Dude those doubts would ALWAYS come EVERY lent..no joke lol i promise if u keep praying it will eventually go away..bc somehow they actually strengthen your faith. Here are alot of good sermons on doubt =] http://orthodoxsermons.org/search/apachesolr_search/doubt God Bless you
In the parable of the sower we learn that the seed which was cast on the wayside .. jesus said about that these are they which hear the word but satan snatches it out of their hearts lest they believe and be saved.. it is the work of satan.. so say to him... your blasphemy be on your own head..
and keep praying if God will perhaps remove these thoughts from you now...instead of having to wait any longer unless it is God's will.. because he can do anything I suppose..
it doesn't really matter I guess.. Jesus says if any do not believe I do not judge him..the word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.. that means that they were given proof but they rejected it willfully..he doesn't reject those of weak faith.. "if you have faith as a mustard seed"
All you can do is draw near to God .. because jesus said the kingdom of heaven is as if a man sows seed and sleeps by day and by night and the seed would grow.. he himself does not know how.. so I guess he can reveal the truth to you.. anyway God desires alwayus to help you which proves he is looking out for you
[quote author=geomike link=topic=9303.msg114914#msg114914 date=1275433255] I know Christianity is the true religion, but sometimes i feel myself doubt. How do i get rid of the doubt because it is driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bible actually teaches us that no one can say "Jesus Christ Is God" unless it is revealed to him from above:
Matth 16:17: "And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this (that I am the Christ, the Son of God) to you, but My Father who is in heaven."
So, you should pray for God's grace to reveal to you also. A lot of people believe in Christ because after reading the Bible, and after comparing it with other religions, they feel it makes sense. But it is best that your faith comes from God's Grace, rather than from any work of your own intelligence. (IN MY OPINION!).
I know many here will disagree, but I feel that a lot of Christians end up as Christians simply because logically it makes sense (That God's commandments are for your benefit, and God cares that you obey them so much); but had their faith come to them from Grace, they would not be attacking the Holy Orthodox Apostolic Church of God because of their so called "faith". The Holy Spirit that would have guided them to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and Creator, would not have educated them to ridicule or attack the CoC or any apostolic Church for that matter. Their faith came from works of their intelligence, which lead to them innovating Churches and attacking the faithful Bride of Christ. Anyone attacking our faith, our Church or doctrine IS NOT from the Holy Spirit. It is NOT from God; and all this came from intelligent minds reading the Bible without humility. "God I believe, help my unbelief!" - He is asking God to help his UNBELIEF! That is wiser that God helps or assists your faith, rather than using your intelligence to help your faith.
Pray always that God gives you the grace to believe in the Salvational works of our Lord Jesus Christ.
thI think, while doubts are inevitable, and often a sign of growing or maturing faith- that is stepping outside the confidence of your own will to the faith in God, I do believe that it can be parisitic, and should not be tolerated passively. Often the doubts, I would think, of maturing faith is that of the path one is taking, the direction by your spiritual guide, advice from the spiritual masters and even on the goodness or practibility of the commandments and enabling grace.
In these situations, I think one must sit down with onself, and really assess: (1) Why do I have this doubt- is it from sin, love of sin, wanting to rebel, distrust in a person, distrust in God, distrust in the integrity of the Church (in which case one may need to change their understandinf of what church really is c.f. Screwtape Letters) etc. (2) What does this doubt stop me from doing? Faith is something we walk by, and often what we believe is what we practice. This might help reveal the answer to the first question. (3) Where did this doubt come from? Is it a reputable source, or not? Is it a source I should avoid, or not? Is it something I am going to bombarded with more or not (for example in philosophical circles, relativism, postmodernism etc. might be vying for your attention. If it is from being around secular friends, perhaps you need to distance from them or build up relationships with intelligent/spiritual Christians to have a balance. (4) What can I do to solve the doubt? This might involve repentence and submission (if due to love of sin); information in which case you may have to ask a priest or knowledgeable parishoner where to find such information; change of mind (perhaps you doubt because you were wrong on something); might have to put up with it until experience tells you otherwisebuilds up faith. (5) What can I do to be proactive with faith? You might see this as an opportunity to becoming more knowledge on the basic tennets of Christianity, the Gospel, the commandments, the doctrines of the Church, the Bible etc. You might find a need to supplement your reading with apologetics, especially in particular things that you are weaker at. For instance, I battle with atheism so I read things from the C.S. Lewis society. Someone with Islam, or other beliefs will need to read other sorts of apologetics, or rather build there own relationship with the Church. In any case, you may also find you need to make this known to your spiritual guide/mentor/FoC. I think it is only the odd occasion that they do not confront different problems, that said, I dont think that they can always allay your doubts- some have special interest and authority on particular areas.
