Question:
Confused "christian"?
Anna Cutie
2013-06-09 19:15:27 UTC
I'll try to keep it short... so I am a teenager. I was raised in a catholic family but the. sort of converted to christianity like a year and a half ago. I have had my ups and down with being a christian but never really any doubt. Now all of a sudden I am question my faith. Im not saying I don't believe in God but its hard to believe in Him. I get mad because I am so tempted to sin and its like if God knew Adam and Eve was going to eat the apple and we would all suffer eternal death then why did he create us. He knew everything that was going to happen before he created a single thing so can you really blame me for sinning? You created me? And also what kind of a God would let His creations suffer for eternity in Hell? Its like Im so conflicted. I sometimes feel God but then again what about all the evolution facts...how are we supposed to believe in a god that we cannot see or hear. (literally) like it is unlogical! but then again I am not doubting his existence because how did we end up here?
Eleven answers:
Maryann
2013-06-09 19:40:16 UTC
Ok. I'm going to try to help you here. Just hear me out.



First of all, we all struggle with faith sometimes. That is nothing new. I've been going through some of the same stuff lately. You just got to keep trying. Try immersing yourself in God's word. Pray. (An online friend of mine has put it this way: P.U.S.H: Pray Until Something Happens). Spend time with fellow Christians both in the real world and online (On my Twitter account I follow a bunch of Christian "anons" and those tweets can really help inspire you sometimes). Listen to Christian music. Pray some more. Just don't give up. This time of struggling with your faith can make your faith stronger.



Do I have the answers to every single question you asked? Of course not. Only God knows all those answers. He has a purpose for everyone though, including you.



You are a human, therefore you sin. That is a part of our nature. But through Jesus Christ, you can and are cleansed. He is your savior. He will never leave you. You just need to stop pushing Him away. (I'm guilty of pushing Him away as well. I'm working on it. But I know that without Him I am nothing.)



As far as evolution goes, first of all, they are theories. But besides that, some of those theories line up with the Bible. Not to mention countless other scientific theories. (See http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/stevelikescurse/10599734/222023/222023_original.jpg for some examples). But think about it. God is all knowing and all powerful. He created everything. Therefore He created everything that we THINK we know. And more.



Perhaps we cannot literally SEE him or HEAR Him but I think the closer you get to Him, the more you will hear Him speak to you. And although we do not see a literal form of mass called "God", we can see all that He has done and made. It's not illogical.





Finally, simply ignore the answers you receive saying things like "God isn't real" or "well...it's all made up." Do not let such answers draw you further from God. Instead, love and pray for those who are so lost.



I hope I helped. :) Remember God DOES LOVE YOU. :D
anonymous
2013-06-09 20:11:01 UTC
Hi, Anna. These are all great questions, and I'm glad you are searching. Here are some links that you could browse through. God bless you and good luck on your faith journey.

truefaith.tv

wordonfire.org

reallifecatholic.com

lifeteen.com

hanm.org

iTunes free podcast: Father Mike Schmitz

Youtube: Crystalina Evert, Leah Darrow, Jason Evert, Matt Fradd, Chris Stefanick, Justin Fatica, Mark Hart, Skylar Testa, Life on the Rock

Catholic Answers Live Radio/Podcast
Believer
2013-06-09 19:27:14 UTC
I can see why you are confused.....the media, schools, universities and even some churches have all jumped on the evolutionary bandwagon. Please be assured that there is NO EVIDENCE of macro evolution. There is SO MUCH evidence for the 6 day creation according to the Biblical Account. Check out Answers in Genesis, Creation.com and Creation Ministries International websites.



God did know that Adam would sin and all men would inherit their sinful nature thru him. BUT GOD ALSO knew from the beginning that He would send His Son to earth to pay the penalty for man's sin for whosoever will repent of their sin and believe in Him. You can have full confidence and trust in God. Why risk it all by believing in men?



Find a good, solid Biblical church.
Katie
2013-06-09 20:13:15 UTC
I see a lot of people already gave you advice so I'll keep mine to a book recommendation. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. It is written by a former atheist journalist who set out to prove Christianity wrong and ended up a Christian. It covers things topic by topic so you can pick and choose what to read. Hope this helps
tebone0315
2013-06-09 19:28:29 UTC
You converted to one of the 38,000 denominations or non denominations of Protestant religions? You were a Christian already. You became a Christian when your parents baptized you a Catholic Christian. Your confused because you left Jesus Christ's Catholic Church that He established in 33AD and went to a religion that is less the 500 years old and have a totally different interpretation of the Holy Bible, which by the way is also a Catholic Christian document. We all sin. We all need confession and forgiveness of our sins. No one is perfect, except for Jesus Christ. We all just need to learn how to overcome sin and the temptation to sin.



