Help an atheist to "discover" Catholic Christianity

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Hello.
I’m writing this to ask for your help.
As a young atheist (20 years old), I never believed in religion. I even critizised it/made fun of it at many occasions. However, since few weeks, I started to doubt about what I thought was undeniable, I started to question myself existential questions (Life, death, Universe…). I even had a dream where I was attending to a mass and I felt something good, pleasant about it (I admit that I was very disturbed when I woke up).
I never received a religious education so I don’t know anything about religion. And that’s the reason I’m asking for your help. In my opinion, nobody can help me better than a believer to discover and understand this religion who intrigue me so much.
I hope you will know how to help me. And I thank you in advance for your help.
 
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Hello, i hope you will find the answers that you are looking for here, look for the Catholic Apologetics too. Here i send a good video to start from, to find the beauty of God’s creation.


I also recommend the topic of the Shroud of Turin, it can really help… it’s a long peer reviewed work but it’s really worth the time to read: http://www.shroudofturin.com/Resources/CRTSUM.pdf

C.S. Lewis “Mere Christianity” is a very good book to start with.
 
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If I were new to Catholicism and new to Christianity as well, I’d start to read–a lot. Start with the New Testament and find out about the coming of Jesus Christ, his suffering and death, his resurrection, and the immediate aftermath. Look for books like Catholicism for Dummies that start with the basics. Hopefully, you will also be drawn to prayer, so ask God to help you find the truth. He will.
 
“Mere Christianity” by Lewis is an excellent starting point if you want to know what Christians believe.

His other works of non-fiction are good sources too. I recommend “The Four Loves” and his autobiographical “Surprised by Joy”.
 
Hello,
The Holy Spirit is reaching out to you, trying to touch your heart.
Do not be afraid, as the Good Book says.
I will pray for you.
Peace be with you.

P.S. if you want to read something, start with the New Testament of the Bible, the Catholic version.
Best to start with the words and actions of Jesus himself!
Available online for free, here.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PV8.HTM
 
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This is great news.

The best place to start might be the priest of your local church. He might be able to put you through RCIA, which prepares you to receive the sacraments of initiation if you choose to follow through with it, but is commitment free. You’ll be given the chance to learn the Catholic faith with others (or at least with a teacher) and ask questions.

You could also begin reading the Bible. I began in the Old Testament and benefitted greatly from that approach, but some could be better served by beginning in the New. Whatever way you may decide to start, just make sure not to totally neglect the other.

You’ll be in my prayers.
 
God’s beautiful Love for us:

1 Corinthians 13

1I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. 2 I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains—but if I have no love, I am nothing. 3I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned—but if I have no love, this does me no good.

4Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; 5love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; 6love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. 7Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.

8Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. 9For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; 10but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.

11When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways. 12What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete—as complete as God’s knowledge of me.

13Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
 
My advice would be to study the transcendent. When you have a firm grasp upon the concept, a transcendent Spirit, Person, Power, Entity will begin to make sense. Confining our thinking to the finite world leaves us only a short-sighted view - a state of cognitive myopia, if you will. We must look beyond.
 
Bishop Robert Barron’s Catholicism documentary series is pretty good. If you are not a documentary person, it is also available in book format. Bishop Barron also has YouTube videos on various subjects that are pretty accessible to people with no theological training, yet, do not dumb anything down.


When I started taking my Faith seriously, Word on Fire and Catholic Answers were my go-to places.
 
A moral atheist can best understand Catholicism by understanding that morals does not equal religion.

When Jesus gave his most famous speech about morals on “The Sermon on The Mount”, it is best understood by not listening to it from that mountain that he was on that nice day. Rather it is best listened to from Mount Calvary–where he was crucified–on a dreary day with an eclipse and an earthquake.

He died for us (sacrificed himself) in order to save us. He did this because he loves us. He did this because he always does his Father’s will which is rooted in love.
 
My advice is first you need to get to a point where you truly believe in God. So start with reading the Summa Theologica by St Thomas Aquinas. In short it treats: (1) Of God, (2) Of the rational creature’s advance towards God; (3) Of Christ, Who as man, is our way to God.
 
JohnSadblack said:
However, since few weeks, I started to doubt about what I thought was undeniable, I started to question myself existential questions (Life, death, Universe…).
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You sound much like St. Augustine; if you were to read his “Confessions” I think you might be very surprised, pleasantly. (Modern English best)
Go to Mass often and talk to Catholics there - tell them why you are there - that is about equivalent to asking Jesus, “Who are you?” And some will talk, some will simply be polite because they also are seeking and don’t yet know how to answer.
  1. There are six W’s, or 5 W’s and 1 H, which are used in seeking to understand reality. “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Where?”, “How?”, and “Why?” are the six queries.
I find with You, LORD, there is one answer to all six concerning Yourself:
  • I ask, “Who are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
  • I ask, “What are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
  • I ask, “When are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
  • I ask, “Where are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
  • I ask, “How are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
  • I ask, “Why are You?” You answer, ‘I AM’.
If I seek to go further, asking, “Who is the one answering, ‘I AM’?” (The Name | SoftVocation) “What is that one? When? Where? Why? How?” Were I to investigate in that way, I would be seeking to know you at a distance, as third person, examining You as if you were an experiment.

