What is the Catholic "religious" experience?

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I had a religious experience when I became Catholic. I accepted it, but the experience itself was not enough. Once can find people who have those experiences in every faith. Since I do not believe the Holy Spirit lies, then it is safe to assume that it takes more than just the experience. One must also study.

I fell prey to the “experience” when I became LDS in 1983. I took it as a sign to be LDS. No real studying…just followed God. But when I later studied in depth, I realized LDS could not pass the logic and truth test.

When I had my experience in 2002 to become Catholic, I studied. I read. I asked questions. It passed the logic and truth test.

So, I became Catholic.
 
What is the nature of the Catholic religious experience? What is it that keeps you believing? Why Catholicism and not something else?
Catholicism is not based on a book. Jesus Christ did not hand out Bibles; He founded a Church and gave her authority to teach the truth. It is through His Church that we got the Bible. (The Catholic Church defined the canon of Scripture we know as “the Bible”.) “Catholic” simply means “universal”; thus Christ founded one Church so that all men can know and serve God the way God wants to be served.

At the heart of Catholicism is the reality that God became man (Jesus Christ) and the point of Catholicism is the salvation of one’s soul. When one realizes the true purpose of life, much wasted time can be avoided by not pursuing things that in the end are pointless. The purpose of man is to be supremely happy; the only way man can be supremely happy is to be in union with the source of happiness itself: God

The key is to know these simple truths:
  1. God is not simply the source of truth and goodness. God IS Truth, Goodness, Love and Beauty itself. Thus the beauty of nature and the order of the laws which govern the cosmos are merely dim reflections of what and Who God is.
  2. Man is made in the Image and likeness of God: This simply means that man has an intellect and a will.
  3. God made man so that man may have a share in God’s eternal life. In other words, God made us for Himself.
  4. The purpose of man’s intellect is Truth (GOD). The purpose of man’s will is Goodness and Love (GOD). Thus we are called to love God with our whole heart, with all our strength and with all out mind—and our neighbor as ourselves.
  5. Sin is the misuse of intellect and will. Sin is an offense against God, because He is Goodness and Holiness itself.
  6. The more man dies to himself and unites his will with God’s will, the more man becomes an instrument, as a pencil in God’s hands, so that goodness and truth may shine through each man.
  7. The ultimate purpose of each of us is to be a saint. A saintly man is one who perfectly fulfills God’s will in his individual life. Each and every man has his own state in life with his own responsibilities. For example, a man who is truck driver is more than just a truck driver. He may be a son, a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, a citizen, an employee, etc. And in each of those roles he is called to live as a Christian and be the best son, husband, father, brother, etc. that he can possibly be. But he must realize that he is helpless without God’s sanctifying grace.
  8. “Grace” is a gift from God bestowed on us through the merits of Christ in order to save us. There are two types of grace: Actual and Sanctifying. In order to be saved, we must die in the state of sanctifying grace, meaning that there can be no “mortal sin” on the soul.
  9. There are two types of sin: Venial and Mortal. Mortal sins separates us from God, and if we die in that state, we are separated from God for all eternity, because enter eternity in the state that leave this life. If we are separated from God in this live, eternity simply seals that fate in eternity.
  10. In order for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met:
    a) It must be a serious sin.
    b) One must have full knowledge that it is sinful.
    c) One must give full consent of the will.
    Stealing an apple from an orchard is not as serious as stealing an apple from a poor homeless person who has nothing else to eat all day.
  11. In the end, man will not be judged by his religion, or by theology, but on how much he loved with the grace he was given. Christ’s parable of the separation of the sheep and the goats makes this clear. But in Catholicism, man is given the treasures of grace and all the means for becoming holy instruments of God in this life. Thus those who were given much, much will be required. We sin when we reject God through sin. We may say we love God, but if we do not love our neighbor, we are liars, because to hate our neighbor is to offend God, who also made all men in His image and likeness.
  12. The devil exists, and hates us because we are made in God’s image and likeness. The devil is somewhat of a spiritual predator, who roams the world like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. But the devil is like a chained lion, and he can only harm us if we get close enough to him. We get close to the devil when we are in mortal sin, because mortal sin separates us from God.
Jesus Christ said, “Unless you pick up your cross daily and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” Picking up the cross is what makes us saintly. Just as the pain of practice can make a man a master violinists or the “pain” of study gains a student a perfect score, so too does the pain and suffering of carrying the many crosses in our life produce the virtues which God wants us to blossom within our soul.

For every vice there is a virtue which counters it; the problem today is that many try to rationalize vice and make them into virtue. And regardless of the scoundrels, hypocrites, liars, perverts and traitors which have been among the people within the visible Church, the Church will always teach the truth. Scripture states that there are weds among the wheat, and wolves among the sheep…
 
I think that reason and tradition supports the Catholic faith; in the end it comes down to faith though… we just have faith so we believe. It’s not based on any experience, though experiences can be encouraging. I don’t know the context in which most Catholics experience God, but I can guess that for a number of them it would be Christ’s presence in the Eucharist.
 
