Teenager, need help

[xxalbatrosxx]

I am seeking help restoring my faith to what it used to be. I have been Catholic my entire life, but I have run into some doubts and other issues with my faith. Most importantly, I struggle with the belief in a higher being. I have established a set of facts to help me, but there are some flaws:

1. We exist.
   a. This is an arguable topic in and of itself, raising questions like “what is existence”. There is no way to tell whether we are living in reality, what reality is or where we will go after death, if anywhere.
2. Since we exist, we must have been created by a higher being.
   a. This is a fairly reasonable statement. Scientists theorize that there is a so-called “quantum void” where all things come from. But, is this void God under a different name? Or did God create the void?
3. Since we were created by God, we must have a purpose and will go to heaven/hell
   a. Self-explanatory, but this is irrelevant if there is no God.
   I also have some other problems with the idea of God.
4. Prayer.
   a. Prayer is how we communicate with God, but how is this communication if it is one-sided? God never answers back, or if he does it is to an individual only. (Which means the answer could be invented in the person’s own mind).
5. Fate/freewill
   a. What influence does God have on fate? I recently read a book called All But My Life , a real life account of the holocaust. The amount of variables that could have caused it to end differently lead us to believe that there was some kind of divine influence. But, if that is the case, how come her friends did not survive?
6. Existence
   a. If there is a God, why has it appeared that he has abandoned us? In the time we need him most, he lets his believers become atheists and agnostics with no prophets or signs to assist us.
   I also have issues with the church itself.
7. Politics.
   a. I feel that the church is centered too much on politics. There should not be a leader of the church, or else he should be more involved with simply helping his people.
8. “Our religion is better than yours”
   a. This has always disgusted me. Every religion thinks that theirs is right, but how can we tell? Has Jesus ever appeared and said “Presbyterians are the correct religion, the Baptists are wrong, don’t follow them.”?
9. Infallibility
   a. I have heard that previous popes declared certain things infallible to farther their political agendas. This proves that the Pope cannot claim things to be infallible truths.

 

[FrancisBenedict]

It’s all much simpler than it sounds.
You exist. So does God whether you believe or not.
Every saint in history has had doubts at sometime, I hope you will be one of them.
God does not always follow logic.
Have faith, pray for an increase in faith, if you can, go out into the country or a park and hear the birdsong, see the sunrise, realise what a miracle this amazing world is so full of life and beauty. New life is born all the time, beings with hearts of love and minds of wonder, we are a part of nature, the sun & moon are our brother & sister, we are part of this amazing creation all around us. God exists alright.

And…God bless you +

 

[runningdude]

I am seeking help restoring my faith to what it used to be. I have been Catholic my entire life, but I have run into some doubts and other issues with my faith. Most importantly, I struggle with the belief in a higher being. I have established a set of facts to help me, but there are some flaws:

1. We exist.
   a. This is an arguable topic in and of itself, raising questions like “what is existence”. There is no way to tell whether we are living in reality, what reality is or where we will go after death, if anywhere.

1. Since we exist, we must have been created by a higher being.
   a. This is a fairly reasonable statement. Scientists theorize that there is a so-called “quantum void” where all things come from. But, is this void God under a different name? Or did God create the void?

If scientists discover this “void”, then God created it, or created its predecessor, or its predecessor, etc. God the Father is the Ultimate origin of all that is, was, and will be.

1. Since we were created by God, we must have a purpose and will go to heaven/hell
   a. Self-explanatory, but this is irrelevant if there is no God.
   I also have some other problems with the idea of God.
2. Prayer.
   a. Prayer is how we communicate with God, but how is this communication if it is one-sided? God never answers back, or if he does it is to an individual only. (Which means the answer could be invented in the person’s own mind).

You are mistaken here. Prayer is purely for our own benefit. We pray to align our will with God’s. God knows our every thought, feeling and need, without us needed to communicate this. Prayer is part of God’s purpose.