[quote author=clay link=topic=9303.msg115221#msg115221 date=1275900007] thI think, while doubts are inevitable, and often a sign of growing or maturing faith- that is stepping outside the confidence of your own will to the faith in God, I do believe that it can be parisitic, and should not be tolerated passively. Often the doubts, I would think, of maturing faith is that of the path one is taking, the direction by your spiritual guide, advice from the spiritual masters and even on the goodness or practibility of the commandments and enabling grace.
In these situations, I think one must sit down with onself, and really assess: (1) Why do I have this doubt- is it from sin, love of sin, wanting to rebel, distrust in a person, distrust in God, distrust in the integrity of the Church (in which case one may need to change their understandinf of what church really is c.f. Screwtape Letters) etc. (2) What does this doubt stop me from doing? Faith is something we walk by, and often what we believe is what we practice. This might help reveal the answer to the first question. (3) Where did this doubt come from? Is it a reputable source, or not? Is it a source I should avoid, or not? Is it something I am going to bombarded with more or not (for example in philosophical circles, relativism, postmodernism etc. might be vying for your attention. If it is from being around secular friends, perhaps you need to distance from them or build up relationships with intelligent/spiritual Christians to have a balance. (4) What can I do to solve the doubt? This might involve repentence and submission (if due to love of sin); information in which case you may have to ask a priest or knowledgeable parishoner where to find such information; change of mind (perhaps you doubt because you were wrong on something); might have to put up with it until experience tells you otherwisebuilds up faith. (5) What can I do to be proactive with faith? You might see this as an opportunity to becoming more knowledge on the basic tennets of Christianity, the Gospel, the commandments, the doctrines of the Church, the Bible etc. You might find a need to supplement your reading with apologetics, especially in particular things that you are weaker at. For instance, I battle with atheism so I read things from the C.S. Lewis society. Someone with Islam, or other beliefs will need to read other sorts of apologetics, or rather build there own relationship with the Church. In any case, you may also find you need to make this known to your spiritual guide/mentor/FoC. I think it is only the odd occasion that they do not confront different problems, that said, I dont think that they can always allay your doubts- some have special interest and authority on particular areas.
Hey clay!
You sound like Fr. Anthony Messiha buddy!! lol. You're gifted.
But he does say in his sermon to pray for your unbelief.
By the way, Zoxasi you reminded me, orthodoxsermons.org are a great way to increase your understanding and maturity, and I strongly recommend that you listen to series and things of different areas and different priests/bishops/teachers to get a some depth and scope and perspective.
But I wholly agree. Understanding certainly helps, and we can be destroyed for a lack of understanding as the verse goes, but our prayer life (which we should be very much invested in), is primarily to behold the presence of God and worship Him. In a way, doubt causes problems in our prayer life, and thus, some of our actions must be to repair that and grow in it.
Further, in the psalter are many many petitions for understanding and knowledge. So, I do think that if this is neglected, there are some doubts that can not be severed. Blasphemous thoughts are known among the saints (read John Climacus), and persistence in prayer are sometimes the only means to combat such thoughts, and not knowledge per se.
[quote author=Zoxsasi link=topic=9303.msg115224#msg115224 date=1275900643] How are you? Where have u been anyway?
Busy with exams haha, thanks for asking :) Yeah I miss this forum, only recently found out we have Fr Peter gracing us in this forum. But I can't complain, except I lost one of my assessment things, and need to find it by Friday! arrrggghhh. PPFM
I do think tasbeha.org is useful, and I'm looking forward to getting to know orthodoxsermons.org. This is a good website! A very good idea!!
I was at Church this sunday, and I was INFURIATED!!! I met this Anglican woman who was into evangelising. She was the wife of someone Coptic, and all she did was attack the Church. Thank God she came to me to tell her discontent, otherwise it could have offended many people. She's an evangelical Christian, but has no respect for our sacraments. She only ended up as Coptic for the sake of marrying someone.
I was asking myself: How can she talk to me about the Holy Spirit giving her Grace and saving her by Grace and this same Grace is making her accuse the Holy Coptic Orthodox Church? How is that?? If her faith was from heaven, it would have made her love the CoC, not attack it!!!
