Teenagers: seriously questioning their faith?
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Anonymous
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And if they try to tell you you should not believe in God, you must kill them!!
"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you ... Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die." -- Dt.13:6-10 |
Anonymous
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There's something called the New Testament . ^^
The old deal was trashed. Get with the AD. You are still BC. Lol |
Anonymous
Yup. Download the patch. |
Anonymous
You mean God changed his mind about the rules? So, basically, you have: The Torah/OT - God's Rules v 1.0 The NT - God's Rules v 2.0 The Koran - God's Rules v 3.0 |
Anonymous
| I thought the coming of Christ was prophesized in the old testament and that's how people knew Jesus was the real thing. |
Anonymous
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Also, Christian churches do old testament readings during the services.
And of course there are the psalms - those are old testament. |
Anonymous
If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why did he mess the rules up the first time and need to change them? I'm a lapsed Catholic and just started reading the Bible cover to cover. After reading Joshua, it's hard to be sympathetic to the OT God. Not a very good role model. But given that Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he came to fulfill the law and not abolish it, it's difficult to discount the petty, vindictive, cruel OT god entirely. |
Anonymous
| God gives free will and second chances . |
Anonymous
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To the OP-
Your teens are no longer children. They are not yet adults either. However, they are forming their own set of beliefs and morals. You cannot convince them to believe one thing or another. You can influence their choices and beliefs. Unfortunately, your over-the-top (IMO) behavior appears to be influencing them to move away from the very thing you want them to embrace. Remember- your beliefs are your beliefs. They are entitled to their own. Not just about religion and faith but about everything. One thing you may want to ask them about is any underlying issues they have with the Catholic Church and not Christianity in general. Thousands of children were molested by priests and the Catholic Church did nothing to protect children, it actually protected the Predators. I'm not saying your kids were abused but issues like this have driven many adult Catholics away from the church. Maybe you can take them to services at a Lutheran, Methodist, or Baptist church. The spectrum of faith is wide and none of it is wrong. But seriously- remember that where your kids are NOW is not necessarily where they will be as ADULTS. Life is a journey. Accompany your kids on theirs. |
Anonymous
But at the same time is omniscient, so knows exactly what you're going to choose anyway, and supposedly has a "divine plan" so given that he knows the choices we are all going to make and everything else that is going to happen, the "divine plan" has to be set up to account for those choices anyway or to happen in spite of those choices. |
Anonymous
| OP this is a good thing. With more people like your children leaving the church, it will have less power to do damage like it does now. |
Anonymous
If you think time is linear, yes. Otherwise, this doesn't necessarily follow. |
Anonymous
I'm not sure you understand the definition of omniscient. |
Anonymous
| Get them a book about world religions. Let them learn about all the different religions. They all basically have the same core message. Think of a mountain with many different paths. They all lead to the top. Explain what Christianity has meant for you and why you choose it as your path. And answer any questions they have on your beliefs. You can't force someone to believe in your god if they don't understand it. Let them choose what they feel in their heart as to what god is. |
Anonymous
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Back to the original question. I am not Catholic, but yes, OP, I have gone through this with my children and still am going through it -- they are in high school. It is hard. Because if you know Jesus as a real personal presence in your day-to-day life, you want your children to know Him too. The culture today is openly hostile to Christianity and its values and our children are immersed in it more than ever, so it is not surprising that our children have doubts or chafe against religion. It has made me examine my own faith, though, in positive ways and really relect on how I experience my faith and how I live out my faith (and fail to) for my children. One of the recent speakers on one of the recent daily broadcast of "Family Life Today" I listened to emphasized that ultimately it is God who provides the grace and changes hearts, not us. So maybe praying is one of the best things we can do.
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