Leaving the Church for now

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  1. I would recommend exploring some Theology. This kind of goes back to my question about your catechesis. It almost sounds like you were given the scripture alone approach with little to no theology. There are those in the Church such as Augustine, Aquinas, and the Church Fathers who can answer these questions for you. But you’re going to have to do some reading.
  2. I would say that the spread of Christianity and the testament of the martyrs lays out a pretty good claim for the Resurrection’s validity.
That said, check out this article by Peter Kreeft. He lays out the argument for the Resurrection very succinctly: Evidence for the Resurrection of Christ by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli
 
Thank you for your suggestions. I don’t think I can look only at Catholic perspectives on the issues. I think I would need to also look at it from a more secular perspective, not just a Christian one
 
I think that the world had to be created by Someone. I don’t think it just came out of nothing without some divine intervention. It is so complex
 
I would say realize that the conception of the Christian God is provable by reason (being 1 and His attributes). Also look into the ethics that the Church teaches and how the spread of Christianity is diffrent from every other religiom. Also with the Dogmas issue , aristotle and aquians show how the soul heaven and angels are reasonable
 
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rosejmj said:
I think that the world had to be created by Someone. I don’t think it just came out of nothing without some divine intervention. It is so complex
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What are the attributes of that “someone”?
What kind of relationship does that “someone” have with us?
 
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rosejmj said:
I don’t want to give up.
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Seeking truth and questioning your beliefs is not giving up. It’s strength. Many people cannot do this. Best to seek out and try to understand all perspectives. Then work through to your own conclusion. Whether Catholic or otherwise a view you come to personally will be the most fulfilling.
 
rosejmj said:
  • If Theism is correct, why is one religion the fullness of Truth? Why is the Truth not a non-contradictory combination of the Truth claims in different religions?
  • If one religion is the fullness of Truth, why Christianity?
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A famous convert to Catholicism sarcastically once quipped, “what else is there?” (Walker Percy)

Just curious whether you think there is some rival to Catholicism/Orthodoxy out there. In the spirit of St Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

It’s certainly logically possible that one religion embodies more truth/goodness/beauty than all the others, isn’t it? Isn’t that part of what is meant by the “fullness of the faith?” It doesn’t have to mean that you find that religion to be flawless, but the best of all of them—the utmost.

And, the question would still remain no matter what—what else is there? What is Catholicism/Orthodoxy’s rival? Scientific atheism? Islam? Buddhism? Honestly, “what else is there” might have been a smart-a_ _ response, but there’s also something to that remark.
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Yes, I think you should realize that if you believe in one God, then there are only three major Monotheistic religions. So I think you should explore them to see if you arrive at Christianity being the most likely of the three.

I want to leave you with a few thoughts.

(1) Some religions, like Mormonism, made multiple prophecies that never came to fruition.
(2) Contradictions in Islam weigh very heavily against it being the Truth, because they believe the Quran is the literal word of God. However, Catholics believe the Bible is everything God wanted and nothing more than God wanted, and at the same time, it is the words of God in the words of men.
(3) Islam denies that Jesus was crucified, which is a massive contradiction, because there is enormous evidence that Jesus was crucified.
(4) Since miracle claims could be just a product of having a sufficient number of believers making things up, the most convincing reason to believe in Christianity, is the miracle claims in the Early Church in spite of so few followers. Look at the Apostle Bartholomew for example. If Jesus was just a good “conman,” what are the chances that the apostles were also just good “conmen” too? For this reason, I recommend reading the numerous miracle claims in the Early Church.
(5) There is so much more to say, but it would take forever to get into tons of examples. So I recommend doing a lot of research on Christianity vs Islam vs Judaism, miracle claims, and historical evidence!

Finally, for your claim about Jesus dying to save us. Catholics believe in sacrificial love. That is, putting others before yourself.

John 15:13.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
 
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Just because there is one God doesn’t mean he established a religion. And if he did or intended to it is not necessarily the 3 big ones
 
If God did not establish a religion, then all the Truth claims of almost every religion (which all think he did in fact establish a religion), would be false. Then, I will use the same argument that I typically use against pantheism and deism.

I do not believe that:

(A) God exists
(B) All religions that think they are interacting with said God that we believe exists, either though prayer or other supernatural events, all happen to be mistaken

Rather, I personally believe (A) and (B) indicates there is a lot of Truth in a lot of different religions. That is, God is present in many different religions. Then, the question of one of them being the Fullness of Truth is answered by which claims are True in a specific religion. And like I said, Truth claims are correlated, so establishing one claim, typically necessarily implies multiple other claims must be true.

