Doubts in Catholic Dogmas?

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alexyanthar

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Hello friends,

I know that many Catholics and Non-Catholics sometimes find themselves doubting dogmas of the Catholic Church or that some teachings are difficult to grasp, understand or even reason with. I was wondering if any of you have trouble understanding some dogmas or are having a hard time agreeing with some of them and if you do what are they?

Some examples could be: The existence of Hell, Why is there suffering on earth if God is omnipotent, etc…

*As a note: This thread is not for people to attack each other and neither am I trying to spark fights or arguments. This is a thread to understand what concerns people of the Catholic Faith and to try and guide them through dogmas that might be tough to grasp so that their faith may be continually strengthened in God. So to continue, for all who write in this thread, I pray to God that he keep us all humble in His omnipotent ways and that we are understanding to His truth which is love for You and for all.
 
alexyanthar said:
Hello friends,

I know that many Catholics and Non-Catholics sometimes find themselves doubting dogmas of the Catholic Church or that some teachings are difficult to grasp, understand or even reason with. I was wondering if any of you have trouble understanding some dogmas or are having a hard time agreeing with some of them and if you do what are they?

Some examples could be: The existence of Hell, Why is there suffering on earth if God is omnipotent, etc…

*As a note: This thread is not for people to attack each other and neither am I trying to spark fights or arguments. This is a thread to understand what concerns people of the Catholic Faith and to try and guide them through dogmas that might be tough to grasp so that their faith may be continually strengthened in God. So to continue, for all who write in this thread, I pray to God that he keep us all humble in His omnipotent ways and that we are understanding to His truth which is love for You and for all.
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I believe all the teachings of the Church and have no doubts about any of them. Since becoming Catholic in 1992 I have never doubted because I know that the Catholic Church was established by Christ who is God and he gave the Church authority in matters of faith and morals. Anyone who has obstinate doubts on any dogmas is essentially doubting God.
Anyone who has obstinate doubts about dogmas commits heresy.
 
Doubting means disbelieving, and disbelieving the Church is heresy. It is better, if you do not understand something to accept that the Church is right, and that you simply don’t know the reasoning behind yet. Then proceed to learn the reasoning with that mindset. I have come across many doctrines or Bible verses that I did not understand over the years, but I always assume the problem loes with me, not with the Church or the Bible.
 
alexyanthar said:
I was wondering if any of you have trouble understanding some dogmas
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Yes , I most definitely do , and it’s the most basic dogma of all , the one without which none of the others would make sense…The Trinity .

I do not and never will understand the Trinity , but I believe it , and I think the main happiness of Heaven will be exploring the Trinity which is infinite and each moment discovering more about the Triune God who is fathomless . What an adventure it will be .
 
alexyanthar said:
This thread is not for people to attack each other

and neither am I trying to spark fights or arguments.

This is a thread to understand what concerns people of the Catholic Faith
and to try and guide them through dogmas

that might be tough to grasp
so that their faith may be continually strengthened in God.
Click to expand...
Yeah - lol - thanks for your concern for us. OOOooohhh man. That’s a good one.
 
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This thread got me thinking - just what are the dogmas of the Catholic church and how many are there?

I found this on the internet that might help. Not sure how ‘official’ it is regarding a full list of accurate dogmas.

www.catholicapologetics.info/thechurch/councils/summary.htm

It looks like a good list for meditation and discussion. I accept the church’s teaching on these although I would respectfully listen to other well thought out respectful viewpoints. I think so many on the list are things that can be respectfully discussed and serve as a Catholic guide to understanding reality.
 
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alexyanthar said:
I was wondering if any of you have trouble understanding some dogmas or are having a hard time agreeing with some of them and if you do what are they?
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I agree with and accept all the Church’s Dogmas, doctrines, and teachings all but have not always understood them all. She (the Church) certainly knows better than I do, knows more than I do, and I do not question the ‘what’ of her teachings. The ‘why’ is another story. For example, I have not always understood the whys of the wrongness of same-sex marriage, beyond the intrinsic wrongness of homosexual activity. I have a better grasp of the issue now than I did five or six years ago.
 
