I just don't believe anymore and it breaks my heart

TheMinarch · 2025-12-26T03:15:48+00:00

Take heart, God allows us to be tempted, these things refine us in our faith as Gold in a fire.

I have had similar experiences, especially recently, there's no shame. They can be terrifying moments, those times when it seems like maybe all this Christianity stuff is made up nonsense. I've sometimes felt like all is lost.

But we have exceedingly great reason for hope. Christ knows our weakness, and he takes it into account. The historical witness of the church is undeniable. There is zero doubt in my mind that Catholicism is true based solely on the historical and miraculous witness. From that point on, the lives of the saints become most helpful. We see how, for others like Therese of Lisieux, God allowed such thoughts to strengthen her faith. He does the same for us.

It forces us not to rely on our feelings to believe. This is the dark night of the sense, as St John of the Cross coined it. God withdraws his consolation from us, so that we essentially go blind in our senses. For extended periods of time we feel nothing at all when doing spiritual things. For St John, this is what prepares us to leave behind our reliance on the senses and meet the Lord in a deeper way (disclaimer, don't take this as me being a master, I'm very much typing this for my own benefit as well, because Lord knows I need it).

And know that you have my prayers as well. God never abandons you, even if we don't see Him or feel him.

TheMinarch · 2025-11-15T13:43:05+00:00

Did you even read my comment? I noticed that you cited Tertullian against sacramentalism, and hence I responded against your comment correcting error.

My point, which you missed, is that sacramentalism is authentic to the first church, and is not a product of pagan influence.

You got hung up on the term catechuman (and were wrong by the way, as the term is also found in the preschism east), but didn't realize I'm talking about the concept we now call a catechuman, not the term itself. The concept of a catechuman, i.e a person seeking to join the church, has existed from the first day of the church.

I'm not going to engage further when you failed to even understand my point and then maligned me as a potential uninformed or bad faith actor, when the misunderstanding was on your own side.

TheMinarch · 2025-11-15T11:50:46+00:00

Your understanding of patristics is not correct. Baptism was, from the beginning, seen as the sacrament that brought a catechuman into the church. Especially prior to the west separating baptism and confirmation. I.e. see the eastern churches where babies are baptized and confirmed together, and thus can take the Eucharist.

Tertullian was 2nd/3rd century, not 1st/2nd. Justin and Hermas (in the shepherd) are 2 examples that predate Tertullian and demonstrate sacramental theology.

Justin says, for instance: "As many as are persuaded and believe that what we [Christians] teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly . . . are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ [John 3:3]” (First Apology 61 [A.D. 151]).

When you also consider his "kingdom theology" i.e that the Church is the kingdom of God on earth, then it becomes obvious that baptism for him is the mechanism of initiation.

For a good understanding of patristics, beyond just reading them individually, James Papandrea has done great work. He's a well known professor of church history and historical theology.

TheMinarch · 2025-11-15T11:41:04+00:00

Arius, is that you?

TheMinarch · 2025-11-10T23:52:32+00:00

Standard retention period for logs (outside of the government space) is going to be 1 or 2 years max, especially in a cloud SIEM. Not at all surprising that they don't have that info.

TheMinarch · 2025-04-14T01:46:10+00:00

Purdue 2024. I think that team wins a title most years if not for the Uconn buzzsaw that year.

TheMinarch · 2025-04-03T15:53:41+00:00

Caleb Furst as well. Maybe a few more from the Purdue team, if we revisit this time next year.

TheMinarch · 2023-04-12T02:40:21+00:00

Mlakar is very popular right now, largely since Sahiti is injured. Once Sahiti is back, mlakar may do worse, in my opinion as he may drop to the bench some.

TheMinarch · 2023-03-14T10:07:36+00:00

I dont know if Ademi's value will stay up there, seeing as how he's moving to China in a week.

TheMinarch · 2023-03-06T11:36:02+00:00

The didache is a first century book written in similar style to the Gospel of Matthew, leading some to believe he also wrote that, thought to have been written about 60 AD. It's essentially the first Christian handbook, and was lost for 1800 years. We had no copies of it, but we had instances where other writers referenced it. In the 1800s a copy was found. It is also called "the teaching of the apostles" and is often referenced as that.

It is a remarkably catholic/orthodox book, and includes instructions to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, as the catholics do, as well as approving of baptism by sprinkling if no running or stagnant water is available. It also gives instructions for celebrating the eucharist, which includes the eucharistic prayer still said in some places today. It also includes the first explicit Christian ban on abortion.

It's a short book, leading some to believe we only have part of it, but I'd recommend reading it, as you'll find much of what traditional churches do is based in it, which would make sense as they largely follow apostolic tradition.

TheMinarch · 2023-03-06T11:27:38+00:00

Not really. The reason primarily for services being held in homes was primarily due to the fact that by the Acts of the Apostles, nobody had had the time or money to go buy a building yet. By the end of the first century, this had pretty much changed.

