I'm a Catholic. I've been in Catholic school my entire life. I say my prayers in school but its more mechanical than spiritual. I go to mass and I just don't get anything out of it. I pray on my own and go to retreats and those are the only times I feel that I'm strengthening my relationship with God. And then all the controversy with priests abusing children has made me question my religion even more. I don't know if I want to be part of a religion that covers up this type of heinous crime. I was sexually abused as a child, not by a priest. Perhaps thats why this has been affecting me so much. A priest from my parish was an offender as was the priest at my high school. Its frightening. I feel as though the church isn't doing anything to rectify their wrong doings though. Just last week they made a statement that pretty much said, we can't give money to victims of sexual abuse because then we wouldn't have money for poor people. I don't want to abandon the faith I've grown up with, though. I'm so confused and I'm just wondering if there is anyone else out there who is disturbed by what's going on or if anyone has any advice on how to let go of the Church's wrongdoings. I've also considered changing to a different Christian denomination but I don't even know where to start.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I know a lot of people have questions about their Catholic Faith. My advice is do not give up on it, you wont find anything with a richer and fuller celebration, if you understand it. I have a blog about some very amazing things about the Catholic church, including miracles, saints, and other fascinating information. Check it out at http://holymotherchurch.blogspot.com Thanks. Email me if you have any specific questions.

I know thisw thread has gone a little off the main topic, but if you have questions about switching to a different Christian denomination, I can try to answer something for you. you can send me a message if you wish =) Don't give up on your faith!!! Jesus loves you and wants you to know him personally. If you are having trouble with the Catholic church, don't be afriad to try out other denominations. What to look for at a new church? Make sure that the church is following what the Bible says and that the church believes in knowing Christ as your personal Lord and savior. There will be corruption everywhere, but believers need to hold on to the truth's of Christ.

I don't trust Lee Strobel. I mean, what kind of self-respecting atheist converts as easily as he did? Besides, I've found his evidence kind of lacking. Then again, the only book of his I've read is The Case for Christ, which does a great job at proving what everyone already knows, that is, that there was someone named Jesus.

I have read The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder, though. While it brought up some good points (in attempting to prove Intelligent Design true), it didn't really sway me on anything. Yes, science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but that in itself means nothing.

science versus religion...
Would someone please go read "A Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel? I do a horrible job explaining how science is not averse to religion.

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if someone is saying he is saying the truth, perform miracles first.

Anyone can perform miracles. It simply depends on what your definition of a "miracle" is. I call saving the life of someone about to die a miracle. I call saving someone from suicide a miracle.

Does that make EMTs and crisis negotiators anything special? No. They're just doing their jobs.

Now, if you say miracles are such things like changing water into wine and healing people with mere words, then I'd simply refer you to magicians and faith healers. But I personally don't think miracles necessarily require the supernatural. Of course, that's probably because I don't believe in the supernatural. Magic? Nothing more than sleight of hand. Faith healers? Masters of placebo and coincidences.

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It'd be interesting to see what would happen if you came up against Jam. Now there is someone incapable of rational thought.

I encountered her when I first joined YN it was funny

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the bible will prove itself. the advices, the recommendations, the prophecies, the real truth about man, about God, about angels, about real miracles.

When did we start discussing The Lord of the Rings and Narnia?

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Again, it's like my example of someone coming to you with "truth" greatly conflicting with Christianity. You never did tell me if you'd believe them or not.

the Bible is the only basis of a Christian's belief or faith. why? because the Bible is only book that has prophecies that are coming true. conflict of passages are to those who don't fully understand the Bible like the SAB. they are just there to compare and expose the conflicts.
goin back to your question, and i completely forgot about it. if someone is saying he is saying the truth, perform miracles first. Jesus Christ healed the blind just by putting dirt on his eyes. how unsanitary yet the man was healed. he told the strong wind to stop blowing and it stopped. he rose from the dead too without a trace of flesh.

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Skeptics will remain skeptics because no one can show undeniable proof about the Bible.

the bible will prove itself. the advices, the recommendations, the prophecies, the real truth about man, about God, about angels, about real miracles.

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she's probably the first person i have ever encountered that is truely uncapable of rational thought

It'd be interesting to see what would happen if you came up against Jam. Now there is someone incapable of rational thought.

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God was already telling them the truth, yet they received it not.

That's because the truth Jesus gave them conflicted with the truth God had given them before, or at least it did in their eyes. Why should the Jews have believed Jesus if what he was preaching was going against everything they already knew about God and religion? Again, it's like my example of someone coming to you with "truth" greatly conflicting with Christianity. You never did tell me if you'd believe them or not.