Also, if we can establish evidence of Jesus himself performing miracles, then that is big time, big time, because as Fr. Mike Schmitz says, Christianity is completely unique in claiming that Jesus himself is God. Basically, if a person claiming to be God is performing miracles, I do not believe God would grant him that power to do that if said person were not actually God, but a liar. But other prophets that performed a miracle here and there, never claimed to be God. And if Jesus is God, then we are basically (almost) to Christianity being True.

Finally, as far as obsecure Monotheistic religions, I would reply that I don’t think it’s a coincidence that half of the world believes in the same Abrahamic God.

Also, I haven’t looked at each obsecure Monotheistic religion, but for the ones I have looked at, almost all either (A) do not believe in the conception of God that I believe in (for example, they may believe in a “Sun God,” but I believe that God is a necessary condition for the rational intelligibility of the universe, but EXTRERIOR to the system. He is not a sun God, a river God, a cloud God, etc). Also, the historical evidence for a lot of these obsecure religions is very flimsy, and if they were True, it makes God look like a dismal failure at attracting followers.

Hope those thoughts help:)
 
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rosejmj said:
I don’t think I can look only at Catholic perspectives on the issues.
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Well who else is going to believe and help answer you except fellow Catholics? It’s only going to be Catholics who can show why Catholicism is the one true religion.

The Challenge of being a christian I think is worth your time to read, as I think it covers miracles, why God exists, skeptics including a link to those who changed their minds. Why Atheists Change their minds.

There is a book that I believe would answer a lot of your concerns and it is called Fundamentals Of The Faith by Peter Kreeft. I read the titles of the chapters in the “look inside” preview of the kindle edition on Amazon Peter Kreeft is an apologist and a convert.
 
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Which isn’t necessarily bad, provided that you question the “new ideas and beliefs” equally hard.

There is a propensity in the Western culture to embrace anything that is foreign or exotic, a propensity that is both a strength and a tragic flaw. But being new doesn’t mean being true.

ICXC NIKA
 
I have thought about this but I am not sure I can. If I went to confession I don’t think I would be sorry for sins on a supernatural level or even believe in the absolution. I would not recieve communion if I did not believe it was truly what the Church teaches it is- Jesus. I have gone to Mass before and going there has only fueled my doubts and made it harder to accept the Church. The extent of prayer for me is talking to God occasionally like… God please… Or God really why did that have to happen…
 
Making a gratitude list, thanking Your Creator for all the amazing things you have bn given that day, every evening, could help.

Its kind of the beginning of turning toward the basics needed for salvation.
It builds faith and can put you on a safe path for your soul.

I also have quite an extensive interior prayer life, like you, I talk to and try to stay in Union with The Almighty, All Powerful throughout the whole day and night.

Maybe you are having a ‘dark night of the soul’ experience? Did you thnk of that?
 
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rosejmj said:
… I just can’t accept it though if it is not the truth if I do not have some proof that it is . …
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There is the difficulty. Since there are so many psychological dispositions, what constitutes that proof varies. Understanding a Creator or why there is a creation may be impossible for some.

Hebrews 11
1 Faith is the realization [hypostasis] of what is hoped for and evidence [elenchos] of things not seen. 2 Because of it the ancients were well attested. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God, so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.
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I will pray for you that you find the right path. Even after a super natural experience in my teens I fell away from the religion in my late 20’s early 30’s but God kept tugging at my soul and brought me back. There was a lingering emptiness in my soul during those years that has been repaired upon going back to the faith. Having faith is also part of it you have to believe. Also not everything is going to have concrete evidence to back it up (I’m a geoscientist so I rely on evidence for my job).

Again I wish you all the best and I will pray that you find the right path.

God Bless
 
I’m still growing in my faith, and I haven’t had much sleep, so I don’t feel ready to talk theology right now. I’ll stick with anecdotes for the moment.

I used to have the same pretext as you for leaving the Church. Since reverting, I’ve gained a sense of peace I haven’t felt in many years, and life has a purpose it once didn’t.

I would also like to mention that… The Eucharist has real power! It’s very hard for me to describe the experience of receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus, but suffice it to say that the experience has convinced me of the truth of our Faith.

God bless you. I’ll be praying for you.
 
Please seek out a priest or some other spiritual counselor.
I will pray for you that you find the peace and love of Jesus Christ somewhere in your life. 🙏🙏🙏
 
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