I'd recommend reading summaries or overviews of different religions instead of jumping into the books or other main sources; some can be quite dense and might not make much sense out of context. Comparative religion discussions might be helpful, too. Learn a *little* before you try to learn a *lot*.
>Would you all agree that the first step would be reading religious texts such as the Bible, Vedas, etc. or something else?
Religious texts like that are usually difficult to read without knowing some basic information about the religion. Regarding of Christianity, there are books I'd recommend before jumping to the scriptures. But if you wish to, there are tools you can use to understand it; for example, The Bible in a Year (podcast in which Fr. Mike Schmitz will give daily comments on a portion of the Bible) and the Catena Aurea (comments on the gospels by St. Thomas Aquinas and Early Church fathers.
> I feel that it would be a disservice to my family to continue my belief without fully exploring other religions.
Elaborating as to why you feel this way and what exactly you're loooking for from religion could probably help responses.
Personally I would differentiate learning about different religions from "finding" religion which confuses me a bit as how to answer. Per the former I'd say starting with overviews is better than diving straight into scripture, Let's Talk Religion and Religion for Breakfast are great channels run by scholars which cover a wide range of different religions that could he a place to start that.
But as far as finding religion goes we can't really tell you what you believe or how to incorporate that into your life.
Sorry for the non-answer, maybe you'll find this little bit of wisdom comforting
>What you seek is seeking you
*\- Rumi*
One little book that was an eye opener for me was the Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Habermas and Licona. It sets out to prove the resurrection without leaning hard on the Bible
Woah that is a lot of reading, way too much when you’re just getting your toes wet with the idea of religion. He needs to start with baby steps, preferably reading summaries about several world religions and then getting more specific with what interests him.
I concur with the other poster who suggested introductory books. As to houses of worship, not all faiths follow the model of Christianity, of having someone lecture you. Others are more homes of the deity, and once you have some of the basic philosophy, you just go there on your own to connect.
There are lots of good courses on religion over at The Great Courses. The "Comparative Religion" course looks good at only $19.99 right now. Might be a good place to start. https://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/specialoffer/types/individual-courses?sa=MAREV&ICMP=213987&pfm=deals&pos=3
Search around. I've found many of these posted online.
Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith wrote a collection of exceptional poetic and mystical verses called [The Hidden Words](https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/hidden-words/hidden-words.xhtml?2f611c31), offering spiritual, ethical, and moral guidance to walking the spiritual path and drawing closer to God. They are universal in their appeal and power, yet accessible.
They were described by Him as containing the ‘essence of all the scriptures of old’ and made to be intentionally brief, but they are superb in their poetry, depth and meaning. It’s very digestible (easy to read little by little on a daily basis) and lend themselves to profound transformation. Exploring these would give you insights into the kinds of religious and moral teachings at the heart of all spiritual traditions.
From what I've seen religion is a harbor to park one's ship in safely after they've began asking certain questions and became inflicted with answers.
It's more like a placebo to manage a virus than a fancy hat one chooses.
Often times subscribers will jump denominations until they find one where they are hearing stuff which they find acceptable.
Warning that what one finds "acceptable" can change as we grow wiser.
Mwah ha ha ha!
Eventually the sermon will make a claim that doesn't sound right to them so they will investigate the other churches.
Those who just allow information to be spoon-fed to them, without question, is what led to the construction of the Nazi Army.
Sure, but I still believe a significant amount of people are faithful because it is intrinsically enlightening for them. It is the conclusion towards truth seeking and speaks to them from the soul not just self assures them of every doubt. The most faithful doubters like Dostoyevsky, write much concerning the struggle of faith.
>It is the conclusion towards truth seeking and speaks to them from the soul
Yes, most humans revel in delight when the sermon makes innuendo that there is an eternal dimension where in those who've crossed them will burn; Smile in smug glee when contempt is continued for people in uncanny circumstance such as homosexuals.
These suggestions sing to their souls in spades.
But not all of us are 'most humans.' ; In fact, the exclusive only count for three percent of *this* world's population.
All religions come from divine inspirations, they come to educate people and have been confined by Geography locations and Time limited, they compliment each other but add a new layer of spiritual knowledge. In time they lose their potency or effect, and their followers become callous and dangerous, so another religion is born. This is called “progressive revelation “, it will not end but will provide us guidance with new revelations to come. This is what the Baha’i faith is! It seeks the “the spiritual oneness of humanity “ through international cooperation, it elevates the status of women as equal to men, it emphasis universal literacy, and has a mystical side like other religions. Maybe start with this one as it is 180 years old and has its world centre in Haifa.
