Having Doubt about God and Afterlife

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Buckeye1010

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Hello, I am in my mid 30s and have recently started experiencing doubt in God (and have always had doubt but continued on anyway). I feel bad even saying this because I was raised Catholic, attending Catholic schools all my life. However as of recent I have been having an existential crisis of sorts and have found myself pondering what will happen when I die. Worried that so much “scientific” evidence points to nothing. It has been racking my brain as I am very analytical and wonder why I don’t have definitive “proof” of God. I read things like how the Bible doesn’t necessarily match up with history (though maybe parts of the Bible are the only historical documents of certain events)…also it seems like religion is diminishing through the world and have friends that have abandoned faith all together, and some that remain faithful. I look at things like miracles that may offer some proof but I obviously still have doubts. My mind keeps getting occupied by things like what does anything matter if we are returned to nonexistence like before we were born after we die? I went to ash Wednesday mass this morning and aside from myself and my wife and 3 little girls, it was mostly elderly people. It worries me that everyone is coming to a realization that there is nothing and I am clinging on to some hope. This really frightens me and us causing me a ton of anxiety. Is this normal for me to be having these feelings? I keep praying and have always prayed even when I have doubts because it does bring me some relief. Does anyone have advice for getting out of this slump that I feel like I am in…and how to not consistently worry all the time? I know this sounds selfish but sometimes I just wish God/Jesus/Mary or whomever would just openly reveal to me rather than it being such a mystery. Sorry for the long post and any help or advice would be appreciated.
 
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this list of books should be enough to kill most of your doubts(you don’t need to read all of them btw)

Our holy catholic church has always warned us of sin and how easy it is to fall.Man needs constant spiritual food,especially in our increasingly secular world.Be strong,pray,always think of god and read these books and if in doubt of anything just ask.
 
Thank you for the list of books, I will surely take a look at them…and would read them all if it gets me out of this rut I am in. Thanks for the advice…I keep getting sucked into Atheism type discussions where people bring up folks like Richard Dawkins, Chris Hitchens, Sam Harris etc…and it freaks me out. I never understood why people like that care so much about spreading atheism…like they are afraid to be alone in their thinking.
 
First of all, I will say that I personally have a hyper-analytical mind. Everything I encounter causes me to consider explanations of myriad questions that arise.
That said,

Have you never felt a transcendent presence, ever? Like when looking at a newborn baby for instance?

Do read the books that you’re able. They will help with a questioning mind.

Personally, I’d recommend you go to Aquinas’ Summa Theologae and his “primary cause” arguments to quell questions about God’s existence.

Best wishes
 
Hello, yes I have felt that type of presence before…my grandfather had dementia and didn’t know anyone for many years including my grandmother who passed before him…however right before he died he snapped out of it for like 20 minutes to talk with my dad…I wasn’t there but I can barely think of the story without crying. I have also felt that when my kids were born and when I have gone in religious retreats…however I always thought of it as just my inner emotions.

Thank you for the advice and I will look into the resources provided.

I also tend to get overwhelmed by the vastness of the universe and how this one tiny planet with people matter so much and is everything else out there just wasted space? If we were Gods greatest creation meant to live with him eternally…why have us occupy such a tiny spot in this vast cosmose…why not just make the universe the size of say our solar system? I guess even if I had the answer what would I do with it…
 
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OK, the world is no more or less secular than previous generations. That’s the first thing you should know. Look to pre-Christian civilization, to medieval times, to the enlightenment, to the eighteenth and nineteenth century and the world goes through period of a rise in secularism and a decline secularism. As proof I offer you Breughel:


I didn’t read the blog but Breughel is from the sixteenth century and looking at his art he was an elitist and more than likely an atheist, like many in his time. So, the younger generation or the gen X or even the Boomer generation not being as faithful as the Greatest Generation is just a reflection of what people have been doing all throughout history. I’m 38 and the fact that I lived during a time of reprieve in a moderate religious household makes me very grateful. Again, the younger generation will look to tech and always look for the newest trend not realizing that essentially nothing is new under the sun it’s all been done before. So, the young generation not being faithful is no reflection of advancement in human civilization but rather a reversal of human civilization to other points in history which like those points in history will be met with conflict and distress.

This is all covered in the Bible. I present an excerpt of Psalm 95

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,[a]
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

Elsewhere it’s in the Bible. So, the boomers in the seventies and all that went on until now it’s just about forty years. So, yes, I expect there will be tough times ahead for many civilizations as society secularizes and rejects God. We are living in a very Historical period.

