1] If so, then what Religion?
2] Does it matter which Religion?
3] Does it matter which God?
Questions 1-3 all have a direct bearing on the original question "Is Religion a Part of Your Life?" Questions 1-3 define the How, What, Which and Does it matter aspects of Religion in your life.
There are at least three main Religions that impact our lives on a daily basis that also have a commonality:
1] Christianity
2] Judaism
3] Islam
The Commonality is that all three revolve around one central character and it is not God, it is the ancestral father figure Abraham. It is the ancestral parentage that is part of the driving force behind these three World Religions. The belief in God is a side issue in all Three Religions.
I said that "The belief in God is a side issue in all Three Religions." because if each practiced it's positive religious tenants, there would not be such a negative impact today on our daily lives, but their beliefs would result in a positive impact on the lives of the entire world.
Is Religion a Part of Your Life?
1] If so, then what Religion?
I will begin with Christianity and the positive religious teachings found in Exodus 20, that are also shared by Judaism:
Exodus 20:1 And Elohim spake all these words, saying,
2 I am YAHWEH thy Elohim, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
I 3 Thou shalt have no other elohim before me.
II 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I YAHWEH thy Elohim am a jealous EL, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
III 7 Thou shalt not take the name of YAHWEH thy Elohim in vain; for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
IV. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of YAHWEH thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days YAHWEH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore YAHWEH blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
V. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which YAHWEH thy Elohim giveth thee.
VI. 13 Thou shalt not kill.
VII. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
VIII. 15 Thou shalt not steal.
IX. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
X. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
The Christian ideas and concepts found in these Ten precepts have generated both positive and negative impacts on the lives of the world.
The positive aspects from living according to the Ten Commandments should be Peace and Tranquility, yet that is not the case, even among professing Christians.
The Negative aspects are best exemplified by the divisions within Christianity which resulted the many and varied Christian sects, cults, and denominations.
If profess a belief in Christianity do you accept the Ten Commandments as an incumbent part of your life? If you accept the Ten Commandments as an incumbent part of your life, Do you make an honest effort to apply the Ten Commandments in your everyday life, down to and including each facet of your life that has a bearing and effect on the lives of those around you?
If not, What is your justification? What is your excuse?
If you profess a belief in Christianity does that not include a belief in a resurrected Messiah?
A Messiah, who if the records are correct, lived and applied every one of the Ten Commandments in every aspect of his life and in every aspect of his impact in the lives of others.
I will pause to explain the use of the following Names - Yahweh - Yahshua.
The terms - LORD - MASTER - commonly found in most Christian Bibles were titles derived and applied from the English Aristocracy of the time of King James and - GOD - the generic title for Deity.
In the Old Testament Scriptures where you find LORD in all caps, it is substituted for the Name of the Hebrew Deity - YAHWEH
Where you find GOD in all caps it is substituted for the Title of the Hebrew Deity - EL(singular) Elohim (plural) and for another Title of the Hebrew Deity Adon(singular) Adonai(plural)
In the New Testament Scriptures the same substitutions follow the pattern of the Greek LXX Old Testament Scriptures with one Exception the name - JESUS - does not appear in the LXX.
JESUS(English) the letter "J" prior to 15th Century CE did not exist in English
Iesous(Greek) there is no consensus on Religious Hebrews naming their children in Greek.
Yahshua(Hebrew). YAH is short for YAHWEH - SHUA - means Salvation.
Emmanuel(Greek transliteration of the Hebrew - Immanuel - meaning "with us is God."
I will add to this post as I have time
