<How to convert to Catholicism when you're an atheist?>

[fide]

Hi everyone,
I am an atheist. For many years, I’ve been trying to convert to Catholicism. I have done my best. Following the advice of Pascal, I tried to go through the motions of being a Catholic, hoping that faith would come. So, I went to Mass every Sunday, I even went on mission. I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’ve read a bunch of other books: apologetics, lives of saints, christian novels. I even tried to pray, although it’s pretty hard to pray to someone you don’t believe in. I’ve spoken to numerous priests. Result: nothing. And it’s not the dark night of the soul (people like to mention Mother Teresa and others to me): they did have faith, they were just going through a period when they didn’t feel anything. But I don’t believe either. And it’s not like I have any intellectual objections to faith. Throughout my quest, I have encountered many great arguments for the existence of God; they just didn’t convince me. It’s like with aliens: I agree that aliens might hypothetically exist somewhere, I have no intellectual objections to it, and I still don’t believe they exist; I’ll even bet on it. I think my problem is that I’m not a very “intellectual” person to begin with: I love philosophy and theology, but for me reason is secondary, and feeling comes first. I used to feel something in church when I was a teenager, which is what got me interested in Catholicism (my parents are atheists) - but now I think it was just a mix of superstition and amazement at the beauty of it, stained glass and things. But now even that is gone, and honestly I don’t know what to do. I hate believing in nothing. And I believe that without God life doesn’t have any sense, and there’s no distinction between good and evil. “If there’s no God, then everything is permitted,” like Dostoyevsky wrote. And it’s a pretty scary world to live in. What do you think I can do? Thanks for answering.

Well, you’ve received quite a bit of advice. Mine is close to one or two posts so far, but it’s a also bit different so I’ll add it.

It is all grace, first, and then grace depending on our response to grace. Paul writes, “By grace are you saved, through faith.” That is, yes faith is needed, yet faith is possible first by grace. You need grace, and then, you need (with grace) to hate what is opposed to grace working in you.

Augustine writes of two cities, calling and inviting man into them: the city of man, and the city of God. Through his search and pondering of Scripture, he learned this “summary”:
Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience.

Jesus says that we cannot serve both masters - it is either one or the other. My experience shows me that most of the ambiguity, two-mindedness and duplicity that plagues us, stems from the impossible desire to compromise and hold on to both worlds - both “truths” - both “faiths”. But it is not possible.

In other words, my suggestion is to continue to discern and seek to learn in yourself, what do you want? What (or whom) do you love? Which city holds your heart - and which do you want to give yourself to?

Mt 13 - the parable of the sower - might give some light on this, for you. The whole parable, verses 1-23. Jesus explains the consequences in the heart, of the two loves.

Jesus said, and it is true: all who seek, find. Seek, with your whole heart, and you will find.

 

[JRKH]

Well, you’ve received quite a bit of advice. Mine is close to one or two posts so far, but it’s a also bit different so I’ll add it.

It is all grace, first, and then grace depending on our response to grace. Paul writes, “By grace are you saved, through faith.” That is, yes faith is needed, yet faith is possible first by grace. You need grace, and then, you need (with grace) to hate what is opposed to grace working in you.

Good answer - - I believe that the OP has already received this level of grace. Not that he expresses “hate” for that which opposes grace, but rather he expresses fear at what a world without God is like.
That said…I think that the OPs best bet is to continue to act on this grace - especially through acts of charity. For we know that faith needs action in order to grow.

Augustine writes of two cities, calling and inviting man into them: the city of man, and the city of God. Through his search and pondering of Scripture, he learned this “summary”:
Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience.

I would be the last to criticize Augustine…BUT…(there is always a but in these conversations…)…I think we need to be careful here.
Augustine speaks of, “the love of God, even to the contempt of self”. Yet according to the Son of God, the second greatest commandment is to Love neighbor “as yourself”. So - How can one Love his neighbor as God commands us to if one have a “contempt” for one’s self?

There is a fine line that must be walked and one that can be difficult to understand. I believe that the old Freudian terminology can be of help here (especially when talking with an atheist). In the Freudian terminology there is the “Id”, the “Ego” and the “Super-ego” which might be equated to the “natural man” on the one end and the “perfect - God fearing man” at the other end. In between - the ego - is where we struggle to get the right balance,
The “self” that Paul and Augustine are referring to would be that which Freud called the “Id” - the purely, natural and animalistic aspects of one’s make-up. The tendency toward sin. Our goal is to, with God’s grace, to move away from and overcome these tendencies. To become more loving - more Christlike. We do this not out of “contempt of self”…but out of love of God & a healthy love of self.

hope this makes sense.

