Hi everyone - I found the results of this Oxford study really interesting:
[url]Belief in God is part of human nature[/url]
Loved this bit:
One of the studies, from Oxford, concluded that children below the age of five found it easier to believe in some “superhuman” properties than to understand human limitations.
Children were asked whether their mother would know the contents of a closed box. Three-year-olds believed that their mother and God would always know the contents, but by the age of four, children start to understand that their mothers were not omniscient.
:p
Love and peace,
Judy
That's fascinating, Judy - thank you! I liked this bit:
The co-director of the project, Professor Roger Trigg, from the University of Oxford, said the research showed that religion was “not just something for a peculiar few to do on Sundays instead of playing golf”.
“We have gathered a body of evidence that suggests that religion is a common fact of human nature across different societies,” he said.
“This suggests that attempts to suppress religion are likely to be short-lived as human thought seems to be rooted to religious concepts, such as the existence of supernatural agents or gods, and the possibility of an afterlife or pre-life.”
I find it especially interesting, as I grew up in a completely non-religious family and a very secular wider community, and yet from a young age, I always had this instinctive feeling that there was a God, and a loving and trustworthy one at that. Even when I went through a long period of scepticism in my teens, I could never bring myself to completely reject the idea of a higher power somewhere.
Then when I finally did find a spiritual teaching that convinced me, it really was like something I'd known all along, deep down, but never understood before. So to me, that goes to prove how natural a sense of the divine - and of our spiritual nature - is to all of us. 🙂
All love, Charis
Belief and God are two opposing directions. Don't take any notice of me! Please carry on believing
Belief and God are two opposing directions. Don't take any notice of me! Please carry on believing
Hello Jnani,
Now if you don't want people to take any notice of you, why post an intriguing comment?? :p
Actually, if you mean what I'm assuming you mean, we're on the same page here. I don't like to use the term "belief" when it comes to God, or to spirituality and religion in general - my own or anyone else's. As far as I know, the word "belief" originally signified absolute trust and conviction; it derives from the same root as "love"! Most people would probably agree that's an appropriate attitude towards the Divine. But now "belief" tends to mean something more like acceptance without proof - which, as I assume you're indicating too, doesn't truly bring us closer to God at all.
Mary Baker Eddy, who founded the Christian denomination I belong to, frequently made the point in her writings that we can know God only through spiritual understanding, not blind belief. Here's a quote from her:
Faith, if it be mere belief, is as a pendulum swinging between nothing and something, having no fixity. Faith, advanced to spiritual understanding, is the evidence gained from Spirit, which rebukes sin of every kind and establishes the claims of God.
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 23)
All love, Charis
Hello Jnani,
Now if you don't want people to take any notice of you, why post an intriguing comment?? :p
Actually, if you mean what I'm assuming you mean, we're on the same page here. I don't like to use the term "belief" when it comes to God, or to spirituality and religion in general - my own or anyone else's. As far as I know, the word "belief" originally signified absolute trust and conviction; it derives from the same root as "love"! Most people would probably agree that's an appropriate attitude towards the Divine. But now "belief" tends to mean something more like acceptance without proof - which, as I assume you're indicating too, doesn't truly bring us closer to God at all.
All love, Charis
Hello Charis
Said it because it is intriguing yet it is the most simplest thing ever. Of course we are on the same page line word, letter! You know what I mean.
Having a girraffe!!!
Hello Charis
Said it because it is intriguing yet it is the most simplest thing ever. Of course we are on the same page line word, letter! You know what I mean.
Having a girraffe!!!
A giraffe...? Ah - rhyming slang! You mean a... :rollaugh:
C 😉
Belief in Human Nature is part of God
Belief in Human Nature is part of God !?
A belief in life after death / gods / general spirituality is not the same as a belief in God. (Substitute whatever word you prefer for 'belief'.)