Cogitation versus Contemplation
  1. In the third person consideration of You, cogitation, I am not in your presence, but I am analyzing You as an impersonal object, thinking “about You without You”.
But in contemplation I am before You, face to face, eye to eye, and simply “look at You looking at me”.

Somewhere a poet of questionable repute [Lord Byron: Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage: CLVIII] wrote that our spirits dilate to the size of that they contemplate (or is it active rather than passive?) I consider that we also seek to shrink You to the size of a thought when in cogitation about Your being and meaning. Might be this why You sent your Son, who sent Apostles, and then their Successors, instead of a treatise? In person, do our spirits grow infinitely large to participate in all of You? Cogitate or Contemplate – You shrink to a 3rd person or we grow to see You face to face.

John Martin
 
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I think a good place to start would be the Baltimore Catechism, beginning with Part One: The Creed, Lesson 1 (The Purpose of Man’s Existence). The catechism follows a short-question-and-answer format and includes a relevant quotation from the Catholic Church’s Sacred Scriptures (Holy Writings), also known as the Holy Bible, with each answer. There are a total of 499 answered questions in 38 lessons of the catechism. Here are the first few questions and answers from Lesson 1:

1. Who made us?​

God made us.

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. (Genesis 1:1)

2. Who is God?​

God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.

In him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

3. Why did God make us?​

God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.

Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him. (I Corinthians 2:9)

4. What must we do to gain the happiness of heaven?​

To gain the happiness of heaven we must know, love, and serve God in this world.

Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth; where the rust and moth consume and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven; where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. (Matthew 6:19-20)

5. From whom do we learn to know, love, and serve God?​

We learn to know, love, and serve God from Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church.

I have come a light into the world that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46)
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JohnSadblack said:
I never received a religious education so I don’t know anything about religion. And that’s the reason I’m asking for your help. In my opinion, nobody can help me better than a believer to discover and understand this religion who intrigue me so much.
I hope you will know how to help me. And I thank you in advance for your help.
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Well, welcome to the fold. Lots of good answers to get you started. I’d like to add one more.

God is love.

As an atheist I think the first hurdle to conquer is this. God is real & by 20 years old you have experienced him some way or another. Whether it’s the love of a parent, grand parent, friend, brother, girl… you’ve experienced love & that love is real & that love is God.

But our idea of love is flawed, so we practice religion to better understand that love, which brings us closer to God.
 
Zaccheus said:
“Mere Christianity” by Lewis is an excellent starting point if you want to know what Christians believe.

His other works of non-fiction are good sources too. I recommend “The Four Loves” and his autobiographical “Surprised by Joy”.
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Gigas97 said:
C.S. Lewis “Mere Christianity” is a very good book to start with.
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It should be noted that C.S. Lewis was an atheist convert to Anglican Christianity, which is nevertheless different from Catholic Christianity about which the original post is concerned, though they share many common elements.
 
Todd_Easton said:
It should be noted that C.S. Lewis was an atheist convert to Anglican Christianity, which is nevertheless different from Catholic Christianity about which the original post is concerned, though they share many common elements.
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Yes that’s right, but it’s a good introduction to the Christian mentality. If i’m not wrong, J.R.R Tolkien was pretty sad about Lewis’s conversion to Anglicanism, he hoped that Lewis would also become a Catholic.
 
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Attend an RCIA class and maybe begin to think about praying the Rosary.
 
Along with the great reading suggestions you’ve gotten (I’d personally recommend the Gospels.) I think you should open up to God through prayer. Learning how to pray is a life long process.

However, I think opening your heart to God for a short amount of time each day would be a good start. Perhaps start each day with a short prayer like “Lord help me to draw closer to you today.”

And of course, go to an actual mass! Achieve your dreams!
 
There’s a wide range of responses and advice you’ll get on here. Some will resonate, some won’t, I expect. People’s personal experience with their faith is just that: personal.

Let us know if you have any questions.

I’ll endorse the recommendation for Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Lewis was an atheist convert to Christianity. Mere Christianity isn’t a deep dive into the faith (Lewis was actually part of the Church of England, but the Christianity presented in this book is very general), but was basically written for the every day workingman in post-war (1952) England. It’s very plain spoken and general, a re-introduction to the faith for many Englishmen who were never taught much about their faith very well. Just so you understand the audience if you read it.
 
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You may want to start with a book called Catholicism…For Dummies. It gives a good overview in an easy to read format.

Afterward you may want to check out Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft, who breaks down the “why” we believe.

Good luck 🙂:pray:t2:❤️
 
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