Zoxasi, that is not an uncommon problem today. Not the exact situation, but that we find that some peope have been influenced alot by heterodox doctrine, and for secondary reasons remain in the Orthodox Church. I do think we need a better more comprehensive approach to such people, and even to be able to identify our own myths that we may hold. I think that you will find that in some way all people hold ideas and traditions that have been unchallenged, that took root when we were not questioning the validity of the source. Some from TV (for instance in regards to dating and social issues), from our textbooks, from Islamic teaching/culture, from secular culture etc.
Faith, I think, is a gift and then it is a work and decision. Since it is not a static thing and perhaps a mystery, it may be that it is not clear when it is a grace, and when is our will subjected to God. I am probably wrong, but I think it is very possible to have faith in God by grace, and yet be deceived and misled by foreign doctrines to the faith once and for all handed down by the Apostles. I think this helps understand that other churches that are heterodox are valuable and we can benefit in some way from them (for instance our Bible translation, our understanding of Science etc), and yet still be firm in our understanding that the fulness of Christ is in the Orthodox Church.
By the way, I think if she was willing to question her beliefs, she needs relationships still more than knowledge. I know quite a few people who came to Orthodoxy because they had a relationship with someone holy (even St. Augustine arrived at the Universal/Catholic Orthodox Church by his relationship to a Bishop; and St. Athanasius etc.) So, I think we need to be wary of thinking that relationships are poor means to win souls to Christ, because it isn't, but it needs to be true love that rejoices in the truth.
[quote author=clay link=topic=9303.msg115228#msg115228 date=1275902855] Zoxasi, that is not an uncommon problem today. Not the exact situation, but that we find that some peope have been influenced alot by heterodox doctrine, and for secondary reasons remain in the Orthodox Church. I do think we need a better more comprehensive approach to such people, and even to be able to identify our own myths that we may hold. I think that you will find that in some way all people hold ideas and traditions that have been unchallenged, that took root when we were not questioning the validity of the source. Some from TV (for instance in regards to dating and social issues), from our textbooks, from Islamic teaching/culture, from secular culture etc.
Faith, I think, is a gift and then it is a work and decision. Since it is not a static thing and perhaps a mystery, it may be that it is not clear when it is a grace, and when is our will subjected to God. I am probably wrong, but I think it is very possible to have faith in God by grace, and yet be deceived and misled by foreign doctrines to the faith once and for all handed down by the Apostles. I think this helps understand that other churches that are heterodox are valuable and we can benefit in some way from them (for instance our Bible translation, our understanding of Science etc), and yet still be firm in our understanding that the fulness of Christ is in the Orthodox Church.
By the way, I think if she was willing to question her beliefs, she needs relationships still more than knowledge. I know quite a few people who came to Orthodoxy because they had a relationship with someone holy (even St. Augustine arrived at the Universal/Catholic Orthodox Church by his relationship to a Bishop; and St. Athanasius etc.) So, I think we need to be wary of thinking that relationships are poor means to win souls to Christ, because it isn't, but it needs to be true love that rejoices in the truth.
Hey Clay,
She mentioned that she benefits greatly from relationships more, and she stated she liked talking to me (that's because I controlled myself from saying anything I'd regret - lol!!). But what I noticed was she wasn't interested at all in learning anything new: she had her faith. She had her pre-conceptions about my Church, and even though she had a huge amount of lack of respect for our Church, she had the audacity to even become Coptic just to marry someone Coptic Orthodox.
Of course I'll be infuriated. This is a lack of respect for the sacrament of marriage AND baptism!!
[quote author=Zoxsasi link=topic=9303.msg115231#msg115231 date=1275904352] Of course I'll be infuriated. This is a lack of respect for the sacrament of marriage AND baptism!!
I think that perhaps more have something to answer for, such as the husband, his family, the priest who baptised and married them, the culture, and even our own congregation. Increasingly I find that many people cannot defend the hope that is in them, and in some way cannot engage with a meaningful or persuasive dialogue with such people- or perhaps the faith to firmly say, "come and see" (as St. Philip said to St. Nathaniel/Bartholomew; and St David said in his psalter).
