Why is the Faith so complicated?

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AJ85

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There is just so much to learn if you really want to know the Faith. I spend full days studying, and it is amazing just how much there is to learn. I can see why so many people choose to be Protestant, because it is pretty simple.(To be clear, I do believe the Catholic Church is the true church, and I believe that a lot of the reasons many atheists hate Christianity is because of misconceptions due to Protestant teachings.)
It seems that to truely understand the Faith you must dedicate much time(and prayer of course) to it. Is that the point?
 
AJ85 said:
There is just so much to learn if you really want to know the Faith. I spend full days studying, and it is amazing just how much there is to learn. I can see why so many people choose to be Protestant, because it is pretty simple.(To be clear, I do believe the Catholic Church is the true church, and I believe that a lot of the reasons many atheists hate Christianity is because of misconceptions due to Protestant teachings.)
It seems that to truely understand the Faith you must dedicate much time(and prayer of course) to it. Is that the point?
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HI AJ85…Faith is a journey that will be lifelong. I have been Catholic 62yrs and raised and educated in the Catholic system all my life and always fascinated by the Faith -and there are things still that I cannot understand. Rather than strive to grasp what I clearly cannot, I leave things up to The Holy Spirit to lead me to that level, whatever, which is God’s Will for me.
Faith is in its essence our relationship to God and who I am in relationship to my God. There is a beautiful line in the Old Testament “This is what The Lord asks, and only this, love tenderly, act justly and walk humbly with your God”…and from the New Testament “Love The Lord your God with your whole soul and your whole heart and love your neighbour as yourself - This is the whole of The Law and The
Commandments”.

The good God does not expect us to know what has evaded us for some reason…whereas at some later point, we may insight the matter and thus it will be asked of us only from that point of recognition and to that degree that we have insighted. It is not about where I want to be, but where The Lord wants me to be. Let The Lord lead you and be in Peace!
This is the Catholic Faith and it is a lifelong journey in The Loving Mercy of The Lord. It is a great adventure and many journeys to “lands now unknown”…and to my mind, the greatest adventure any person can undertake.

There is a great line in the Desiderata, among many great lines “Do not compare yourself to others, for you may become vain and bitter, for everywhere there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Be careful and strive to be happy”. Probably an awful lot of us here have been students of The Catholic Faith for many years and perhaps even all their lives…and still very much the learners!

We have many saints who were not learned at all even unable to read - yet became great saints. I find this entirely of great comfort and consolation…and no little encouragement.

If perchance, I am unable to answer some non Catholic question in connection with The Faith, then this is no cause for distress - since nothing happens outside of God’s Will…"**all things work together for those that love God"(St. Paul)…I remain in Peace and pray for that person and probably will also research in many places looking for the answer so that I can answer that question should there be a next time somewhere. I think a lot of what I know about Catholicism has come about in this way or similar.

If you have a desire to prayerfully research into Catholicism to understand The Faith better, then do so and this is a good and holy desire…but don’t kick yourself around for not knowing it all or perhaps being unable to answer some question asked of you. Leave all to The Lord confidently and trustfully.

Blessings…Barb:)
 
Somebody once said that the brilliance of Catholicism is that it’s simple enough for the least of us to understand, and yet for those who want to delve into it’s depths, the most brilliant could study a lifetime and never learn everything about it. At it’s core, Catholicism is relatively easy. Worship the Triune God, love one another as God has loved us, avoid mortal sin, and pray. Everything else is really just to help us achieve all of that better.

It’s not that it’s more difficult than being Protestant… it’s more rich.
 
I tend to agree with the above posters - the faith is endlessly rich (there’s 2,000 years worth of it, after all) and so there’s always something new to be learning.

It’s like maths - everyone can study maths to a level that will allow them to do what they need to do with it, with ease. Then those who choose can study it further and at a higher level.
 
AJ85 said:
It seems that to truely understand the Faith you must dedicate much time(and prayer of course) to it. Is that the point?
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if you come to believe, know and love Jesus you can’t get enough of learning, studying, reading, hearing, knowing more.
 
puzzleannie said:
if you come to believe, know and love Jesus you can’t get enough of learning, studying, reading, hearing, knowing more.
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Yes, it is like standing in front of a treasure mountain. Each time we dig, we get some gems, we are forever enriched. There are endless treasures for us to receive as long as we don’t stop digging. God’s grace is ever refreshing and renewing. That is how precious our faith is.
 
