Fear

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Twenty3verse4

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Hey, everyone! First, I would like to say that I’m very happy to be a member of this forum, and I feel blessed to have come across such an informative and helpful website!

Initially, this will sound like a “get to know me” thread; however, it is not. I think that by telling y’all a bit about myself and my past, you’ll know how to help me…

My name is Ryan, I’m 18, and I’ve been Catholic my whole life. I have received the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation…

…despite being Catholic for 18 years, I didn’t begin to actually comprehend, understand, or “follow” my religion until about a year and three months ago…

…after spending grades K-8 in Catholic school, my mother decided to pull me out of the private school system and enroll me in a public school. While attending public school, I slowly began to lose sight of God. I became consumed with sins of the flesh, and cared more about my public image than my relationship with God. Blinded by sin, and falling to temptation, I fell off God’s path…

…then, about a year and three months ago, “things changed”. Long story short, I had a burning desire to “ditch sin” and seek out God and happiness with Him. Without a doubt, this was the best “thing” that has ever happened to me, and despite all my sins, I formed a healthy, loving relationship with God and Jesus.

Since then, I have studied Catholicism and religion much more seriously, and have built a solid understanding of what it means to be Catholic.

Then, an incident took place about two weeks ago…

…I was sitting at Dunkin’ Donuts with two of my friends, talking about God. They were asking me questions about the legitimacy of the Bible and telling me about their doubts. To the best of my ability, I answered their questions…then one friend said this:

“How do we know the Bible is true? I mean, how could the apostles have written down, word for word, all that Jesus had said? What if there is no God, and the Bible is simply a farce?”

Dumbstruck, I fumbled for an answer…but found none. Then, I began to think about what they had said…

…on a personal note, when I think about things, I think about things…

Then, I started to question my own faith:

“What if they’re right?”

…I am ashamed at my lack of faith. I know that Scripture states to disbelieve any heresy, and I’m not saying that I believe what my friend said, but she placed a doubt in my heart, and like a foolish sinner, I let that affect my relationship with God.

These past few weeks have been brutal. I have had terrible anxiety, fear, and doubt. Each time I ask God for strength, a thought pops into my head: “What if there isn’t anyone listening?” I hate sin, and I’m afraid that, through this doubt, I’m sinning, and won’t be saved. I want so badly to “get back to” the relationship I shared with God and Jesus before I allowed some silly words to affect me. I feel alone.

I’m asking for help. I need a relationship with God, or I’ll be destroyed by sin, but this doubt is like a wall that is keeping me from re-attaining the harmony that I felt with God prior to this incident at Dunkin’ Donuts, I want to feel 1000% that God exists, as I felt before.

I’m not going to give up this battle…but I need reinforcements…I want to cast out my doubts while helping others cast out their own fears and skepticism and turn to God.

Any help is greatly appreciated, and feel free to privately message me if you’re more comfortable with that.

To everyone who took the time to read this:

THANK YOU

God bless!

-Ryan
 
It is late where I live, so I can’t exactly post a long post. However, if you look through all the threads I have ever made, you will see that I had many of the same questio s you just asked. Unfortunately, I am not in a spot to provide links right now. However, I will come back to do that.

But stay the course. I was in a similar spot to you, almost becoming and atheist. Fight the good fight. You will find that God does indeed exist, and that the Bible is true. Keep the faith and stay strong. I know you can! It all pays off in the end 🙂

I’ll pray for you.
Coolduude:cool:
 
Ryan,

You are definetly in my prayers. There is nothing wrong with questioning one’s faith provided they are open to the truth and are willing to follow it, you seem to strike me as such. Everyone goes through these times. You are doing a great thing in getting peeps to pray for you.

I would suggest surrounding yourself with people who are familiar with the faith and live it day to day. Sometimes I have seen people that have questions attend RCIA classes even though they are already Catholic. There is great blessing in this.

I wanted to write and address something that you said. You said that through the doubt you are having you feel that you are sinning. To doubt is not a sin, yet to willfully remain in a state of doubt that is another matter. It sounds like the devil is having a hand in this too. Keep praying.

The thing that usually helps in these times is to continue to do the right things and the things that brought you much peace. Continue to go to Mass, I would recommend Daily Mass if you can. Have recourse to Confession. If you can seek a spiritual director, that would be a huge blessing.

Feel free to message me if you wish to talk.

God bless.

Little One0307
 
Twenty3verse4 said:
Hey, everyone! First, I would like to say that I’m very happy to be a member of this forum, and I feel blessed to have come across such an informative and helpful website!

Initially, this will sound like a “get to know me” thread; however, it is not. I think that by telling y’all a bit about myself and my past, you’ll know how to help me…

My name is Ryan, I’m 18, and I’ve been Catholic my whole life. I have received the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation…

…despite being Catholic for 18 years, I didn’t begin to actually comprehend, understand, or “follow” my religion until about a year and three months ago…

…
“What if they’re right?”