Going back to what this thread is about, I am reminded the problem some people have with Orthodoxy and some people have with Evangelical Christianity. Orthodoxy embraces Mystery, and has a more negative theology (saying or knowing what is not), whilst the latter are more inclinded in defining, and getting into trends of opinion in Theology, that are at times not satisfactory. Both will lead to some desatisfaction at some stage (we are not often comfortable about the unknown, but when we accept that certain things ought not to be known, for logical reasons, we often find better satisfaction than Evangelicals). That is how I see it; I would like to hear Fr Peter, Ionas, Anglican, or someone else contribute to this. Why I mention this, geomike, is that perhaps you are having doubts because you are trying to figure out something incomrehensible either for your own personal capacity (let' face it, not everyone is really gifted in such wisdom) or the capacity of human logic (this will of course occur in things that are rather nonsense, such as trying to define God, or creation etc). Mystery is not the band-aid solution to doubt (as some idiot Atheists accuse us), but I really think one can logically know what needs faith to comprehend and not think he cheated. Even a scientist has to have some faith and take on presumptions and assumptions knowing his limitations of what he can comrehend.
I am reminded, lastly, of what Anglican Clive Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity like I believe in the Sun; not because I see i rise in the morning, but because by it I see everything else." (not exact quote)
Comments
i promise if u keep praying it will eventually go away..bc somehow
they actually strengthen your faith.
Here are alot of good sermons on doubt =]
http://orthodoxsermons.org/search/apachesolr_search/doubt
God Bless you
and keep praying if God will perhaps remove these thoughts from you now...instead of having to wait any longer unless it is God's will.. because he can do anything I suppose..
it doesn't really matter I guess.. Jesus says if any do not believe I do not judge him..the word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.. that means that they were given proof but they rejected it willfully..he doesn't reject those of weak faith.. "if you have faith as a mustard seed"
All you can do is draw near to God .. because jesus said the kingdom of heaven is as if a man sows seed and sleeps by day and by night and the seed would grow.. he himself does not know how.. so I guess he can reveal the truth to you.. anyway God desires alwayus to help you which proves he is looking out for you
you must trust me
I know Christianity is the true religion, but sometimes i feel myself doubt. How do i get rid of the doubt because it is driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!
The Bible actually teaches us that no one can say "Jesus Christ Is God" unless it is revealed to him from above:
Matth 16:17: "And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this (that I am the Christ, the Son of God) to you, but My Father who is in heaven."
So, you should pray for God's grace to reveal to you also. A lot of people believe in Christ because after reading the Bible, and after comparing it with other religions, they feel it makes sense. But it is best that your faith comes from God's Grace, rather than from any work of your own intelligence. (IN MY OPINION!).
I know many here will disagree, but I feel that a lot of Christians end up as Christians simply because logically it makes sense (That God's commandments are for your benefit, and God cares that you obey them so much); but had their faith come to them from Grace, they would not be attacking the Holy Orthodox Apostolic Church of God because of their so called "faith". The Holy Spirit that would have guided them to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and Creator, would not have educated them to ridicule or attack the CoC or any apostolic Church for that matter. Their faith came from works of their intelligence, which lead to them innovating Churches and attacking the faithful Bride of Christ. Anyone attacking our faith, our Church or doctrine IS NOT from the Holy Spirit. It is NOT from God; and all this came from intelligent minds reading the Bible without humility. "God I believe, help my unbelief!" - He is asking God to help his UNBELIEF! That is wiser that God helps or assists your faith, rather than using your intelligence to help your faith.
Pray always that God gives you the grace to believe in the Salvational works of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In these situations, I think one must sit down with onself, and really assess:
(1) Why do I have this doubt- is it from sin, love of sin, wanting to rebel, distrust in a person, distrust in God, distrust in the integrity of the Church (in which case one may need to change their understandinf of what church really is c.f. Screwtape Letters) etc.
(2) What does this doubt stop me from doing? Faith is something we walk by, and often what we believe is what we practice. This might help reveal the answer to the first question.
(3) Where did this doubt come from? Is it a reputable source, or not? Is it a source I should avoid, or not? Is it something I am going to bombarded with more or not (for example in philosophical circles, relativism, postmodernism etc. might be vying for your attention. If it is from being around secular friends, perhaps you need to distance from them or build up relationships with intelligent/spiritual Christians to have a balance.
(4) What can I do to solve the doubt? This might involve repentence and submission (if due to love of sin); information in which case you may have to ask a priest or knowledgeable parishoner where to find such information; change of mind (perhaps you doubt because you were wrong on something); might have to put up with it until experience tells you otherwisebuilds up faith.
(5) What can I do to be proactive with faith? You might see this as an opportunity to becoming more knowledge on the basic tennets of Christianity, the Gospel, the commandments, the doctrines of the Church, the Bible etc. You might find a need to supplement your reading with apologetics, especially in particular things that you are weaker at. For instance, I battle with atheism so I read things from the C.S. Lewis society. Someone with Islam, or other beliefs will need to read other sorts of apologetics, or rather build there own relationship with the Church.