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skeptics will remain as skeptics if no one will explain the truth about these passages.

Skeptics will remain skeptics because no one can show undeniable proof about the Bible. A person isn't a skeptic if he or she is swayed by a couple of vague Bible passages.

she's probably the first person i have ever encountered that is truely uncapable of rational thought

the world was not rational with God that's why they crucified him. God was already telling them the truth, yet they received it not. we were just trying to answer some of the questions in ASB, then i guess sticking to the conclusion of the real skeptics will lead to no answers. you have to look way beyond that. skeptics will remain as skeptics if no one will explain the truth about these passages.
1Cor.3:18 - 19
let no man deceive himself. if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a foo, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God: for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. and again, the Lord knoweth teh thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Cor. 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned

she's probably the first person i have ever encountered that is truely uncapable of rational thought

Orange, you're not listening. There are indeed important contradictions in that list. Stop pointing out the insignificant ones.

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Doesn't it seem a little harsh for God to judge any life for acts commited during say an eighty year life, and then send them to hell for all eternity?

sorry to say this but you're jumping to wrong conclusion. God will judge or send those people to hell if that person has already known God and have already tasted of the heavenly gift and then without endurance went back to his old ways thus forsaking God - then that ex-Christian is doomed to hell as what in Hebrews 6:4-8
those who are not in the church or where the law of God is not being executed - they will be under the scrutiny of God.
in the millenium or the thouseand year reign of Christ and his saints, those who havent had the chance to know God like those living in the desert, the rainforest, those secluded areas of the world, and those people who havent really heard about the real TRUTH will be given the chance to prove themselves worthy before God.

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To re-ask the question: is wisdom good?

this question is rather vague. is wisdom good for who or what? but il take it as the earthly wisdom, the answer will still be not good.common look around us, almost every body is trying to outwit one another.

to steal or not steal? its not wisdom, but the conscience that God had put it in our hearts as what the Bible says. those without conscience are heartless and have become callous of their wrong doings; they don't know what is rightfully right and rightfully wrong anymore. let's take for example revenge. revenge is a way of getting even right on man's wisdom, but in God's way is to love our enemies or give your other cheek - kinda foolish eh? because God knows that revenge is an endless bashing, killing and harming fellow man.
God's wisdom is foolish for man. Man's "wisdom" is foolish for God. but who are we to follow? fellow man? or God? God of course! he is our Creator, therefore he has the power to give life and end life.

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Originally posted by clpo13:

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First of all, it seems that the skeptics have done so much time in searching for the contradictions verbatim without even fairly understanding the use of the Bible, or any book for that matter.

Like I said, some of the contradictions are simply matters of semantics. But others are actually very contradictory.

I must admit, the people who run the Skeptic's Annotated Bible can be a little shallow in their annotations. But they generally do a good job.

Yes, I agree that the S.A.B did a good job at bringing out the skepticism in every Bible believer and at challenging those in their understanding of the Bible. I think those questions ought to be asked to the pastors to test whether they are of God or not. This is how we test which is of God.

The contradiction between the scarlet and the purple robe that was put on Jesus Christ
The colors scarlet and purple are of the red-violet family - no contradiction. Look those colors up in the dictionary.

The contradiction whether the men journeying with Saul did hear and did not hear the voice
Those men did hear a voice but did not hear what did the voice said to Saul. – no contradiction. Read the verses again.

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First of all, it seems that the skeptics have done so much time in searching for the contradictions verbatim without even fairly understanding the use of the Bible, or any book for that matter.

Like I said, some of the contradictions are simply matters of semantics. But others are actually very contradictory.

I must admit, the people who run the Skeptic's Annotated Bible can be a little shallow in their annotations. But they generally do a good job.

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There is an the end to their wickedness --- the judgment to the evrlasting fire.

Doesn't it seem a little harsh for God to judge any life for acts commited during say an eighty year life, and then send them to hell for all eternity? Basically condemning you for what is less than a blink of an eye on a geological timescale and even less in comparison to infinity; this does not seem to be the work of "God is love all loves excelling"

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Man’s wisdom is just for his own good and/or advantage like lawyers who manipulate the justice.

Are you saying that man's wisdom can never be used for good? I use good here as in the sense of a greater good, alturistic and without strings. And I think the point of the question "Is wisdom a good thing" is that people who achieve some kind of wisdom inevitably end up persecuted, pennyless and alone. It is the question posed by the Ring of Gyges (sp?). If you can do wrong, you know you'll get away with it and it harms no on, then why shouldn't you do it? It is the perfect crime, and the 'wisdom' to choose not to steal is, in this sense, a hinderance and not a benefit. To re-ask the question: is wisdom good?