And what makes you believe in it?
I believe the creed for the same reason I believe scripture - the authority of the Catholic Church. Consider the following words from the great church father Saint Augustine (354 AD – 430 AD).

“But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.”
  • St. Augustine
Ran Pleasant
 
Catholicism is not based on a book. Jesus Christ did not hand out Bibles; He founded a Church and gave her authority to teach the truth. It is through His Church that we got the Bible. (The Catholic Church defined the canon of Scripture we know as “the Bible”.) “Catholic” simply means “universal”; thus Christ founded one Church so that all men can know and serve God the way God wants to be served.
👍

The New Testament is a set of Catholic books! The Apostles were Catholic, thus the books of the New Tesament were written by Catholics, and it was the Catholic bishops who decided what books were the inspired Word of God. Regardless of if they recognize it or not every Christian, including the Protestants, the Eastern Orthodox, Coptics, etc., all believe the New Testament because of the authority of the Catholic Church.

Ran Pleasant
 
pmccombs,

For you to bring up anamnesis…shows you are seeking truth.

CCC1103…'Anamnesis is 'the liturgical celebration always refers to God’s saving intervention in history. “The economy of Revelation is realized by deeds and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other…The words for their part proclaim the works and brings to light the mystery they contain.” In the liturgy of the Word the Holy Spirit “recalls” to the assembly all that Christ has done for us. In keeping with the nature of liturgical actions and the ritual traditions of the churches, the celebration “makes a remembrance” of the marvelous works of God in an anamnesis which may be more or less developed. The Holy Spirit who thus awakens the memory of the Church then inspires thanksgiving and praise (doxology).

This explanation reveals as well that our liturgy is inspired and given us by God Himself…in the Old Testament God revealed how He wanted to be worshipped…the instructions for the Mercy Seat in the Temple with statues of cherubs on either side…a holy place that only the high priest could enter…how no unauthorized person could touch the sacred or incur instant death.

Christ HImself, true God, gave us the fulfilled form of liturgy in the Remembrance form…from that event…the Last Supper…one of the earliest forms of name in ancient times. St. Justin the Martyr gave the Emperor of Rome a description of what the Mass was and how it was said in 155 AD, its parts, spirit and tone reflected in the Mass of today.

Jesus also said literally, that when we eat of the bread and drink of the wine, we are truly receiving Jesus present in the Eucharist. Ancient Christian gatherings had readings from the letters of the Word of God, the offering of gifts of bread and wine donated by the faithful, the collection was set up for alms – only for the rich to donate…and they were to freely choose even how much they were to give.

By 100 AD, the Church had its administrative form – the Jewish model based on the bishop and presbyters, priests and deacons vs the conciliar model, practically all of Sacred Scripture was deemed by the Church, (not by one person to decide but a gathering of many people) to discern in the Holy Spirit what was meant for public revelation to the universal church, and its creed Apostles Creed. A witness to earliest times said it was SS Peter and Paul who actually composed the creed in Rome.

Nevertheless, the Church was as a seed whose practices and outward form developed in time.

A new dimension happened in salvation history, and that was the Church which commenced at Pentecost. Where the Old Testament ends, the new life in Christ in Church begins. Christ is the Eternal Word and subsequently to seek any new revelation or sign…does offense, as St. John of the Cross said in his treatise on ‘Mt Carmel’…
 
Hail_Linus,

I have read all of “What is Wrong With the World,” bits of “Charles Dickens,” and bits of “Everlasting Man” (which I am interested in finishing). I have also read quite a number of Chesterton’s poems… he only wrote a few dozen, it seems. I have also read some essays. Mostly I am interested in his Distributism.

Your point about the Cosmos is an interesting one. You are right that we don’t have enough facts and can’t ever know… of course, that is the Agnostic creed. 😉 But, things have an appearance, and we interpret them as best we can. An intuition, if you like. It is a realization of my own, and of many others who lack a certain religious certainty.
Those are great books and you must finish “Everlasting Man.” After that I would strongly recommend “Heretics” and its sequel “Orthodoxy.”

I am also very interested in Distributism and just started reading a book about it called “Toward a Truly Free Market” by John C. Medaille.
 
Excellent posts…Thanks to Catholic Brethren!

I would like to clarify…the Gospel of St. John was delayed because the church wanted to be 100% that the writings were his. The Book of Hebrews took 200 years for the Church to affirm it true for public revelation in the Church…literally meaning, for the public.

The Church has ancient documents, artifacts, diaries, witness affirming the authentic faith that we recognize today centered on the Word of God Made Flesh in the Eucharist.

The Mass is Adoration of God, it is atonement for sin through Jesus Christ Who is glorified in heaven. The offering of the Mass is witnessed by the Heavenly Father in heaven.

