Does Doubt Doom You? No

[renewedfaith196]

I remember the first time that I ever doubted God’s existence. I was a new Christian, sitting in church, listening to a sermon. I was totally into the sermon as I had just recently become Born Again. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a chilling thought hit me, “Does God really exist?” I felt like I had been shot with a rifle. This simple thought put in motion years of doubt and unbelief. It seemed like I was lost. Then, one day, I realized that doubting is totally normal.

When I was young, I did not have the emotional maturity to realize that God did not hate me for doubting. Paul Tillich put it best, "“Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”

Being a follower of Christ has never been easy for me. I have always wanted to have faith, but was always saddled with unbelief and doubts. I worried that it might end me up in hell. I came across a quote by Paul Tillich that hit me dead on, "Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” I wrote a book (free download at Smashwords.com) called: “iDoubt: When Faith Falters.” In the book, I frankly discuss many issues plaguing Christians. In the end, you can make it to heaven even if your life has doubt in it.

I have spent the last 30 years trying to rid myself of doubt. I finally came to the conclusion that God loves me and that I will go to heaven, even if I have doubts.

 

[Ryuji_Yamazaki]

a quote by Paul Tillich that hit me dead on, "Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”

A quote by Paul the apostle that hit me dead on “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin”.

If you doubt & serve God, you lie & shall die the second death. To lie is to sin against the Spirit for the Spirit is truth. Faith is a gift from God, a good report.

 

[Origen52]

23 Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out,‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’
Mark 9

 

[renewedfaith196]

A quote by Paul the apostle that hit me dead on “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin”.

If you doubt & serve God, you lie & shall die the second death. To lie is to sin against the Spirit for the Spirit is truth. Faith is a gift from God, a good report.

You have to read the entire Bible in context. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus came to the world “not to condemn the world, but save it.” Romans 8:38-39 says that “nothing” can separate us from the love of God, including death, life, or anything in creation. If doubt could separate us, then the verse would have had an exception, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God . . . except doubt.”

 

[renewedfaith196]

I remember the first time that I ever doubted God’s existence. I was a new Christian, sitting in church, listening to a sermon. I was totally into the sermon as I had just recently become Born Again. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a chilling thought hit me, “Does God really exist?” I felt like I had been shot with a rifle. This simple thought put in motion years of doubt and unbelief. It seemed like I was lost. Then, one day, I realized that doubting is totally normal.

When I was young, I did not have the emotional maturity to realize that God did not hate me for doubting.  Paul Tillich put it best, "“Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”	

I have spent the last 30 years trying to rid myself of doubt.  I finally came to the conclusion that God loves me and that I will go to heaven, even if I have doubts.  I wrote a book about it (a free download at Smashwords.com) called: "iDoubt: When Faith Falters."  Check it out and pass it along.

 

[Ryuji_Yamazaki]

You have to read the entire Bible in context. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus came to the world “not to condemn the world, but save it.” Romans 8:38-39 says that “nothing” can separate us from the love of God, including death, life, or anything in creation. If doubt could separate us, then the verse would have had an exception, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God . . . except doubt.”

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3.16)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8.35-39)

How can you be of those who are killed all the day long for his sake without faith?

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise (Hebrews 11.35-39)

 

[Ryuji_Yamazaki]

Are you asking the Catholics to have faith in “Does Doubt Doom You? No.”? If so then you ask them to be liars for if they have faith in non-faith they thereby testify against themselves. You know that to lie is to sin against the Spirit who is the truth. Note that faith in “Does Doubt Doom You? No.” is a substitute for faith in I AM. Antichrist means substitute for Christ for “anti”, in Greek, means “in place of”.

 

[renewedfaith196]

Jesus said in John 3:17 that he did not come to condemn the world but save it. That’s as simple as it gets. If we’d just lean back and accept this, we would freak out about everything. We all sin. We’ll all sin to the day we die. And that’s fine with God. He wants us to love him. Christ’s blood covered up the sins. Remember what he said in Isaiah 43:25 that he would remember our sins “no more.” Well, either he remembers them or he doesn’t. I’m taking him at his word. He remembers them no more.

 

[Ryuji_Yamazaki]

Jesus said in John 3:17 that he did not come to condemn the world but save it. That’s as simple as it gets. If we’d just lean back and accept this, we would freak out about everything. We all sin. We’ll all sin to the day we die. And that’s fine with God. He wants us to love him. Christ’s blood covered up the sins. Remember what he said in Isaiah 43:25 that he would remember our sins “no more.” Well, either he remembers them or he doesn’t. I’m taking him at his word. He remembers them no more.

