Do you need religion or the bible to be spiritual? to believe in God?

no, not at all it comes from within

No - but if you love someone it's natural to want to know more about them - so the Bible is a good place to learn things about God - have you tried the SONG OF SONGS (attributed to Solomon) - it's a real eye opener - full of passion and love!

The books of WISDOM and SIRACH are also thought-provoking: first read them when I was 16 and have never forgotten the power of the messages.

The New Testament is where God becomes loving and forgiving as opposed to scary and vengeful, in the form of Jesus Christ.

I often wonder why this 'change of style' occurs, since it implies that God changes ( = learns? ) in some way over a period of time - odd for an omniscient being to change and learn I've always thought - but I like Jesus a lot better than the nasty, jealous, bloodthirsty and tyrannical old guy in the Old Testament! Only my views!

Remember that PEOPLE wrote the Bible - and people, in my experience, always cock things up and substitute, or at least insinuate their own prejudices and beliefs alongside the 'clean and clear' messages and truths they were supposed to be recording for posterity.

Some things never change!

You certainly don't need religion or the bible to be spiritual. Those are both constructions of humankind which, at their best, try to provide an avenue for the expression of spirituality. God is a bit tougher. I suppose that it depends on what you think of as God. And what you think of as spirituality. For me, spirituality is a sense of being connected to something larger than humanity. To that end, I find I meet my spiritual needs by connecting to the natural world - the world that was not created by humankind. Is that God? I don't exactly think of it that way. But I guess I would say that you would need to believe in something which is greater than humanity.

You don't need religion to believe in God; unless you want to believe in a God with human emotions. You need the Bible to believe in God but if you are trained enough to see Reality through symbolism, because the Bible was written in the language of man.

If you are not careful you might fall in the same mistakes of Religion. The best way to acquire spirituality is through Philosophy and communion with Nature.

The Bible is God's Word written for / to us. So for a person to abandon the Bible is to say they are abandoning God. Lots of people believe a variety of religious systems that do not include belief in God's Word as Bible. Buddism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc. Not believing in the God of the Bible does not make a person evil or bad. There are a great many morally / ethically wonderful people in this world. But Christianity is the only belief system with a Risen Savior. Jesus Christ came into this world to die for our sins. He is the only leader who not only claimed to be God's Son, but really Was / Is God's Son. And He is the only one Able to rise bodily from the dead. Which is how Christianity came to be.

I don't have a religion, but I believe in God. I have my own concept of God that is probably different than that of the Christian concept of God in the Bible. I enjoy reading and studying all of the world's religions and taking different parts of them to use to better my life and those around me. Example, I believe in God, but I go to a Buddhist monastery. In case you don't know, Buddhism is an Atheist religion. You can do whatever you want, as long as it's peaceful and makes you happy.

Cheers.

The Bible proves itself true and describes God and the spiritual life of us all. So not following it would be a personal rebellious act against God. Remember, as the Bible also says, even the demons believe Jesus is Lord... even demons are spiritual-thinking beings, but are wrong.

Not at all. I believe in God and I am spiritual, and I dont need and I dont care about religion or the bible at all. People say you cant bla bla bla follow the word of Jesus Christ. One thing, I dont follow the words of man. I dont care how many times they say the Bible was inspired by the word of God to people. I can say that to and no one will believe me. Why should I believe another man that God talk to him?

You need God to believe in God. The Bible says that it's natural for humans to not want to be a part of what God is offering.

Also, Abraham didn't have a Bible and he did fine. So I don't think you NEED a Bible, but it sure helps someone to know God.

If you want to learn the truth about the true God then the bible is what you need because there are many religions who will lead you away from the true God. Many religions ignore, change, distort, twist, and do so much damage to the bible. They place their church traditions, their own books and literature, their rituals their works and their false beliefs either on the same level or above the bible which leads to eternal damnation.

the Bible is more of a tool, i myself hate organized religion but associate myself with Christianity though i think Christianity today is a pretty hypocritical religion- but i believe in Christ's sacrifice and everything but no you dont need religion. the Bible is just god's love letter to us