Fear - Does this keep you from finding the truth?

[dolphinlove]

Well does it?
I know the truth is Jesus and the Catholic church he has created for us.
I know he died on the cross for us to save us.
Knowing this truth has given me a lot of peace and love. I feel so close to God.
I just watched a video of a woman who converted from Islam to Christianity. Jesus came to her in a dream and told her he was the truth and to believe in him, the only thing that was holding her back was fear, fear of what could happen to her, of what reaching out to Jesus might mean for her, when she did finally let go of her fear and finally accepted Jesus, she felt the biggest weight had been lifted of her.
Does this fear stop you from believing in Jesus’ one true church, the Catholic church?

 

[Mirdath]

No, I just don’t think it’s the truth.

 

[Publisher]

No, fear has nothing to do with it. I simply do not see it as the vehicle of truth you do.

 

[Willma]

Well does it?
I know the truth is Jesus and the Catholic church he has created for us.
I know he died on the cross for us to save us.
Knowing this truth has given me a lot of peace and love. I feel so close to God.
I just watched a video of a woman who converted from Islam to Christianity. Jesus came to her in a dream and told her he was the truth and to believe in him, the only thing that was holding her back was fear, fear of what could happen to her, of what reaching out to Jesus might mean for her, when she did finally let go of her fear and finally accepted Jesus, she felt the biggest weight had been lifted of her.
Does this fear stop you from believing in Jesus’ one true church, the Catholic church?

You know, people have dreams of Muhammad coming to them. And dreams of the dali lama (sp?)
So who’s truth is it?
Do we each have a personal truth?
Just because “we” see it as “truth” dont mean others do…

TRUTH is a very strong word; it is more like faith or belief; but TRUTH it is NOT.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Hi,

Fear is what I had before I became a believer. I was afraid people would look at me different and not like me. I was afraid I would have to give up my partying lifestyle(wasnt ready to do). I was afraid I would be like my sister(used to be) holier then though

Well, when I came to Christ I did lose all of those fears and am happy to say gave all of them up. Once I became saved I was like this isnt so bad–actually this is great!!! What a freedom I felt from all those silly fears I had.

As far as being afraid of the CC—no–like Publisher said, I just dont think it is the total truth or the One and Only Church that Christ founded.

 

[Harpazo]

I was afraid before I converted to Catholicism. But, I had to trust in Christ wherever he would lead me, and put away my pride. I’ve never been more happy, and I thank God everyday for the blessing of being Home.

In Pax Christi
Andrew

 

[dolphinlove]

When i started this blog, and being on a catholic forum, i think a lot of people would share my point of view of what the truth is.
That is why i stated as what i deem the truth to be.
Im pretty sure many people have their own ideas of what the truth may be, but for me, being a catholic is it.
Im only giving my opinion of what i think is the truth, and im not going to shoot down other people for having their truths.

 

[Nick]

You know, people have dreams of Muhammad coming to them. And dreams of the dali lama (sp?)
So who’s truth is it?
Do we each have a personal truth?
Just because “we” see it as “truth” dont mean others do…

TRUTH is a very strong word; it is more like faith or belief; but TRUTH it is NOT.

The truth is not subjective. Something is either true or it is not. There is no such thing as a truth for you and a truth for me. If two beliefs are opposed to each other, then it must be recognized that where the they differ one is correct and the other is wrong.

As Catholics we know that what the Church teahes is the truth. We recognize that other religions have elements of truth, but not the fullness of the truth. Where the doctrines of other religions differ from those of the Catholic Church we know that it is the Catholic doctrine which is true. Our Catholic faith is rooted in the truth, and these two things cannot be seperated.

 

[blacktiger057]

Sometimes I wish I was like alot of the people I’ve met that love Catholicism and agree with it 100%. I wish I had good experiences like some people on this site do. But when I was more Catholic I was always in fear. Fear of the devil, fear of hell. This is the fear that used to hold me back. But that was just my experience. Unfortunately, my parents talked about how the devil tempts us than how God loves us…

 

[GIMJ]

Fear kept me from the truth before accepting Jesus and eventually His Church.

