I want to remain Catholic but I am having doubts

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Bill6 said:
Many Catholics say that people can be saved without being Christian
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I too have heard this from people, & as redbetta says, it’s mostly poor catechesis but also people can be very adamant they’re right on this issue, so there’s something else going on too.
The way I see it is this. Catholic isn’t a type of person. It’s the complete embodiment of Christ’s teaching without add ons or takeaways. Which means it’s what God wanted people to have in order to be able to live with him when they die.
If there are are people in heaven who died outside the Catholic faith they are there in spite of that fact not because of it.
 
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Bill6 said:
Many Catholics say that people can be saved without being Christian
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Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.””

That says we are to evangelize others so it is necessary and charitable.

CCC #816 " "The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter’s pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it. . . . This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in ( subsistit in ) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."267

The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."268

Unitatis redintegratio (The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism) #3 paragraph 5 “Nevertheless, our separated brethren, whether considered as individuals or as Communities and Churches, are not blessed with that unity which Jesus Christ wished to bestow on all those who through Him were born again into one body, and with Him quickened to newness of life - that unity which the Holy Scriptures and the ancient Tradition of the Church proclaim. For it is only through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is “the all-embracing means of salvation,” that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation. We believe that Our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, in order to establish the one Body of Christ on earth to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the people of God. This people of God, though still in its members liable to sin, is ever growing in Christ during its pilgrimage on earth, and is guided by God’s gentle wisdom, according to His hidden designs, until it shall happily arrive at the fullness of eternal glory in the heavenly Jerusalem.”
continued below
 
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Lumen gentium #8 paragraph 2 “This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, (12*) which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd,(74) and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority,(75) which He erected for all ages as “the pillar and mainstay of the truth”.(76) This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him,(13*) although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity.”
Bill6 said:
I started thinking that faith is not very important
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Both Faith and good works are necessary.

Bible Says Faith and Works Needed for Salvation by Sal Ciresi
"The Bible tells us we must have faith in order to be saved (Hebrews 11:6). Yet is faith nothing more than believing and trusting? Searching the Scriptures, we see faith also involves assent to God’s truth (1 Thessalonians 2:13), obedience to Him (Romans 1:5, 16:26), and it must be working in love (Galatians 5:6). These points appeared to be missed by the reformers, yet they are just as crucial as believing and trusting. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) should be heeded by all it’s certainly an attention grabber.

Paul speaks of faith as a life-long process, never as a one-time experience (Philippians 2:12). He never assumes he has nothing to worry about. If he did, his words in (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) would be nonsensical. He reiterates the same point again in his second letter to Corinth (2 Corinthians 13:5). He takes nothing for granted, yet all would agree if anyone was “born again” it certainly was Paul. Our Lord and Savior spoke of the same thing by “remaining in Him” (John 15:1-11).

Paul tells us our faith is living and can go through many stages. It never stays permanently fixed after a single conversion experience no matter how genuine or sincere. Our faith can be shipwrecked (1 Timothy 1:19), departed from (1 Timothy 4:1), disowned (1 Timothy 5:8) wandered from (1 Timothy 6:10), and missed (1 Timothy 6:21). Christians do not have a “waiver” that exempts them from these verses."

Due to commitments I don’t think I’ll have time to respond (if needed), for the next couple of days - sorry.
 
Dlee said:
Don’t trust a feeling - talk with your priest.
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I second that. OP consider this:
‘We frequently judge that things are as we wish them to be, for through personal feeling true perspective is easily lost.’ - The Imitation of Christ
 
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Bill6 said:
I don’t see how faith can be important if faith is unnecassary for salvation.
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The Catholic Church has a confusing attitude toward salvation. For all the talk about it, no one can know if they will be saved. They cannot know if those who have passed have been saved without a complicated examination of life and a search for miracles. We cannot know, so we have only faith and hope to accept salvation.

If a Catholic is saved, it is only by the grace of God. If a non-Catholic is saved, it is only by the grace of God. God wants everyone to be saved, so we hope that all have the chance. We do not know, but we hope.

What we have in the Church, to make up for that lack of certainty about salvation, is the revelation of Jesus Christ handed down for generation after generation. It is a life of gratitude for what God has given us, surrounded by people who support you. The life of Christ that we share is a pledge of the life to come.
 
