Why do people (of all religious faiths) presume to know the will of their god?

People presume to know the will of God because they believe that the bible IS the inerrant word of God. The funny thing is hardly any of them follow all the written rules. They somehow decide that certain parts no longer apply and some still do. (examples: women not being allowed to preach, sacrificing animals, slavery , etc). Other than that, people can have a good idea of God's will based on their own God-given logic and understanding of morality. The only problem with that is different people's ideas of morality differ from one another, and some just simply ignore it or don't care.

I agree with your details. Any thing said or written by man, no matter who or what inspired it, is fallible. Therefore, the bible, even if God inspired it, is fallible. Especially since science has proved a lot of facts in the bible to be false.

I think the biggest problem with the Abrahamic religions is that they personify God. People apply too many human characteristics to God. God is not a human. He is a cosmic personality. Concepts like war, vengance, wrath, pride, vanity, etc. have no purpose in his personality. The reason we have these traits is because they are (or were at one time) required for survival. The only human-like traits that we can know for sure that God has is the will to reproduce, and love. We can only know this because of our existence and that of the universe. Other than that there is no possible way we can hope to understand God himself, or his intentions, or his thought processes. At least not in this lifetime. Hopefully as we progess towards the father after this physical life, he will teach us these universal truths that eat at our souls in this lifetime.

I do see your point here as some people tend to use the Bible as a hammer and/or take it out of context to suit their needs. God made us in his image, but I don't understand what you are saying about God having human characteristics. God gave us free will and self-reflection is what sets us apart from animals. I do not presume to know anything and I dislike when people tell me what I need to do to be near God or to get to Heaven. I believe the Bible to be more figurative than literal...common sense and the loving relationships that I have give me faith and lead me to believe that God is a loving God and he doesn't want us to judge. Maybe this sounds simplistic, but I just try to be a good person and help others when I can. To me, that feels like the will of God.

The will of God is known through His word, the bible. Whatever God's says we can have, we can have, because it is His will to bless us exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all we can ask or think, according to the power that works within us ( Ephesians 3:20 ). Our traits ( love, fear, jealousy, etc ) cannot be compared to God's, because we are selfish, and God is not ( John 3:16 ). The bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and yes, He used men to write what He revealed. If God told you to write something, and you wrote exactly what He said, would it be His word, or yours? Think about it. Read John 6:39-40 to know what Jesus said about God's will.

We know the will of God by learning it from the life, person and teachings of Jesus. His teachings were established well before the bible was ever compiled into the book we know today. In effect, Jesus claimed to be God in human form. For us to know the person and teachings of Jesus is tantamount to us knowing God himself.

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. [John 14:8-11]

We have a book called the Bible and why some of you people don't get the reason why we use this book is beyond me. The Bible is our guide used by the Holy Spirit to show us God's character and God's will. Yes, the Bible was written by inspiration of God and that is why we believe it to be true and infallible. Sit down at my keyboard and let me tell you what to write. You will be inspired to write what I tell you to write. Go to court one day and you will see the Court Reporter jot down everything each person says. This stands up in court as evidence. Why can you not see this?

After studing the bible ...and knowing that God's will is for all people to love him and follow him..and mostly of all to obey him...then we come to know our Father's will....it is always his will that no man should parish ..and when we disobey him ...it causes him grief ...and in turn it causes a person to be punished in some way or the other to show his love to us...just like when we punish a child that goes wrong so that they will know not to do that again...

God's will is for all man to follow him...but he knows they won't ...that is why he sent his son so that we could have a way to do that ...when we accept Jesus the Holy Spirit enters into the body and resides with us ...making it a easier walk with God for we have his power to over come the things of the world and the enemy ...the devil ...

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.

Susan B. Anthony

Most people's god or idea of god's will, is a reflection of their own thoughts and will.

Funny you use the parenthetic (of all religious faiths) when your only intent is to bash Christianity. Christianity is the ONLY faith you bash.

How religious could they be if they did not know what their god wanted them to do?