Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: atterlep@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Alan T. Terlep) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Help!! Message-ID: Date: 14 Sep 90 06:05:01 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Oakland University, Rochester MI. Lines: 78 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Greetings all, I really don't know if this is the appropriate forum, but I've been troubled by several questions of faith lately and I haven't been able to find someone to guide me around here. After reading this newsgroup I have a feeling that I'll be able to get needed insight from this group. First, some personal background. I'm seventeen years old and a sophomore in college at Oakland University. I'm about to be confirmed as a Catholic after about three years out of the church. A wasn't baptized until my parents felt I was old enough to voice my own opinion (about 8). Both my parents were indifferent Catholics, although my mother became a religious ed director after my parents divorce. I currently live with my father and stepmother. Second, I will say that the coldly logical part of my brain is still surprised about my confirmation. My decision to get confirmed was the first of several decisions I've made based wholly on nonrationality. One day I woke up and knew that I should get confirmed. It was, to say the least, unusual, although I have had other similar experiences since. The problem is that I feel distanced from the standard experiences that I hear about from most religious people. I don't agree with many of the principles of the Catholic Church, but nonetheless I feel drawn to it by God-- the same God that tells me that the Church isn't right. The biggest difference I have is that I can't see how a loving God would force people to choose a certain way to Him. For me, the phrase "no one comes to the Father but through me" has a less literal meaning--that to find God one must learn to see God in humans, not try to find Him through obscure, internal rituals--although prayer and meditation are certianly necessary. Essentially, I believe that anyone who sees God in man and worships that aspect of God as well as His more widely recognized God-in-God aspect is being a good human being and will be saved. Also, the circle of friends I travel in is notoriously anti-religious. If they were simply providing peer pressure it would be one thing, but I find that I agree with many of their sentiments about the negative aspects of Christianity. I find myself agreeing with them and yet uninterested in changing my course. Trouble is, I know right now that I will do things frowned upon not just by the Catholic Church but by most Christian denominations, not because of weakness but because I believe they are right. How do I reconcile my beliefs with the beliefs of my chosen religion? The second question is this. How do we reconcile our wealth with "It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to pass into the Kingdom of God?" -- Alan Terlep "Violence is the last refuge of the Oakland University, Rochester, MI incompetent." atterlep@vela.acs.oakland.edu --Isaac Asimov [My most specific advice is to realize that becoming a Christian is something that takes a lifetime, and not to be overly worried if you can't see how things will turn out. If you see differences between your beliefs and practices and those of your church, the most useful thing you can do is to pray about them. Maybe you are doing things that are genuinely wrong, or at least wrong for you, and God will lead you to change. Maybe there are areas where your church is wrong, or at least wrong for you. That may lead you to respectfully dissent in some areas, or eventually to find another church which is better for you. But if you are basically just starting on your faith journey, it's difficult for you to know at this point. One characteristic many Christians have commented about is that when God leads them, they often end up somewhere very different than they had expected. The statement "no one comes to the Father but through me" can be read two ways. One is exclusive: Anyone who does not accept Christ in the way we believe they should is damned. Another is inclusive: anyone who comes to the Father *is* coming through Christ. They may start out hearing only the faint echo of his voice, and not know where it is coming from, but eventually (and I believe that in some cases it may not even be in this life) they will come to know Christ and know that their salvation is from him. Of course the disciples had the same reaction you did to the comment about wealth: "Then who can be saved?" Jesus' answer was "For people it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." I.e. wealth is a serious spiritual danger, but God can save us from dangers. I leave open whether he saves us by helping us realize that we have to get rid of our wealth or by preserving us from its dangers. Indeed this may be different for different people. --clh]