In any case, you may also find you need to make this known to your spiritual guide/mentor/FoC. I think it is only the odd occasion that they do not confront different problems, that said, I dont think that they can always allay your doubts- some have special interest and authority on particular areas.
thI think, while doubts are inevitable, and often a sign of growing or maturing faith- that is stepping outside the confidence of your own will to the faith in God, I do believe that it can be parisitic, and should not be tolerated passively. Often the doubts, I would think, of maturing faith is that of the path one is taking, the direction by your spiritual guide, advice from the spiritual masters and even on the goodness or practibility of the commandments and enabling grace.
In these situations, I think one must sit down with onself, and really assess:
(1) Why do I have this doubt- is it from sin, love of sin, wanting to rebel, distrust in a person, distrust in God, distrust in the integrity of the Church (in which case one may need to change their understandinf of what church really is c.f. Screwtape Letters) etc.
(2) What does this doubt stop me from doing? Faith is something we walk by, and often what we believe is what we practice. This might help reveal the answer to the first question.
(3) Where did this doubt come from? Is it a reputable source, or not? Is it a source I should avoid, or not? Is it something I am going to bombarded with more or not (for example in philosophical circles, relativism, postmodernism etc. might be vying for your attention. If it is from being around secular friends, perhaps you need to distance from them or build up relationships with intelligent/spiritual Christians to have a balance.
(4) What can I do to solve the doubt? This might involve repentence and submission (if due to love of sin); information in which case you may have to ask a priest or knowledgeable parishoner where to find such information; change of mind (perhaps you doubt because you were wrong on something); might have to put up with it until experience tells you otherwisebuilds up faith.
(5) What can I do to be proactive with faith? You might see this as an opportunity to becoming more knowledge on the basic tennets of Christianity, the Gospel, the commandments, the doctrines of the Church, the Bible etc. You might find a need to supplement your reading with apologetics, especially in particular things that you are weaker at. For instance, I battle with atheism so I read things from the C.S. Lewis society. Someone with Islam, or other beliefs will need to read other sorts of apologetics, or rather build there own relationship with the Church.
In any case, you may also find you need to make this known to your spiritual guide/mentor/FoC. I think it is only the odd occasion that they do not confront different problems, that said, I dont think that they can always allay your doubts- some have special interest and authority on particular areas.
Hey clay!
You sound like Fr. Anthony Messiha buddy!! lol.
You're gifted.
But he does say in his sermon to pray for your unbelief.
I read your post man, and I berated myself for not including that haha!
Im not sure habibi others will agree - but its how I feel.
How are you? Where have u been anyway?
But I wholly agree. Understanding certainly helps, and we can be destroyed for a lack of understanding as the verse goes, but our prayer life (which we should be very much invested in), is primarily to behold the presence of God and worship Him. In a way, doubt causes problems in our prayer life, and thus, some of our actions must be to repair that and grow in it.
Further, in the psalter are many many petitions for understanding and knowledge. So, I do think that if this is neglected, there are some doubts that can not be severed. Blasphemous thoughts are known among the saints (read John Climacus), and persistence in prayer are sometimes the only means to combat such thoughts, and not knowledge per se.
How are you? Where have u been anyway?
Busy with exams haha, thanks for asking :) Yeah I miss this forum, only recently found out we have Fr Peter gracing us in this forum. But I can't complain, except I lost one of my assessment things, and need to find it by Friday! arrrggghhh. PPFM
I do think tasbeha.org is useful, and I'm looking forward to getting to know orthodoxsermons.org. This is a good website! A very good idea!!
I was at Church this sunday, and I was INFURIATED!!! I met this Anglican woman who was into evangelising. She was the wife of someone Coptic, and all she did was attack the Church. Thank God she came to me to tell her discontent, otherwise it could have offended many people. She's an evangelical Christian, but has no respect for our sacraments. She only ended up as Coptic for the sake of marrying someone.
I was asking myself: How can she talk to me about the Holy Spirit giving her Grace and saving her by Grace and this same Grace is making her accuse the Holy Coptic Orthodox Church? How is that?? If her faith was from heaven, it would have made her love the CoC, not attack it!!!