When you come to believe in the Mass…then every phrase, every event and figure of Sacred Scriptures is truly connected to each other. Subsequently, Catholics approach Sacred Scriptures, which is the Word of Christ Himself, in context of its whole, rather than segregated, divorced fragments that lead so many Christians into divisions.

The Word of God is meant to unite us, to give us life. However, the Catholic Church is the true interpreter of Sacred Scripture. This is to avoid error and dismantling of Christianity, which unfortunately, has already happened, particularly in individualistic, free thinking USA.
 
icamay,

Thank you for sharing your experiences. This is just the sort of thing I am interested in. As a Mormon, I have always been taught to believe that the Holy Spirit only affirms things which are true. As a Mormon missionary, I was instructed to use this logic on those investigating the Church. Did you read the Book of Mormon? How did you feel about it? Good? That was the Spirit of God witnessing to you. Does God lie? No? Then the Book of Mormon is True. If it is True, then Joseph Smith was inspired of God. And so forth, all the way down to the correctness of the LDS Church and the need for baptism. The LDS Church converts many thousands of people in this way.

Now, with that sort of a background, you can clearly see why I might be startled, maybe even dismayed, when I discover that others receive emotional, spiritual, or mystical affirmations of their own faiths, so completely at odds with mine! Chesterton said that, “[a] cosmic philosophy is not constructed to fit a man; a cosmic philosophy is constructed to fit a cosmos. A man can no more possess a private religion than he can possess a private sun and moon.” How could I have a personal, spiritual, affirming feeling about my particular faith, and someone else have a similar experience with regard to their particular faith, and we both claim ours to be a cosmic and universal truth? I am back at square one, you see; the spiritual manifestations must mean nothing at all. God is not speaking to us–he would not speak truth to one and lie to another. The so-called religious experience must be nothing more that a psychological phenomenon!

TexanKnight has an answer: he claims that the religious experience is not enough. It has to mesh with some sort of intellectual affirmation. Oh, I’d say the spiritual experience is, in fact, a terrible distraction, as it is liable to lead us in all directions at once. But the Mormons are awfully impressed with their own intellectual answers. Mormon apologia is today a non-trivial effort, not unlike what I see here on the Catholic Answers web site and elsewhere. The Jehovah’s Witnesses use all sorts of evidence to establish their own superiority as the only true Christian sect on the earth. Seventh Day Adventists appeal to impeccable logic for their purposes. We all find error in each others’ best thinking, though. We draw our bulls-eyes around our favorite bits of evidence and set out proving the obviousness of our faith through reason.

We can’t rely on the alleged Spirit of God to witness the Truth to us; it confirms the Mormon, the Catholic, and anyone else who has been deeply satisfied by their faith. Miracles and blessings are to be found wherever we look. Nor can we rely on the intellectual efforts of men, for our minds are too weak and our our capabilities too limited. We amass our Ph.Ds and argue the merits of our faith until the end of the world. It seems there is no epistemic basis for faith possible.

In the end, it appears that Monica4316 has the real answer. We believe because we choose to. Experience is nice, intellect is nice, but really it is a chosen faith. Our Church is our desire; atheism leads to madness (as Hail_Linus claimed). Alas, I desire things from many faiths. I love the Catholic traditions, its antiquity, its great learning and the beauty of its artifice. But I am a Mormon because it is the faith of my fathers and of my neighbors, and I think there is something to be said for that. Is any of it, Catholic, Mormon, and so on, real at all? I suspect that it is no more real than the number seven. I believe that we can never know whether or not any religion is true, or whether our own beliefs are justified. Heaven forbid that anyone here should believe that! It is an awful thing to awaken from a shared dream of faith.
 
Thanks for your response…beautifully written, one of the best sharings I have read by Mormons here on CAF.

I understand what you are saying …there is mystery why one is choosing to follow one way, and another choosing another way to find God. It is great help when one studies objectively as you are demonstrating.

We are taught within Catholicism that ‘feelings’ are not to be trusted. We have to study things with spiritual discernment and most of all detachment from feelings. If anything, and I don’t imply this to you, that feelings in our language would be consolations, and they are given to those in the beginning of the spiritual walk. But as one progresses into the mystery of faith, one in turn receives little consolations, where in time faith is purified and lived out through one’s will secured in union with God, in spite of circumstances.

The other is that the Sacraments are outward and – concrete – signs of the inner reality of the presence of Christ Himself. When we go to confession, we are visibly stating our sins to a priest…but the greater reality is that when we go to confession, we are confessing our sins to Christ Himself, and enjoy a true effect of Christ and His healing presence and power in Absolution. At RCIA I met a Lutheran couple, and in the process of studying the sacrament of confession, I had to laugh privately to myself when they looked at our pastor, a small man, as the one to go to confess. he was nonchalant about this. They went and now understand, experiencing healing and forgiveness from Christ Himself…and in the priest, the Church. People are healed of all sorts of things in confession.