1. Fate/freewill
   a. What influence does God have on fate? I recently read a book called All But My Life , a real life account of the holocaust. The amount of variables that could have caused it to end differently lead us to believe that there was some kind of divine influence. But, if that is the case, how come her friends did not survive?

God uses all things to achieve his purposes. God the Father used Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of his Son to save humanity. Jesus says that it is necessary that he must die, but “whoa to he who betrays the Son of Man [Jesus]]”. God chose the unjust murder of his son to save humanity, but warns that Judas may suffer dire consequences.

There is no human purpose that can justify the horror that was the Holocaust. We human’s cannot comprehend horrors such as Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, Darfur, the worldwide slaughter of unborn children, Mao China, Japanese occupation of China, etc. We human’s are bound by divine orders to stops such horrors.

Human nature simply cannot tolerate such violence. The Nazi’s are particularly disgusting because Nazi solders were committing suicide because they could not physical bear the guilt of their actions. Rather than take this as a sign they are in the wrong, they invented gas chambers and mechanisms of mass execution to continue the slaughter.

While we humans have limits, God has none. God is the author of life and death; he can recall any of us, and it is very good. We must trust that God’s purposes are met, and that God’s promises of justice for those who commit these atrocities are true.

1. Existence
   a. If there is a God, why has it appeared that he has abandoned us? In the time we need him most, he lets his believers become atheists and agnostics with no prophets or signs to assist us.

Again, we must not loose hope. We can only trust that God’s purposes, which are good, are being met.

I also have issues with the church itself.

1. Politics.
   a. I feel that the church is centered too much on politics. There should not be a leader of the church, or else he should be more involved with simply helping his people.
2. “Our religion is better than yours”
   a. This has always disgusted me. Every religion thinks that theirs is right, but how can we tell? Has Jesus ever appeared and said “Presbyterians are the correct religion, the Baptists are wrong, don’t follow them.”?

Jesus Christ promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against his Church. We can only trust the plain meaning of his words, that the Catholic Church, alone, is the true church. Jesus issued the words establishing the Church to Saint Peter, the first pope. It is a divine command that the Church have a visible leader.

Similar to both Taiwan and Communist China claiming to be the rightful leaders of the Chinese Nation, many churches claim to be the rightful leaders of the Christian Church. Jesus Christ, however, promised that all nations are earth will pass away, but that the Catholic Church would endure.

1. Infallibility
   a. I have heard that previous popes declared certain things infallible to farther their political agendas. This proves that the Pope cannot claim things to be infallible truths.

The pope can only declare dogma that is, in fact, true.

 

[bob_martin]

Hi! I am not going to even try to answer all your points; I probably could not do a very good job, and I would bore you to death in the attempt. You sound like a very intelligent searcher, and it is a good thing to search for God. The Bible says that if you are serious (not casual) you will find Him. What does your knowledge of the new testament tell you about God? If you are not familiar with the New Testament, start there. It is the definitive source for the christian God. Start with God is good, God is Love, God is faithful, God is Kind, God is gentle, God is gracious, God is extremely forgiving. Since Jesus died to provide us forgiveness for all our sins (missing perfection in any way), and to take away the punishment and penalty for all our sins, then He is not judgemental or angry with us. When He looks at one of us who believes in and has accepted Jesus, He does not see what is wrong with us, but sees only what we are missing in our experience of Him. The Holy Spirit will provide that for us in the future.
I have found that God does talk to us in that “still, small voice” when we approach Him as laid out in the Bible. When you are patient and serious in the approach, you will find that He loves to be with us. He loves us more than we can ever imagine and created us to be with Him in happiness and joy forever. We give Him joy just as we are. (though He has great plans to help us grow to be more like Jesus). Practicing being with God in prayer is a fun, joyful, and happy experience. He will manifest a real tangible presence to you. You will “know” for sure. Try it and you will never be the same!

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I am a very technical person, so on my first meeting with a spiritual director, he advised me to read Job 38-42.

Alan