Sincere questions from a confused Christian

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Hello, before I begin I wanted to state that I have a Catholic background. I grew up in a catholic household, where I truly believed that Catholicism to be the truth but my father had left Catholic church and became a protestant. My parents were separated so this didn’t cause conflict between them, but it had caused a conflict within me.

Around that time, I had visited my dad and started to ask him about God, the afterlife etc. Until the conversation went to the Catholic Faith… I had asked him why he had left the church, and he gave me a list of explanations as to why he believed that the Catholic Faith was not Christian in nature.
  1. They pray to saints, where in the bible it never says to.
  2. Why can’t we just pray to God directly instead of saints or Mary who is not Jeses who intercedes for us.
  3. There is no such thing as a special saint, we all are saints.
  4. The Catholic Church has shed much blood in the past and sealed the truth from people.
I could go on and on, but this intrigued me and I began to research the validity of these claims. I became convinced of what my dad told me was the truth and that the Catholic Church is the prophesied whore of Babylon that was talked in the bible.

Over time, I strayed from God and one day I just asked God to show me that He loves me. I would never forget this moment of my life where immediately I felt literal burning sensation within my heart. It did not hurt, but I felt immense love; so much so that I even loved my enemies and the worst of sinners such as murderers etc.

I had found a Baptist church near me, and for a while I felt like I knew that this was home. I finally found the truth, I began to go to bible study and go to church every sunday. Eventually I fell into my sinful habits and stopped attending.Fast forward to now, and I feel conflicted. I ran into this amazing story.

I don’t know if you guys are familiar with it but it’s about a saint named St. Maria Goretti and a murderer who repented Alessandro Serenelli.

Here is the link to this miraculous story.
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/st-maria-goretti-alessandro-serenelli/

Even though I’m no longer Catholic, I cannot deny the hand of God in this amazing story. Now I’m conflicted… If the Catholic Faith was false, how is it that miraculous stories like this exist. Or some people might argue that the devil comes as an angel of light, and decieved Alessando in believing a lie thus he was never saved.

So guys here I am conflicted wanting to gain some answers and insight to my questions.

Besides the questions I had listed above, here are a few of mine.
  1. Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest when we can go directly to God? It does mention in scripture to confess your sins to one another, but it never directly says to a priest but your fellow brothers and sisters.
2.Why do we call priests father when the bible says to call no man on earth Father but your Lord who is in heaven?
  1. Prayer to angels? I don’t recall that being in the bible
At the moment I cannot conjure up more questions, but these will do fine for now.

Im NOT here to bash the Catholic Faith, I am just a student trying to seek answers.
 
Neonap said:
Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest when we can go directly to God? It does mention in scripture to confess your sins to one another, but it never directly says to a priest but your fellow brothers and sisters.
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What was Jesus talking about in John 20:23?
Neonap said:
2.Why do we call priests father when the bible says to call no man on earth Father but your Lord who is in heaven?
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What do you call the man who provided half of your DNA when your mother conceived you OR the adoptive male person who acted as your parent?
Neonap said:
Prayer to angels? I don’t recall that being in the bible
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Do you recall the Bible saying that everything we are to do or believe is in the Bible?

Where does the Bible say what books are supposed to be in the Bible?

Do you know when the decision was made what books do go in the Bible?

What did Christians do between the birth of Christ and the date when the Canon of the Bible was closed?

None of these are snarky, they are honest questions for you.
 
Neonap said:
At the moment I cannot conjure up more questions, but these will do fine for now.
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Lots of good questions. To really find the answers, you have to truly pray & be open to what the answer may be.

At the same time, you have to test what you learn through prayer against what you know is true. & truth is a hard thing to find in this world. Especially nowadays.

As a shortcut I offer the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

If you can find similar comprehensive documentation of what the denominations teach, you should use that as well.

Compare what you learn through prayer to what you learn about the faith as it is practiced here on earth, & don’t ever stop seeking the truth.

I’ll tell you now, what is first revealed to you in prayer may not always be true. I believe that is an affect of Original sin. Keep asking, keep praying. When you start getting the same answer over & over again, you’re getting closer to what is true.

After you come to three or four truths, you should find them all in the Church established by Jesus. He said he’ll be with His Church till the end of time, that the gates of he’ll will not prevail against it. So His Church is still here. If you seek in earnest & persevere, you’ll find it.
 
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Here is a prayer to Michael, an Archangel, which was composed
by 19th century Pope

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen…
 
Protestants talk about prayer warriors and ask them to pray for them. Well, who are the biggest prayer warriors? Those who were so close to God, as we can tell by their lives. And who was closer to God and to Jesus? Mary, His mother. If you look at the prayers to the saints, they are asking the saint to pray for us.

In the Hail Mary, first we address her as the Mother of Our Lord, and proclaim how she was blessed by God.

Then we go on to ask her to pray for us.

In the same way, a Protestant could say to another, I know you are close to God, please pray for my relative who has a problem.

