Doubt

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Ilovejesus1234

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So here is my situation, I am doubting numerous things like the validity of the bible and the church:
Examples are:
-Having doubts that Jesus exists and his crucification as well, most of the time I do know he exists but i have doubts, so I want historic proof.
-Doubts about purgatory existing but not rejecting to believe in it, I always pray for those in it as well
-Also if Mary is sinless but most of the time I try to stay true but I am unsure if the church teaching is valid.
-How tradition is current with the bible, and where they got their ideas from
-When Jesus sacraficed himself was it current with the things in the bible, is human sacrafice okay in the bible.
-Is pope truly infallible

Again I want to say with all these I stay close to them but I have doubts of whether or not they are valid sometimes. I just dont understand how they exist sometimes and I want to understand though…even though sometimes it feels like everything I believe is gone, I have faith and stay close to God. I can’t put into words this stuff, but here, it is the best I can do. Hope you can help me answer them as well.

***Are these doubts sinful.
** 2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith"9 as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations.10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.

2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:

Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.

2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11 **
 
All valid Questions, pity I wasn’t around with a fancy mobile phone to film & record event for later use , so short of that, When I had felt like you do now,
I would read John 20:29 ,
 
Yes, Jesus Christ existence is recorded by historian Flavius Joseph, a early Jewish Historian.

Mary was conceived free of Original sin. She stated this when she appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous. Also, the Pope Pius IX declared that doctrine infallibly in 1854.
Another example would be the 1950 proclamation of the Assumption of Mary.

Doubts are not sins if you are sincerely seeking. If one has willful doubts in order to live an easy, sinful life, that’s a different story.

The Pope can declare something infallibly in certain limited, circumstances. I believe it has to be a matter of faith and morals, and other conditions apply. It has happened rarely in history but the canonizations of Saints are another example. The Pope does not speak infallibly on daIly, mundane events, like predicting who will win the World Series.
I don’t see the Papal Infallibility as a stumbling block because The Holy Spirit assures it.
 
For more information on Papal infallibility, Wikipedia has a good article.
You could talk to a priest about your doubts. They welcome seekers

You could also attend your local parishes’s RCIA for more information even if you are already Catholic.

The YouCat is a beautifully written, easy to understand Catechism. It explains why we believe what we believe.

Human sacrifice did exist in pagan ancient times. It was always condemned in The Old and
New Testaments. People offered others to false, pagan gods.

Jesus offered Himself freely as the Perfect Sacrifice. Being God, He had the right to do that.
He could have saved us in an easier way, but He wanted to prove his love.

Keep asking questions. Many CAF people want to help. God bless you.
 
Doubt is part of being human and is not a sin, unless we determine to doubt rather than exercise faith.

At times, one has to will to trust in the Church and its teaching, even when the knowledge in our minds is inadequate.

ICXC NIKA
 
Purgatory is alluded to in the second book of Maccabees, Old Testament, It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins".
Also, Our Lady of Fatima showed the three shepherd children, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. It is logical that one would need a purification from the marks that sin leave on the soul before entering Heaven, where everything is perfect.

In the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church we have both Tradition and Scripture (The Bible). We are to accept and believe both. The Catholic Church, through the inspiration of The Holy Spirit, wrote the Bible. The Catholic Church has the authority to dyer mine which books made it into the Bible. This authority was granted by God.

You can find out more about this and other topics on Catholic Answers Tracts on this website
Under Scripture and Tradition, inert ability.

God bless you.
 
I cannot look up the church teachings now, I am always too busy with school at the moment. Later in the summer I think I can.

But for now, can you guys answer this for me. So based on all these things I am doubting. I wanted to ask according to the CCC “Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.”

It says this. My doubts are structured around the fact that I believe in things but sometimes doubts throw me off so much I feel like I cannot cling on to anything else but blind faith, which is great. When this happens, when I am doubting, I follow church teachings, as well as the crucifixion, and just in general I put my faith in God. With all these things I doubt in, above and here. I always cling onto the church, even though I am doing so, or believing in it blindly. I put my faith in the crucifixion, spiritually I put all my faith in it, but historically, that is where I doubt. Lastly I put my faith in God, and the bible, even though it feels like I cannot understand why this happens, I still do my best to put my faith in God, but the devil still keeps biting my ear and whispering that God is bad, blah blah.

Now according to this extended choppy story, what can you guys say about what kind of doubt I have Involuntary or Voluntary.
 
You are experiencing normal,human doubt.This is involuntary. You want very much to believe everything the Catholic Church teaches. You are being tempted to discouragement. The fact that you want to believe so much is very pleasing to God, ask God, Mary, your patron Saint and guardian angel to help you.
 
GEddie said:
Doubt is part of being human and is not a sin, unless we determine to doubt rather than exercise faith.

At times, one has to will to trust in the Church and its teaching, even when the knowledge in our minds is inadequate.

ICXC NIKA
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NIce quote. Accurately sums up where I am at with my faith journey. I have finally come to accept all of the church’s teachings, even if I don’t have enough information to fully know them to be true.

If it’s any consolation to the OP, I too have had days where I have had doubts, but I remind myself that when I look around at creation, there is NO way all of this happened by chance. NONE. Therefore God must exist and therefore Jesus did die for us. As another poster replied, John 20:29.

Continue to seek and find answers, pray for guidance, and know God hears your prayers and understands your struggles.
 
jaimeleglise said:
You are experiencing normal,human doubt.This is involuntary. You want very much to believe everything the Catholic Church teaches. You are being tempted to discouragement. The fact that you want to believe so much is very pleasing to God, ask God, Mary, your patron Saint and guardian angel to help you.
Click to expand...
Agreed, your doubt is normal and involuntary. There is no video proof, as “phil” eludes to. But remember, that even Thomas doubted Jesus had returned from the dead, even after he saw him, but had to touch his wounds. We have no such proof, we were not there, so it is natural to doubt. We often times have to rely on blind faith, but if you continue to be willing to seek God, he will make sure you find Him. Continue to ask the Holy Spirit for grace to grow in your trust in Him.
 
Ilovejesus1234 said:
-Having doubts that Jesus exists
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No serious scholar doubts the existence of Jesus. It is a Historical fact. and it was exceptionally well attested to by contemporary Jews, Romans and those from many of the other areas where Jesus lived and the events took place. There is far more historical evidence than there is for many of the other ancient historical figures.
 
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