Why Christianity

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Alchemist said:
Ah, so what’s God up to right now? Over the summer I was praying like crazy while going through a stressful period. I prayed for God to change my desires, or give me perseverance to stay faithful to Him during my trials and anxiety. What ended up happening is that I was pretty much cut off from other believers, I felt like I had no support from God, and I gave into sin. That’s what led up to me questioning my faith and why I was following it in the first place. I was wondering why I was just let go like that, so I didn’t know what Jesus was doing at that point.

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This happens to many Christians. It means that you are going through a period of spiritual growth!

During moments like these I have to ask myself, what is my faith based on? Is it based on simple emotions or something more concrete and long lasting.
 
Alchemist

*But “Love God and love one another” is the central teaching of Christianity. By using that to prove Christianity is true you’re basically assuming it’s true in the first place. It’s like saying “A and B are biconditional, B is true, therefore A” *So far you’re just asserting that something is true without backing it up.

Looks to me that you are looking for an excuse to abandon Christ for some other religion, or for none at all.

When you start that “proof” stuff … I have to concede that you’re right … there is no proof.

There is no absolute and incontrovertible proof that God exists. Nor is there any decisive proof that you or I have immortal souls. So where do you stop demanding proof and start going with what makes the most sense?

What proof have you that what Buddha taught is true? Is Buddhism God-centered? Does Buddhism make more sense to you than Christianity? Why?

Show me where Buddhism teaches above all the central truth of loving God and loving our neighbors.

What is the central truth of Buddhism? How can you prove that central truth is true?

Questions you need to answer before you say that Christianity is not true and Buddhism is more attractive to you.

And by the way, the usual remark I hear from many of the atheists I’ve known is that if they had to believe in a religion … it would be Buddhism.

What does that tell you?
 
Alchemist said:
But “Love God and love one another” is the central teaching of Christianity. By using that to prove Christianity is true you’re basically assuming it’s true in the first place. It’s like saying “A and B are biconditional, B is true, therefore A” So far you’re just asserting that something is true without backing it up.
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Well, that’s for the human conscience to determine. If you prefer, “Love God and hate one another,” then you may have trouble with Christianity.
And martyring yourself for any cause would show that you have conviction and belief in it but there have been martyrs for other religions.
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Indeed. You cannot use martyrdom alone as a proof.
Also Islam acknowledges Jesus as a prophet but they believe that he never really died. So what’s to make me choose Christianity’s explanation vs. Islam’s?
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Look into the lives of Jesus and Mohammed. Jesus never killed anyone, healed people, forgave them and told us to love even our enemies.

Mohammed ordered those who criticised him killed, made war on other tribes to conquer them, married a nine year old girl, and ordered the massacre and enslavement of a whole tribe of the Jews who had joined in giving him and his followers refuge in Medina.

Who would you rather follow?
 
Alchemist

*And if Christianity makes more sense than any other religion then why does my Buddhism teacher remain a Buddhist after studying Christianity and living in a seminary.
*
Perhaps he is still on his journey home?
 
Gilbert_Keith said:
Alchemist

And if Christianity makes more sense than any other religion then why does my Buddhism teacher remain a Buddhist after studying Christianity and living in a seminary.

Perhaps he is still on his journey home?
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That is a good answer Gilbert. 👍

When I was fundamentalist, I was taught that nonChristian religions were basically demonic! :eek:

As a Catholic I am learning a different approach. God’s rules are written on all men’s hearts. Therefore, other religions aren’t necessarily evil and can have goodness in them. They are not equal to Christianity nor do they offer their followers a full communion with Christ, as Christianity does.

Whatever it is that appeals to your professor about Buddhism might make it difficult for him to make the jump in faith needed for Christianity. Also, simply because someone has studied Christianity in an academic setting does not mean that they understand real Christianity.
 
Gilbert_Keith said:
Alchemist

*But “Love God and love one another” is the central teaching of Christianity. By using that to prove Christianity is true you’re basically assuming it’s true in the first place. It’s like saying “A and B are biconditional, B is true, therefore A” *So far you’re just asserting that something is true without backing it up.

Looks to me that you are looking for an excuse to abandon Christ for some other religion, or for none at all.

When you start that “proof” stuff … I have to concede that you’re right … there is no proof.

There is no absolute and incontrovertible proof that God exists. Nor is there any decisive proof that you or I have immortal souls. So where do you stop demanding proof and start going with what makes the most sense?

What proof have you that what Buddha taught is true? Is Buddhism God-centered? Does Buddhism make more sense to you than Christianity? Why?

Show me where Buddhism teaches above all the central truth of loving God and loving our neighbors.

What is the central truth of Buddhism? How can you prove that central truth is true?