And I think that most of us can see that some earthly “saints” are way closer to God than we ourselves are!
 
Your questions are answered in almost any Called to Communion programme by EWTN. The Journey Home programme is also good. Search their station or go to their Youtube channel. Catholic answers is a good programme and that could be found on catholic.com

What most were taught as religious wars are in fact more political than religious. During last century, around 140 millions were killed by the communists in Russia/Soviet union and China together but everyone is just told about the 6 million Jews and some others like handicapped, people with other religious and/or cultural backgrounds than the majority during the WW2.
 
Hi. Welcome to the Forum.

A conflict in your mind usually indicate a nudge by God for you to explore further the questions you have for their answers.

You have some questions there. Their explanation can easily be found in this website, Catholic Answers. In the Forum there may be Catholic posters who have experience with these and they also can help you. But remember this is just a forum where our identities are not fully known. So you have to take a bit of caution in what you read.

I just want to say this: your questions are nothing new and there are answers for them or that you have been falsely told about Catholic doctrines.

You are on the correct path by trying to get the truth from Catholics themselves rather than getting them from those who already are not believing in it.

Just putting this in perspective for you. Hope you will get what you want. I am sure we will answer those questions in due time.

God bless you.
 
I am on my phone now. I just want to touch a bit on your question #2.

First of all, we do pray to God directly. In fact the majority of the time that is what Catholics do when they pray.

As you know, there are many types of prayers. You do not have to pray to the saints, if that bother you. Not all Catholics pray to the saints.

Having said that, praying to the saints is not equal worship. The prayer is asking for their intercession. It’s just like asking your friends or pastors praying for you.

We believe that a community of Christians include both the living and the dead. This is biblical. If you read in the Book of Revelation, the saints do offer up prayers to God.

That’s for now. Do research further on this to get a wider perspective.

God bless.
 
Neonap said:
The Catholic Church has shed much blood in the past and sealed the truth from people.
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i don’t know what you mean by this, could you define it more clearly please?
 
As for your question on calling priests Father, God did not mean to literally never call anyone Father. Otherwise, a bunch of folks who call their biological Father by that name are all doomed. Indeed, you should never call your Father Dad or Papa either because that is just a variation on Father.

Basically, God was saying that we should never confuse God with anyone on Earth. We call priests Father because help us reach God like our Dad would help us to reach adulthood.

Hope that helps!
 
  1. Job 5:1. All help was denied to Jobb, including the intercession of the Saints.
Psalm 103:20 and Psalm 148:2. David is directly addressing to angels.

A Lutheran view on the intercession of the Saints:

  1. we can pray directly to God. The Our Father’s prayer is a direct prayer. Ultimately all prayers are answered by God and not by the Saints. We pray to Saints and they pray to God.
  2. there are degrees of glory in Heaven. St. Matthew 10:15; 11:11; 25:14-30.
  3. that’s a broad statement. Be more specific.
#1 it’s called Office of the Keys. Lutherans also believe in this doctrine.

#2 how do you call your male parent? The very Bible also call Father Abraham and several others. Acts 7 :2.

#3 already answered.
 
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Neonap said:
Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest when we can go directly to God? It does mention in scripture to confess your sins to one another, but it never directly says to a priest but your fellow brothers and sisters.

2.Why do we call priests father when the bible says to call no man on earth Father but your Lord who is in heaven?

Prayer to angels? I don’t recall that being in the bible
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Everyone else has given very good answers. I would like to add, read 2 Thessalonians 2:25 and James 2:14:26.

Please also read this article. It will give you a lot of answers. A Protestant Historian Discovers the Catholic Church - The Coming Home Network
 
My dear friend in Christ,

My name is Patrick [PJM] here on CAF
I’m a now retired Catholic Catechist [teacher] with nearly 30 years of experience.

I’ve not heard back from you so I will address BRIEFLY 3 of YOUR questions. If you’d like more information just let me know.

1. [quote[Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest when we can go directly to God?[/quote]

REPLY:

Because that IS God’s Desire and WILL and the ONLY God approved method taught in the NT.

John.5: 16 -17 “If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal. By mortal sin is meant sin unto eternal Hell

The question to ask yourself here is this: If Jesus [GOD] didn’t intend this to be His Truth; WHY is it in the bible? 2 Tim 3:16-17 “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, [17] That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.

John.20: 19 – 23 “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” …Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” [THIS IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD LITERALLY] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If YOU [DIRECT; PRECISE; & EXCLUSIVE] forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if YOU retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Jesus Using His Priest for sin forgiveness was no new innovation

Exodus 28:1
Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister to me in the priest’ s office: Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Leviticus 5:16
And he shall make good the damage itself which he hath done, and shall add the fifth part besides, delivering it to the priest, who shall pray for him, offering the ram, and it shall be forgiven him.