Peace
James

 

[Kindness]

OP my advice to you would be to find a spiritual director, a priest who is holy - maybe a Dominician if you have any Dominicians in your area. It is a strange dynamic to decide to become a Catholic when you have no faith. I think you need to explore what this is all about with a holy priest.

All of God’s love and blessing to you.

 

[fide]

… So - How can one Love his neighbor as God commands us to if one have a “contempt” for one’s self?

There is a fine line that must be walked and one that can be difficult to understand. I believe that the old Freudian terminology can be of help here (especially when talking with an atheist). In the Freudian terminology there is the “Id”, the “Ego” and the “Super-ego” which might be equated to the “natural man” on the one end and the “perfect - God fearing man” at the other end. In between - the ego - is where we struggle to get the right balance,
The “self” that Paul and Augustine are referring to would be that which Freud called the “Id” - the purely, natural and animalistic aspects of one’s make-up. The tendency toward sin. Our goal is to, with God’s grace, to move away from and overcome these tendencies. To become more loving - more Christlike. We do this not out of “contempt of self”…but out of love of God & a healthy love of self.

hope this makes sense.

Peace
James

Hello James.

Yes, I think I understand what you are saying. To try to approach the great mystery of authentic love from a different angle, though, please let me try to add a bit more…

The radical distinction between the “city of man” and the “city of God” described by Augustine did not contradict the Gospel at all - but I agree, the difference is difficult to see, and to grasp, and to hold on to. In the NT, the difficulty arises in the two meanings of the word “world”, for example:
“God so loved the world that He gave HIs only Son…” (Jn 3:16) But:
“Do not love the world or the things of the world…” (1 Jn 2:15);
“… the whole world is in the power of the evil one.” (1 Jn 5:19).

Also, in NT terms, the radical difference is highlighted in the contrast between God and Mammon (“No one can serve two masters…he will hate the one and love the other…You cannot serve both God and Mammon” (Mt 6:24).

And in the two “cities” / women of Revelations, in the end times:

• the harlot and mother of all harlots, Babyon, contrasted against
• the holy city, the new Jerusalem - the Bride of Christ.

Christians cannot be of two minds - two citizenships - as we seek to walk our pilgrimage through this life: we must choose - to be of God, or to be of this world; we must choose life or death. We are sent into this world, but cannot be or become “of” this world. We must be of His Kingdom, wholeheartedly. There is no “middle ground”, no “balance” of moderation, no compromise between God and Mammon, between light and darkness - we will love the one or the other.

Jesus found in the Pharisees, painful examples of the hypocrite - the actor - who plays the part of a religious man who loves God, but in the heart was a man of this world, loving the praise of men and seeking approval not of God but of one another.

So We agree that a Christian must love himself in the right way, and not in the wrong way! The great mystery of rightful self-love, however, is a great mystery indeed. My fear (and thus this long response to you), is that readers might read “rightful self-love” in the wrong way - as the way of “compromise” - of balancing selfishness with altruism. Jesus showed us the right way of love self: through the denial of self for the glory of God and the good of neighbor.

This model of self-gift shows us indeed the only way to truly find, and know, oneself!

“Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when he prayed to the Father ‘that all may be one…even as we are one’” (Jn 17:21-22), opened up vistas closed to human reason, for he implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God’s sons in truth and charity. This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself" (GS 24)

 

[Googler]

The grace of loving others comes after the love of God.
For some the respect of oneself must proceed before their love of God is realized. There seems to be this problem some have where they are living beside their true self. Instead of being attentive and guided to the Way by the light of their Angel Guardian they’ve been slaves to the harsh demands of the demonic. Anxiety and self-absorption keep us from listening and from giving the Lord our undivided attention. Listening to our Angel, we desire to treat our mind and body kindly and tenderly, where it has a chance to feel the gentle presence of the Lord deep in our heart.
It is there where the Truth is welcomed… There where there is repentance and through prayer the fire of the love of God can grow… There we give our fiat to do God’s will, ‘let it be done unto me’… There we offer to Him everything we have and everything we do… There we learn to use His gifts and to bring Him glory in the way we treat others.
Doing God’s will, you can expect miracles and be filled with the joy of Life.

