Growing up, I was raised Catholic but we were never religious. At about 6th grade, I decided that there was no God and that religion is all made up. Now, at the age of 18, I've become mature enough to understand that there can be a place for religion and God in my life even when there is an apparent "lack of evidence" to support it, this being called having faith. Now that I'm mature, I've figured I wanted to get back into Christianity, or to be more precise, go through some exploration between myself and religion in order to develop a stronger sense of understanding and faith towards God.
Upon looking back into getting into Christianity, I've gathered that Catholicism is apparently corrupt because of Vatican II, some of the actions of Pope Benedict, and also given that they pick and choose what laws of God to enforce. I'm leaning towards Orthodoxy as it seems the most faithful to the intention of the Bible but from what I found, there aren't any nearby Orthodox parishes within my city so I have to look at neighboring towns. What should I look into and look out for?
Also, how do you keep your faith even when there are some opposing views and "evidence" against it? Why do you believe in the religion you believe in and how has your faith confirmed that what you believe in real?
>>17213271
>I've gathered that Catholicism is apparently corrupt because of Vatican II
you're fucking retarded.
Also, do you think God will get mad at me for fapping to porn of Jesus fucking the Virgin Mary?
>>17213271
Go church shopping.
It is perfectly respectable to visit a different church in your town each Sunday until you find one you feel comfortable with.
>>17213271
If you're looking for an older form of Catholicism you could always try looking for eastern Catholic churches. In practice they're somewhere between old school Catholics and modern orthodox. Theologically they're more Catholic, but they do have some Orthodox tendencies.
If you just google eastern Catholic or Byzantine Catholic in your area you should be able to find at least one church.
As for getting into the Christian mindset, I'd suggest reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard, and Confessions by St. Augustine. Confessions is very old and dense, so if you want you could read Thomas Merton's The Seven Story Mountain instead, which is pretty similar in content but is written from the perspective of a Trappist monk living in the 1900s
>>17213672
C.S. Lewis didn't believe Jesus was God. Just a forewarning to OP.
Lewis' Trilemma should probably be looked up first before getting into his readings, because if you don't agree there, you won't like him.
>>17213672
>>17213691
Disregard that. I believe I had read somewhere he believed him to be holy, but not God. I may have been mistaken, however Lewis did change his mind often becoming a Christian.
>>17213271
>What should I look into and look out for?
I'm not religious but from what I've gathered you don't need to be a member of any group or parish to have God in your life.
I've read the Bible and, for all intents and purposes, I agree with its tenants. I believe it wasn't meant be taken literally but meant more as one of those "figure it out yourself" kind of pieces of literature where they kind of leave it up to the reader to take away the themes they found most impactful.
Humans have a way of twisting, distorting and poisoning things, even while having the best of intentions.
If I were you I'd take the journey through religion on my own but thats just me, I don't trust people as far as I can throw them.
>Also, how do you keep your faith even when there are some opposing views and "evidence" against it? Why do you believe in the religion you believe in and how has your faith confirmed that what you believe in real?
You just said yourself that believing in something without a lack of evidence is the essence of faith. Whether or not people, or even you for that matter, think its real is irrelevant.
There is no proof. There is no evidence either confirming it or disproving it. I think its a little silly but on the other hand I'm sure people who have a "relationship" with God think I'm silly for not believing it.
There's no winning. There's no confirmation. You either believe or you don't. Whatever struggle you experience during that decision is yours and yours alone to figure out. The reason someone else needs God won't necessarily be the same reason you do.
Look inward, not outward.
>>17213271
Or you could consider any of the other thousands of religions out there.
Christianity has a lot of flaws IMO. You'll thank yourself if you research other religions and look at theology objectively.
I would recommend being skeptical of any religion that tells you to simply "have faith" without evidence, that's a rhetoric usually used by cults and pyramid schemes. Most other religions in the world aren't mutually exclusive, of so encouraging of their believers to act gullible in the face of clear evidence to the contrary.
>>17213271
Seek the Lord, and read his word.
>>17213271
Grew up Lutheran, parents were good - active in the church, but also let me make up my own mind.
It's my belief (currently, may change), that truth is relative. No one can prove that a religion is true, or false. It's all a matter of whether we believe the accounts of the people who have wrriten the texts for religion.
I would not write any religion off as being false, and I would just say that if you think a particular relgion is true, then I'm all for it - I don't think people should be forced to believe anything, and I encourage people to actively find their own beliefs.