God choose to use priest so that the sins could and would be known to be forgiven GOD’S WAY; granting peace of mind & heart. NOTICE in John 20: 19-23 that Jesus PROCLAIMS “Peace BE WITH YOU”…. God’s way is the only known & assured method of sin forgiveness; 16th Century Luther; Calvin ect, Methods are very HUMAN; very recent inventions that appe, 1,500 YEARS AFTER the bible was fully authored, to the prideful EGO of man, and ARE easier; but they are NOT God’s way as taught in His bible which BTW, is a Catholic Book.

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2. Why do we call priests father when the bible says to call no man on earth Father but your Lord who is in heaven?

“And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.” Mt: 23:9

Haydock’s Bible Commentary:
“Ver. 9-10. Call none your father … Neither be ye called masters, &c. The meaning is, that our Father in heaven is incomparably more to be regarded, than any father upon earth: and no master is to be followed, who would lead us away from Christ. But this does not hinder but that we are by the law of God to have a due respect both for our parents and spiritual fathers, (1 Corinthians iv. 15,)

1Cor.4:15 “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. **For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel”.””

Further there are other references using the term “Father”

Matt.3:9 “and do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham”

Matt.8:21 “Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Mt 10: 37 “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”

Matt.15: 4 “For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother,' and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.”

Matt.21:31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

Friend, I have been sharing My Catholic Faith for nearly 30 years and am STILL confounded by Protestants perceived “RIGHT” [especially Bible Church Protestants]; to choose a LITERAL meaning to terms and teachings NOT intended to be so; such as this “father” hoax; while at the same tome denying literal; CLEAR; Precise; Direct & Exclusive Bible Teachings like:

Mt 10:1-4

Mt 16:15-19

John 17:17-20

Mt 28:19-20

Eph 2: 19-22

Eph 4: 1-7

John 17: 19-23 and others as well.

But I do know why THIS happens: the TEACHINGS are TOO cleat; too specific; too precise and too exclusive.
You can look these up using this FREE site: ….Bible: Revised Standard Version

2 Peter 1: 18-21
[18] And this voice we heard brought from heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount. [19] And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: [20] Understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. [21] For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time: but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost.

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  1. Prayer to angels? I don’t recall that being in the bible
My friend, I don’t understand this one? Do you mean Catholics Praying to Mary & the Saints? If so I CAN address that with you.

The Bible IS a Catholic Book fully authored by the end of the 1st Century. That is about 1,500 YEARS before the Protestant revolution; termed the Reformation”

It was Catholic Fathers who guided by the HS [2 Tim 3:16-17] choose the 46 Jewish Testament books to be included; and it was Catholic Authors who too guided by the HS wrote the entire NT’s 27 books. So the Bibles was birthed BY Catholics and exclusively for Catholics, as the Fathers could not have foreseen the Great Eastern Schism of 1054, nor the 16th Century Protestant revolution. That it is used and useable [even though incompletely and often wrongly] by the Fathers of the Reformation is evidence that the HS DID guide the early Catholic Fathers and Authors.

2nd Peter 3: 14-18

“Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen”

Job.17: 4 “Since thou hast closed their minds to understanding, therefore thou wilt not let them triumph.

2nd. Cor. 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God.

So my friend, I do pray and hope you find GOD’s PATH for you in these replies. The issue is a WORD is TRUTH:

Which can be nothing other than singular per defined issue. AND the bible issues were defined, accepted and practiced through Christ One True Faith before the Bible was even finished; and Centuries BEFORE it was made into Book form; and yet the One Church and Faith desired by Jesus; protected by the HS and Jesus still exist today with it’s One True Faith after 2,000 years.

And How many faiths and churches do Protestants have? After 500 years. THAT FACT ought to tell you where GOD’s TRUTS rest. Until you are able to grasp that logical reality; you cannot find the One True God who CAN ONLY be found in and through His One True Faith and Church, today’s RCC. Amen

**NOT EVERYTHING WAS EVER INTENDED TO BE IN THE BIBLE read please: John 20:30-31 & John 21:24-25 **
May God Guide your path

Patrick [PJM
 
If one was not able to call anyone “teacher” then one could not call anyone “doctor” either since that is what “doctor” means. But that never comes up either.
 
PJM said:
My name is Patrick [PJM] here on CAF

I’m a now retired Catholic Catechist [teacher] with nearly 30 years of experience.
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What a delight to read your posts again after my long fasting from CAF!
 
Neonap said:
They pray to saints, where in the bible it never says to.

Why can’t we just pray to God directly instead of saints or Mary who is not Jeses who intercedes for us.

There is no such thing as a special saint, we all are saints.

The Catholic Church has shed much blood in the past and sealed the truth from people.
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Just as the paralytic asked his friends to take him to Jesus…we can ask the Saints for help, not unlike your Dad who may have asked living believers to pray for him!

Death doesn’t separate the children of God.

We are all souls and not yet saints. A saint is a soul in heaven.
 
Thanks soooooo very much 😊

I AM delighted you decided to rejoin us.

Continued Blessings

Patrick
 
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