Faith, I think, is a gift and then it is a work and decision. Since it is not a static thing and perhaps a mystery, it may be that it is not clear when it is a grace, and when is our will subjected to God. I am probably wrong, but I think it is very possible to have faith in God by grace, and yet be deceived and misled by foreign doctrines to the faith once and for all handed down by the Apostles. I think this helps understand that other churches that are heterodox are valuable and we can benefit in some way from them (for instance our Bible translation, our understanding of Science etc), and yet still be firm in our understanding that the fulness of Christ is in the Orthodox Church.
By the way, I think if she was willing to question her beliefs, she needs relationships still more than knowledge. I know quite a few people who came to Orthodoxy because they had a relationship with someone holy (even St. Augustine arrived at the Universal/Catholic Orthodox Church by his relationship to a Bishop; and St. Athanasius etc.) So, I think we need to be wary of thinking that relationships are poor means to win souls to Christ, because it isn't, but it needs to be true love that rejoices in the truth.
Zoxasi, that is not an uncommon problem today. Not the exact situation, but that we find that some peope have been influenced alot by heterodox doctrine, and for secondary reasons remain in the Orthodox Church. I do think we need a better more comprehensive approach to such people, and even to be able to identify our own myths that we may hold. I think that you will find that in some way all people hold ideas and traditions that have been unchallenged, that took root when we were not questioning the validity of the source. Some from TV (for instance in regards to dating and social issues), from our textbooks, from Islamic teaching/culture, from secular culture etc.
Faith, I think, is a gift and then it is a work and decision. Since it is not a static thing and perhaps a mystery, it may be that it is not clear when it is a grace, and when is our will subjected to God. I am probably wrong, but I think it is very possible to have faith in God by grace, and yet be deceived and misled by foreign doctrines to the faith once and for all handed down by the Apostles. I think this helps understand that other churches that are heterodox are valuable and we can benefit in some way from them (for instance our Bible translation, our understanding of Science etc), and yet still be firm in our understanding that the fulness of Christ is in the Orthodox Church.
By the way, I think if she was willing to question her beliefs, she needs relationships still more than knowledge. I know quite a few people who came to Orthodoxy because they had a relationship with someone holy (even St. Augustine arrived at the Universal/Catholic Orthodox Church by his relationship to a Bishop; and St. Athanasius etc.) So, I think we need to be wary of thinking that relationships are poor means to win souls to Christ, because it isn't, but it needs to be true love that rejoices in the truth.
Hey Clay,
She mentioned that she benefits greatly from relationships more, and she stated she liked talking to me (that's because I controlled myself from saying anything I'd regret - lol!!). But what I noticed was she wasn't interested at all in learning anything new: she had her faith. She had her pre-conceptions about my Church, and even though she had a huge amount of lack of respect for our Church, she had the audacity to even become Coptic just to marry someone Coptic Orthodox.
Of course I'll be infuriated. This is a lack of respect for the sacrament of marriage AND baptism!!
Of course I'll be infuriated. This is a lack of respect for the sacrament of marriage AND baptism!!
I think that perhaps more have something to answer for, such as the husband, his family, the priest who baptised and married them, the culture, and even our own congregation. Increasingly I find that many people cannot defend the hope that is in them, and in some way cannot engage with a meaningful or persuasive dialogue with such people- or perhaps the faith to firmly say, "come and see" (as St. Philip said to St. Nathaniel/Bartholomew; and St David said in his psalter).
Going back to what this thread is about, I am reminded the problem some people have with Orthodoxy and some people have with Evangelical Christianity. Orthodoxy embraces Mystery, and has a more negative theology (saying or knowing what is not), whilst the latter are more inclinded in defining, and getting into trends of opinion in Theology, that are at times not satisfactory. Both will lead to some desatisfaction at some stage (we are not often comfortable about the unknown, but when we accept that certain things ought not to be known, for logical reasons, we often find better satisfaction than Evangelicals). That is how I see it; I would like to hear Fr Peter, Ionas, Anglican, or someone else contribute to this. Why I mention this, geomike, is that perhaps you are having doubts because you are trying to figure out something incomrehensible either for your own personal capacity (let' face it, not everyone is really gifted in such wisdom) or the capacity of human logic (this will of course occur in things that are rather nonsense, such as trying to define God, or creation etc). Mystery is not the band-aid solution to doubt (as some idiot Atheists accuse us), but I really think one can logically know what needs faith to comprehend and not think he cheated. Even a scientist has to have some faith and take on presumptions and assumptions knowing his limitations of what he can comrehend.
I am reminded, lastly, of what Anglican Clive Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity like I believe in the Sun; not because I see i rise in the morning, but because by it I see everything else." (not exact quote)