Can I get confirmed if I'm not sure about all dogma?

[fhkjds]

My confirmation and first communion are coming up. I am very excited about this and have been waiting for a long time.

But I have been having some internal conflict about a couple aspects of Catholic teaching that I don’t understand. I feel conflicted because if I say to myself that I agree with all those teachings, I feel dishonest. But if I say I think I might not agree with everything, I feel unjustified in contradicting the church God established. It has been bothering me. And this is not a subjective “cafeteria” thing, like “Oh, I don’t like that teaching, I think I won’t take it because it’s uncomfortable.” I have been honestly struggling for truth. When I feel that a teaching doesn’t sit well with me, I read all I can about it, hoping something will convince me that the church is right and relieve my internal conflict.

Something else that I think of is, if it turns out that I don’t agree with some teaching, then in what sense is God guiding the church? What did Jesus mean when he said the gates of hell would not prevail against it? I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

[smad0142]

Struggling for Truth is a beautiful thing. So long as you are not at the position where you think that the Church is wrong beyond any shadow of a doubt you are fine to recieve the Sacraments. Doubt is a normal part of Faith. Cling to the Faith as taught by the Church, and pray for God to help your doubt.

Furthermore the promise to guide the Church does not apply to individual members. Most basically this promise means that the Papacy will always last until the end of time. As one Saint said, “Where there is Peter, there is the Church.” The ecclesiology and theology behind this is heavy; PM me if you’d like to go into it but I’m sure some posters here could explain it much better than I can.

 

[bayernfan]

For matters like these, talk to your priest.

 

[Petergee]

Confirmation is the Sacrament for strengthening your faith. If you were absolutely certain of every single doctrine, you wouldn’t need Confirmation!

You don’t need to completely understand or feel comfortable with every Church doctrine, although you need to continually work at that, which may take your whole life. You just have to assent to them all, in order to be confirmed.

Note that we reject the false protestant doctrine that Confirmation is about the person who receives it “confirming” that he believes the faith that was accepted on his behalf at his baptism. No. You are not confirming anything. It is the bishop who is confirming (i.e.strengthening and completing the consecration of) you. You are being confirmed.

 

[ZDHayden]

I was confirmed this past Easter ('10). Prior my first Mass, I was an atheistic Marxist. So, yes, I had quite a bit of … disagreement with the Church. Over time, I learned to trust in the Holy Mother Church’s wisdom, even if I do not understand or even if I disagree with her on something. So far, I have come to understand much of what seemed unintelligible. Trust in the Church. She may be made up of human beings, and those human beings may make horrible mistakes sometimes, but she is the bride of Christ with a divine purpose. You will come to understand her wisdom if you trust. This has been my experience.

 

[JRKH]

For matters like these, talk to your priest.

This is truly the best advice. He would be able to tell you whether you concerns warrant any delay based on much more intimate and in depth conversation than we can have here.

To me the big issue, and one your priest needs to determine, is whether you concerns are real doubts, or just a lack of understanding. There are dogmatic teachings that I have trouble with too. I accept them because I accept the Church’s authority to “Bind Them”. I see my concerns as simply my lack of understanding and choose to submit myself to God’s will in His Church as He asks of us.
Another thing is that I would need to weigh what I would be giving up if I allowed my dobts to drive me from the Church once again. I’d be giving up the Holy Eucharist - a gift beyond price.
So consider this as well. Is what you are about to receive, communion and full participation in the life of Christ’s Holy Church, worth giving up over a few personal doubts/concerns?

Hope this helps some.

Peace
James

 

[KarenElissa]

A couple of thoughts…

First, there problem here isn’t so much confirmation, but the profession of faith. You will be asked something along the lines of “Do you believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God?” Obviously the answer to this should be yes. If you can’t honestly answer it yes, you need to slow down a bit and have a nice chat with your priest.

Second, there is a difference between being uncomfortable with a teaching and disagreeing with a teaching. Flat out disagreeing is a problem, but being uncomfortable is not necessarily an issue. There can be a lot of changes in beliefs and practices when one converts and all of that can take a lot of time to get used to. That is all ok.

Along those lines, for me, it basically came down to do I believe that the Pope is the successor of Peter and that Jesus gave him leadership of the whole Church. If the answer to that is yes and I’m willing to accept and abide by teachings, even if I may not fully “get” them, than fine, in I go.

A common example of all of this for many converts is the teaching and devotion surrounding Mary. I accept all of the teaching about her because I trust the Church. I still don’t totally “get” some of the almost “obsessive” devotion that surrounds her, but that is ok, I don’t have to.

 

[puzzleannie]

I prepare nearly a hundred adults, teens and children for confirmation and other sacraments each year. I doubt many or even all of them understand and are sure of every aspect of Catholic dogma. I doubt their parents, sponsors and catechists could answer with confidence any question on doctrine you asked them off the cuff, either, although I hope my catechists know where to look it up.

Knowledge is not a prerequisite for confirmation, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit received in this sacrament, along with wisdom, understanding etc. What is necessary is faith, the gift you have already received in baptism, simple assent to what Christ has given us through the Church.

 

[Robert_Burns]

My confirmation and first communion are coming up. I am very excited about this and have been waiting for a long time.

But I have been having some internal conflict about a couple aspects of Catholic teaching that I don’t understand. I feel conflicted because if I say to myself that I agree with all those teachings, I feel dishonest. But if I say I think I might not agree with everything, I feel unjustified in contradicting the church God established. It has been bothering me. And this is not a subjective “cafeteria” thing, like “Oh, I don’t like that teaching, I think I won’t take it because it’s uncomfortable.” I have been honestly struggling for truth. When I feel that a teaching doesn’t sit well with me, I read all I can about it, hoping something will convince me that the church is right and relieve my internal conflict.

Something else that I think of is, if it turns out that I don’t agree with some teaching, then in what sense is God guiding the church? What did Jesus mean when he said the gates of hell would not prevail against it? I’d appreciate your thoughts on this.

Well since you have not supplied and specifics and since you only refer to the issues as “certain Dogmas” keep in mind that a DOGMA is defined as revealed by GOD to man so the Church requires all Catholics to accept All Dogmas de Fide as a matter of Faith. If a Catholic were to reject any point of Defined Dogma - they are for all intents and purposes , no longer a Catholic. There are not options in this regard.

For example - the Holy Trinity. Its Dogma. All Catholics must accept it. The Immaculate Conception. Defined. The Assumption . Defined. These are not optional.

So talk to your Priest , Express your concerns and pray.

 

[stormy99]

I prepare nearly a hundred adults, teens and children for confirmation and other sacraments each year. I doubt many or even all of them understand and are sure of every aspect of Catholic dogma. I doubt their parents, sponsors and catechists could answer with confidence any question on doctrine you asked them off the cuff, either, although I hope my catechists know where to look it up.

Knowledge is not a prerequisite for confirmation, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit received in this sacrament, along with wisdom, understanding etc. What is necessary is faith, the gift you have already received in baptism, simple assent to what Christ has given us through the Church.

**I’m a recent convert…went quietly through the RCIA classes…I listened and soaked in what was said…I was not the dissident in the group…I truly believe that the Holy Spirit led me to the Catholic Church and will also help me with any areas which might concern me. The Holy Spirit is a teacher…he speaks in a soft voice many times and you have to listen to hear him…I feel close to Him always.

stormy**