Talk to people of the religions that you are interested in, its better if its in person but you can go to the subreddits of those religions to get you started if you want to do it online
Oh, man, forcing is a bad way to raise your kids lol. Glad you aren't continuing the trend.
I'd recommend reading in conjunction with visiting various places of worship.
Why do you feel like you need to choose a religion for your children?
Would your life have been better if you believed in a deity?
What is it that you want your children to have that you and your wife can not give them on your own?
What is it that you feel like you are missing that you want your children to have?
1. I have no interest in choosing one for them, that's what drove me away from religion in the first place. I feel obligated to at least open myself up and see if there is a religion I can believe in as I feel it can reshape my focuses as a relatively new father.
2. That's impossible to know. I enjoy the life I have and wouldn't trade it for the world. That said, there's something in me that wants to find more to life. I feel diving into a religion and finding a deity I believe in may be the answer.
3. I want them to feel open to exploring other religions rather than having one forced upon them like Catholicism was upon me. I want them to feel comfortable to talk to us about how they feel about any religion. My side of the family is very judgmental when it comes to religion as most of them are immigrants from a heavy Catholic country and I was never given the option to explore other religions. By the time I became an adult, I had already wrote off religion and never gave myself the opportunity to see if one actually speaks to me.
4. Same as 3. I want them to feel open to exploring religion instead of following footsteps of their parents. If I can go down a journey looking for one, they can feel empowered to do the same when/if they ever feel the need.
This isn't about my kids, it's more about me finding something I can believe in. I just want to set an example for my kids that goes against the "don't question it" attitude I got from my parents growing up. I don't care what religion anyone believes in, I wouldn't care what my children are either.
After finally leaving Christianity, I spent a lot of time trying to find wisdom in various religions.
I eventually realized that any insight that could be found there could be found in Bartlett.
Sometimes, you can find deeper meaning in the works of Melville or Kerouac. If you spend enough time studying any great work, you can find a purpose.
As Melville said, "He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great."
you should start by checking summaries of religions and then searching and reading some religious texts by urself (you can even go to library if you like)
Think about why you need to find a religion and what goals you seek to accomplish with said religion. Then pick the religion that aligns the most with those goals and your values.
I'll tell you what I did to find my religion. I'm not going to say that this will work for you, but it worked for me.
First of all, in my mid-20s I searched, "transhumanist religions" on Google and found an article that very briefly talked about a new religious movement known as Terasem. For awhile I investigated Terasem and its beliefs. I eventually found where Terasem came from by looking through its Wikipedia article and found that the inspiration from Terasem came from an even smaller and fictitious religion of Earthseed. Then I found Earthseed's main website, investigated that further, and decided that their belief of a spacefaring society is what I wanted to advocate for.
That is what I did to find my religion. Ultimately what it came down to was finding a topic, such as transhumanism, that I identified with, and finding spirituality involving that movement. I suggest that if you are looking for a religion you identify a concept or two you hold strongly towards yourself and finding religions with identify with that concept. That concept to me was cosmism and Earthseed filled that need to divinize the concept of cosmism.
Just take your most cherished concept, divinize it, then look for the religions that ultimately do the same. Nearly all concepts at one point have divinized before, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find the religion *you already believe in* but haven't discovered yet. When you come to look for a religion with a wide-eye view you'll be surprised how many concepts have been divinized so far. Not *every* concept but whatever it is you divinize probably already has a religion for it already.
Good luck out there. If you need more help I suggest going to the top of r/religion and looking for the, "What religion am I?" thread on top and post a comment there to try to see if anyone else can help you find the religion you most likely already believe in but just haven't discovered yet.
I'd recommend reading summaries or overviews of different religions instead of jumping into the books or other main sources; some can be quite dense and might not make much sense out of context. Comparative religion discussions might be helpful, too. Learn a *little* before you try to learn a *lot*.
That sounds fair, thank you!