As for science, OK. Well religion is not subject to the scientific method, so anything a scientist says about religion is a personal opinion not based on anything remotely scientific. When I look at your average scientist I see flawed men who can’t otherwise function in society. So, I take not stock in what they say other than what they know in their particular field. I do believe in Climate Change, but I’m not going to listen to a Climate Scientist about his relationship with God or lack thereof.

Finally, here is the test. You are having a Job moment. I implore you to pray the Rosary Daily. Here are some sites you can use:

http://www.comepraytherosary.org/

http://www.catholictv.org/shows/the-rosary
 
Now that you are older and with children and are being put to the test like Job, this is why I call it a Job moment, it is essential to pray the Rosary. On top of that if you can pray Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. Here are some sites I use:

http://www.catholictv.org/shows/divine-office

Now, it is time for prayer work for you and your family. I’m sorry if I sound dramatic but do not be afraid to be a prayer warrior. On the other side of prayer are signs and signals and logic showing you God is there. It may take time and may take perseverance but that is where the pilgrimage starts.

Again, there will come a time where it is so obvious there is a God, you will cry for the condemned who like lemmings throw themselves off cliffs because it seems everyone is doing it. Now, is the time to pray and ask to feel God’s love and see God’s love. But again, we are living through Historical times grieve and pray for the sinner but don’t assume we are going through anything different that previous generations haven’t gone through.
 
Thank you, I do appreciate it. I have an hour drive to and from work and have started praying the rosery during the drive in order to help pull me out of my rut. My wife also suggested that we pray daily together as a goal for Lent and then hopefully it sticks. I will say one thing is my grandfather is currently on hospice after having cancer for 18 years (he was only expected to live a year or 2 when he was diagnosed). He is from Southern Germany and was raised catholic but pretty much went away from the church in the sense that he just (like many others) stopped going. I was praying for him the other day that Gods will be done. Everyone to this point said he wouldn’t and didn’t want a Catholic mass when he dies. So after some prayer at home I went to visit him and asked him what he wanted…asked him if he wanted a mass and he looked at me and smiled and said “yes, I do think that is what I want, I am catholic and I think that would be the right thing for me when I go”…so perhaps God is answering some prayers even if it isn’t ultra obvious.
 
Thank you. Good, I’m glad you are having those transformative experiences. Again, continue to pray and it may take time. There is scripture on this:

Luke 11:9-13 New King James Version (NKJV)
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for [a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Matthew 7:7-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Luke 18 New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Persistent Widow
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
 
This is where reading the Bible becomes a part of your life. Essentially, society comes in and out of Old Testament times. I say we are heading into some old Testament Times. If you are going to start reading the Old Testament, I would start with Judges. Maybe looking at Job will help as well. The Old Testament is a very advanced book, in it you will find complicated figures serving God and in it you will find stories of the Common Man. However, none are perfect. It is only in the New Testament with the Son of God are we presented with Perfection and asked to seek it.

Remember, like is an experience a relationship with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Mother and the Saints is meant to be experienced. Unlike the secularists do, life is not meant to be theorized nor, “what-if’d” nor a plethora of ideas that are trends and fashions seen all throughout History. The experience of life is to develop our Faith until we feel God’s presence and with certainty know he is there. For the secularist life is meant to be experienced means hedonistically ie “seize the day for tomorrow you may die”, taken from an old atheist poem. The problem God tells us is, “well, what if you don’t die and instead live how will you cope with the outcome and how will you cope in general.” What is good for us morally, spiritually is also good for us practically.

Finally, there may be a time when you are overwhelmed by the concept of Hell and the fact that people go to it. I’m not one to condemn, so I suppose few go to it. But a process for me once I understood the ramifications of Hell is to pray and grieve for the sinner.

I have a disability and will not have children because it is inheritable. Fine. I’m 38 and have been celibate since 27. Celibacy is easy for me. It’s not a burden on me, I gave up porn at that time as well. But you have the Holy Path of being a Husband and a Father. Remember, let not your spiritual fears prevail upon your children because they may see it and stray. There is scripture on this. Just exude goodness, love, charity, humility and good core values and only ask of them not that they be successful but that they live Holy Lives. I have Nephews and God Sons and that is how I advise them.

I am a political moderate. Don’t let politics divide you. Catholic First as part of the body of the Holy Universal Church across the world, Family second, Community third. Then if politics plays into it, that’s fine. But always know there are Liberal, Moderate, Conservative Catholics we are all Catholics not matter what. The media and social media is all about exploiting fears and creating strong emotions on both sides. Forget about it, don’t consume it. See God in the face of your community and your children and what is right in front of you. Don’t see it as secularists do through the lens of any media.

That’s all I recommend. God bless you. Happy Lent.
 
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