The Eucharist is a physical substance, concrete…but the inner reality is that we are truly receiving the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, and likewise His physical presence remains on the altar in the tabernacle, the sign of his presence presented in the lit sanctuary candle. Subsequently, our worship is in Adoration and not a song fest or community social gathering.

So my addition is to clarify that we do not depend or trust feelings in our faith experience. We rely on the salvation history of faith, not books or individual revelations, but on the common faith shared and passed down through generations.

Where others say feelings, I say ‘grace’…and ‘redeeming’.

God bless!
 
This, I think, is a valid observation, understanding, nevertheless, that there are some things that are fairly common to all.

Some people are intellectually persuaded, at least initially, as was Chesterton. This was helpful to him in developing faith, which is a different thing from intellectual persuasion. For Catholics or those interested in the subject, it isn’t terribly difficult to become intellectually persuaded because of the richness of the Catholic writings, and not only those of theologians. There is a 2,000 year history of the writings of the best and brightest, the holiest and of the most inspired. No stone at all is unturned. A lifetime would not suffice to study it all, but a lifetime is sufficient to delve deeply into it if one is of that particular bent.

Some are persuaded by experience, which, for most Catholics does not include such things as visions, let alone things that are often described as “paranormal”. The Church is rather suspicious of dramatic phenomena. What it is not suspicious of are the interior reflections one has; some of which are brought on by prayer or study or liturgies, and many, many experience them on a regular basis. Nevertheless, something needs to be said about mysticism, which is not strange to the western Church, but is a significant part of the Eastern Church. Mysticism is, and intends to be, experiential. All Catholics, both eastern and western, would say, however, that it needs to be guided and directed by the means the Church has of doing that.

Some develop an enhanced devotion to the Eucharist. If, as we believe, it really is the body and blood of Jesus Christ and if He is truly God, then the experience of the Eucharist is as close as a living being comes to heaven. Some are very much aware of that and do experience it. Others, who are not quite ready to fully accept it, or who have not thought about it sufficiently, may not have that experience.

Some have a sort of feeling of the weight of history and the massiveness of the Communion of Saints, and sort of lose the “timeclock separation” between them and, say the early martyrs, the doctors of the Church and those other, innumerable holy people who have gone before us. For such people, (as Faulkner said of the South) the “air is thick with spirits”, and their presence is strongly felt.

Some have a strong attraction to obedience. Such people are often sinners despite their best efforts; sometimes great sinners, but, believing for whatever reason, subject themselves to the penitence of the Church. The Catholic belief in Grace and its power often turns such people to “conversion” to yet another way of living their faith.

Some, for whatever reason (and it can be any number of them) reach a point where they make a conscious choice to abandon themselves to faith. “Faith” is not quite “belief”, it’s more like “trust”. While not true of all, in many people there is a deep desire to do that; to abandon oneself to a known “meaning to life” which, if they make the step, brings peace. Such people often find themselves strongly attracted to charitable works and perform them strictly out of love of God and those whom God charges us to serve. Not surprisingly, it is easier to do that when one knows one has the weight of 2,000 years and uncountable saints, scholars and mystics as underpinnings of his decision in favor of abandonment.

A person more familiar with the subject than I could do a much better job. I am not in any manner attempting to exhaust the subject. My only point is that, yes, it differs with different people.
Very well said! :clapping: 👍

I think many of the previous posters were approaching the question in much more ‘technical’ terms, but I don’t think that was the intent of the OP. He seems to be seeking out some of the spiritual aspects of the Catholic “religious experience”, much more than the typical basics of the teachings of the Church that we believe are true. This post is probably much closer to the type of response he’s looking to find.
 
Catholicism is not based on a book. Jesus Christ did not hand out Bibles; He founded a Church and gave her authority to teach the truth. It is through His Church that we got the Bible. (The Catholic Church defined the canon of Scripture we know as “the Bible”.) “Catholic” simply means “universal”; thus Christ founded one Church so that all men can know and serve God the way God wants to be served.

At the heart of Catholicism is the reality that God became man (Jesus Christ) and the point of Catholicism is the salvation of one’s soul. When one realizes the true purpose of life, much wasted time can be avoided by not pursuing things that in the end are pointless. The purpose of man is to be supremely happy; the only way man can be supremely happy is to be in union with the source of happiness itself: God