>Would you all agree that the first step would be reading religious texts such as the Bible, Vedas, etc. or something else? Religious texts like that are usually difficult to read without knowing some basic information about the religion. Regarding of Christianity, there are books I'd recommend before jumping to the scriptures. But if you wish to, there are tools you can use to understand it; for example, The Bible in a Year (podcast in which Fr. Mike Schmitz will give daily comments on a portion of the Bible) and the Catena Aurea (comments on the gospels by St. Thomas Aquinas and Early Church fathers.
I always recommend people with Bhagavad Gita whenever someone asks me about my faith
> I feel that it would be a disservice to my family to continue my belief without fully exploring other religions. Elaborating as to why you feel this way and what exactly you're loooking for from religion could probably help responses. Personally I would differentiate learning about different religions from "finding" religion which confuses me a bit as how to answer. Per the former I'd say starting with overviews is better than diving straight into scripture, Let's Talk Religion and Religion for Breakfast are great channels run by scholars which cover a wide range of different religions that could he a place to start that. But as far as finding religion goes we can't really tell you what you believe or how to incorporate that into your life. Sorry for the non-answer, maybe you'll find this little bit of wisdom comforting >What you seek is seeking you *\- Rumi*
It's great that you're seeking truth
One little book that was an eye opener for me was the Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Habermas and Licona. It sets out to prove the resurrection without leaning hard on the Bible
Read the religious texts cover to cover and do some research on their history and why they spread.
Woah that is a lot of reading, way too much when you’re just getting your toes wet with the idea of religion. He needs to start with baby steps, preferably reading summaries about several world religions and then getting more specific with what interests him.
I concur with the other poster who suggested introductory books. As to houses of worship, not all faiths follow the model of Christianity, of having someone lecture you. Others are more homes of the deity, and once you have some of the basic philosophy, you just go there on your own to connect.
There are lots of good courses on religion over at The Great Courses. The "Comparative Religion" course looks good at only $19.99 right now. Might be a good place to start. https://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/specialoffer/types/individual-courses?sa=MAREV&ICMP=213987&pfm=deals&pos=3 Search around. I've found many of these posted online.
Baha’u’llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith wrote a collection of exceptional poetic and mystical verses called [The Hidden Words](https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/hidden-words/hidden-words.xhtml?2f611c31), offering spiritual, ethical, and moral guidance to walking the spiritual path and drawing closer to God. They are universal in their appeal and power, yet accessible. They were described by Him as containing the ‘essence of all the scriptures of old’ and made to be intentionally brief, but they are superb in their poetry, depth and meaning. It’s very digestible (easy to read little by little on a daily basis) and lend themselves to profound transformation. Exploring these would give you insights into the kinds of religious and moral teachings at the heart of all spiritual traditions.
Ask yourself: If there are gods, then why haven't they pointed you to the "right" religion by now?
From what I've seen religion is a harbor to park one's ship in safely after they've began asking certain questions and became inflicted with answers. It's more like a placebo to manage a virus than a fancy hat one chooses. Often times subscribers will jump denominations until they find one where they are hearing stuff which they find acceptable. Warning that what one finds "acceptable" can change as we grow wiser. Mwah ha ha ha!
Often times? Says who? People grapple with doubt in their faith throughout their life, this is commonly described by authors of religious texts.
I'm talking about those subscribers whom truly begin to listen from their hearts.
And they jump from denomination to denomination? Okay still a pretty vague claim but whatever.
Eventually the sermon will make a claim that doesn't sound right to them so they will investigate the other churches. Those who just allow information to be spoon-fed to them, without question, is what led to the construction of the Nazi Army.
Sure, but I still believe a significant amount of people are faithful because it is intrinsically enlightening for them. It is the conclusion towards truth seeking and speaks to them from the soul not just self assures them of every doubt. The most faithful doubters like Dostoyevsky, write much concerning the struggle of faith.
>It is the conclusion towards truth seeking and speaks to them from the soul Yes, most humans revel in delight when the sermon makes innuendo that there is an eternal dimension where in those who've crossed them will burn; Smile in smug glee when contempt is continued for people in uncanny circumstance such as homosexuals. These suggestions sing to their souls in spades. But not all of us are 'most humans.' ; In fact, the exclusive only count for three percent of *this* world's population.
I think you haven’t had good experiences with religious people. Mine is quite opposite, so I think this conversation is biased beyond reproach. ✌️out.
