Will reading more about Christianity (history, theology) make me more likely to believe in it?

Padre Pio said something like "We learn about God in books, but we find God in prayer." Don't just read about Christianity, but try to live by it too. Then you will see the light :)

Also pray the rosary!

Return to the religion of your ancestors, become one with nature. Worship spirits.

ask God so that He will give you faith. Faith is a grace from God, not something subject to our will.

varg, pls.

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wow he truly aged badly

explore Hinduism, a much more interesting and more rewarding religion. If you want a rich and deep religion there are much better options than Christianity. most posters here will just defend Christianity because it's what mommy and daddy taught them as kids

I've never understood why you can't do both. You could worship/pay your respects to spirits, just like you respect your parents for the guidance they give you. While still respecting God/Allah/Brahman as the highest

Reading this might

bigbluebook.org/part/4/

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Prove it, poolarper.

>because it's what mommy and daddy taught them as kids

And you're defending Hinduism because you're looking for another iteration of that.

no. posters here will defend christianity because the crucifixion and ressurrection did happen

>If you want a rich and deep religion
>better options
the mentality of a larper who picked his favorite religion after considering which one to larp with. go back to sacred and profane 101 and read eliade

worst post i've read today

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pathetic

I want it to be true, frens.

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the truth is on our side

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actually the opposite happens, follow these anons' advice instead

let me guess, your mom and dad told you it really happened

>theres no validity in truth if it's taught from parents to children
i converted when i was 25.

>being retarded when you were 25

fag

alright redpill me on Christianity vs Paganism

what even was the first religion?

can you really refute Christianity and disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ or are you just gonna keep throwing r/atheism arguments like "you were just raised that way!!"
Please, if Christianity is false, then I and millions of other people are wasting their lives. Prove to me that the Resurrection did not happen.

>disprove an unprovable event

On the contrary.

>prove a negative

Why spend all of this time trying to cope when you could just accept that it is pointless trying to decide. If God is real, then it is above any of our brainlet understanding to try and guess what his plan for us is. Be a good person and I mean have some god damn compassion and realize that you can't keep justifying bad behavior. Stay honest and work on what you care about. Anything else is stalling so you don't have to take action. Good luck, user. Take my advice or don't. I'm not above being misguided either.

Depends, if ur kind of warm to religion yes. If your kind of against it as is it will totally drive you away, or at least I assume so. For refference I am an athiest.

Why do you even want to believe in the first place? Are you that scared of the mortality of the soul? Do you wanna go to Heaven that badly?

If there were a god, do you relaly think that, in his infinite wisdom, he would send one (and only one) son in backwater ancient Palestine to deliver his message of salvation? Do you really think God would want to insult our intelligence by asking us to believe blindly? Isn't it curious that as science has progressed through history the number of alleged "miracles" has dwindled proportionally? Is there any criterion to establish whether Christianity is more trustworthy than Judaism, Islam, or Hinduism? Are you just supposed to have "faith" and believe? On what basis? It's wholly irrational. And every time people have dismissed rationality it never ended well. Reason and empirical evidence are the only things that ever allowed us to progress beyond the level of brute beasts, and religion asks you to forfeit both reason and evidence in the name of a dubious "faith". It's glorified wishful thinking.

Depends on what your priorities are, how you digest the information, etc.

For me? No. For others, certainly.

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you can't be this retarded. there is over a billion Hindus in the world, a billion Muslims, and a billion Christians. these religions are mutually exclusive. I can tell you with absolute certainty, tons of people are wasting their lives on this nonsense

>choosing a religion because it's interesting
that's not a really good way to get to heaven, user.

>if Christianity is false, then I and millions of other people are wasting their lives
About time you noticed. Now just realize that the antecedent of that conditional is true and, through modus ponens, reach the dismal conclusion. Better late than never.

What's your criterion for picking a religion?

Pro tip: there is none that makes sense.

People either follow the religion of their parents or pick up whatever seems trendy in this particular period of time (like Islam or Hinduism).

>cant read latin
>cant read greek
>cant read syriac
>cant read Georgen
>cant read french
>no translations
guys what am i supposed to do?
bellermines works where just translated to english last year

It depends of how your brain works and if that will satisfy it.
I will say yes, but if you read just a little bit of theology it will probably do nothing for you especially of you have no clue about philosophy.
Just read the orthodox study Bible and that will answer most questions beginners have.

Act and pretend awakens sincere faith.

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Ask God to be in your life. That will do it.