AlNg said:
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I read that Sir Isaac Newton was a follower of Arius and held unitarian views.
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Arius went as far as to say: “The Father remains ineffable to the Son, and the Word can neither see nor know the Father perfectly nor accurately.” For Arius, the Logos was ontologically subordinate to the Father. Contrary to Arius, the council of Nicea 325 A.D. declared that the Father and Son are homoousios (“of one substance”).
 
Mary_Ellen said:
I agree with and accept all the Church’s Dogmas, doctrines, and teachings all but have not always understood them all.
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Credo ut intelligam , “I believe so that I may understand” is a maxim of St Anselm of Canterbury , which is based on a saying of St Augustine of Hippo , Crede, ut intelligas, “Believe so that you may understand”;
 
“Doubt” is ambiguous in English. Is it the absence of “trust” or is it the absence of “belief”? An absence in trust/faith is a failure in following the Lord, but an absence in belief does not seem (to me) to be such a failure. We do not control how things seem to us, from moment to moment.
 
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Prodigal_Son said:
“Doubt” is ambiguous in English. Is it the absence of “trust” or is it the absence of “belief”? An absence in trust/faith is a failure in following the Lord, but an absence in belief does not seem (to me) to be such a failure. We do not control how things seem to us, from moment to moment.
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CCC 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."
 
The citation is perhaps of some help, but it does not define “doubt”. Also, the informal way we use “doubt” could be at odds with ecclesial documents’ use of the word.
 
Prodigal_Son said:
The citation is perhaps of some help, but it does not define “doubt”. Also, the informal way we use “doubt” could be at odds with ecclesial documents’ use of the word.
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Only how the Church defines and views things matters. Secular dictionary definitions are irrelevant.
 
alexyanthar said:
Some examples could be: The existence of Hell, Why is there suffering on earth if God is omnipotent, etc
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They are probably the two biggest reasons why I became an unbeliever, among a couple more. In my mind they are essentially impossible to resolve and they tipped the scales in the opposite direction.
 
I do not get too hung up on doubt…

In fact I feel as if I am in pretty good company, from Moses to Sarah and Abraham…Thomas…let’s see…Gideon…and many others…it is a condition of humanity.
I will believe in the Rock on which Christ built His Church…try my best to live the life Jesus taught us to live and sweat the “details” at another time…
Most the time we doubt & argue over chaff…and miss the grains of wheat…
 
Still being somewhat of a newbie, there are some things which I don’t understand, struggle with to some extent to possibly doubt but accept. But then I think I never struggled with the story of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. If I believe that without question, I have to be open to dogmas I am exposed to now (if that makes sense).
 
Prodigal_Son said:
> Only how the Church defines and views things matters. Secular dictionary definitions are irrelevant.

The Church does not teach that.
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I never said the Church teaches that. Why would there be a teaching about that. Have some common sense. If the Church defines something whose definition is at odds with Websters or Oxford dictionary definitions then Catholics should ignore the secular ones and pay attention only to the Church definition.
 
thistle said:
I never said the Church teaches that. Why would there be a teaching about that. Have some common sense. If the Church defines something whose definition is at odds with Websters or Oxford dictionary definitions then Catholics should ignore the secular ones and pay attention only to the Church definition.
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That doesn’t seem like common sense to me. It seems to me that, while it is abundantly important to understand how the Church is using words, there is no moral duty to use words in precisely that way unless it can be seen how such usage would be advantageous. There are cases where it would be, perhaps: for instance, saying “gender dysphoria” instead of “transgenderism”. But in this case, I don’t see an advantage. “Doubt” is a very common word that can be used in a variety of ways. The Church does not teach otherwise.
 
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