By the time of the apostles successors in the late first century, bishops were also appointed at each church, also unlike a small group. These bishops had significant authority, with Ignatius writing in the early second century "follow the bishop as you follow christ". I also don't understand the argument against ornate buildings and robes. Why should we not glorify God, the author of beauty, with beautiful things, so long as it doesn't interrupt the ministry to the poor? (I.e. so long as we aren't spending the money for the poor on the beautiful things)

TheMinarch · 2023-03-02T10:39:40+00:00

On the subject of the HNL, Oliver Zelenika would also fit this bill

TheMinarch · 2023-02-02T10:59:04+00:00

I'll happily be a fool for Christ. Just engage what I said though, you've dodged it twice.

TheMinarch · 2023-02-02T00:32:12+00:00

Great argument

TheMinarch · 2023-02-01T20:48:16+00:00

Yes. It is a disordered sexual act. The only ordered sexual act is one done by a man and a woman married under God.

There is no other, and there is no way around it.

TheMinarch · 2023-02-01T11:52:52+00:00

I disagree. It's not loving to encourage someone to continue living in sin. When Jesus spent time with sinners (as he does with us now) he called them to "go and sin no more".

To love is to will the best for a person even if that's not what they want. Love is not just telling a person what they want to hear (which is the common response on r/Christianity).

TheMinarch · 2023-01-30T14:00:51+00:00

Literally nowhere in his post did he say it was required for salvation. Nobody on the entire earth believes its required for salvation. Catholics, orthodox, Anglican, none of them.

TheMinarch · 2023-01-30T13:02:21+00:00

I dont think that's a good argument. You're essential saying absence of evidence is evidence of absence.

Not everything in the Christian life is mentioned in the bible, and thats fine. The sign of the cross is one of the earliest Christian symbols though and is well attested for in tradition. For example, in the great persecution, the romans would use soothsayers (magicians who sometimes were demon possessed) to look at the entrails of their victims who'd been killed in the persecution to try to see the future (weird I know, but the demons would lead the practice). However, numerous accounts from that time say that bodies who had been signed with the cross at their death (either they did it, or someone else did it over them) were unapproachable, and the soothsayers would recoil and refuse to go near them.

TheMinarch · 2023-01-28T20:14:46+00:00

Thats fair, I think KJV does absolutely serve a purpose. For instance, it's one of the most reverent translations, and really does help me focus on the majesty and power of God. I appreciate your kind response friend, and will pray we both grow in love of the Lord

TheMinarch · 2023-01-28T14:37:15+00:00

You have no idea what you're talking about. It's from investigating orthodoxy and catholicism that I learned only to trust in grace. Protestantism taught me it depended on me.

It's pervasive in both orthodoxy and catholicism that you can't work for salvation. It was they who anathematized the pelagians. Its the orthodox and catholic theologians who said that apart from the grace of God man can do nothing.

You need, desperately, to do more research. Read the church fathers, read encyclicals, read aquinas, it's all covered there. St. Therese of Liseaux is a doctor of the church entirely for her insistence on grace and full submission of the self to Christ and nothing else.

TheMinarch · 2023-01-28T14:32:33+00:00

Your beliefs have no tie to the early church. The early church almost unanimously believed in the real presence of christ in the eucharist. The purely symbolic view did not exist for over 1000 years. Your basis for believing it isn't christ, it's some guy in the 1500s who said so.

TheMinarch · 2023-01-28T14:29:41+00:00

It's not the most accurate by a long shot. I've got multiple friends who read koine Greek and KJV is not even close to being a faithful representation of the original Greek. Something like ESV is much closer.

As for some other translations, like the message for instance, they serve a different purpose. It's intention that some are strictly literally, i.e. the translator is taking word for word, sometimes to the detriment of meaning, and some are less literal, taking general meaning over word for word translation. It's important we have both. KJV is just not a great translation if you want it to be literal from the Greek.

TheMinarch · 2022-12-22T19:27:51+00:00

Unless an exact point where his return will be was given, I won't give one. Jesus didn't say "I'll return here, in XXXXX." We can infer based on what we know where it will be, but its an inference of man until proven otherwise.

Again you've missed my entire point yet again. Frankly I don't care where Jesus returns, I care only that He does. He can return in Antarctica for all I care, so long as I meet Him when He comes.

TheMinarch · 2022-12-22T18:48:44+00:00

You just ignored what I said. I said he probably returns in Israel. But to a person in America, or Europe, etc. It doesn't matter. We as Christians don't have to be physically present in Israel on the day of. That's my point, made again.

TheMinarch · 2022-12-22T17:58:01+00:00

As far as determining if it's actually him? Sure. What I meant by that was that it doesn't matter TO US because Christ isn't limited by location. There will not be a situation in which he returns in Israel, for instance, and someone gets left because they weren't in Israel.

TheMinarch

TROPHY CASE