In bold: “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. The Law is such that if one breaks it the same is broken. The Law is theory of death, how death happens, works. All have sinned.

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Exodus 34.7)

Iniquity is not forgiven except through faith. Guilt is not cleared except you know the Spirit i.e., drink the blood of Jesus. If you know the Spirit you have faith in I AM. Faith is a gift from the true God who by no means is the Holy Trinity.

 

[Kolto]

Catholics cannot afford to have doubts, as we must firmly believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body of God. This is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We are called to be Sons of the Father, and the Father does not doubt but always acts with perfect faith.

 

[Francie3]

That this poster’s book is essentially Protestant. The thoughts on Communion are hostile to Communion and don’t understand the need for repentance of sin of prior to receiving Communion, that is receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion with a pure heart. This man calls Communion
Quoting from his book
F. The Meal of Doom . . . Communion

The church has shown a propensity for the wine and goblet game: it’s called
communion. When I was growing up, my pastor would bring out the bread and grape
juice (we didn’t use wine in my church) and then announce that we were going to have
communion. Before every such event, my pastor would make us pray and ask for
forgiveness. He always read the story in 1 Corinthians 11:30 where many people had
“fallen asleep” (died) while taking communion. His not-so-subtle message was that you
could die if you took communion with an “unclean” heart. I came to dread communion,
with it’s tale of terror attached to it."

What the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist, Communion vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm

There are other things at issue with Catholic teaching.

 

[Francie3]

Be mindful that this poster’s book is essentially Protestant. The thoughts on Communion are hostile to Communion and don’t understand the need for repentance of sin of prior to receiving Communion, that is receiving the Lord with a pure heart. He call Communion

Quoting from his book

• F. The Meal of Doom . . . Communion
  The church has shown a propensity for the wine and goblet game: it’s called
  communion. When I was growing up, my pastor would bring out the bread and grape
  juice (we didn’t use wine in my church) and then announce that we were going to have
  communion. Before every such event, my pastor would make us pray and ask for
  forgiveness. He always read the story in 1 Corinthians 11:30 where many people had
  “fallen asleep” (died) while taking communion. His not-so-subtle message was that you
  could die if you took communion with an “unclean” heart. I came to dread communion,
  with it’s tale of terror attached to it."*

What the Catholic Church teaches: vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm

1 Corinthians 11:27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

 

[PrayingDuck]

Catholics cannot afford to have doubts, as we must firmly believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body of God. This is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We are called to be Sons of the Father, and the Father does not doubt but always acts with perfect faith.

It would be wonderful if we never doubted, and I so wish that I had the faith to be 100% certain, but I am guessing that 80% of Catholics have, at one time or another, had doubts about the Catholic Church and about God’s existence. I simply want to say, be careful making blanket statements such as “It is necessary for our salvation to have no doubts” because people (particularly scrupulous people such as myself) may take that to mean if we have doubts (as I and many, many others do), we may as well give up hope because without perfect, unshakeable faith, we’re going to hell. I am pretty sure that is not exactly what you meant to imply, but that was my first thought at reading it, and as someone who has dealt with doubt for some time, that thought is not exactly encouraging. For the record, I am of the opinion that doubting is normal and that most, if not all, people deal with doubts at one time or another, and I am pretty sure that it is no sin to question the faith. Plus, if there was no possibility of doubt, there would be no meaning to faith! God bless

 

[powerofk]

It would be wonderful if we never doubted, and I so wish that I had the faith to be 100% certain, but I am guessing that 80% of Catholics have, at one time or another, had doubts about the Catholic Church and about God’s existence. I simply want to say, be careful making blanket statements such as “It is necessary for our salvation to have no doubts” because people (particularly scrupulous people such as myself) may take that to mean if we have doubts (as I and many, many others do), we may as well give up hope because without perfect, unshakeable faith, we’re going to hell. I am pretty sure that is not exactly what you meant to imply, but that was my first thought at reading it, and as someone who has dealt with doubt for some time, that thought is not exactly encouraging. For the record, I am of the opinion that doubting is normal and that most, if not all, people deal with doubts at one time or another, and I am pretty sure that it is no sin to question the faith. Plus, if there was no possibility of doubt, there would be no meaning to faith! God bless

True, mature faith requires a person to have questions about their faith. Such questions are not necessarily doubts, per se, but opportunities to grow and learn. Faith without questioning is so-called “blind faith”, and people with blind faith can be easily led astray by any person claiming authority. Questioning faith provides actual roots to our faith, so that when challenges to one’s faith occur, one is much more able to stand firm in one’s faith. The Blessed Virgin Mary never doubted the power of God when the angel St. Gabriel announced to her that she would be the mother of the Son of God. But she did question the angel, asking him the means to the Incarnation. Once he had given her a satisfactory answer, she didn’t doubt his word.

