Is religion made by man or by god
why do we have religion anyway?
Religion can refer to various things. It depends on which meaning of the word “religion” is being discussed.
some people say that religion is given by supreme god so that we can know him and understand the deeper meaning of life and purpose of our existence.
on the other hand, there is a group of people who believed that religion is a man-made system that creates disturbance and hatred in society.
so if the point of asking question on religion is that people shouldn't become so obsessed with religion that they hate and kill people of other religions, that is a valid and valuable point.
But if its point is to discredit, religion entirely by alleging that because it is man-made, so we needn't take it seriously, then it misunderstood the nature and purpose of religion.
However, we normally don't understand religion in a proper way. To gain a sense of its normal meaning , let's analyze the word etymologically and functionally.
In terms of the roots of words, religion refers to “respect for what is sacred, reverence for God,” or “obligation, the bond between man and God.” These roots indicate that religion is the means by which we bond with God in love. Religion provides us tools for inner transformation by which we can learn to love God.
Functionally, we often use the word ‘religion’ to refer to different religions like Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. These great religions have usually begun with a primeval revelation in which God or his messenger has shared the knowledge of the principles of religion.
These spiritual principles can be said to be a type of treatment -a treatment for the soul. This spiritual treatment cures the misdirection of our love and enables us to love the eternal instead of the temporary
So, at their roots, these religions are God-made. However, over the course of centuries, they have undergone many changes. Not all the forms that they have taken are geared towards helping people to love God. Many concocted ideas and practices have been added to it. So, much of what goes on in the name of religion today is man-made.
so rather than accepting anything blindly on the name of religion or rejecting religion and its principles entirely by thinking that it is come from man and off no use, both are not proper.
so before reaching to any conclusion we should first read scriptures scrutinizingly, and try to understand god message, understand god process of coming back to him, and then follow religion in a way by which we can become actually connected to god.
If we see religion from the point of view of Vedic scriptures, religion in Sanskrit refers to DHARMA …which means to something that is our intrinsic nature, the very fabric of our being. Dharma refers to our core, that without which we wouldn't be we.
Thus the dharma of fire is to burn, the dharma of wind is to flow and dharma of sugar is to be sweet.
what is our Dharma? To love and to serve. Whatever we do, ultimately those actions are calls for love or expression of love. And when we love someone, we express that love through service .so love and service underlie everything we do and indeed define who we are
so the process by which we can direct our innate nature to love and serve to God and through God to all human beings.so this process of bringing lasting happiness is called religion.
so those process which enables us to develop a love for God they are actually religion in the true sense.
Srimad bhagwatam which is one of the most important Vedic literature. It doesn't talk that this religion is greater or that religion is greater, it says that that religion which enables people to develop pure love of God , that dharma is the highest dharma.
ŚB 1.2.6
स वै पुंसां परो धर्मो यतो भक्तिरधोक्षजे ।
अहैतुक्यप्रतिहता ययात्मा सुप्रसीदति ॥ ६ ॥
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.
Therefore to the extent that today religions are in accordance with the word of God, to that extent they said to be made by God .
To the extent that they deviate from those divine words, to that extent, they are man-made.
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