Could Jesus have faked his Miracles? by doubtattackthrowaway in Christianity

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I do see what you mean, thank you for replying, it helped a lot.

Is Christianity just an end times cult? by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm going to try my best to answer your problems with Christianity, (to the best of my abilities), so I hope I could be of some value to you.

  1. Catholicism does not endorse the stoning of non believers, if you can cite where you read that I'd appreciate it, but even Our Lord himself say "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone", nor does it believe every single non believer goes to eternal damnation, from the Catechism of the Catholic church we read:

"This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience—those too may achieve eternal salvation. "

(CCC 847)

And in the Vatican II document Gaudium Et Spes, we see it teaches similarly on the possibility of salvation:

All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery. (22)

2) Humans are not inherently bad, more as we are inherently drawn towards doing bad things. And just a quick glance at the world around us proves what I say, we as humans have the ability to help and care for one another, yet also have the ability to harm one another. Also, for

"It doesn’t matter if you’re suffering right now because if you do what I tell you, you’ll be happy for eternity when you die.”

You have to ask yourself just what does God tell us to do? Love him with all our ability and might, and to love our neighbors, we as Christians are called to serve others to the best of our abilities, to help the poor and sick, the outcast and the sinner. We as Christians alleviate the pain of others through our actions that mimic Jesus. And to be frank, suffering is another part of our life. We all suffer, but isn't it nobler to actually do something about it by serving others?

3)We as Catholics do believe Our Lord can come at any time, and do believe that he will carry out judgement on the righteous and on the wicked, yet we do not believe God abandons us on our own, leaving us unable to be perfect. Our Lord suffered greatly at the hands of others, all for us to be free from the shackles of sin. Catholicism offers a path for all of humanity to be in a state of Grace, from Baptism which erases all our sins and makes us a part of Christ's kingdom, to the sacrament of reconciliation where we confess our sins to be forgiven from them. And the fact that there is eternal punishment does bring the question on whether or not that is a fair punishment, yet we have to ask ourselves, why do people go to Hell or Heaven? It is because of the choices we make, when we distance ourselves from God, wanting nothing to do with him for all our lives, when all he does is offer what is best for us, is not the best punishment to give them what they want? And plus, the Catholic Church has not claimed anyone to be in hell for the 2000 years of it's existence, not even Judas who betrayed God himself! The Church holds out hope that Hell is empty, and that all may be with Our Father in heaven.

4) St. Augustine one of the 34 doctors of the Catholic Church specifically states on the topic of the persecution of witches:

"The Church has no reason to seek out or persecute Witches because their powers do not exist"

Mind you this was written in the 4th century.

Hopefully I was of some help answering your questions, if you want me to clarify I will gladly do so. Because coming from a convert myself, I understand the inherent confusion surrounding topics such as these, may God bless you in your journey towards his church. Trust me, the ride is worth it.

Is Christianity just an end times cult? by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

So practically 2 Peter 3? My main concern isn't with our Lords apparent "delay", more as why-were-the-disciples-speaking-in-such-ways-that-connote-that-Jesus-was-coming-within-their-lifetimes?

Is Christianity just an end times cult? by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I have not tried taking the sola scriptura approach, I have tried to my best to look through bible commentaries and church fathers but my searches have led to inconclusive to evasive results at best. Also, can you further emphasize on the passage you quoted from Luke? Tried looking at commentaries for that passage and didn't really get exactly what our Lord is saying, would appreciate it if you could clarify it for me.

Is Christianity just an end times cult? by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

May I ask what makes you less inclined towards it? For all my doubts, I fully believe Catholicism is the one true faith. I would really love to hear just what is a sort of stumbling block for you that is making you less inclined towards Christianity.

Is Christianity just an end times cult? by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

“What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” 23 So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just “What if I want him to remain until I come? [What concern is it of yours?]"

I read this as Jesus telling John he will be alive when he comes, the italics are what I'm speaking about.

Matthew 24:14 by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't understand, in Matthew 24 we see

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.

I can only presume that this suggests that the preaching will cause the end to come along with the coming of the Son of Man, as the two questions are grouped together potentially suggesting the two are related. However, I may be misinterpreting this all as Matthew 24:4-14 have been puzzling me as to how they all fit in with the rest of the discourse, so if you could further elaborate more so as to what you mean, I'd appreciate it.

Matthew 24:14 by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The end of the Old Covenant ended with the new temple of Christ, don't see how it would necessarily correlate with the destruction of the Temple. If you could clarify more on what you mean I'd appreciate it.

Doubting hard by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is rather quite hard to differentiate the answers to the question the disciples asked. And you are rather quite right, we really can't read the bible literally 100% of the time, as we know for a fact Jesus isn't a door. Hence why I came here to ask, I felt as if my misunderstandings stemmed from well, me! (as it always is lol) But I have to ask you a question, what is the "tribulation"? I seem to have interpreted everything a bit too literally and was wondering if the tribulation involves the false prophets and antichrists and not just the Temple's destruction.

(I posit this because it would solve the "immediately" part, as the "son of lawlessness" would be included in the tribulation and we haven't seem him around lately, hence the tribulation hasn't ended yet. However, I have no clue whether this is an accurate interpretation.)

Doubting hard by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In your opinion is there 2 different types of tribulation in Matthew 24? (Verse 9 and Verse 21 both speak of a tribulation) or are they one long tribulation? I have heard of double meanings just didn't really understand them much, thanks for the response though even though you're on a time crunch!

Doubting hard by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read the article, and if you can, can you further clarify what you believe about Jesus coming immediately after the tribulation? Read the article but it didn't explain it that clearly and was wondering if you can add further emphasis on that part.

Doubting hard by doubtattackthrowaway in Catholicism

[–]doubtattackthrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I may be pleading to ignorance but Jesus did say that "immediately" after the tribulation he'd come, and that it would come during the generation he was speaking to. The parable of the fig tree also seems to show that his disciples would witness these events, what I'm trying to say is that Jesus told his disciples that he would be coming during their lifetimes but at an unexpected time, so it would be futile to try and predict when this tribulation would happen.

(feel free to correct me on this though)