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ok, I am a catholic, I went to catholic school my whole life. I've always believed in God, but I oftn find myself doubting it. I know thi sounds weird, but when I was little, of couse I believed in santa clause, but when I found out it wasnt true it sort of made me think that things of spirit powers cant be real. And, when I think of god creating tthe earth and people and life, I think about all of the scientific evidence that shows how those things happen.. its more of if it was science- which has proof, or God- which goes strictly on faith.. your thoughts??
You're reaching that age where your faith can begin to really mature. You need better explanations that "God did it" and "it's a mystery."
The good news is that the Church has better and deeper answers than that. Unfortunately, many members (even Catholic school teachers) don't know the fulness and richness of the Church's teachings.
There are several things that I would recommend in your journey, if you want to grow in your faith:
Get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. When you have a question about the Church's teachings on a specific topic, seach the index of the Catechism and see what the Church actually teaches about things instead of just going on rumors. You can also check the Catechism's references to the bible and other documents throughout the centuries. You'll find that the living traditions of the Chruch are a lot deeper and richer than they may appear at first.
Don't be afraid to read the bible. If you do, I wouldn't necessarily recommend starting at the beginning. It is very slow reading for the first several hundered pages. I recommend starting with the Gospels, which read a lot easier. If you're going to read the old testament, I also recommend reading the book "A Father Who Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn. It explains how all of scripture is linked together.
Read "Dei Verbum: the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation" It was one of the 4 "major" documents from Vatican I. It explains how the Catholic Church has read and understands the bible. It is really short, less than 20 pages.
Pray. I recommend the prayer that one of Christ's follower's used in the Gospel of Mark. "Jesus I do believe. Help my unbelief!" God will test you, hiding just out of sight to see if you will follow him. Don't be afraid to really ask him; to really seek.
If you have any serious questions about the Church's teachings that you can't find answers to, ask on Catholicanswers.com or ewtn.com . There are people there who have studied the Church and her teachings and can help you find answers and explanations of almost everything you can imagine.
If you have a specific question, feel free to funmail me. God Bless
Quoting Paige... God, but I often find myself doubting it. I know this sounds weird, but when I was little, of couse I believed in santa clause, but when I found out it wasnt true it sort of made me think that things of spirit powers cant be real.
Hi Paige...I stand on this board as saying that I am against our teaching our children, about Santa Claus, the fairy godmother, the toothfairy, Superman, fairy tales, etc, for this very reason... nobody need to teach untruths, to vulnerable young children, this breeds confusion... setting them up for doubts... just as you are experiencing. There is enough doubt in the world, that each person has to deal with, without adding to it. We as Christians, (for the ones of us that are). need to teach truth, from the beginning. To me, it is not good enough to teach a child, one thing, and then, when they get to the age, where they understand... try to change that to something else... this is confusion... and it ought not be so.
Now, having said that, each of us are subject to doubts... that is part of life. It is our job to seek the truth. Truth overcomes doubt. Feed your faith, starve your doubts.
Doubt was first planted in the garden, by Satan, taking the form of the serpant. He spoke to Adam and Eve.. planting doubt... Saying, if... God... see the doubt??? Truth... God had said... but, Satan comes along to break down what God had said... planting doubt... in the minds of Gods children. He has not changed... he does the same today. The battle we all face is in our minds... The forces of darkness fighting against the forces of light, the target... mankind... global warfare, of the utmost... going on.. continually... we do not see the bigger picture... if we did, we would know what is at stake. our souls. our minds. our allegiance. our productivitiy. our ability to produce spiritually.
Gods word builds faith. Being around Christians of like minded faith, is protection. Listening to songs that build our faith. Hearing sermons that build our faith. A Christian has to walk by faith, and that faith, is under attack 24/7. We have to decide what and who we are going to listen to and believe.
God be with you, in your decision.
Mrstcena54, can you provide any evidence to back your claim there is a magical invisible god in the sky who created everything, watches over you, and will take care of you after you die?
No.
The universe may be eternal and not require creation. Sure, everything seems to have originated from the big bang, but w e do not know how the universe may have existed before that point. We may be viewing reflections from higher dimensions. You must devise a way to differentiate an eternal universe from one created by god, design your experiment, and prove your case.