*tips fedora*

Nobody knows what side the truth is on, we just gotta have faith in whatever path we choose. It’s impossible to argue that your particular religion, not just you personally but anyone, is the ‘right one’.

Feel free to prove me wrong

May whatever you believe in bless you

Most miracles are wasted by man and ignored due to his ignorance. I watched a man in jacksonville win 140 grand on a table game at 2am on christmas eve, stay at the table and lose it all. I've never gambled since.

it is possible to argue, but its true that ultimately everything riles on presupposition, that have to accepted on faith.

Read about the lives of the saints, and see why and how each of them subjected their entire being to the religion. Write down the ones that standout most, and start reading their literary works (that is if they have any). I recommend St. Thomas Aquinas' "My Way of Life/Summa Theologica", St. Augustine
"Confessions", and Therese of Lisieux "Story of a soul".

>and Therese of Lisieux "Story of a soul".
The part about her sneaking away during the Coliseum tour to pick up rocks behind the gated areas was 2cute.
I know cute probably isn't the best word to describe the memoirs of a saint, but everything in there is so earnest and simple. Puts a smile on your face.

No, less likely. The Bible is a preposterous book.

That book is the best anti depressant ever. There is a reason why she is coined as "the little sister of the trenches", all the foot soldiers during ww1 were reading this book just to get by, and they all loved her.

>Therese of Lisieux "Story of a soul".

Read Eusebius of Caesarea and find out.

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Same, but the older I get, the less convinced I am

why the fuck would you want it to be true?
What horrible people you must be? Sadists

If Christianity is true, then the vast majority of people who were and will be, are or will be in immense suffering and pain for eternity, mostly for something trivial (eg dying before baptism, following the wrong version of christianity, having a wank and not performing a forgiveness ritual before death)
Go onto LiveLeak and watch some people being tortured by the cartels, imagine that pain and multiply it by 1000, that is what you wish upon most of mankind
All because of your want for some selfish, individual 'meaning' through faith

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Did the opposite for me. I started reading a lot with an interest in Christianity, now after much research i cant take the religion or the bible seriously at all anymore.

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100% this. Yea Forums is filled with new converts, unfortunately for them once they start to read out of their safe Catholic bubble, they begin to realise its all a load of shit. They'll recommend Catholic works on the truth of Jesus' resurrection, and refrain from reading any evidence to the contrary, but they eventually will. And then they lose faith in the nonsense. Most can't cope and end up raping children.

This. Pagan Catholicism is the final redpill

Sure, part of the beauty of the faith is that it gives material things "meaning", but more than that, it allows for transcendence and "ultimate" beauty. It allowed for the early apostles and disciples to be able to find meaning and transcendence inside the suffering and evil that you describe.

The suffering I describe is part of the faith
By wishing Christianity to be true, you wish for hell to exist
A place of far worse suffering than anything found on earth
And a place where the vast majority of people go

The most relevant works on the history of that area at that time I've seen are Tim O'Neill's on the possibility of early Christians making a religion based on a Jesus that slowly became more divine. It wasn't any stronger than the Christian claim of the Resurrection as historical fact, though quite credible if your metaphysics points you that way.

Christians don't wish for hell to exist (aside from some spiteful individuals), it's just required by the existence of a heaven that can be rejected.
I forgot to add, in , what more convincing works would you point to?

I'm not saying that Christians want hell
I'm saying that by wanting Christianity to be true as a non-believer, it entails that one wants hell to be true

you can get saved today user and you will be enlightened. Accept him and pray for wisdom in Jesus' name. Pic related and God bless.

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You're committing a sin against the Holy Spirit here: presumption.
Also you've forgotten about baptism.

>proselytic religions

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I could read the entire body of written works on the subject and it wouldn't erase the knowledge that there's other gods and none of them care about your anus

just read the kjv bible, the holy spirit will teach you. start with the book of john and finish the new testament. you can jump to the poetic book (pslams, proversbs, job, etc) if you ever get bored.

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it kinds sounds like you're a catholic which is a false religion that doesn't stick to the scripture. you don't need baptism to be saved let alone the laughable infant baptism. baptism occurs as a result of being saved, not the other way around, if you get saved, you will want to be baptized, but it needs to be according to your own will which infants are unable to form.

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OLDER, MORE ACCURATE MANUSCRIPTS LACK VERSES THAT SCRIBES ADDED FOR CLARIFICATION! STOP THE PRESSES! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

kvetch more, niv literally indirectly calls Jesus satan, all modern versions of bibles are corrupt.

youtube.com/watch?v=kFtI_mVOXbQ

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I'll grant you that America's history with initiatic mystery schools is curious, but the NRSV and other translations are perfectly valid my dude. Don't waste your life on shitty YouTube conspiracy videos.