Catholic Christian †
tj
2013-06-09 19:24:20 UTC
very good questions to ask, a little something i have learned, Christian beliefs are something to be reminded of and reimbursed in us, and something to constantly be learning something new about, otherwise the faith runs stagnant. For reimbursing it in your life, i suggest reading books from John Piper, RC Sproul, Timothy Keller, Max Lucado etc, start shopping at family Christian stores. just build on your knowledge so that it stays fresh in your mind proverbs 1:5 let the wise listen and add to their learning



for answering the tough questions, i suggest reading some of C.S. Lewis' books, he asked the same questions you are now asking. and a bit of direct help for "making sense of suffering" i suggest listening to John Lennox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9scK_xKfWM8

he has debated with a number of Athiests which you can find all over youtube, I have found them extremely helpful in my life. Hope that helps :)

Ephesians chapter 6 may help too
Vanilla Skies
2013-06-09 19:33:40 UTC
Humans are sure to sin in their life but that is no excuse to sin. God does not want you to got to Hell. That's why he established his most holy Church to guide you to him. I suggest you go to Sunday School.



Catholics are Christians and not to mention the one with the oldest denomination and the one with most members.
He Heals the Broken Hearted
2013-06-09 21:30:36 UTC
Your not as confused as you think. God tells us in scripture that He works ALL things according to His will. He also says He wills no one should perish. I take that to clearly say He will save all His creation!
Paul S
2013-06-09 20:06:37 UTC
Dear Anna Cutie, I hope this will help you understand this dilemma you find yourself in. What I am about to reveal to you is not cliché’. May the Lord bless…



When God created, He wanted to create some creatures who would really worship Him and obey Him and some to truly love Him. In order for this to be possible, He created them with free will (this included some orders of angels and of course humans). They had to have the ability (like Him) to have actual choice because there cannot be real love in the absence of the possibility to not love or even to be indifferent. Although I suppose there are some who would settle for a Stepford wife or a comtrolled android husband, this would never satisfy even a human (though perhaps some physically for a moment here or there).



This is even true of genuine thankfulness and even worship. For it to be genuine it must be freely given from the heart convinced, not as a result of being coerced or pre-programmed like some robot with pre-programmed phrases being endlessly varied and repeated.



When He created man (humankind, both male and female) He made them in His image with free volitional choice, but as Genesis 1:26 tells us He also gave THEM dominion over the things of the earth. What happened on earth was put into man’s power (though He has had to intervene on occasions so as to optimize the number of souls that will be able to obtain His precious goal). When the Serpent (metaphor for Satan) came he was able to “beguile” Eve (this means she was persuaded by his line of reasoning, and then with her help Adam also was first led to question God and His word and to question His motive and to become (like the devils) like a god to their self (Genesis 3:5). They disregarded His loving warning of what would happen and did it anyway (Genesis 2:17). Like a loving parent would to a loved child He warned them of the consequence of a certain kind of action (like when you were small and your parents said “Thou shalt not run out into the busy highway for in the day you do you shall become roadkill”) but they disregarded this warning of love (like all His commandments) and did their own will against His will (and at this point sin and death entered the world…dominion was transferred to him who mankind chose to believe and obey…Satan, who is now the god of this world).



Now then so the creation could maximize the opportunity for the optimal number of souls that would love Him (truly) and worship Him (genuinely) He instituted immutable laws (to establish and maintain order amidst the chaos). What the Bible calls sin is breaking these immutable laws (1 John 3:4).



Now let me give you the true gospel by way of analogy using the immutable law of gravity…

You have been told must not jump off a skyscraper or you will fall to your death. Now let’s pretend despite being told not to and signs warning you to stay away from the edge, in your self-will or pride, not having anyone tell YOU what to do, you decide to jump anyway (this is what happened when we willfully disregard our Father’s word) and now you are plummeting to your death (you chose to violate one of His immutable laws)…along comes the only one capable of saving you who made the perfect net…He calls out to you (though in your stupidity you do not really deserve it…myself included because I knew better and sinned anyway, many times back then)…so He calls out in time (before you become SPPLLAAATTT!!!) and offers you a net (His name is Jesus). You will surely perish….He calls out to you with His offer (John 3:16) over and over….but alas it is up to you to ask for it and want it….He will not force you if you insist on being your own lord and becoming roadkill…He will grieve (Ezekiel 18:23-32) but He is faithful and cannot lie and He gave you the freedom to choose and dominion here is ours (He will not violate this because His love IS genuine and true)…

So that is the true gospel not accept Christ or go to hell…no beloved Anna…you are already going there because you violated His immutable laws (you jumped even though all who loved you said please don’t) but He loved you so much He Himself became a man and allowed Himself to sinlessly be tortured, beaten, and crucified, to gain back the dominion…(which only another man could do without God violating His own word)…so there you have it…a net…Romans 6:23 so Acts 2:38…your way or YHVH…you choose!
Shane A
2013-06-09 19:18:37 UTC
Welcome to the basics of knowledge. Instead of following blindly, you are questioning the why's of your religion. I'm not saying your religion is right or wrong, that is for you to determine. But never stop questioning.
?
2013-06-09 19:18:56 UTC
How do you expect to see or hear God if he is immaterial?



God doesn't need to show your proof of his existence. How significant do you think you are, princess?


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...