Secondly, this does not prove any one god in particular. While you may say there is only one god, there are many ways to worship this "one god" - many of them mutually incompatible. Should I abstain from pork, should I face Mecca when I pray, should I accept a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, should I rid my body of Thetans, or should I meditate to shed the horror of this world to reach enlightenment? In many cases god is quite strict with unbelievers as they are typically tortured in the flames of hell for eternity. Please provide some evidence that your particular version of god is the right one - I do not wish to endanger my soul (which should also be proven) by making the wrong decision.
If it's all "just a matter of faith", then why should I have faith in Zeus, Poseidon, Baal, Wotan, Vishnu, Xenu, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster (bless his noodly appendage)? Fact is, you require facts to differentiate these beliefs from your own. Event the Christian god had to provide evidence of his existence before people believed in him. Carving commandments in stone (twice), flooding the Earth, smiting cities with fire and brimstone, impregnating virgins, turning people into pillars of salt, parting the seas, keeping people eating by whales alive, killing 2,000 pigs, causing earthquakes, curing the blind, healing leapers, feeding 5,000 people, taking human form, killing himself, and raising an army of zombies when he ascended into heaven. Don't tell me none of this matters by saying "it's all a matter of faith".
Here's my attempt at an answer. There's nothing wrong with having doubts about God.
Most off us learn all sorts of odd and unthought through things about God, not to mention the rest of life!
In fact if you are asking questions, about God, about life, about what it means to be a human being,... it shows you are alive and not content to become stagnant and die! God, certainly the God I understand, the 'God' revealed to us most of all through Jesus, but many others as well, has very broad shoulders, and is well able to cope with our doubts and questions. It means there's room for a conversation, even an argument.
I don't want to quote scripture as some kind of 'proof' to kill off any argument, so I hope you don't read this that way, but it may be helpful to mull over:
'God is love', 'Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance'.
I hope you won't be afraid to doubt, I hope you won't be afraid to search for the truth, and at the last hold on to what is plainly good and loving, because there is plenty in this world that isn't and will destroy hope and love if it's allowed to.
Blessings, Adair.
Great answers from Kamex and Arthur. Knowing more about science hasn't diminished my faith, or that of my husband (he's a professional biologist). For us, knowing more about God has made things makes us praise and worship Him all the more!
From Arthur's excellent advice, I'd particularly agree that you're at the stage of making your faith your own, now. You don't want to try to become a 'clone' of any parent, teacher or chuch leader, because if you do, you won't have a personal faith at all - it will fail you when you hit your first difficulties.
I believe that Jesus wants each of us to get to know Him personally - I'd say that the best Gospel to read is Mark, as it's very short and was the first one written. I'm re-reading it now and it's like meeting Jesus for the first time again. And, as arthur says, keep praying that prayer in his Point number 4.
All Christians go through trying times when we don't 'feel' God near us. As we move on in life we get to discover that the 'feelings' weren't a very good guide - feelings just tell us about ourself, not about God. If you hold on in faith (even very weak faith) and keep studying and praying, then you'll come to a point where you 'feel' God's presence again and realise that He has been with you all along.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
That is what makes our Faith so strong we do not see how like we see the earth more so that we feel his presence around us it is like the wind we dont see it only the effects of is.We feel it sometimes strogner then others. it is interestting really.
God will never leave you or forsake you...we are the ones who leave him.
Science is science it is our quest to know the truth because God is no longer enough and we do not like the idea that we our selfs could not do it that we would fail and God would ahve to save us through Christ. we dont like that it means we where not enough and something greater then us had to save us. People hate that. science was created to trhy and find away for us to be enough and if there is no god then we are. If he did nto really speak this world into exsistence and we can find a way to lie to our selfves about how this all came about then we have suseeded in being enough with out him and our sins do not matter nor what we do in life that is the point in science.
Years ago I read a study about the effect of studying science on religious beliefs. Incoming freshman college students took a survey to determine how religious they were. After they took physics, biology, and chemistery they took the same survey to see how their views changed.
The interesting thing is religious students became more religious and less religious students became even less. Beleivers saw the hand of God in the wonders of the physical world and non-believers saw an orderly universe that required no divine guideance.