Questions you need to answer before you say that Christianity is not true and Buddhism is more attractive to you.

And by the way, the usual remark I hear from many of the atheists I’ve known is that if they had to believe in a religion … it would be Buddhism.

What does that tell you?
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The thing is I don’t want a proof of Christianity being true. I want reasons to follow it, or not to follow it. You’re saying that objectively “Love God and love one another” is the central truth of everything, and within Christianity it is objective, but outside of Christianity it seems not to be so.

Buddhism is not a God centered religion, currently it doesn’t make more sense to me than Christianity, but I believe it’s merely because I do not yet know enough about it. The central teaching of Buddhism is the cause of suffering and how to end it, and that suffering comes from desire. That idea makes sense inside of and outside of Buddhism, which is probably why it appeals to atheists more than Christianity does.
 
Axion said:
Well, that’s for the human conscience to determine. If you prefer, “Love God and hate one another,” then you may have trouble with Christianity.

Indeed. You cannot use martyrdom alone as a proof.

Look into the lives of Jesus and Mohammed. Jesus never killed anyone, healed people, forgave them and told us to love even our enemies.

Mohammed ordered those who criticised him killed, made war on other tribes to conquer them, married a nine year old girl, and ordered the massacre and enslavement of a whole tribe of the Jews who had joined in giving him and his followers refuge in Medina.

Who would you rather follow?
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Mohammed did order many people killed but so did the Catholic Church. And Islam does recognize Jesus. Nobody was killed in the name of Buddhism or atheism. So the argument on which has less blood on it’s hands is pretty difficult. I remember trying to explain to an agnostic friend of mine about that but I was never really able to explain it away cold.
 
Alchemist said:
Mohammed did order many people killed but so did the Catholic Church. And Islam does recognize Jesus. Nobody was killed in the name of Buddhism or atheism. So the argument on which has less blood on it’s hands is pretty difficult. I remember trying to explain to an agnostic friend of mine about that but I was never really able to explain it away cold.
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Communism was an atheistic endeavor. I was under the impression that more people were killed through various Communist regimes then died under Hitler.
 
Alchemist said:
Over the summer I had started questioning why I was a Catholic and why it seemed to make so much sense. I’ve come to realise that it really is because I was born in a Catholic family and have always been going to church and CCD (sunday school).

I mean, I believed in it back then but didn’t really understand it fully. In college I started learning more and more about it. But now I’m thinking that if I had been born in an areligious family then I wouldn’t even be dealing with these issues that I’m struggling with now. I’d have a less biased perspective on it and would feel less pressure to get meaning in my life through a religion.

Basically the only reason I feel that I would need to choose Christianity over any other religion would be because I do not want to go to Hell. Since it seems like I would have to follow it or else go to Hell because I am not ignorant of Catholicism.
What do you think?
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You know.

Someone, somewhere everyday is born into the true religion so to speak.

We consider it to be the Catholic faith. But just because you were born into it (as was I) doesn’t mean its wrong.

Peace and God Bless.
 
I’m wondering if there is a deeper question that needs to be answered.

Does God exist?

If your answer is yes, then you need to determine what kind of God this is, and if it is deserving of worship, and if so, what form that worship should take. That will lead you into whatever religion best suits your desires and needs, I would think.

If your answer is no, then what’s the point of religion? Just live your life as best you can, basing all your decisions on the facts available and your own internal moral compass (and don’t worry, your internal morality will likely not differ too much from religious people on many issues).

It’s been my experience that people involved in religion, while certainly sincere in their beliefs, nevertheless often think their subjective reasons are really objective reasons. That’s because from within the bubble everything looks a certain way, but from the outside one can see all the other bubbles floating around with their own subjective realities.

You can choose to join the people in the bubbles, or stay outside and maintain your objectivity.

I’m not posting this in hopes of leading you away from religion, but rather because I see in you a struggle similar to the one I experienced a few years ago. I ended up choosing atheism, but that may not be the direction you take. Whatever you choose, at least be honest about it. I think the last thing the Catholic Church (or any church, for that matter) wants is another hypocrite in the pews.
 
I’ve started a parallel thread on an atheism website, mainly because I feel like I’m in an all vs. one situation here. (up until SteakNPotatoes showed up)

The link is this: aarm.mywowbb.com/forum3/6413.html

SteakNPotatoes, I’m working under the assumption that there is at least a possibility for the existence of God. I don’t have an answer to that, so I need reasons to believe, or not believe, etc. etc. If you can show me that there is no God or that God doesn’t require us to be Christian then that would be helpful to me.
You’ve made very good points that I certainly agree with, and I’d like you to address, refute, or concede to the points others brought up too.