The key is to know these simple truths:
  1. God is not simply the source of truth and goodness. God IS Truth, Goodness, Love and Beauty itself. Thus the beauty of nature and the order of the laws which govern the cosmos are merely dim reflections of what and Who God is.
  2. Man is made in the Image and likeness of God: This simply means that man has an intellect and a will.
  3. God made man so that man may have a share in God’s eternal life. In other words, God made us for Himself.
  4. The purpose of man’s intellect is Truth (GOD). The purpose of man’s will is Goodness and Love (GOD). Thus we are called to love God with our whole heart, with all our strength and with all out mind—and our neighbor as ourselves.
  5. Sin is the misuse of intellect and will. Sin is an offense against God, because He is Goodness and Holiness itself.
  6. The more man dies to himself and unites his will with God’s will, the more man becomes an instrument, as a pencil in God’s hands, so that goodness and truth may shine through each man.
  7. The ultimate purpose of each of us is to be a saint. A saintly man is one who perfectly fulfills God’s will in his individual life. Each and every man has his own state in life with his own responsibilities. For example, a man who is truck driver is more than just a truck driver. He may be a son, a husband, a father, a brother, a friend, a citizen, an employee, etc. And in each of those roles he is called to live as a Christian and be the best son, husband, father, brother, etc. that he can possibly be. But he must realize that he is helpless without God’s sanctifying grace.
  8. “Grace” is a gift from God bestowed on us through the merits of Christ in order to save us. There are two types of grace: Actual and Sanctifying. In order to be saved, we must die in the state of sanctifying grace, meaning that there can be no “mortal sin” on the soul.
  9. There are two types of sin: Venial and Mortal. Mortal sins separates us from God, and if we die in that state, we are separated from God for all eternity, because enter eternity in the state that leave this life. If we are separated from God in this live, eternity simply seals that fate in eternity.
  10. In order for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met:
    a) It must be a serious sin.
    b) One must have full knowledge that it is sinful.
    c) One must give full consent of the will.
    Stealing an apple from an orchard is not as serious as stealing an apple from a poor homeless person who has nothing else to eat all day.
  11. In the end, man will not be judged by his religion, or by theology, but on how much he loved with the grace he was given. Christ’s parable of the separation of the sheep and the goats makes this clear. But in Catholicism, man is given the treasures of grace and all the means for becoming holy instruments of God in this life. Thus those who were given much, much will be required. We sin when we reject God through sin. We may say we love God, but if we do not love our neighbor, we are liars, because to hate our neighbor is to offend God, who also made all men in His image and likeness.
  12. The devil exists, and hates us because we are made in God’s image and likeness. The devil is somewhat of a spiritual predator, who roams the world like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. But the devil is like a chained lion, and he can only harm us if we get close enough to him. We get close to the devil when we are in mortal sin, because mortal sin separates us from God.
Jesus Christ said, “Unless you pick up your cross daily and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” Picking up the cross is what makes us saintly. Just as the pain of practice can make a man a master violinists or the “pain” of study gains a student a perfect score, so too does the pain and suffering of carrying the many crosses in our life produce the virtues which God wants us to blossom within our soul.

For every vice there is a virtue which counters it; the problem today is that many try to rationalize vice and make them into virtue. And regardless of the scoundrels, hypocrites, liars, perverts and traitors which have been among the people within the visible Church, the Church will always teach the truth. Scripture states that there are weds among the wheat, and wolves among the sheep…
This is another excellent post! There have also been several others that have been very good at expressing how Catholics approach our faith as individuals, and in general.

Bravo to all of you! 👍
 
I can also identify with a couple of people that have mentioned going through various periods and stages, between faith and doubt. I was born and raised Catholic, but I went through my own period of ‘rebellion’ when I was in my late teens/early twenties and went searching for answers outside the Church. I went to different churches and did a lot of reading about other points of view. At times I was more inclined toward agnosticism, then took an interest in the occult, and finally got the point of nearly being a pure atheist.

All of those later stages were completely opposed to my early faith in the Catholic Church. I think I was a pretty odd kid, because I thought more about ‘religious things’ than most other kids ever do. I believe that I also had some real spiritual experiences that were probably not typical for my age. In my very early teens, I even thought I’d like to be a cloistered Nun, like Saint Therese. The thing that started my downward spiral in motion were the changes that I saw happen in our churches after Vat II, that were very disturbing to me. It seemed that the local Priests and Bishops had gone to extremes that were never really intended to happen as a result of that Council. So, I was totally confused.

It took meeting my husband (still together after over 40 years, +2 before we got married) and his very Catholic family (especially his Mom and one of his sisters), to snap me back to reality. His sister was the best example to me because she was very much like I had been before my ‘slide’ into disbelief. Then, I also had a dream that I know was much more than ‘just a dream’, that showed me where I was heading if I didn’t change my ways. I’ve never had any more doubts that the Catholic Church is the true Church that Jesus founded. The Eucharist, alone, is the one sure thing that keeps me focused on that belief.
 