AJ85 said:
It seems that to truely understand the Faith you must dedicate much time(and prayer of course) to it. Is that the point?
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I will ask several questions for you to consider. Do not answer them by way of post, answer them for yourself
  1. How often do I pray?
  2. How do I pray?
  3. Do I attend mass regularly?
  4. Do I consider this an obligation or a privilege?.
  5. Do I read the Bible, the word of God?
  6. Do I go to Eucharistic Adoration?
  7. Do I pray the rosary?
  8. Do I pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or do I even know about
    it?
    This will be a good guide for self examination on your prayer life. .
    The more you do these things, the greater will be your desire to know about your faith and it will not seem like a chore, but an unquenchable thirst.
    Prayers & blessings
    Deacon Ed B
 
For me, the process of becoming Catholic after being protestant has been like eating celery all my life, and then all of a sudden switching to the richest, yummiest chocolate cake you can imagine. Sometimes, you get brain boggled, because it’s just so much more beautiful and full than it was before.
Part of the beauty of this for me is that I don’t HAVE to always understand, because I WON’T always understand. I just have to follow the Lord’s will and forget about my own, and that is a much more peaceful way to live.

I (to answer the question you actually asked) do not think that the point of the complexity of the Church is to push us towards time in prayer- we should be doing that anyways. Rather, I think that anything that has been around for thousands of years and created by our Lord is going to be a little bit beyond the average bears’ understanding.
 
AJ85,
if you’re studying “religion,” yes the Catholic religion, can have a lot to learn.

If on the other hand, Jesus Christ is at the center of your life, it isn’t so complex, because He is the one who feeds you, as you are ready to be fed.

Faith is the revelation of Jesus Christ to us, however that may happen.

Religion, is our response to that faith.

Prayer is the path to faith and we must turn to prayer, unceasingly.

Jim
 
Life is complicate, and religion encompasses and speaks to all of life.

An example: the simplicity of owning a home. It isn’t that simple. Every home-owner knows of the complications involved in maintaining the house, keeping it up, paying bills, cleaning, etc. And that is just the physical facility, not the family.

In the same way, as simple as life can be, it also entails many variables, events, ideals-to-be-pursued, decisions, and relationships. At every point, Relgion - which is simply following God - involves bringing our mind, body, heart,and soul into each of these particular areas of life. And that is complicated.

And fulfilling.

Peace, Tom
 
Consider the married life. You know your spouse. It could hardly be otherwise.

Yet every day you come to know your spouse better and better, and you learn more and more aboutyour spouse.

Do you ever want that growth to end?

Regards,
Joe
 
tljschliessmann said:
Life is complicate, and religion encompasses and speaks to all of life.

An example: the simplicity of owning a home. It isn’t that simple. Every home-owner knows of the complications involved in maintaining the house, keeping it up, paying bills, cleaning, etc. And that is just the physical facility, not the family.

In the same way, as simple as life can be, it also entails many variables, events, ideals-to-be-pursued, decisions, and relationships. At every point, Relgion - which is simply following God - involves bringing our mind, body, heart,and soul into each of these particular areas of life. And that is complicated.

And fulfilling.

Peace, Tom
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This is a good analogy
Prayers & blessings
Deacon Ed B
 
See, that is one of the biggest reasons I love Catholicism, and one of the reasons I have stuck with it so long after coming back–there is always more to learn! New saints to meet, new meditations to chew over, new prayers to pray or spiritual works to read, so much history. Catholicism is very intellectual-friendly, IMO.
 
Thank you all for the exellent responses. Each of you has helped me to better understand the Faith.
 
Rolltide said:
Somebody once said that the brilliance of Catholicism is that it’s simple enough for the least of us to understand, and yet for those who want to delve into it’s depths, the most brilliant could study a lifetime and never learn everything about it. At it’s core, Catholicism is relatively easy. Worship the Triune God, love one another as God has loved us, avoid mortal sin, and pray. Everything else is really just to help us achieve all of that better.

It’s not that it’s more difficult than being Protestant… it’s more rich.
Click to expand...
👍
 
I was a depressed Protestant, and catholicism saved me, 🙂 I belong to her now, I belong to God especially.
 
Catholicism is about a relationship with God.

Is married life simple? Anyone who’s been married knows that’s far from true. And that’s just with a fellow human being.

How can a relationship with the Creator of the Universe be simple? A lifetime is not sufficient.
 
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