Belief - How Time Changes Belief

Acronym for BELIEF – [Balanced Enthusiasm Levels In Educational Formation]

Belief is defined as, "An acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists."

Belief in Earlier Times:

A good study of this word in history may surprise people because the understanding and use of the word belief has changed and will continue to change like everything else in this universe. Here is an informative summary from a book that especially Christians may find helpful and one of many books by a prolific author, Marcus J. Borg, "Speaking Christian, Why Christian Words Have Lost Their Meaning and Power—And How They Can Be Restored."

"In English, prior to about 1600, the verb believe always had a person as its direct object, not a statement. ... To believe in somebody is not the same as believing somebody. ... In a Christian context, it meant having confidence in God and Jesus, trusting God and Jesus. ... To believe meant not only confidence and trust in a person, but also to hold that person dear—to belove that person. Believing and beloving were synonyms. ... Think of the difference this makes. ... This meaning goes back to ancient Christianity. ... heart is a metaphor for the self at its deepest level—a level of the self beneath our thinking, willing, and feeling. ...  The difference between believing and beloving is older than the creed. ... Believing that a set of statements are true has little transforming power. But beloving God as known in Jesus has great transforming power." [summarized from pages 118-119 - "Speaking Christian," by Marcus J. Borg]

Belief as we use it today:

Could our beliefs be causing much of our social problems today? Many more individuals each have their own beliefs and, with the growth of so many varieties of religious and cultural organizations, beliefs are innumerable and still growing in 2016. Believing is much easier than behavior and not very helpful in controlling our behavior. Creeds, dogma and statements of beliefs are codified to make us members in good standing rather than encouraging appropriate behavior. Too often beliefs do not seem to require nor lead to behavior that insures our society of more genuine expression of love, kindness and compassion for one another so needed in our world today.

Because change is constant throughout the universe and in each day of our lives, statements of belief must be changed and interpreted over time. These famous words in the poem of James R. Lowell in 1845, "New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth, They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth," makes this point very clear. Sadly, the creeds and dogmas of too many religions, are believed to be eternal and "written in stone" (so to speak) so that they never need change. In Science, verifiable facts that may have the status of Theory can and do change as new observation and research show them to be uncouth. Nothing escapes the change, diversity and equality that is part of the very nature of our universe.

INTERPRET - [Identify Noted Text, Enable Rigorous Postulation,
   Represent Equivalent Tale]
                  [Identify - - - - - - - -, Research - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
   Resolve - - - - - - - - - - - -]

Interpretation: "An explanation or way of explaining: this action is open to a number of interpretations."

In this age of verifiable facts the three important steps of interpretation must be considered and utilized; Identify, Research and Resolve. Today, words and thoughts from history should also incorporate the scientific methods of observation, hypothesis and theory. Words and thoughts should be identified systematically by careful notation and interpretation.  Careful and rigorous postulation of how they were originally understood and how we interpret them today is vital and important to their continued use.

Rules, codes and laws have their place, but they are hardly ever the main influence for our actions without the support, correction and the compassion of love. Imposed rules, codes and laws may actually have a tendency to smother and diminish our personal strength and vitality that can cause us to live with the renewed energy to think and move forward. Self discipline is the best form of discipline because it is not forced from the outside. Rules, codes and laws can be excellent as outward and visible signs, signals and suggestions for living well, but without the inward and invisible grace of our own body, mind and spirit there will be little or no will to adhere or adopt them. Belief, like beauty, is only skin deep but what we personally love and respect deep within we do more naturally.

Serious harm from beliefs come when they are adopted by a ghetto, "an isolated or segregated group or area, a part of a city occupied by a minority group or groups," of one extreme or another. It is when people become radicalized by beliefs, of inferiority or superiority, that leads to such extreme actions and attitudes toward those who differ. Fundamentalists, "a form of a religion that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture," is the term we use to define the people who become radicalized by extreme beliefs. Unfortunately, Fundamentalism is on the rise in more basic disciplines like; religion, philosophy, education, psychology, sociology, anthropology, government, finance, social psychology, and many others.

LOVE and RESPECT are ESSENTIAL today:

The Song that Jackie DeShannon wrote in the 1960's is still more than appropriate for our world today:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some but for everyone

LOVE IS PRIMARY:     LOVE - [Limitless Offerings Veraciously Expended]

Popular words from Christian scripture: "But if I don’t have love, I am nothing, ... Love never comes to an end, ... The best is love." A summary of (1 Corinthians 13)

According to our research the major religions of the world speak about the love and our need to love one another. -  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_love  - Unfortunately it seems that many who claim to be religious can often be more guilty when it comes to using actions of distain, cruelty and death toward others. Often called hypocrisy, "the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform," seems to be growing. The fact that this pretense is so prevalent today may be one of the reasons why so many are dropping out of organized religion.

Behavior is key and a primary factor for the expression of love.

While scriptures often use the word sin to introduce or define a lack in such behavior, used in the Bible the word translated as "sin" literally means "to miss the mark." Even the best target shooters do not always "hit the bullseye," so sinning is common and natural in life that requires constant attention and practice. This is why families and communities are helpful in forming good behavior and keeping us "on target," we might say. An acronym for CHURCH, [Charitable Humanity Utilizing Resources Creating Hospitality] is my way of targeting and defining the value and importance of our religious communities.

BELIEF – [Balanced Enthusiasm Levels In Educational Formation] It is essential today that we have balanced enthusiasm within levels of educational formation!

Gerard A. Pisani, Jr