As Catholics we believe there is no salvation outside the Church (with exceptions such as ignorance or dying before the age of reason). Look up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC 846.

We believe that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ himself and is the only true Church. If you leave the Catholic Church, you leave the Eucharist and the fullness of truth. Remember, St. Peter the Apostle’s words. “69 And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:69)
 
Thank you everyone for all of your replies. Thinking about how I felt, I wanted to stay in the Church but felt very confused. After reading your responses and praying, I can say I feel very confident in saying I must remain in the Catholic Church. I think I lost sight of the importance of faith. God bless you all.=]
 
Without faith you can’t be saved: someone who rejects faith does not trust Jesus, and how can someone save you if you don’t trust them?

You may be thinking of ignorance; but that (probably) doesn’t apply to someone who has been given sufficient opportunity to hear the gospel. And anyway, for those of us who have heard and believed, to turn away now is worse than having never heard.

Some Catholics believe that the vast majority of people will be saved somehow; but that would require some extraordinary enlightenment in a lot of people’s final living moments.
 
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You’ve got that right. Poor catechesis is possibly the biggest crisis in the Church and has been for a long time. Average Catholics don’t know how to defend their beliefs at all.
Everything the OP just asked could be solved with a simple search on this website however…
 
Goodness me Bornf. You’re probably right but I trust he didn’t mean it in the wrong way
 
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Bill6 said:
Greetings in Christ,
I have reccently come back to the Catholic Church. I feel very confused about my faith.
Over the past few days, I have been wondering how important faith is. Many Catholics say that people can be saved without being Christian so I started thinking that faith is not very important and that evangelization is unecassary and uncharitable.

My conflict is this: When I listen to Protestant Pastors give sermons, they emphasize faith in God and the need to be a believer. I want to be Catholic but I am feeling like my spiritual life is consisting of just doing things without any meaning to them. I would just like to know what you guys think. I really want to remain Catholic but it feels like Catholicism doesn’t emphasize Faith in God. I love our Church and Our Lady and the Saints.

I think this is one of the main things I am struggling with: I don’t see how faith can be important if faith is unnecassary for salvation. I know faith is necassary to please God, but since the Churhc teaches that people who do not have faith can please God and be saved, then it seems that logically one must conclude either (1) the Church is wrong in teaching that non-Christians can be saved or (2) faith is unnecassary since one can be saved without faith in God. I know that neither conculsion is a good one, so I am confused.
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Oh my! You said that you recently came back. Please give us more details. . .
 
For most of my life I wasn’t interested in religion. I then started leaning toward protestantism but eventually realized that God established the Catholic Church. A few months ago I returned to the Church.
 
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For a long time I lived a secular life then started leaning toward protestantism. I eventually realized that God wants us to be Catholic so I came back to the Church.
 
We are lost, dead, unjustified and unsaved without communion with God. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

And faith is the doorway to this relationship, the only doorway. That is Catholicism.
 
Bill6 said:
For a long time I lived a secular life then started leaning toward protestantism. I eventually realized that God wants us to be Catholic so I came back to the Church.
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It’s useless to suggest appropriate materials for you to use without knowing at what level of instruction you reached in your prior life as a Catholic. How many in your family of origin are Catholic, are they still Catholic, what kind of Catholic training did you receive, and how old were you when you left the Church? Do you have a spouse or children?
 
To what degree of ignorance you need to be saved outside the Catholic Church, I leave to God. I’m not sure how much.
 
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Hi, I"m in school to become a Spiritual Director and I tell you that I’ve learned more about faith and prayer and the beauty of our Catholic Faith. It begins with a relationship. It would be like you met someone and wanted to be with that person and get to know that person intimately, everything about that person, hang out with them, it’s the same thing with our faith, faith in God, in the Trinity. I have learned that my faith in God and relationship with God was one sided, I did all the talking, I prayed and talked forever on end but when I was taught that in a relationship it’s truly both parties that get to learn from one another and be together in that loving communion, then I began to listen and ASK like as if Jesus was sitting next to me and began to talk to him but then listened to him as well and the asking was about my unbelief, or my doubts, the answers will come if you ask and the enemy loves to keep us confused, that’s his job, so acknowledge it, go to Him who adores you and ask God to help you understand him, to show you the way and to put people in your life that will guide you and lead you to the way. You are on the right track by asking. God bless you.
 
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