 

[ynotzap]

Faith is a gift. There is only one way to get it, from Jesus Christ. He alone is the Savior of all men,that includes you. You must humble yourself in your thoughts and approach Him, open your mind and heart. Promise him your life, to follow Him and obey His teachings found in the Bible. When you do this and learn about Jesus, you will learn that you must turn from sin and turn to Jesus Christ to receive His Spirit of Conversion. If you are sincere, I have no doubt He will answer you. He desires to bestow His love on you, more than you desire it yourself. There are many opportunities in the Christian Catholic Church to receive instructions and guidance. Seek and you shall find. Also he knows your personal needs and can fill them, even if they include feelings ( we call it religious sentiment, many people under-estimate this aspect of Christianity)

 

[MacQ]

Hi everyone,
I am an atheist. For many years, I’ve been trying to convert to Catholicism. I have done my best. Following the advice of Pascal, I tried to go through the motions of being a Catholic, hoping that faith would come. So, I went to Mass every Sunday, I even went on mission. I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’ve read a bunch of other books: apologetics, lives of saints, christian novels. I even tried to pray, although it’s pretty hard to pray to someone you don’t believe in. I’ve spoken to numerous priests. Result: nothing. And it’s not the dark night of the soul (people like to mention Mother Teresa and others to me): they did have faith, they were just going through a period when they didn’t feel anything. But I don’t believe either. And it’s not like I have any intellectual objections to faith. Throughout my quest, I have encountered many great arguments for the existence of God; they just didn’t convince me. It’s like with aliens: I agree that aliens might hypothetically exist somewhere, I have no intellectual objections to it, and I still don’t believe they exist; I’ll even bet on it. I think my problem is that I’m not a very “intellectual” person to begin with: I love philosophy and theology, but for me reason is secondary, and feeling comes first. I used to feel something in church when I was a teenager, which is what got me interested in Catholicism (my parents are atheists) - but now I think it was just a mix of superstition and amazement at the beauty of it, stained glass and things. But now even that is gone, and honestly I don’t know what to do. I hate believing in nothing. And I believe that without God life doesn’t have any sense, and there’s no distinction between good and evil. “If there’s no God, then everything is permitted,” like Dostoyevsky wrote. And it’s a pretty scary world to live in. What do you think I can do? Thanks for answering.

A couple of things:

1. Console thyself, thy wouldst not seek Me if thou had not found Me
   Pascal- Pensees

2.Seek not to understand before you will believe… believe that you may understand.
Augustine

I think you should enter RCIA. It is a program of enquiry only. Spend the time there and see what happens. Don’t let your brain (which is where facts and information reside) get in the way of your heart, (which is where wisdom resides).

Godspeed.

 

[HarveyL]

One thing that may help, though highly unusual, is to plant the seeds in your uncritical subconscious mind via hypnosis. You may thereby learn to associate God with peace, warmth, safety, love, joy, excitement, and more. From there, you can join the RCIA, pray every day for increase in your faith, and expand the seed until your “logical” mind finally accepts and understands the connections needed.

Hi everyone,
I am an atheist. For many years, I’ve been trying to convert to Catholicism. I have done my best. Following the advice of Pascal, I tried to go through the motions of being a Catholic, hoping that faith would come. So, I went to Mass every Sunday, I even went on mission. I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’ve read a bunch of other books: apologetics, lives of saints, christian novels. I even tried to pray, although it’s pretty hard to pray to someone you don’t believe in. I’ve spoken to numerous priests. Result: nothing. And it’s not the dark night of the soul (people like to mention Mother Teresa and others to me): they did have faith, they were just going through a period when they didn’t feel anything. But I don’t believe either. And it’s not like I have any intellectual objections to faith. Throughout my quest, I have encountered many great arguments for the existence of God; they just didn’t convince me. It’s like with aliens: I agree that aliens might hypothetically exist somewhere, I have no intellectual objections to it, and I still don’t believe they exist; I’ll even bet on it. I think my problem is that I’m not a very “intellectual” person to begin with: I love philosophy and theology, but for me reason is secondary, and feeling comes first. I used to feel something in church when I was a teenager, which is what got me interested in Catholicism (my parents are atheists) - but now I think it was just a mix of superstition and amazement at the beauty of it, stained glass and things. But now even that is gone, and honestly I don’t know what to do. I hate believing in nothing. And I believe that without God life doesn’t have any sense, and there’s no distinction between good and evil. “If there’s no God, then everything is permitted,” like Dostoyevsky wrote. And it’s a pretty scary world to live in. What do you think I can do? Thanks for answering.