I’d also like to thank everyone for posting here on this thread, and I apologise for coming off as hostile if I have done so (due to the nature of debate I tend to do that)
 
Hi, I would like to assure you that you are not the only one who has gone through this and are not the only one going through this at this time, as echoed by the postings in reference to St. John of the Cross. Heck, even Mother (St.?) Theresa at the end of her life was questioning things. I believe its what God wants us to do because we only appreciate our faith in God and Christianity in the contrast with our loss of faith. It shows that you truly love Truth and want to find it. Im sure you have alot of questions, and no offense, but i doubt any of them are original(i certainly found this out when I started asking questions and was sent straight to FAQ pages by scholars:D ) and have been answered or at least explained for centuries.

Giving examples of people who have gone through seminary just to turn to another religion or lost their faith entirely or even people who are not impressed with its defenses is simply not good arguementation because anecdotal examples can be found going in all directions including many famous atheists who turned to Christianity after confronting some of its defenses that made them realize that God is real and the Bible isnt just a bunch of poppycock stories that happen to double as good “moral tales”. But let me turn the tables on your for a moment and ask you why YOU think they didnt find truth in Christianity?

As to your original question, the answer is far bigger than any post here can encompass, take a gander at the Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas and you’ll see what i mean. And to be honest, nothing can PROVE Christanity to you, and quite rightly, most anything on this earth cant be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Furthermore, imagine the absurdity of free will if it WAS provable! It would be tantamount to running into the street when you knew a car was coming (and a teenager was behind the wheel)! This is where faith comes in, but let me qualify what faith means. It doesn’t mean a blind leap of faith into the dark pit of unknowableness, but rather it means that you take the things that you know and make a calculated leap in the right direction. By your own admission, you dont know much about your faith, so of course you’re not going to be able to see why its truthful.

I will say threee things in parting:
  1. Nobody is asking you to swallow the whole thing at once. Putting the human will in conformity with Gods is quite a tall task in our fallen state, but you have shown your love of truth; and God will always help those that seek truth. Go in an order, do you even believe in God? if not, this is what you should address first, then once you decide that, you can start tackling the “Battle of the Books” as it were.
  2. I would encourage you to read books and articles on subjects you find troubling, they are definitely out there. And as horrible as this might sound to other Christians here, you need to know both sides of any arguement to make a decision so ask Islamist, Buddhists, Atheists, et al how their world view makes more sense of the world than Christianity. Instead of asking why Christianity is true, why dont you let us know what exactly you are having trouble with?
  3. I could write more but unfortunately that thing called work calls. I only wrote this much because i believe God is asking me to, and because i feel an affinity (not in a wierd way lol:p ) with you and anyone who struggles with issues like this, and I can only say that the journey is hard, and downright mentally brutal at times, but the reward is so good as to be quite rightly “Unimaginable”!
 
SteakNPotatoes said:
Wow! That’s news to me. Where is the worship service? 😃
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Bare with me, I will word this badly, let me assure you.😛

To be part of a religion at some point you simply have to accept on faith what is being taught, correct?

How is atheism any different? Atheist’s have no ultimate proof that there is no God, they simply believe on faith that there isn’t.

I have met atheists who were everybit as evangelical in their belief in God’s nonexistence as fundamentalist’s Christians and who would not fail to try and convert others to atheism.
 
Alchemist said:
The thing is I don’t want a proof of Christianity being true. I want reasons to follow it, or not to follow it. You’re saying that objectively “Love God and love one another” is the central truth of everything, and within Christianity it is objective, but outside of Christianity it seems not to be so.

Buddhism is not a God centered religion, currently it doesn’t make more sense to me than Christianity, but I believe it’s merely because I do not yet know enough about it. The central teaching of Buddhism is the cause of suffering and how to end it, and that suffering comes from desire. That idea makes sense inside of and outside of Buddhism, which is probably why it appeals to atheists more than Christianity does.
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Yes, desires often bring suffering. The whole Fall in Genesis results from Adam and Eve’s desire to sin. All the suffering in the world traces back to sinful desires–either our own or others’.

A central teaching of Christianity is redemptive suffering. Jesus desired to free us from sin and so He suffered for us. One beauty of Catholocism is that Jesus’ redemptive suffering gives meaning to our own suffering. When united with His suffering, our struggles also becomes redemptive. That’s what Catholics mean by “offer it up.” Our struggles and sufferings serve a purpose to help redeem humanity. Jesus redeemed humanity through His suffering and death, and we imitate Him.

This brings us to another central teaching of Christianity: the Resurrection! Good Friday is followed by Easter Sunday. Suffering is not the end, it is the begining of a new life in Christ. We sow in sadness, but we reap in joy.
 
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