Certain types of Christianity make it seem like there is a dichotomy between science and religion; you have to choose. Most believers have a dualism that allows them to accept religious truths and scientific truths with no countradiction. Their religion and science do not have to agree because they are answers to different questions.
The most brilliant scientist I ever worked with is a devout Christian.
I'm a big believer in Socrates saying that the unexplored life is not worth living. Read and study a lot and let your knowledge guide you.
Your problem is probably that you grew up in the Church, so you've never had a chance to doubt your faith. It may sound bad to some people, but this is the truth - if you doubt your faith, you can find God and have a very strong faith. I was "raised a Christian" to a certain extent. I was told what I should believe, but didn't go to church. I didn't even know that Jesus was crucified until I was 17 in my college English class in high school and we read Moby D!ck and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Through my struggles in life and tragedies I've been able to find faith in God and an inner peace. Don't let science sway you. I believe that God created Heaven and Earth. I also believe in the Big Bang Theory. Why can't it be that God made the Big Bang happen? Through Him all things are possible, so why can't He have been the cause of all that is proven through science? I think people look at religion and science with too closed of minds. If you open your mind and heart and try to be objective, you can see the truth.
I am not ALONE!!! I have the exact same question as you!!! I am also Catholic, I went to a Catholic school until 8th grade... I have read most of the bible and im sorry but some of it seems like BS, man has always had faults (especially narrow-minded, ignorant man) and like a previous answer, man wrote the bible...so there has to be faults in the bible right?? I believe that a person does not have to stick with one certain religion and hold true every teaching, because it has faults too... As far as God's existence, science explains many things IN the universe but since the universe itself is so big and mysterious it is hard for science to prove how it began...so in this perspective I believe in God because something had to start the universe... This is kinda what I believe in... It is better to live as if there is a God and not be one, rather than live like there is not a God an be one. kinda confusing but I hope you can understand...
I believe.
if I said that I made a sandwich,
would I be lying if I did not raise or slaughter the animal whose meat I used, or used the lettuce leaves from a plant I didn't grow or harvest and the bread from grain I didn't pick or mill... etc, etc, etc,...
could I no longer be the maker of the sandwich?
God is complex. you don't have to know how he does the things he does to have faith. you just have to believe that he can.
the bible was a book written by man. since when did man ever get the story right? ask any woman you know. but it is a group of stories real and not, that guide us morally, that show us man-kind's faults and potential.
you are not asked by christ to believe he made the earth in 7 days. but to believe that his power, will, and love will bring healing to mankind Through mankind.
thats a nice thought... thats a nice belief to try to achieve. thats what we call faith.
I would just like to point out that I agree with Kamex - Science hasn't disproven God, since science and things such as Evolution could well have been God's tools in creating the earth and us. And also, believing in God is one thing - believing in the Bible is another and entirely separate thing, which most people confuse the two as being one and the same issue. You can believe in God, without believing in the Bible.
I went to a Catholic School. I don't take the Bible as being a fully accurate document. There are aspects of Catholicism I don't agree with. I don't go to church every Sunday either. But I believe that there is some sort of higher power out there, and for lack of a better term or name, I usually refer to that higher power as God.
I think everyone loses faith in god one way or another at some point in their lifetime. I grew up the same as you attending catholic school going to chruch on sunday and I think god is a huge aspect of my life because he has taught me so much. my theory is even if he does not exist I don't think I would care because pretending he does and having something to base my moral on and having someone to believe in is amazing. I think in some ways god does not exist like in making the world I think that is evolution but in another way he provides hope and dreams so even if he did not exist I think I would still believe because it's something to believe in
Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to rely on anything for proof of God's existence because there is none outside the realm of personal experience, and even that requires faith to believe it was actually God. But if you find that faith isn't enough for you, that you're curiosity about life and the universe is too much for faith, you should not feel bad or let anyone make you feel bad. After all, some of the most notorious figures in the Bible went through times when they lost faith and actually became very angry with God, wondering if he even cared about them.
Faith is not rational. If there's a god out there that wants you to believe in it, it doesn't make sense that it would hide from you.