 

[HelenRose]

Hi everyone,
I am an atheist. For many years, I’ve been trying to convert to Catholicism. I have done my best. Following the advice of Pascal, I tried to go through the motions of being a Catholic, hoping that faith would come. So, I went to Mass every Sunday, I even went on mission. I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’ve read a bunch of other books: apologetics, lives of saints, christian novels. I even tried to pray, although it’s pretty hard to pray to someone you don’t believe in. I’ve spoken to numerous priests. Result: nothing. And it’s not the dark night of the soul (people like to mention Mother Teresa and others to me): they did have faith, they were just going through a period when they didn’t feel anything. But I don’t believe either. And it’s not like I have any intellectual objections to faith. Throughout my quest, I have encountered many great arguments for the existence of God; they just didn’t convince me. It’s like with aliens: I agree that aliens might hypothetically exist somewhere, I have no intellectual objections to it, and I still don’t believe they exist; I’ll even bet on it. I think my problem is that I’m not a very “intellectual” person to begin with: I love philosophy and theology, but for me reason is secondary, and feeling comes first. I used to feel something in church when I was a teenager, which is what got me interested in Catholicism (my parents are atheists) - but now I think it was just a mix of superstition and amazement at the beauty of it, stained glass and things. But now even that is gone, and honestly I don’t know what to do. I hate believing in nothing. And I believe that without God life doesn’t have any sense, and there’s no distinction between good and evil. “If there’s no God, then everything is permitted,” like Dostoyevsky wrote. And it’s a pretty scary world to live in. What do you think I can do? Thanks for answering.

Let God lead you and quit worrying about it. Even though you are not able to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ until you can accept the truth of His divinity you can be part of the Church. You can help sing in the choir. You can work with the poor. You can work in a soup kitchen. You can help out with funerals. You can’t pretend to believe something that you don’t believe. God understands that. Walk the way of Christ in peace and love. God will find you.

Be not afraid.

 

[puzzledtoo]

Greetings OP,
I’m puzzled by a couple of statements in your first post. First your state “I am an atheist.” then you statement later in the post “And I believe that without God life doesn’t have any sense,…”
Possibly you are agnostic rather than atheist? Someone on another thread stated they considered themselves an agnostic theist(which I had never heard of). Anyway you say you don’t believe and believe. Maybe because you have a belief/faith in a superior being of some sort just not quite ready for the Christian idea of what/who God is and this is causing you stress and suffering.
Please re-read the texts you’ve mentioned but this time take your time(not saying you didn’t) and try to discern what you agree with in the text and what you don’t agree with. why do you agree with such and such and why don’t you agree with such and such? Maybe something you read this time you’ll see you agree with or believe in that before didn’t strike a chord.
As time goes on with my journey I find that my beliefs have changed quite a bit. I can see much value in organized religious beliefs now whereas before I didn’t.
May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be well. May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be happy.

 

[dedo]

I suggest trying to do what you have been taught about Catholicism as best you can, whether you feel like it or not.

For example, you said something about “evil in your heart”. Many Catholics will go to regular confession and use the prayer to St. Michael to combat this sort of thing. I read the Pope goes to confession weekly. So going once a month is not unreasonable for anyone.

Of course don’t miss Mass.

Pray daily. Pray for Faith. Read the Bible daily. Read something about how to improve your ability to pray such as Lectio Divina.

Serve somewhere people who are less fortunate.

Regarding communion, that is a question to ask your parish priest, not forum members. I can’t claim to fully understand the Eucharist, but I accept the teachings of the Catholic Church, and I go to communion, especially after going to confession.

For me, my experience changed when I started doing those things. Prior to that, I showed up mainly because of Pascal’s wager. Then an intense curiosity developed and I really “wanted to know”. Not all of the experiences of “knowing” followed shortly after the effort however.

For example, one Protestant Christian dude taught me to say a prayer before surfing. So I adopted the practice and used a Catholic prayer, the Hail Mary before anything risky. Then over the years a series of bizarre “coincidences” occurred where I almost got killed, walked away, and then took care of someone with the same injury that almost occurred.

Now no argument under the sun could make me not say that prayer before I do something risky although I don’t go around looking for risky things to do.

In general, over the years I have found that the key to accomplishing anything hard in life, is to study what you are supposed to do, then do it, whether you feel like it or not. Feelings cannot be trusted, especially negative ones. Negative feelings should be considered attacks by the enemy, and resisted with above practices.

