RELG-2001-5 World Religions Reflection: Beliefs

Beliefs
I have grown up in a religious family. First I was brought up in the Southern Baptist Church, then my parents got divorced and I was brought up in the Catholic Church. As I have gotten older and explored life on my own, I have made my own decision on my religious beliefs. I am a Christian. I attend a nondenominational Church. I teach my children about the Bible and how it is written. The things that made me not follow a denomination was that sometimes they make up their own rules on what is right and what is wrong. I think that sometimes, the Bible is misinterpreted or the information that suits the denomination is followed and the rest is not.
In my beliefs, I do have a conception of Ultimate Reality. I believe in Heaven and Hell. My children are taught about Heaven and Hell also. We believe that the good souls go to Heaven and the bad souls go to Hell. We do not describe these places to our children, because we really do not know what they look like. It is not for us to assume.
My self and my family go to Church every Sunday. Most of the time, when there are special services, we attend them. My children attend Sunday school so they are taught about the stories in the Bible on their level. I do not think children should be taught on the same level as the adults. It is too much information for them to understand. They need to be taught a way that helps them understand and relates the stories to them. We believe that Jesus died on the Cross to save us from our sins. We use the Cross symbol to worship and remember this.
We follow one and only one Body of Sacred Writings. The Bible is the only book that we follow. What is written in the Bible is how it is. It is not the right of anyone to change the words written in there. Having a different religion is one thing, but if you use the Bible but you take from it what you want and disregard the rest, that is wrong.
I believe that when the body dies, that the human mind and spirit survives and goes to Heaven. I think that our physical body is just a vessel to take our spirit through this current world. One thing that was brought up to me lately by my mother was how “Old Souls” come about. She said that she read somewhere that our souls are sent to the physical bodies to learn a lesson. If they do not learn all that they need to learn before the body dies, then they are sent back to finish their lesson. I can see how that could be possible. My four year old is one that we classify as an “Old Soul”. He seems to have knowledge of things way beyond his age. I am very open-minded to learn new things and beliefs, as long as they do not go against the words of the Bible.
My view of Survival after Death is very simple and straight forward. All souls are saved and sent to Heaven. Jesus died to save us from our sins, so no matter what we do, we are forgiven. There is however one sin that will never be forgiven. Blasphemy is the only unforgivable sin. To me, blasphemy is speaking, writing or thinking of God or any religious artifact in a negative manner.
My beliefs of Moral Good are to follow the 10 Commandments. The King James Version of these Commandments is: 1)Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything. 3) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. 4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5) Honour thy father and thy mother. 6) Thou shalt not kill. 7) Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8) Thou shalt not steal. 9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. And 10) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour. Those are the rules that have been set forth for us to follow in the Bible and that is what my family lives by.
Finally, my view on who has Religious Authority is also very straight forward. There is only one person that has Religious Authority. That person is my Lord and Savior. He has ALL Religious Authority. I believe that he has helpers to spread the word and help us understand. When it comes down to it though, he is the only one that has a say of how things go.
References
Laws, G. T. (2012). The Ten Commandments Listed. Retrieved January 22, 2012, from Gods Ten Laws: http://godstenlaws.com/ten-commandments/index.html