Catholicism remains the largest religion in Latin America, and majorities of Catholics in all three nations surveyed think it is necessary to believe in God to be moral. Strikingly, both Russia and Ukraine have seen an evolution of opinion on this question, but in opposite directions.
Russia has seen an 11 percentage point increase since in the share who say belief in God is necessary to have good values, while Ukraine has seen an point drop. Aside from Russia, only two other countries — Bulgaria and Japan — have seen significant increases in the share of their publics who hold this opinion 17 points and 10 points, respectively. In addition to Ukraine, four other countries — Mexico, Turkey, South Korea and the United States — have seen significant decreases in the percentage of their publics who say belief in God is necessary to be moral.
Overall, respondents in nations with lower gross domestic product are more likely to say that belief in God is necessary to be moral and have good values. In other words, there is an inverse relationship between GDP per capita and the percentage of the public that draws this connection between belief in God and morality.
Statistical analysis shows a strong inverse correlation, with a coefficient of This pattern is consistent with prior research that has found that Europeans tend to be less religious than people in many other parts of the world. On an individual basis, those who earn at or above the median income threshold in most nations are significantly less likely to say that belief in God is necessary for morality.
The largest difference between those at different income levels is in the U. Most countries surveyed display generational gaps on the question of whether belief in God is necessary in order to be moral and have good values.
In keeping with past analyses that found younger adults are generally less religious by several measures, to year-olds are the least likely to say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral.
In a majority of the 34 countries surveyed, those ages 50 and older are significantly more likely than those ages 18 to 29 to think that belief in God is necessary for morality. The gap between adults ages 50 and older and adults ages 18 to 29 is equal to or greater than 20 percentage points in South Korea, Greece, Argentina, the U.
Age gaps on this question are present in nearly every region of the world. In Nigeria, Tunisia, Turkey and Brazil, at least seven-in-ten people in every age group agree that belief in God is necessary to morality. However, in the Czech Republic and Sweden, no more than two-in-ten people in every age group take that position. In no country surveyed were to year-olds more likely than older age cohorts to say that it is necessary to believe in God to be moral.
It is impossible to say that he was just a good teacher, because he claimed to be more than that. The simple answer might be that Jesus died because he was a preacher of radical ideas, who disturbed the religious and political leaders of his time, exposed their hypocrisy, aroused their jealousy - and so was condemned to death on a cross. It ignores the fact that Jesus willingly laid down his own life, that no-one took it from him. He died so that we might live.
He became sin so that we might be freed from sin. We all know that forgiveness can be costly and it was costly for God to forgive us. It cost God his own Son. We all do things that we know are wrong. Those things stop us from having a proper relationship with God. It is only as we approach God and ask for forgiveness that we can start that new relationship. As we begin to understand what that means, we also become aware of the love which God has for us and for all of his creation.
The popular view of the Church is that it is outdated, irrelevant, perhaps even reactionary. The boring sermon, the endless fundraising and the untidy churchyard are common images. Here people are concerned about the world we live in and sincere in wanting to discover what it means to be a follower of Jesus today. These are not perfect people, but a community of flawed individuals asking God each week for forgiveness. Going to Church regularly allows us to learn more about the Christian faith and deepen our commitment to God.
It is possible to be a Christian without going to church, but it would be like cutting off your oxygen supply when climbing Everest. Much better to have the support and encouragement of others. You may ask the person what keeps them from believing in God or, better yet, you may live your faith for all to see. Not in a boastful way, but live in a manner that others see you would like to share the Good News, while respecting where others may be in their journey here on Earth.
As Pope Francis mentions time and time again, our encounter with others must begin with compassion and mercy. We all are invited to be realists, for the reality is Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The reality is God so loved the world that he sent us his only Son. God loves us more than you and I can imagine. Questions about the Catholic faith deserve serious answers—especially when they are posed by children. In Ask the Bishop , Bishop Jeffrey Monforton thoughtfully responds to important questions asked by kindergarteners through high schoolers.
July 20, By Bishop Jeffrey Monforton. You Might Also Like Questions about the Catholic faith deserve serious answers—especially when they are posed by children.
We could focus on the chain of causes: one thing happens, then another, then another. Some people find this line of reasoning persuasive, and claim there had to be a god-like being to start everything up, otherwise we have an infinite regress of causes.
Aquinas would say the billiard ball only exists because there is a game of billiards. And then the game itself exists only because of something else, namely the people who invented it. And these people only exist because their being also derives from something else. The existence of all these things depends on something else. So again, we get an infinite regress.
There must be something that stops this chain of dependencies, and that is God who is being itself, not derived from or dependent on anything else. That is not scientifically testable evidence for the existence of God. Rather, it aims to show that there must be something beyond the realm in which science applies, something which makes possible all of our experience. In that sense, God is not just the first domino that started the chain of causes, but God continues to sustain all things as the ground of their existence.
This is an abstract argument, and not what the questioner was looking for. Instead, God is what makes that realm of things possible in the first place. Now, this is not at all to say that our experience is irrelevant to our beliefs about God. But what it does is flip the order of the relationship, between our experiences and our belief in God. Many people, like those asking the original question, seem to think that our experiences ought to serve as the ground for belief in God.
This means that we interpret our experience in light of belief in God.
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