Faith is making me nihilist

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Big Lebowski explained this pretty well if you’re looking for an in depth answer.
 
The OP is well advised to take up these matters with a mental health professional. The problem here is not as much one with religion or religious argumentation, but rather mental health.

Everyone else would be well advised to stop responding to this thread, as it will not help the OP and will only exacerbate the fears and compulsions. Please commend our friend to prayer, and move on.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I went through this. Part of it for me was Seasonal Affective Disorder/depression, which could require anything from vitamin D to talk therapy. But for theological insight, I’d also suggest reading The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis.
 
EasternCelt said:
Hi All:

I have found that in contemplating the existence of hell and the traditional view of Augustine and Thomas, among others, that the vast majority of people will be there that I am becoming a bit of a nihilist. Everything has lost its beauty, I can’t enjoy my wife and child like I should, and I’ve grown cold toward God. I am struggling with the belief that it would have been better if we had never been created.
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Welcome to the human race.

The realisation that you will never live a perfectly moral life is depressing and disheartening. Without a divine miracle it’s unlikely that you will ever live a perfectly godly life in this world. But i don’t see your despair as evidence of an evil soul, but a sign of a potential saint.

A real Christian life is a spiritual war. Sometimes you will lose the battle, but that doesn’t mean that you will lose the war. Some people have it easier than others in this battle, but we are all carrying a cross and we all share the burden of imperfection. God knows that you are imperfect by default and will not count that against you so long as you keep Jesus in your heart. Do not despair and pray for the grace to help you succeed.

If you are not dealing with mental or physical health issues, please try your best to stay within the catholic community and events.

My prayers are with you.

God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.
 
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GhostOfBBM said:
I kinda doubt it. Your depression and anxiety has taken the form of a fixation on hell, but that’s because you’re a religious person. Your pathology would be there regardless. If you were an atheist, you’d just find something else to obsessively worry over. You’d become a hypochondriac or you’d be terrified of the idea that nuclear war about to break out and you needed to build a fallout shelter, or you’d obsess over fringe conspiracy theories, etc.

I’m not saying this to mock you, of course. But I think your disorder is just being filtered through a religious lens, rather than causing the disorder.

Keep going with the psychological help and spiritual counseling.
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This is correct. The same thing happened to me.
 
It looks like the problem is that you are reading too much about God’s justice. It would probably help to read something else.
 
I mean, I freely admit that there is a problem with me, but I have no history of this type of disorder (or family history) prior to digging into faith. I think it has been very easy to kind of push the problem aside on this thread because it has caused me to develop anxiety. It would seem, given the magnitude of God’s justice, that every soul should be anxious. I would say that you should read St. Leonard’s sermon and try not to feel anxious if you take it seriously; we’re not talking about a weekend in jail, we’re talking about eternal conscious torment, folks. People need to be told that God’s love is ultimately limited to those who respond to him in the way he prescribes. That’s not blaming God, of course he can prescribe it anyway he wants, but it’s dealing in reality.

I think a lot of Catholics are shielded from this today by the (relatively) new-fangled theology of: “God doesn’t send anyone to hell, people send themselves to hell”. The reality is the opposite and should terrify everyone.
 
You need a Spiritual Director. Preferably a wise Priest who can help you.

We’re All Praying for YOU
 
EasternCelt said:
I would say that you should read St. Leonard’s sermon and try not to feel anxious if you take it seriously; we’re not talking about a weekend in jail, we’re talking about eternal conscious torment, folks.
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Why would you wish the rest of us to be racked by unnecessary torment?
 
St. Leonard, Augustine, Aquinas, etc. believed the vast majority of folks would be damned. I don’t want anybody to have religious anxiety, but I also don’t want to be treated like this is just some form of obsession that would manifest in a different way of I wasn’t religious. It didn’t when I didn’t much care about the faith, but when I started to take things seriously, it kinda blew me away.
 
Salvation is not guaranteed. Work for it. If you have a wife and child, you have been blessed. There is plenty to do. You have a massive responsibility and what an opportunity it is for you. You should be very happy.
 
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