…I am ashamed at my lack of faith. I know that Scripture states to disbelieve any heresy, and I’m not saying that I believe what my friend said, but she placed a doubt in my heart, and like a foolish sinner, I let that affect my relationship with God.

T

I’m not going to give up this battle…but I need reinforcements…I want to cast out my doubts while helping others cast out their own fears and skepticism and turn to God.

Any help is greatly appreciated, and feel free to privately message me if you’re more comfortable with that.

To everyone who took the time to read this:

THANK YOU

God bless!

-Ryan
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Hi, ryan…take it one question at a time…you might get overwhelmed.

For starters, share this link with your friends…the Origin of the Bible:

alabamacatholicresources.com/Bible.html
 
Welcome! It most certainly is the Holy Spirit that is leading you back to faith. One thing that will really help you is to get a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. I learn something every time I open my copy. It is a great resource that you can use for years to come.

As to the bible, thousands upon thousands of very learned men and women have shed their blood for the truth that is in the bible. This has gone on now for almost 2,000 years. No one dies for a lie.
 
Twenty3verse4 said:
"How do we know the Bible is true? I mean, how could the apostles have written down, word for word, all that Jesus had said?
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This is a protestant notion. The Church does not teach anything even remotely similar to this idea.

For one thing, it is very obvious that two of the Gospels (namely Mark and Luke) are attributed to Gentile (non-Apostolic) authors. Mark and Luke are Gentile names - and they were not Apostles.

Furthermore, no reputable Biblical scholar that I am aware of (either Catholic or protestant) claims that Matthew the Evangelist (author of the Gospel of Matthew) is the same person as Matthew the Apostle.

Most scholars claim that the Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John (though not necessarily Revelation).

There are three Synoptic Gospels. Two were clearly not written by any Apostle, and the third is highly questionable. There is some doubt about the authorship of the only non-synoptic Gospel (John) as well.

This doubt about names is not unlikely. Among the Apostles, half of them shared his name with another Apostle (there were two Simons, two Judes, and two James). Just because two Gospels claim to have been written by people named “Matthew” and “John” does not establish a case that these authors were also the Apostles by the same name (though, as I have said, may scholars believe John the Apostle was also John the Evangelist - but nobody that I am aware of thinks that it was the same Matthew).

FURTHERMORE, we do not have even a scrap (not one jot or tittle) of the original writings of the Gospels. We have, at best, a copy of a copy (of a copy of a copy). We have no reason to believe that ANY copy (of a copy of a copy) is a faithful replica. When St. Jerome was charged (in the Fourth Century) with the duty to create the official Bible of the Church (the Latin Vulgate - which remains the “official” Bible of the Catholic Church today), he sought out as many manuscripts as he could find, and famously declared that
there are almost as many versions as there were copies* (tot sunt exemplaria paene quot codices)*
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So we have a collection of four writings (the Gospels), two of which were surely not written by any eyewitness, the third of which is not believed by any credible source to have have been written by an eyewitness, and the fourth is questionable.

Not one shred of the original manuscripts from any of these sources has survived.

And we have the testimony of the poor guy who was tasked with sorting out the messy situation three-and-a-half centuries later, who could scarcely find two versions of the Gospels (or Epistles) which agreed. And he had access to manuscripts which are lost to us today.

From any worldly historical standpoint, the New Testament is an absolute joke.

Maybe this is why St. Augustine said,
I would not have believed the gospel, unless the authority of the Church had induced me.* (St. Augustine, Contra Ep. Fund., V, 6.)*
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Catholics have the infallible authority of the Church to rely upon. It is BY THIS AUTHORITY alone that we know the New Testament is the written inspired Word of God. It is NOT because the authors were competent stenographers (or were even present in the first place).

I have no idea how protestants deal with this matter (I believe most simply ignore it and are ignorant of it - I never confronted these facts when I was a protestant).
 
po18guy said:
Welcome! It most certainly is the Holy Spirit that is leading you back to faith. One thing that will really help you is to get a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. I learn something every time I open my copy. It is a great resource that you can use for years to come.

As to the bible, thousands upon thousands of very learned men and women have shed their blood for the truth that is in the bible. This has gone on now for almost 2,000 years. No one dies for a lie.
Click to expand...
Absolutely!
And Ryan, whenever you are in doubt, know that the devil is at work. Turn to the Holy Spirit and pray for strength and understanding.
 
po18guy said:
No one dies for a lie.
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So does this mean that Muslims who strap bombs to their chest validate the Koran?