>catholic which is a false religion that doesn't stick to the scripture. you don't need baptism to be saved
Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 2:12-13, 1 Peter 3:21.

>let alone the laughable infant baptism. baptism occurs as a result of being saved, not the other way around, if you get saved, you will want to be baptized, but it needs to be according to your own will which infants are unable to form.
If infant baptism is "laughable," so is infant circumcision, yet Scripture obviously teaches circumcision on the eighth day.

>kvetch more, niv literally indirectly calls Jesus satan, all modern versions of bibles are corrupt.
The NIV correctly renders Isaiah 12:14 as "morning star." THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT THE WORD LUCIFER MEANS. Jesus gives himself the same exact name in Revelation 22:16. Get over it. It doesn't mean they're calling Jesus Satan.

*Isaiah 14:12

Diarmaid MacCulloch might do the trick

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The most interesting stories are from the number of athiests that have come to faith.
blog.drwile.com/category/atheists-who-became-christians/

For me it was the opposite.

again, you can say with absolute factual accuracy that billions of people alive today are following a false religion with the utmost faith and fervor (and again, even most Christians are factually wrong considering the contradicting denominations). the most likely explanation is that they are all wrong, and for the same reason (religions originate from man, not from anything divine). I think you need a little more substance to support belief than "it feels right"

>I think you need a little more substance to support belief than "it feels right"
The proof is there if you look, but you're not going to be able to find it because your approach is wrong. Those with an analytical mind rarely jump to conclusions. They are knowledgeable about their subject and thorough in looking at all the facts before making a decision.
When all you have is "the most likely explanation is that they are all wrong" shows a lack of research. Start with a single thread and pull at it. Start with the stories of those raised from the dead. If Christianity is real surely there has to be at the very least a mere handful of those stories that can be researched. Take it a bit further than a google search, you may turn up something, but only if you have an analytical approach. Otherwise you'll just be looking for accounts that support your bias.

Those are all Anglican and Protestant translations

>Originally a pro-choice activist, Nathanson gained national attention as one of the founding members of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (later renamed the National Abortion Rights Action League, and now known as NARAL Pro-Choice America). He worked with Betty Friedan and others for the legalization of abortion in the United States. Their efforts essentially succeeded with the Roe v Wade decision.

>Nathanson grew up Jewish and for more than ten years after he became pro-life he described himself as a "Jewish atheist". In 1996 he converted to Catholicism through the efforts of the Rev. C. John McCloskey. In December 1996, Nathanson was baptized by John Cardinal O'Connor in a private Mass with a group of friends in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. He also received Confirmation and first Communion from the cardinal. When asked why he converted to Roman Catholicism, he stated that "no religion matches the special role for forgiveness that is afforded by the Catholic Church."[7]

>Referring to his previous work as an abortion provider and abortion rights activist, he wrote in his 1996 autobiography Hand of God, "I am one of those who helped usher in this barbaric age."[1] Nathanson developed what he called the "vector theory of life", which states that from the moment of conception, there exists "a self-directed force of life that, if not interrupted, will lead to the birth of a human baby."[1]
>He stated that the numbers he once cited for NARAL concerning the number of deaths linked to illegal abortions were "false figures."[5][6]

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The opposite

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>all gods are real, dude, you can be a Christian Pagan
Inquisitor, grab the torture tools!

Precedent says yes

there are lots of stories of reincarnation or memories of a past life, does this support reincarnation religions? it is factual to say that human societies create religions out of fictional stories as a function of human societal cohesion. I understand there is pressure to buy into these stories to feel like you are part of a tribe or group, but if you take an objective look, it's really all part of the same game, fictional myths emerging to bolster group cohesion and then raised to the level of religion to cement the tribe together

The more I studied the less I believed.

>explore Hinduism
LOL

And now people don't respect you anymore.

This. Once you get to Numbers and realize half of it is just ancient Jewish bean-counting and once you get to Judges and see its a comedy of errors where everyone's improbably retarded, then you realize its so alleged canonicity as the inerrant word of God almighty is thoroughly dubious.

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do it, once you get started you'll be praising Vishnu in no time

>Will reading more about Christianity (history, theology) make me more likely to believe in it?
Yes, read Augustine and Chesterton.

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In the beginning, yes, but you'll soon see how faulty it is. About that time, people will reccomend you Christian theology, which is just damage control since it tries to take your attention away from it's faults by long, pointless and dry arguments.