S
scree
Guest
Something I’ve always wondered… If choosing and following the correct religion is so important that the rest of your eternity depends on your choice of religion in this life, why is it not easier to know which is the correct religion?
When I’ve asked this question, I usually get the following responses.
Response 1 -* It is actually very easy to see that Catholicism is the correct religion*
The problem with this response is that not everybody sees Catholicism as the correct religion. In fact, the majority of the world (more than 5 out of 6 people) do not believe in Catholicism. And of those that say they are Catholic, there are varying levels of belief.
There are many firm believers in Catholicism who see it as an obvious choice, and I’m happy for them. But there are also many firm believers in other religions that feel the same way about their respective religion. Many of the saints (and probably many of the people here) have had or still have struggles with their belief in Catholicism, Christianity, or God. It may be obvious for some people, but why isn’t it obvious for everyone?
A common follow-up I hear is that non-Catholics are just deceiving themselves and actually believe, but just claim not to believe because it makes life easier. While this may be true for some people, I find that a pretty bold statement to say for all non-Catholics and find it incredibly hard to believe. What about people that want to believe but are struggling with their faith?
Response 2 -* It’s not actually important to follow the correct religion* – or – All religions are equal
Of course the challenge here is that most religions don’t actually teach this. I have a hard time believing this one as well because most religions out there make it clear that it is, in fact, essential to be following their faith. Unless all religions are wrong, one has to at least be more correct than all the others.
Response 3 – All religions are wrong – or – The correct religion is unknowable
The standard atheistic and agnostic response. An entirely different discussion for a different day since it assumes the very premise of a correct religion is a faulty assumption.
Response 4 – Faith is a gift, but also an action
This may be correct, but it seems to imply that if somebody doesn’t have faith, it’s because they were never given the gift of faith from God, or are lazy in seeking faith.
With regards to being lazy, it gets back to my difficulty with the first response. Are there people out there who don’t believe because they are lazy/stubborn? You bet. Does that mean everybody who doesn’t have faith in Catholicism is lazy/stubborn? That’s a leap that I can’t make. I can’t know a person’s inner thoughts, but I do believe there are good people out there that are humbly seeking the truth that wind up someplace other than Catholicism.
With regards to God not giving somebody the gift of faith… well, I suppose this is possible. I just don’t know why He would do that if he was a loving God. Especially if following the correct faith is so important.
Response 5 – God wants us to believe out of our own free will, so he allows us to reject him or disbelieve in him.
I get this. I’m happy that we have free will as a human race, and I can’t really imagine an alternative. But this doesn’t really get to the core of the question. It’s one thing to willfully reject someone/something. It’s quite another to reject something because you don’t actually know or understand it.
A loving father gives the option of following or rejecting him. Sure. And I would be ok if all of humanity was knew and understand that Catholicism was the correct religion, but many people willfully chose to reject it because they didn’t want to follow God.
What I feel like is actually happening is 1000 different people are giving different accounts on who our father actually is and what he wants. Do you follow your father’s commands or do you reject them? Well, it really depends on which of the 1000 accounts you think is actually the correct one.
I’ve posted this here because I’m curious to hear more thoughts on the subject.
When I’ve asked this question, I usually get the following responses.
Response 1 -* It is actually very easy to see that Catholicism is the correct religion*
The problem with this response is that not everybody sees Catholicism as the correct religion. In fact, the majority of the world (more than 5 out of 6 people) do not believe in Catholicism. And of those that say they are Catholic, there are varying levels of belief.
There are many firm believers in Catholicism who see it as an obvious choice, and I’m happy for them. But there are also many firm believers in other religions that feel the same way about their respective religion. Many of the saints (and probably many of the people here) have had or still have struggles with their belief in Catholicism, Christianity, or God. It may be obvious for some people, but why isn’t it obvious for everyone?
A common follow-up I hear is that non-Catholics are just deceiving themselves and actually believe, but just claim not to believe because it makes life easier. While this may be true for some people, I find that a pretty bold statement to say for all non-Catholics and find it incredibly hard to believe. What about people that want to believe but are struggling with their faith?
Response 2 -* It’s not actually important to follow the correct religion* – or – All religions are equal
Of course the challenge here is that most religions don’t actually teach this. I have a hard time believing this one as well because most religions out there make it clear that it is, in fact, essential to be following their faith. Unless all religions are wrong, one has to at least be more correct than all the others.
Response 3 – All religions are wrong – or – The correct religion is unknowable
The standard atheistic and agnostic response. An entirely different discussion for a different day since it assumes the very premise of a correct religion is a faulty assumption.
Response 4 – Faith is a gift, but also an action
This may be correct, but it seems to imply that if somebody doesn’t have faith, it’s because they were never given the gift of faith from God, or are lazy in seeking faith.
With regards to being lazy, it gets back to my difficulty with the first response. Are there people out there who don’t believe because they are lazy/stubborn? You bet. Does that mean everybody who doesn’t have faith in Catholicism is lazy/stubborn? That’s a leap that I can’t make. I can’t know a person’s inner thoughts, but I do believe there are good people out there that are humbly seeking the truth that wind up someplace other than Catholicism.
With regards to God not giving somebody the gift of faith… well, I suppose this is possible. I just don’t know why He would do that if he was a loving God. Especially if following the correct faith is so important.
Response 5 – God wants us to believe out of our own free will, so he allows us to reject him or disbelieve in him.
I get this. I’m happy that we have free will as a human race, and I can’t really imagine an alternative. But this doesn’t really get to the core of the question. It’s one thing to willfully reject someone/something. It’s quite another to reject something because you don’t actually know or understand it.
A loving father gives the option of following or rejecting him. Sure. And I would be ok if all of humanity was knew and understand that Catholicism was the correct religion, but many people willfully chose to reject it because they didn’t want to follow God.
What I feel like is actually happening is 1000 different people are giving different accounts on who our father actually is and what he wants. Do you follow your father’s commands or do you reject them? Well, it really depends on which of the 1000 accounts you think is actually the correct one.
I’ve posted this here because I’m curious to hear more thoughts on the subject.