Good luck.

 

[PJM]

Hi everyone,
I am an atheist. For many years, I’ve been trying to convert to Catholicism. I have done my best. Following the advice of Pascal, I tried to go through the motions of being a Catholic, hoping that faith would come. So, I went to Mass every Sunday, I even went on mission. I’ve read the Bible twice, and I’ve read a bunch of other books: apologetics, lives of saints, christian novels. I even tried to pray, although it’s pretty hard to pray to someone you don’t believe in. I’ve spoken to numerous priests. Result: nothing. And it’s not the dark night of the soul (people like to mention Mother Teresa and others to me): they did have faith, they were just going through a period when they didn’t feel anything. But I don’t believe either. And it’s not like I have any intellectual objections to faith. Throughout my quest, I have encountered many great arguments for the existence of God; they just didn’t convince me.

GREAT POST:thumbsup:
Here’s the problem as friend.

It’s rooted in 1 simple question

WHO"S in charge of your life?

God in His Brilliance give man only 2 options

Either we permit God to run our lives
OR

We ASSUME that responsibility at great risk for ourselves.

However whether we desire it or ACCEPT it; God is in-charge always either as the cause or as a “God-TEST" & conversions CAN & Do come ONLY through God Himself.
Space is limited on CAF so I’m being briefer than I’d like to be [or should be]
Gen 1:26-27 Teaches that in all of the Universe ONLY man can and does emulate God
And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
Now back to man and just how we do alone in all of creation; emulate our God.

In order for man to be able to discover God in Creation; in able for man to be able to freely choose to love and to hate; and in order for man to be “creative” requires certain attributes; God-like attributes to be exact. God is described as “Spirit & Truth.”** {John 4:23-24}**

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such to adore him. God is a spirit; and they that adore him, must adore him in spirit and in truth.

**If you choose what your wearing, I can, with GOD”S help prove God’s existence.

My God gives to every human person:

A mind [not meaning here one’s brain]

A Intellect [not referencing one’s “I.Q.”

And a Freewill**

Each of these attributes is attached to man’s Soul; which for now we will describe as “that which animates ALL Life forms”. That said; there exist a hierarchy of order for all living things; of complexity and worthiness. Man is the pinnacle; the summit of that Order.

Now before we apply the GOD TEST here; I’d like to speak briefly about man’s bodily existence and what happens when we die. To do so, we once again return to the Book of Genesis: Chapter 3; verse #8

**Gen. 3: 8 “19 **“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

So here we are told what most of us already know. When the human body dies it decomposes and returns to dust. Now we ask the obvious [at least to me] question. Does this mean that there is no After-Life?” Is that too just a myth?

Here’s how man emulates God; here’s how we can establish without the slightest doubt, by applying logic [another thing only man can do] that “God” has to exist.

The attributes that God gives to humanity: mind, intellect, freewill and Soul; like our God are all “Spiritual Realities.” Really? You say.

**If you doubt this; then quantify for me your “freewill.” What is its weight, shape, size and color? And just where exactly in the body is it contained? **This can’t be done; yet any one foolish enough to disclaim the reality of man’s freewill; is at best completely illogical. Man’s freewill, intellect, and mind are permanently attached to our Souls; this “package” I have come to call “our Other-self.” And it is this after death Spiritual- package that our human body choices choose for us: Either Eternal Hell or Eternal Heaven. And yes; like our God our Other-Self is immortal; it cannot be killed and it never dies.

So I have, I pray, proven logically and biblically the existence of God. Physical things can come from a variety of other physical things; BUT the Spiritual reality of man’s “Other-self” can only come in emulation from another “Spiritual Reality”. It is the reality that we choose to call [as commanded by the First Commandment] “our God

As awesome as is the Universe that God created so that man, using logic and the powers of observation might discover Him; called “The Natural Laws”, {like gravity & motion; cause and effect} where do they originate?} even more amazing is the other side of the coin which are **the Moral Laws **written upon men’s hearts and embedded in their minds, so that man could discover goodness. {Thou shall not KILL for example} It is this innate inner sense of goodness in all men that makes most evident the reality of God and goodness whose souse is God. Man’s Freewill however at times over shadows it. That too is evidence of God

The reason for your failure so far [MY opinion based on a lot of experience] is a lack of confidence that God actually exist. It’s not just reading, which most can do; NO! It’s tied into Right-Understanding which is an essential & absolutely necessary gift of God.

