells, they don’t all feel them in the same way around the same stimuli.

Let me give you an example of why it’s so hard to define.

“Paul is the King of Hypothetical-istan. He is volatile and likely to bring war to his people. If they were to go to war, many people would die. On his worst days, James, his adviser, has his guards abduct a woman from a nearby town for him to distract himself with and to safely channel his anger and aggression into. The women usually survive the experience, but sometimes barely. James always has the guards escort them safely home when King Paul is done with them and sends them along with a small bag of gold and helps them get any medical attention they need as a result of their ordeal. If not for these women, James believes, many many more people would be dead.”

Now it’s really easy in this story to put King Paul down as evil. He’s a slave to his aggression and his desires. He’s a threat to his people. He’s a rapist and he beats women, sometimes kills them, and that’s just for fun.

But what about James? James sees himself as a tragic hero. He’s trapped in a terrible situation. He’s probably taken blows from King Paul himself, given his proximity. He only brings Paul women to torture when he’s at his worst and he does it to save his country from war. He compensates the women after, gets them home, provides them with medical treatment. He’s got to discreetly manage a giant toddler in full tantrum every day or his people will die. He does what he must, AND IT WORKS.

This is STILL a man I would call evil, but he’d disagree with me. This discrepancy is why religious people believe we need our scriptures. The books tell us in detail, what is right and wrong, so that it cannot be challenged.

We believe that the concept of good and evil comes from God. Being the creator, He set the definition of those terms. It’s indisputable. So if you simply believe in God, but don’t explore the relevant scripture to figure out the nuances of what you believe God wants, then you can’t simply be a decent person. You could be making “evil” judgment calls left and right, like James, but feel justified and good and heroic.

[Daniela1982]

1 Corinthians 2:14 says : But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. You can believe in God but the Bible says that even the demons believe in God and shudder. They know what is in store for them in the end and want to take as many people with them to hell by blinding them to the truth. As far as being a good person - For you are saved by faith, and not of yourselves ( your good deeds). It is a gift of God, not of your works that any man shall boast.

[BCRanger10]

To believe in God? Strictly speaking, no. In fact, there have been philosophers and theologians who would argue that the existence of God can be concluded from reason alone. St. Thomas Aquinas is probably the most prominent. To know what God expects of us? That's a different story.

"Wouldn't God be satisfied that you simply believe in him/her/it and are a decent person?" Quite simply, no. There would have to be an objective standard for "decency" and "goodness". There are lots of terrible people out there who think they're "good". A terrible person can believe in God, have a good smile, have good manners, help frail old ladies cross the street, and otherwise have the appearance of being a "good guy". Such is to be expected though when religious faith is reduced to a mere system of morality and when morality is reduced to "don't be Adolf Hitler and say that racism is bad every two seconds."

To know what kind of thought, speech, and action was pleasing (even if it were just "decency") and displeasing to God would reasonably require some kind of intervention and instruction on the part of God. Otherwise, man would either be confirming his own priors or taking a guess. Additionally, it would require a means of authoritatively communicating these revelations, that transcends political, cultural, racial, and geographic boundaries, and that carries on throughout the ages.

These things being said, there would naturally and rightly be consequences if someone displeases God. You are somewhat correct to say that God is not in someone's heart if they're a lying hypocrite. I'd say He is, but it remains with the person to act on and cooperate with His Grace and promptings. This is especially true for the ministers of the religion, whose responsibility to have good moral conduct would reasonably have to be much higher, given the dignity of their office. If they act otherwise, if they breed scandal, then what happens with their souls after death is ultimately their own fault

All this is why I am a traditionalist Catholic.

[Savage_Wisdom]

I see where you're coming from, but the problem is that not reading the Bible can lead someone to some erroneous beliefs. These erroneous beliefs would prevent their entry into heaven.

"I am astonished you are so quickly turning from him who welcomed you into the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel of heaven were to preach to a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we've said before, so now I say again: if anyone is preaching to a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Why am I seeking to please man? For if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:6-10

As for simply being a good person,

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

[zeitgeist057]

No, you don’t need a Bible or religion do you believe in God. In fact, it’s probably better for you to not have a Bible and religion, which allows you to modify God to your own personal standards a little bit easier than if you were restricted by a Bible or religion. Having a personal relationship with your “higher power“ or whatever you call the manifestation Is the essential part of belief. The more aligned you are with the God you believe in, the easier it’s going to be to believing that God and have faith that it’s the right thing for you.

[Psychoanalytical]

You might not need priests or religion, but you certainly need the Bible to understand God's person more and to be able to function the way he intended for this world. At least start with the new testament because it is most focused on Jesus (God's person).

Don't let hypocrites discourage you. I was once a hypocrite. I had to read the Bible, pray and go to church.. but? I wasn't a Christian in the core, I was just doing it because "religion".

When I hit 17 years old, I converted to the true Christianity and my life changed a 180 degrees. So yeah, hypocrites are sadly a bad yet false image of Christianity since Jesus himself was against the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.

[WesBrewer]

the God of the Christian bible doesn't want you to be a good person, he wants you to be perfect and never make mistakes, you obviously can't do that so you need Jesus who died on the cross to choose you, and when you get chosen you will want to read the bible and be "religious"

[jshm2]

Yeah, and a cop can still be a cop despite having a worse criminal record than the people being arrested...

You don't seem intelligent enough to understand how morals, beliefs and behaviours actually work, kiddo.

It's not about what is shown, but what is actually there.

[normalice]

People call that just being spiritual. Believe me when i say people abandoning the church because of its over-the-top involvement in politics and hypocrisy has been going on for decades.

[John_Doesnt]

I need the bible and religion so I can play a banjo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT6QY954O9c&ab_channel=ar.BRUH

[hopegirly]

No you don’t. Faith and religion are different things

[CountessSarah]

A bible or other holy book - No.
Religion, yes. Belief in a god is by definition religious, even if you're not following an existing doctrine.

[1stranger]

Good question but no answer!
The reason for the bible and religion, it could be bringing people together at a common point.

[Bratsondanielle]

Lol I don't think it would matter to a guy or girl who is powerful enough to create universe and planet and life whether you believe in him or not

[JosyJosy]

No. In fact I feel like there are wrongs in every religion soooo yeah. All I'm after is the truth. If God's around, He knows lol

[KatherineJ]

I don’t think you need an organized religion necessarily. But if you are a Christian, a Bible is probably a pretty good idea.

[Anonymous]

Of course you believe in a God without a Bible. What sort of Christian centric ignoramus thinks Bible = God for the world?

[Yaaten]

Short answer: no, you don't. I believe there is something that, for lack of a better word we call 'God', but I'm very far from being "religious".

[_Just_A_girl_]

Without it you wouldn't know the revelation of rom 10: 9
Or john 3:16-17
Or Jesus life

[OfDeath]

No. You could believe in a deistic god who has no association with a particular religion. Or you could just go one further and do away with the whole idea altogether and still be a good person.

[genericname85]

no but do you really need a god believe to live a good life?

[Archerer]

What if there is no God? Then what are all these people doing?

[SenseiSeptred]

No, you just need grit, determination, a hardcore grasp on faith upon actions, and with that make reality happen.

[jimmy2]

Well the Bible is Hod talking to us.