Is any of it, Catholic, Mormon, and so on, real at all? I suspect that it is no more real than the number seven. I believe that we can never know whether or not any religion is true, or whether our own beliefs are justified. Heaven forbid that anyone here should believe that! It is an awful thing to awaken from a shared dream of faith.
The thing about truth, is that there can only be one–and truth cannot contradict itself. Reason alone can prove the existence and necessity of a higher intelligence behind the laws which govern the cosmos, and the evidence for Christ and His claim that he is the Son of God is overwhelming. Of all the religious figures on earth only one was pre-announced: Jesus Christ fulfilled over 400 Old Testament prophecies about the coming messiah and he performed miracles witnessed by thousands to verify His claim. Further, His resurrection was witnessed as a historical fact, and the witnesses died most cruel and violent deaths, from being skinned alive to being sliced by the sword, stoned to death or having their heads sliced off, for refusing to deny what they witnessed. Not only do miracles abound today, but the countless NDEs around the world just add to the mountain of evidence to the existence of an afterlife.

But then there is Mormonism. Either its claim is true or it is not. If Mormonism is true, then Catholicism cannot possibly be true, being that the Mormon religion teaches completely different theology, going as far as claiming that Christ was Satan’s brother. So either Joseph Smith was teaching the truth or he was not.

As a Catholic and a theology and history buff I must follow what I believe is true based on the evidence. Judging by the facts about Smith, I can only draw only two conclusions which satisfy the evidence. The only prophecy fulfilled by Joseph Smith was the one made by Jesus Christ, who warned that there would be false prophets coming in His name. I believe Joseph Smith was either a charlatan or he was deceived by a demonic spirit. I tend to believe the later, being that his parents and Joseph himself were practitioners of Folk Magic and the conjuring of spirits.

Evil spirits are as real as the nose on your face, and they deceive through lies and half truths. St. Paul explains that Satan can appear as an angel of light, and I believe poor Joseph was a victim of deception.
 
I would say I am a cradle Catholic, and my father gave me the perspective of approaching my faith; he had been in the seminary a few years studying for the priesthood but discerned he was not called. I went to Catholic grade school taught by Irish nuns. My parents finally gave in and let me go to public high school and secular college. Later I was called into the foreign missions.

But for some one to ask me religious experience…I reflect on the people around me and Catholics I have met throughout my life…and they are all so different and on different levels…it is practically impossible for me to define a particular experience.

We have the different houses of charism in the religious orders…different ethnic groups and their experiential practices and expressions, those more intellectual and others Charismatic.

My pastor said to a visiting Lutheran minister there are as many opinions and expressions of faith in the parish as one sees parishioners. The Lutheran minister saw different ethnic groups and just general various others and was amazed by our unity and oneness of faith.

The profession of our beliefs is within the Creed. The profession of faith in the Creed is where we affirm our beliefs about God, our life and its destination, and us.
 
pmccombs;8664440] What is the nature of the Catholic religious experience? What is it that keeps you believing? Why Catholicism and not something else?
I don’t think one can pin down the nature of the Catholic religious experience? The Catholic religious experience is not just an experience it is a “way of life lived” into eternal life. One cannot compare the Catholic religious experience based on emotions or enlightenments as our non catholics. The Catholic religious life experiences God’s presence in all aspects of life’s experience be it good or bad, being born, living and at death.

The Catholic religious experience does not base our Christian life on ones intellectual enlightenment or emotional experience because these can decieve. Apart from our emotions, passions, intelligence, memory, conscience and will stands “Truth”. Truth cannot decieve nor be decieved who is Jesus God incarnate.

It is the True presence of God in our midst that begins the Catholic religious experience. Jesus fully divine and fully human is the nature of the Catholic religious experience. Because we the Catholic Church is His body and Jesus is our head.

Our Catholic faith continues believing because Jesus Christ has never left us, This Jesus promised us after Jesus resurrected from the dead, Matthew 28:20 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Why Catholicism? Because for a Catholic our greatest fear is losing God. And there is no where else where one can find every nation, tribe, tongue and people worshipping the One God in One faith, One baptism, One Lord world wide since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, both on earth and in heaven.

The reason why a Catholic dare not try something else? Because no where else can the “fullness of Truth” be found except in Jesus Christ, who is truly present bodily, blood, soul and divinity in our midst.

Yet Jesus is not just present to us sacramentally, We become partakers of His divinity through His mystical sacraments of initiation which are baptism, holy Communion, Confirmation, Jesus heals us in the sacraments of healing in the biblical ministry of reconciliation (confession) and anointing of the sick, Jesus remains present in our vocational life in the sacraments of Holy Matrimony and Holy orders.

The Catholic religious experience begins every time we pray; In the name of the Father whom we call “abba” who lovingly, mercifully and graciously Fathers us, and of the Son who took on our humanity in order to save us and make us children of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit who is our comforter who teaches us and guides us in the life of love with the Father who is forever present among us.

In summary no matter what station in life a Catholic lives, the Catholic religious experience is living Christ and proclaiming “Christ Crucified”.

Now if your looking for experiences of enlightenment, heavenly visions which are secondary to the Catholic religious experience. You only have to look to St. Stephen, St.Peter, St. Paul, St. Philip in Acts who begin the heavenly apparitions revealed in the Catholic saints throughout Christian history, which many have been authenticated as worthy of believe, because these experiences were followed by signs and wonders and met the scrutiny of the Church.