Some people say "Oh, but then you couldn't freely choose!". I say hogwash. You can't choose if you don't know! If said god gave us free will, then the only way for us to really choose whether or not to follow it is if it shows up and tells us what it wants in an unambiguous way.
...and no, the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Vedas, etc. are not unambiguous obviously.
Read everything you can. Learn a little about cosmology, biology, chemistry, and physics. Read the bible, and the Quran, and every other holy book you can get your hand on. Learn about all the faiths of the world - ask yourself why people believe these things. Where is there evidence to support their (sometimes outrageous) claims? Read the apologetic books and Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris. Educate yourself and make up your own mind.
I did, and now I a free.
I grew up Catholic, and later switched to Baptist, because it me it just made more sense. Something I did before I made the switch, I vistited a few different churches, and talked to a few different people about their beliefs. I just wanted to see if I was crazy for doubting what I was raised to believe. Most people have doubts at one time or another. Use those doubts to deepen your faith. No matter what religion you claim, (or don't claim) God is the same.
I know Santa is not real..but..That does not mean GOD isn't! God is more then a spirit..he's beond that point! God maid heaven..and you go there if you believe and trust..now heaven is more then you could amagin...I know that for a 100% fact! you believe in GOD...he'll help you with any thing you will ever need..and if you don't think so make a prayer..if you don't think that will work pray harder! Just watch you'll notice a change in life if you just BELIEVE!
I don't know why people think a god had to start the universe. To the extent the universe requires a start, which certainly hasn't been shown, there isn't any reason to jump to the conclusion a god did it. It could just as easily have been some other nongod thing/process. And even if you do jump to the conclusion a god did it, there isn't any reason to think ancient men had any insight into this creature that we ourselves do not have.
My personal opinion is to spend as much "alone time" with God as possible. God will teach you and reveal things to you that will make it impossible for to you ever doubt God again. If you really want to know God on a deeper level then pray earnestly for His Spirit and His annointing. He will bless you with both. I know from experience. God bless you and grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know what you mean. When I found out about Santa, I thought everything must be fake. But this summer, we had a revival at my church, and I realized that there is a God, and he loves me. I realized that yes, there are scientific crap trying to prove him wrong, but I know that it will never work. He has proven himself to me time and time again. Just pray about it, and I'll be praying for you!!!
Science hasn't disproven God, and everything science says is more of a how and not a why. If God invented us and the Earth, God invented science, and obviously therefor science would be a factor in how we and the Earth were made. What I don't understand is how Religion vs Science is even an issue. It could easily and rather obviously be both...
its kinda simple (at least to me) clearly your minnd is telling you what your heart has been trying to for a while: you want/need something else to believe in thats it lol
best of luck on your journey of discovering a new and exciting you! :)
[well THAT sounded like an 90s promo for reading rainbow]
I do not believe in God for the exact reasons you stated. too much science and such. I believe people made up God so they had someone to look to when things got bad. someone they could pray to to make them feel like there was a chance.
good luck, it's a confusing topic, I hope you figure it all out.
First off silly god made science god isnt like a magic fairy. And its normal to doubt but if you have a relationship with him you shouldnt be doubting. The devil loves to get people to doubt because as soon as he does that he has you.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen - Faith comes by hearing - Hearing comes from the word of God - so it boils down to whether you truely accept or reject that the Bible is God's true, infallible word - your choice.
Morals and values and stuff mean just as much coming from a fictional story as they do a factual one. I don't think it's the authenticity and truth of the events noted in the Bible that are important.
I say don't be afraid to explore all the avenues. Be open minded. Think critically and search earnestly. Doubt will help you grow if you are willing to continue expanding your horizons.
The day you start demanding credible evidence for things before accepting them, is the day you will become an atheist. By the way, that's a good thing not a bad thing.
Science isn't aimed at trying to disprove Gods/godesses. It's just a search for ansers, just as Gods are an explanation. An "interior God" makes more sence to me.
I was thinking of the same thing. lol. But I'm trying to believe in god a lot more.And I do still. But sometimes. Its odd. I believe in him still.
Never have doubt on god..he will help you with anything you would ever need or have problems!
I ont see the bible as being truthful, I se it as representations of events or people..
everyone questions God and their faith. its not bad. you are human.