People willingly die for lies every day. Catholics must never use this as an apologetic technique, because it is totally bogus (although it has been advocated by respected Catholic apologists - even by CA apologists). The argument only holds water if the person is actually *aware *of the false nature of the claim.
 
po18guy said:
Welcome! It most certainly is the Holy Spirit that is leading you back to faith. One thing that will really help you is to get a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. I learn something every time I open my copy. It is a great resource that you can use for years to come.

As to the bible, thousands upon thousands of very learned men and women have shed their blood for the truth that is in the bible. This has gone on now for almost 2,000 years. No one dies for a lie.
Click to expand...
Catholicism for Dummies heh 🙂
I think I will also look for it:thumbsup:
Reminds me of a book that was selling like hot cakes some years ago here in Nairobi.
It was titled:
“Catholic? You Must be Crazy”
 
Ryan,

At a time, I was in a similiar situation as you. I had many questions and doubts flooding my mind. I found the more I read and understood, the more I was attacked by the evil one. I searched for answers to my questions and found them, sometimes in unusual situations or places. Sometimes from non-catholic sources because of what they believed just didn’t jive. I didn’t rely on one thing, but a totality of many things, people, parents, friends, non catholics, books, etc. I prayed and prayed with emotion and yet, life continued and I had to deal with that as well. When it came down to it, I realized that the Catholic Church is the one true Church. It is the only Church that has kept the same positions and teachings for 2,000 years. It is the only Church that gets attacked like no other. It is a Church that so many people are jealous of to the point of hatred. Reminds me of Christ being crucified and the humbleness that he had. I read the writings of the early church fathers. Once all is said and done, it came down to faith in Christ and His church. How do we know what is written in history books is true? Or what people tell us or what we hear or read? Blessed are those who believe and have not seen. Continue your journey and know this. Those are not stumbling blocks being presented to you. It’s an opportunity for you to learn the truth in a deeper way and it will not happen overnight. You must stay strong and go after the answers to your questions. Sometimes, it the smallest thing will give you an “Ah Hah” moment and then you will be wondering what you were thinking before. 🙂 The Catholic Church teachings are the only ones that do not get tossed around in the wind of doctrine but remain steadfast and true to It’s Roots. Use this site as often as you can and I congratulate you on your journey to know the Truth. I’m sure we will all be praying for you!
 
to give a secular response, it’s paschal’s wager. If there is no God, then you have still lived a virtuous life and helped your fellow man and bettered yourself by doing so. And if there is a God then you’ve followed Him as we are meant to do.

But the devil is at work in doubt and fear… There are too many things that are good in this world for God not to be real, and there are too many things evil in this world for the devil not to exist.

Praying for you.

peace,
Phil
 
odhiambo said:
Catholicism for Dummies heh 🙂
I think I will also look for it:thumbsup:
Reminds me of a book that was selling like hot cakes some years ago here in Nairobi.
It was titled:
“Catholic? You Must be Crazy”
Click to expand...
I think there may be one for idiots too. I love the for dummies series. 😉
 
DavidFilmer said:
So does this mean that Muslims who strap bombs to their chest validate the Koran?

People willingly die for lies every day. Catholics must never use this as an apologetic technique, because it is totally bogus (although it has been advocated by respected Catholic apologists - even by CA apologists). The argument only holds water if the person is actually *aware *of the false nature of the claim.
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Correction no one dies willingly for what they know is a lie. Henece, if the resurection was a lie the apostles would have said so instead of going to their death proclaiming it.
 
Wow! Thanks to everyone who has responded and taken time to help me!

Everything that has been said will surely help me through these times, thank you again!

Also, I just went to Barnes&Noble and purchased Catholicism for Dummies 😉

You all have inspired me to continue fighting and seek out ways to remove my doubts and walk with God!

God bless, and I’ll keep you updated with my progress. I’m extremely blessed to have been led by the Holy Spirit to this forum.

-Ryan
 
For me - reading the Acts and the letters of St Paul. St Paul has thoroughly convinced me from where he came from , his conversion and what he has sacrificed to spread the Gospels - this was one very intelligent and faithful man - I draw a lot of my faith from St Paul - who is the apostle of the Gentiles - St Paul’s faith is amazing and convincing .Paul is no fool in Christ as he says.

I’ll probably get trashed some how for saying this - but its the truth for me - and I can never discount his testimony - when I question my faith I think of St Paul and all my faith comes rushing back.
 
DavidFilmer said:
So does this mean that Muslims who strap bombs to their chest validate the Koran?

People willingly die for lies every day. Catholics must never use this as an apologetic technique, because it is totally bogus (although it has been advocated by respected Catholic apologists - even by CA apologists). The argument only holds water if the person is actually *aware *of the false nature of the claim.
Click to expand...
Nope. That is to murder for a lie.
 
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