More next time,
Blessings**

 

[PJM]

SEEK GOD in your heat, don’t “just” look for Him:thumbsup:

 

[fred_conty]

If you are an atheist you don’t believe. Yet you said you want to believe.

Do you really really really want this? There is a way.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave us a green scapular to carry with us. She promised she would help those who had no faith to obtain it. And those with faith to make it stronger.

But there is a condition to this. The green scapular must be blessed, kept on one’s person (pocket, wallet, purse, etc.), the prayer on the green scapular must be said every day, and we must trust her to keep her promise.

Because you are an atheist, I could say the prayer for you each day, and would have the trust in her promise.

So if you want the faith, get a green scapular and have it blessed and carry it on you. Then notify me and I will say the prayer each day for you with trust.

Nothing could be easier. Just notify me when you start. You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 

[PJM]

If you are an atheist you don’t believe. Yet you said you want to believe.

Do you really really really want this? There is a way.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave us a green scapular to carry with us. She promised she would help those who had no faith to obtain it. And those with faith to make it stronger.

But there is a condition to this. The green scapular must be blessed, kept on one’s person (pocket, wallet, purse, etc.), the prayer on the green scapular must be said every day, and we must trust her to keep her promise.

Because you are an atheist, I could say the prayer for you each day, and would have the trust in her promise.

So if you want the faith, get a green scapular and have it blessed and carry it on you. Then notify me and I will say the prayer each day for you with trust.

Nothing could be easier. Just notify me when you start. You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

THE “OP” DID NOT RESPOND TO MY POST #29;

Therefore is just talk:shrug:

God Bless em

 

[HarveyL]

As a follow-up to my own post. I, as an atheist for almost 60 years, am doing what I advised. The hypnotist uncovered the root of my atheism: a distrust of my mother since the age of less than 1 year (my first “God”, if you think about it one’s parents can be considered as such and is for a very young child).

Further along, I discovered, quite emotionally, the power of forgiveness when, in an involuntary fit of tears while engaged in a hypnotic state (very relaxed and open, sort of dream-like) I forgave her.

I am now open to belief in God, whatever form it may take at this point. To me, now, God is a power, coming from within, that is love, compassion, connection, and understanding. This may be part of what Jesus ultimately was trying to teach, I don’t know now but I intend to find out. As such, this powerful idea can rise even after the death of its teacher.
I will see where this will lead for me but, for those following this original post, I hope you see the connections here.

Perhaps this is one way to overcome atheism. It’s not often spoken of, the deep rooted psychologically based rejection of God. Usually the arguments are based on facts and logic. But, ultimately, it may be better looked at from what makes us human and that isn’t always a matter of facts and logic.

One thing that may help, though highly unusual, is to plant the seeds in your uncritical subconscious mind via hypnosis. You may thereby learn to associate God with peace, warmth, safety, love, joy, excitement, and more. From there, you can join the RCIA, pray every day for increase in your faith, and expand the seed until your “logical” mind finally accepts and understands the connections needed.

 

[PJM]

As a follow-up to my own post. I, as an atheist for almost 60 years, am doing what I advised. The hypnotist uncovered the root of my atheism: a distrust of my mother since the age of less than 1 year (my first “God”, if you think about it one’s parents can be considered as such and is for a very young child).

Further along, I discovered, quite emotionally, the power of forgiveness when, in an involuntary fit of tears while engaged in a hypnotic state (very relaxed and open, sort of dream-like) I forgave her.

I am now open to belief in God, whatever form it may take at this point. To me, now, God is a power, coming from within, that is love, compassion, connection, and understanding. This may be part of what Jesus ultimately was trying to teach, I don’t know now but I intend to find out. As such, this powerful idea can rise even after the death of its teacher.
I will see where this will lead for me but, for those following this original post, I hope you see the connections here.

Perhaps this is one way to overcome atheism. It’s not often spoken of, the deep rooted psychologically based rejection of God. Usually the arguments are based on facts and logic. But, ultimately, it may be better looked at from what makes us human and that isn’t always a matter of facts and logic.

WOW, what a POWERFUL testimony:thumbsup:

The concept that as infants and youngsters, we can hold our parents is gods is profound, and upon reflection very true.:

Prior to my retirement I co-taught RCIA for three years.

Thanks for posting! And please look for a private message from me,

God Bless you,

Patrick {PJM}

 

[therese14]

Read the Diary of St Faustina. That would help your faith.