First of all, it seems that the skeptics have done so much time in searching for the contradictions verbatim without even fairly understanding the use of the Bible, or any book for that matter.
In using the Bible, well, not only the Bible but in every book we must observe the proper usage of it. We must take the consideration of the following:
The time element; who is that person talking with? The proximity; who is talking? Such simple things like that. It seems those skeptics are just for kicks. Without really looking deep, they just make comparison of the words used. First things first, that we should study the very original scrolls made those writers then comparing it to the ones that have been translated by the translators now. They’ve used so much of their time in looking for faults when they could’ve used it in finding the real answers.
First of all, before I answer some of the questions, I’d say that the Bible is more on the spiritual sense than on the worldly side or material side. So don’t take things literally.
Like for example in this question –
Is wisdom a good thing?
There 2 kinds of wisdom on the verses that the skeptics have given (and I don’t understand why after they “read” or gone thru painstakingly in looking for contradictions in the whole Bible, they didn’t see the answers themselves) – first, there is the wisdom of the world/earthly/man(1Cor. 3:19) and second, the wisdom of God (1Cor. 2:6:8). The wisdom of the world is nothing to God and vice versa. Man’s wisdom is just for his own good and/or advantage like lawyers who manipulate the justice. God’s wisdom is for the benefit of both body and spirit.
Can theives go to heaven? – Again, there are two kinds of thieves. The first kind of thief that will go to heaven is the one who was also crucified at the cavalry; He will go to heaven because he believed in Christ although he wasn’t baptized. Given the situation, none of the disciples, not even Christ, will be able to baptize the thief in water because he is hanged on a tree; now, that’s God’s justice. The second kind of thief is that who rejected God’s grace and mercy. May I say that in Hebrews 6:4-8, God has classified evil men as such
Do the wicked live long? – again looking at two sides of a coin, the wicked live long, coz God is still have His hands stretched that maybe someof the wicked will turn back to God. Because there are those who haven’t heard about God, or they do not know God. The wicked don’t live long coz after all their wickedness done here on earth, there still awaits for those wicked who didn’t repent after hearing the gospel. There is an the end to their wickedness --- the judgment to the evrlasting fire.
Ill answer the others next time, if God permits. Im so tired.. Happy new year !!!!! oh by the way I’ll answer your own quest. Next time..

Here's a whole page of them. Most of those are minor (such as death counts or sons of Abraham), but others are quite significant.

For instance, does God want to save everyone? 2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is ... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." However, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 talks about an instance where "God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned." Why would God allow people to be damned if he wants to save them?

Also, there is the question of whether death is final. Isaiah 26:14 says "They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased they shall not rise," yet 1 Corinthians 15:52 tells us that "The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised." If all the dead will be raised, why would Isaiah 26 mention people who won't rise?

Finally (for now), there is the age-old question of whether or not God created evil. According to Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." But in 1 John 4:8, it is written that "God is love." If God is love, how could he create evil?

There are a lot of contradictions in that list, and as I said, many are rather minor. But look through and you'll find some really blatant and important contradictions (clicking on the links shows the verses which contradict).

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but I don't see how that's possible considering all the contradictions in the Bible.

i want to help you out and ill try asking our worker brethren to help me answer your questions. i know you've done your part in research wiht the help of your bible scholar friends or teachers and it seemed in looking for answeres you got more questions than answers. what are the contradictions you saw? we and the brethren wil try to answer you.

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but if it's truly God's word, why do certain passages disagree about rather important parts of this religion? And why hasn't God cleaned it up to make it less confusing

the bible wont and couldnt contradict itself. the bible has deep mysteries behind every passage. God has no variableness, neither shadow of turning (james 1:17) wat certian passages have you thought that are contradictory?may i know? becoz the idea of interpreting the Bible makes the answer of many scholars more confusing.

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they thought being a Christian is as easy as swearing an oath.

There are places in the Bible where the wording makes it seem that way. I don't have my old Bible readily available, but I have read verses that appear to say that all one needs to do is believe in order to be saved. True, there are other parts that say that faith without works isn't true faith (that's from James, I believe), but there are enough contradictions in the Bible to throw most people off what they really need to do in order to be Christians.

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please try to read the Bible. it's not jst a book, but the words therein are of power. the words are not just merely words.

I've read from the Bible more times than I wish to count. It is just a book. I never got a sense of God from it. Heck, reading it just made me more confused about Christianity. You tell me God really wants to save us, but I don't see how that's possible considering all the contradictions in the Bible. Yes, yes, I know it was written by different people,