As someone pointed out above, fear of Hell and the Devil makes it easy to avoid religion. By accepting the good, we have to accept the potential for evil, and not everyone is ready to do that. Of course when I actually became a believer I realized that I was no longer as concerned about avoiding Hell as I was about trying to get into Heaven to be in Jesus’ presence because I love him.

It’s hard to be a non-conformist, and in our pluralistic/relativistic world, it takes a lot of guts to become a Catholic. That scared me at first. Even after I realized I believed in Jesus, I would cheapen my beliefs when discussing them with others, as though I wasn’t really sure what I believed about Jesus or something. The same thing about the Church.

I’m okay with not conforming now. I prefer being right with God than being approved of by inconsistent societal expectations.

 

[Willma]

The truth is not subjective. Something is either true or it is not. There is no such thing as a truth for you and a truth for me. If two beliefs are opposed to each other, then it must be recognized that where the they differ one is correct and the other is wrong.

.

Thats imposable when it comes to religion (and other things)
If it was a truth (truth can be prov en) we would all be ONE religion with out doubts. There are very educated men and women who are Muslims and Baptists, and so on. Is there truth wrong? i dont think so.
you cannot prove to me that the church is the truth no more than a muslim can prove Islam is the truth. Its what we CHOOSE to believe as truth.
Go to a college and ask the “religions” professor what the “truth” is…

 

[Nick]

Thats imposable when it comes to religion (and other things)
If it was a truth (truth can be prov en) we would all be ONE religion with out doubts.

Why does something have to be proved in order for it to be true. Do you exist? Does love exist? Prove it. We know truth exists whithout having to prove it in a scientifically verifiable manner. The Catholic Church is the one true Church, and if everybody recognized this truth as they should when it is presented to them they would all be Catholics.

There are very educated men and women who are Muslims and Baptists, and so on. Is there truth wrong?

As I said before there is no such thing as “their” truth and “my” truth, there is only “the” truth. So, yes where these denominations and religions differ from the Holy Catholic Church they are wrong.

you cannot prove to me that the church is the truth no more than a muslim can prove Islam is the truth. Its what we CHOOSE to believe as truth.
Go to a college and ask the “religions” professor what the “truth” is…

I guess ultimately it comes down to who are you going to trust. Will it be, in this case A) Jesus Christ who is God Himself, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, B) a false prophet, or C) a “religions” professor. As for me, I will put my trust in God and His Holy Catholic Church.

If the muslim religion says that Jesus is not God, but just a prophet, and the Christian religion says that Jesus is in fact both God and man, how can they both be right? How can they both posess the truth? Logic tells us that one of them is wrong, and I think it is pretty obvious which one.

To help understand that Christianity is the true religion I suggest that you read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and The Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. They do not offer “proofs” in the scientifically verifiable format, but they do demonstrate that Christianity is completely reasonable, something that cannot be said for other religions. And for specific arguments for the fullness of the truth of the Catholic position against Protestantism, and other religions I suggest you familiarize yourself with www.catholic.com.

I hope you come to see that making the claim that the truth is relative is really akin to saying “its all made up by us humans anyways, so it doesn’t really matter what we believe.”

Please feel free to start new threads on here or the Apologetics forum to discuss any of the particulars.

 

[GIMJ]

Thats imposable when it comes to religion (and other things)
If it was a truth (truth can be prov en) we would all be ONE religion with out doubts. There are very educated men and women who are Muslims and Baptists, and so on. Is there truth wrong? i dont think so.
you cannot prove to me that the church is the truth no more than a muslim can prove Islam is the truth. Its what we CHOOSE to believe as truth.
Go to a college and ask the “religions” professor what the “truth” is…

If “truth” is something that others are convinced to believe, then there is no such thing as truth–only opinions!

There are scientists who believe that global warming is primarily due to human activity. There are scientists who believe that global warming is primarily due to sun activity. Their hypotheses are mutually exclusive, but you believe that they are both right because they are “very educated.” LOL–What a joke you are!