The 3 religions sent by GOD.

[CosmicG]

ok, when I challenged a muslim friend of mine about their beliefs on religion. He said to me that christianity, Islam and Judaism are religions set down by God. When I asked what he meant by that...his answer was, "these 3 religions were created by God" Does this make sense to anyone on here? I've always believed that religions were created by Man.

[theorchardkeeper]

They were created by man but supposedly from the word of god...(not that I buy it.

[CosmicG]

the word of God....like as in God directly communicated to man?

[LittleSporksBigSpork]

The belief as I understand it (having been raised and lived multiple Abrahamic faiths) is that Judaism was created by God given to Moses, the Jews, and those who would follow (Judaism), but they failed and/or their word corrupted and so Jesus was sent to correct things by God (Christianity). In Islam, Jesus is a prophet, but the Word and faith get corrupted again and it is then given to Mohammed.

So the belief is all three faiths are set down by God and end with Islam. In Bahai, there is no corruption, but all the Abrahamic prophets and others bring messages from God. All are based on the concept of revelation, the belief of a deity directly communicating to or through people to reveal Truth. All the Abrahamic faiths are revelation based as are many others, and there are many which are not.

[CosmicG]

Thank you little sporks for your detailed and interesting answer. Does anyone ever wonder who God actually is....it doesn't make sense to me why this God would have communicated his message to these prophets but not us. I like to think that God dwells in all of us and in everything around us and that we all communicate to God through our thoughts & feelings...our higher self/consciousness is our God. I believe that these prophets/religious leaders may have gained their messages from their thoughts etc and then communicate them to people. Religions are a set of values/beliefs and are believe these have come from the thoughts and feelings of humans and that people then follow those beliefs and values, thinking they have been laid down by this Master God person which may not exist. Free will is one of the greatest gifts we have as humans...to be able to think for ourselves, and to make choices and to have our own beliefs...when we follow religions, aren't we following other peoples beliefs? we then live with these limited beliefs and believe its what God wants. But then what was the purpose of free will? kinda defeats the object, dnt ya think?

[worldgonecrazy]

CosmicG I think these things are too complicated for internet discussion.

I believe that we each need to find our own way to the Divine. I don't like to use the term "God" because that word is so loaded with imagery from my Catholic upbringing, whereas the "Divine" isn't. It allows me to explore more fully.

There are those who think that my experiences with the Divine are the Devil tricking me away from the Abrahamic "God", but I have never read anything about the Abrahamic God that makes me want to believe in him or follow him in any way, shape or form.

[CosmicG]

worldgonecrazy I too think that the word God conjures up certain images that are a false representation. I personally prefer the term, "universe" myself. I think of God as energy....a certain force....a feeling...love. An energy that flows through us and everything. Yes, this is a complex subject...thank you for the comments.