Peace be with you
 
Hello,

I am a practicing Mormon. I am also, in my personal convictions, quite agnostic. Indeed, I have a rather vicious streak of nihilism in me. This is to say that, not only do I find myself with a certain amount of doubt and uncertainty with regards to specific religious claims in general, but I feel that the chance of there actually being any intrinsic meaning in the universe beyond that which I make for myself is rather slim.

I am quite religious, however, and I believe that religion is a very important dimension of satisfying human lives. I consider myself a friend to many religions. One of my heroes, in fact, is the very Catholic G. K. Chesterton. I am impressed by his Distributism and, indeed, with the Catholic Social Teaching in general. I admit that I find these social teachings more satisfying than what I get in Mormonism (although our own Hugh Nibley did produce some excellent essays/lectures on the topic).

I am interested in the Catholic religious experience. In Mormonism, we have an epistemic emphasis. We must “know” that our church is “true.” This “knowledge” comes through a spiritual manifestation of some kind, typically something we accept as an affirmation bestowed by the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost as we call it. We receive it through a spiritual sense; it ignites a fire in the heart.

We accept this as personal revelation, as faith-building experience, and as confirmation of the correctness of our teaching. These experiences often come in regards to specific questions or desires. Such experiences provide comfort and act as a guard against the more troubling or challenging aspects of the religion, its history, and its claims (although, like the Catholics and others, we do boast quite a few qualified apologists of our own who attempt to take on these challenges in a more academic way).

Sometimes our spiritual experiences are accompanied by other remarkable phenomena: audible voices, dreams, visions, healings, uncanny guidance or clairvoyance, and so forth. Yes, I have had some of these experiences myself.

What is the nature of the Catholic religious experience? What is it that keeps you believing? Why Catholicism and not something else?
I think the religious experience feels different for everyone. I will share that in a very mystical way, this was my experience growing up Catholic, leaving for a time, and then returning:
[11] And he said, "There was a man who had two sons;
[12] and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. [13] Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. [14] And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. [15] So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. [16] And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. [17] But when he came to himself he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!
[18] I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
[19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’
[20] And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
[21] And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' [22] But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet;
[23] and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry;
[24] for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.
[25] “Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
[26] And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant.
[27] And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' [28] But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, [29] but he answered his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.
[30] But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’
[31] And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
[32] It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Lk 15:11-32.

This passage continues to move me deeper into the mystery that is the Catholic faith. I don’t know if this helps you, but it helped me to share it with you.

Peace,
Robert
 
There are so many excellent replies in this thread, and I just want to thank everyone for taking time to help me understand your faith. The most persuasive of you have shared with me some glimpse of what your Church means to you. Your sincerity and faith, together with your love for the Church, do you great credit. I apologize if my agnosticism is offensive or troubling to anyone.

Pilate once asked Jesus, “What is Truth?” No answer to this question is recorded. But Jesus had said that those on the side of truth would hear his voice. They would know it when they heard it. I am only a weak-minded fool; a disappointment to those who think I should be a greater champion of the truth; in bearing witness to what I ought to know already.

It’s just that I see so many competing truths in this world, and so many who are certain of them. The certain have little need for faith or trust in anyone or anything, because they already know. Certainty is the destroyer of hope, for what need is there for courage where certainty prevails? And the certain can be so cruel to each other–cruel to their corrupt, errant, lost neighbors. Certainty, then, is often a preventer of love. Certainty and Truth are part of the language of determinism, that awful doctrine of John Calvin that teaches us that the moment a man is born, it is already too late to save him.

But I need faith and hope and love, and I found that I couldn’t have them so long as I knew (or thought I knew). Perhaps I am not seeking the truth, that elusive Mystery, after all. Maybe I am interested in the Catholic experience to see if there is faith, or hope, or even any love for those who, by some standard or judgment, don’t deserve it. I get enough truth from my fellow LDS neighbors; could it be that I am tired of looking after it?

I’m tired of those who “know.” Among the Catholic, I am finding those who simply “are.” Not provisionally or trivially or mechanically, but brilliantly and passionately and humbly. I wish we were all that way. I find it refreshing.
 
Hello,

I am a practicing Mormon. I am also, in my personal convictions, quite agnostic. Indeed, I have a rather vicious streak of nihilism in me. This is to say that, not only do I find myself with a certain amount of doubt and uncertainty with regards to specific religious claims in general, but I feel that the chance of there actually being any intrinsic meaning in the universe beyond that which I make for myself is rather slim.

I am quite religious, however, and I believe that religion is a very important dimension of satisfying human lives. I consider myself a friend to many religions. One of my heroes, in fact, is the very Catholic G. K. Chesterton. I am impressed by his Distributism and, indeed, with the Catholic Social Teaching in general. I admit that I find these social teachings more satisfying than what I get in Mormonism (although our own Hugh Nibley did produce some excellent essays/lectures on the topic).

