A Personal Religious Philosophy: Faith & Belief, Religion & Morality, Final Take

This week we will complete our impromptu study of religion, that is, we'll finish Paper 101. The Real Nature of Religion.

So far here is some of what we have discovered:

Religion lives and prospers by faith and insight, eventually resulting in the consciousness of God and assurance of everlasting life. 

True religion cannot be observed or understood from the outside. 

Genuine spiritual faith engenders moral progress, sublime trust in God, profound courage, inexplicable poise, and unswerving faith-in spite of adversity, calamity, disappointment, suffering, injustice, and defeat. 

A personal religious philosophy is derived from both inner and outer experiences. Social status, economic conditions, education, moral trends, politics, racial tendencies, religious teachings, temperament, intellect, vocation, marriage, and kin all influence personal standards of life. 

Belief becomes faith when it motivates life and shapes behavior. Living religious faith is more than a set of noble beliefs; it is a living experience concerned with spiritual meanings, divine ideals, and supreme values. Faith is God-knowing and man-serving. Living faith never fosters bigotry, persecution, or intolerance.

This week we'll explore the final section of Paper 101, Section 10: Religion as Man's Liberator. Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." 

101:10.7.Religion effectually cures man's sense of idealistic isolation or spiritual loneliness; it enfranchises the believer as a son of God, a citizen of a new and meaningful universe. Religion assures man that, in following the gleam of righteousness discernible in his soul, he is thereby identifying himself with the plan of the Infinite and the purpose of the Eternal. Such a liberated soul immediately begins to feel at home in this new universe, his universe.

We hope you can join in!