Abraham never fully doubted God’s promise to him to make his descendants as countless as the stars in the sky, though he did get a bit exasperated, trusting in God, though worried that he might die before he had any children (he was, after all, going on 100 years old!) He cried out to God, pleading for his heir to not be his chief servant, Eleazar. Eventually, Abraham and Sarah would both laugh when they found out that Sarah would bear Isaac well after Sarah had passed through menopause (Sarah herself had actually doubted that they would ever have children - that’s why she ordered Abraham to beget a child through Hagar).

Of course, faith also means accepting that we won’t be able to fully understand everything about the nature of God (i.e., the Trinity), the fact that Jesus is both fully human and fully God (the hypostatic union), the miracle of the Eucharist, and the Christian afterlife (heaven, hell, and purgatory). In fact, sometimes pondering these mysteries only serves to confuse us before we tell God - hey, I don’t understand, I never will in this life, but please help me continue pondering these mysteries without breaking my faith.

 

[Petaro]

Catholics cannot afford to have doubts, as we must firmly believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body of God. This is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We are called to be Sons of the Father, and the Father does not doubt but always acts with perfect faith.

Kolto, Kolto There you go again. Not everyone is blessed with your forthright faith. Thomas wanted to touch the wounds of Christ before he believed and is now in heaven beloved of God.
Surely any reasonable man is allowed to doubt the extraordinary claims of our religion? Blessed are those that do not see and yet believe. But faith is a gift and not our birthright. Be kind to the unbeliever and don’t let any hardness of heart stop our prayers for them and ourselves.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Catholics cannot afford to have doubts, as we must firmly believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body of God. This is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We are called to be Sons of the Father, and the Father does not doubt but always acts with perfect faith.

I have serious doubts. New ones every day. It’s only getting worse. Oh well.

My bottom line is, let’s say the Catholic God is true exactly as described by the Church. If He’s just then I welcome Him to judge my sincerity. If He’s unjust, then nothing I do/didn’t do would matter anyway.

 

[Publisher]

Catholics cannot afford to have doubts, as we must firmly believe that the Eucharist is truly the Body of God. This is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We are called to be Sons of the Father, and the Father does not doubt but always acts with perfect faith.

Hey, I have this mountain to be moved…can you come move it?

 

[Ryuji_Yamazaki]

That this poster’s book is essentially Protestant. The thoughts on Communion are hostile to Communion and don’t understand the need for repentance of sin of prior to receiving Communion, that is receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion with a pure heart. This man calls Communion
Quoting from his book
F. The Meal of Doom . . . Communion

The church has shown a propensity for the wine and goblet game: it’s called
communion. When I was growing up, my pastor would bring out the bread and grape
juice (we didn’t use wine in my church) and then announce that we were going to have
communion. Before every such event, my pastor would make us pray and ask for
forgiveness. He always read the story in 1 Corinthians 11:30 where many people had
“fallen asleep” (died) while taking communion. His not-so-subtle message was that you
could die if you took communion with an “unclean” heart. I came to dread communion,
with it’s tale of terror attached to it."

What the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist, Communion vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm

There are other things at issue with Catholic teaching.

Do you believe that the Eucharist is the body of Jesus? The wine his blood?

And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? (Mark 7.18, 19)

Is not Jesus your god? Are you then not blasphemers?
Do you not know that Babylon works according to the following algorithm?:

1. man sins, 1) conscience tortures, 2) man gets religious & is adopted by his preferred religion, 3) religion calls evil good compelling the sinner to do good: go to 0)

A bottomless pit.

 

[SighGuy]

Hey, I have this mountain to be moved…can you come move it?

 

[renewedfaith196]

Of course Jesus is my God. I am not sure how you thought I felt otherwise?

I spent a large part of my life being terrified to look for and ask hard questions. I finally realized that God rewards people who seek him (Hebrews 11:6). To seek something, it has to be out of your grasp, othewise you wouldn’t be seeking it. This book is my journey in which I ask many questions that too many people are terrified to ask. It is not remotely a blasphemous book. It is me asking many questions that people are scared to utter out loud. The end goal of the book is to find redemption and peace.

God would never harm us for asking difficult questions, no more than you’d attack your child for asking questions. He is infinitely kind.