I am interested in the Catholic religious experience. In Mormonism, we have an epistemic emphasis. We must “know” that our church is “true.” This “knowledge” comes through a spiritual manifestation of some kind, typically something we accept as an affirmation bestowed by the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost as we call it. We receive it through a spiritual sense; it ignites a fire in the heart.

We accept this as personal revelation, as faith-building experience, and as confirmation of the correctness of our teaching. These experiences often come in regards to specific questions or desires. Such experiences provide comfort and act as a guard against the more troubling or challenging aspects of the religion, its history, and its claims (although, like the Catholics and others, we do boast quite a few qualified apologists of our own who attempt to take on these challenges in a more academic way).

Sometimes our spiritual experiences are accompanied by other remarkable phenomena: audible voices, dreams, visions, healings, uncanny guidance or clairvoyance, and so forth. Yes, I have had some of these experiences myself.

What is the nature of the Catholic religious experience? What is it that keeps you believing? Why Catholicism and not something else?
Our trust in the Catholic faith comes as we come into agreement with her on the truths she proclaims. This is known as the sensus fidelium. The Church is full of history of people who’ve experienced profound spiritual experiences, including being in Gods immediate presence, though these are ineffable and pretty rare. Our faith, itself is considered to be a supernaturally gifted taste of greater things to come in the next life. Other than that I think we’re pretty leery of hunches, feelings, etc, not wanting to base our faith on such vague notions
 
Hello,

I am a practicing Mormon. I am also, in my personal convictions, quite agnostic. Indeed, I have a rather vicious streak of nihilism in me. This is to say that, not only do I find myself with a certain amount of doubt and uncertainty with regards to specific religious claims in general, but I feel that the chance of there actually being any intrinsic meaning in the universe beyond that which I make for myself is rather slim.

I am quite religious, however, and I believe that religion is a very important dimension of satisfying human lives. I consider myself a friend to many religions. One of my heroes, in fact, is the very Catholic G. K. Chesterton. I am impressed by his Distributism and, indeed, with the Catholic Social Teaching in general. I admit that I find these social teachings more satisfying than what I get in Mormonism (although our own Hugh Nibley did produce some excellent essays/lectures on the topic).

I am interested in the Catholic religious experience. In Mormonism, we have an epistemic emphasis. We must “know” that our church is “true.” This “knowledge” comes through a spiritual manifestation of some kind, typically something we accept as an affirmation bestowed by the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost as we call it. We receive it through a spiritual sense; it ignites a fire in the heart.

We accept this as personal revelation, as faith-building experience, and as confirmation of the correctness of our teaching. These experiences often come in regards to specific questions or desires. Such experiences provide comfort and act as a guard against the more troubling or challenging aspects of the religion, its history, and its claims (although, like the Catholics and others, we do boast quite a few qualified apologists of our own who attempt to take on these challenges in a more academic way).

Sometimes our spiritual experiences are accompanied by other remarkable phenomena: audible voices, dreams, visions, healings, uncanny guidance or clairvoyance, and so forth. Yes, I have had some of these experiences myself.

What is the nature of the Catholic religious experience? What is it that keeps you believing? Why Catholicism and not something else?
I just finished reading through this thread and would just like to add a couple of comments. First of all, I would like to thank you for your honesty. If we can’t begin there, it is difficult to move forward.

While I am a cradle Catholic, there have been times in my life (late teens and college years), as others have expressed, when I pretty much abandoned all religion. When I returned to the Church I began looking at it from a much more serious viewpoint. From an intellectual point of view it made sense. Christ started a Church and the Catholic Church was the only church that had any valid claim to succession. From a spiritual view, I began to experience the sacraments in a much more profound way. The Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, gave me strength and peace that was undeniable. The sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) gave me such a sense of peace and gratitude in truly experiencing the mercy of God, that it was really, just overwhelming.

My point in saying this is that I have found that the more I peel away the skin of the Catholic Church, the more in love with it I become. Have I received a “testimony” from the Holy Spirit concerning the truth of the Catholic Church? Absolutely, more than I can ever express in words. It is amusing, and sometimes frustrating to hear Mormon claims of receiving a testimony as if this is something unique to the LDS Church. The experience of receiving Christ in the Eucharist at every Mass, of falling on my knees and worshipping the God that made me, of hearing the words of absolution and truly experiencing God’s forgiveness and mercy in Reconciliation simply cannot be matched anywhere. Does it make sense intellectually? Yes. History itself is the evidence of that. But what seals the deal is that it is all about Christ; not just learning about him, but actually experiencing that intimate relationship with him. What an amazing, incredible, wonderful, loving and merciful God we have, and he is alive and well in the Catholic Church.
 
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