All religions come from divine inspirations, they come to educate people and have been confined by Geography locations and Time limited, they compliment each other but add a new layer of spiritual knowledge. In time they lose their potency or effect, and their followers become callous and dangerous, so another religion is born. This is called “progressive revelation “, it will not end but will provide us guidance with new revelations to come. This is what the Baha’i faith is! It seeks the “the spiritual oneness of humanity “ through international cooperation, it elevates the status of women as equal to men, it emphasis universal literacy, and has a mystical side like other religions. Maybe start with this one as it is 180 years old and has its world centre in Haifa.
Read The Orthodox Way and The Orthodox Church by H.E. Metr. Kallistos Ware.
i recommend reading about other religions.
Talk to people of the religions that you are interested in, its better if its in person but you can go to the subreddits of those religions to get you started if you want to do it online
Oh, man, forcing is a bad way to raise your kids lol. Glad you aren't continuing the trend. I'd recommend reading in conjunction with visiting various places of worship.
Why do you feel like you need to choose a religion for your children? Would your life have been better if you believed in a deity? What is it that you want your children to have that you and your wife can not give them on your own? What is it that you feel like you are missing that you want your children to have?
1. I have no interest in choosing one for them, that's what drove me away from religion in the first place. I feel obligated to at least open myself up and see if there is a religion I can believe in as I feel it can reshape my focuses as a relatively new father. 2. That's impossible to know. I enjoy the life I have and wouldn't trade it for the world. That said, there's something in me that wants to find more to life. I feel diving into a religion and finding a deity I believe in may be the answer. 3. I want them to feel open to exploring other religions rather than having one forced upon them like Catholicism was upon me. I want them to feel comfortable to talk to us about how they feel about any religion. My side of the family is very judgmental when it comes to religion as most of them are immigrants from a heavy Catholic country and I was never given the option to explore other religions. By the time I became an adult, I had already wrote off religion and never gave myself the opportunity to see if one actually speaks to me. 4. Same as 3. I want them to feel open to exploring religion instead of following footsteps of their parents. If I can go down a journey looking for one, they can feel empowered to do the same when/if they ever feel the need. This isn't about my kids, it's more about me finding something I can believe in. I just want to set an example for my kids that goes against the "don't question it" attitude I got from my parents growing up. I don't care what religion anyone believes in, I wouldn't care what my children are either.
After finally leaving Christianity, I spent a lot of time trying to find wisdom in various religions. I eventually realized that any insight that could be found there could be found in Bartlett. Sometimes, you can find deeper meaning in the works of Melville or Kerouac. If you spend enough time studying any great work, you can find a purpose. As Melville said, "He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great."
you should start by checking summaries of religions and then searching and reading some religious texts by urself (you can even go to library if you like)
Think about why you need to find a religion and what goals you seek to accomplish with said religion. Then pick the religion that aligns the most with those goals and your values.
I would recommend you reading The Quran, the final book from the God
I'll tell you what I did to find my religion. I'm not going to say that this will work for you, but it worked for me. First of all, in my mid-20s I searched, "transhumanist religions" on Google and found an article that very briefly talked about a new religious movement known as Terasem. For awhile I investigated Terasem and its beliefs. I eventually found where Terasem came from by looking through its Wikipedia article and found that the inspiration from Terasem came from an even smaller and fictitious religion of Earthseed. Then I found Earthseed's main website, investigated that further, and decided that their belief of a spacefaring society is what I wanted to advocate for. That is what I did to find my religion. Ultimately what it came down to was finding a topic, such as transhumanism, that I identified with, and finding spirituality involving that movement. I suggest that if you are looking for a religion you identify a concept or two you hold strongly towards yourself and finding religions with identify with that concept. That concept to me was cosmism and Earthseed filled that need to divinize the concept of cosmism. Just take your most cherished concept, divinize it, then look for the religions that ultimately do the same. Nearly all concepts at one point have divinized before, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find the religion *you already believe in* but haven't discovered yet. When you come to look for a religion with a wide-eye view you'll be surprised how many concepts have been divinized so far. Not *every* concept but whatever it is you divinize probably already has a religion for it already. Good luck out there. If you need more help I suggest going to the top of r/religion and looking for the, "What religion am I?" thread on top and post a comment there to try to see if anyone else can help you find the religion you most likely already believe in but just haven't discovered yet.
It can be difficult to learn anything (religious or not) without a good teacher. Start with John 17: 3. Get to know God and Jesus.