question about authority???

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I have a question that has been burning at me all day. I consider myself to be a proud Catholic but today in one of my college classes I was left without an answer. How do some of you feel about this. The teacher(a teacher I really like and respect) told us that we should never believe/trust/do what a person tells us to do. This was all in the context of religion. I thought about it all day and with this I came to the conclusion that if a Priest whom I respected and trusted came up to me and told me to do something I would do it. I then thought, WOW, thats how easy it is to be brainwashed. Not that I consider myself brainwashed but others do and how do I defend this? I also would like to ask others opinion on another thing. One gentleman in our class said that there is no room for religion in our world. The teacher backed up religion saying that it is a great thing until it makes individuals act in a different way for the negative. How should one go to back up the fact that I believe in God even though I have no "proof" of Him? Thank you so much. I have questions like this and have no one to ask to find an answer, I found this site is a good way to get answers.

-- Dan Snyder (snyd2706@unco.edu), September 09, 2002

Answers

Hello, Dan

Welcome to the Catholic forum.

"How should one go back up the fact that I believe in God even though I have no proof."

Dan, you have all the "proof" in the "world". :-) Have you ever loved another person such as Mom, Dad, brother, sister, girlfriend etc....?

Where would you're proof be to "back up" that you loved someone? You can't see love but you can feel love, right Dan? God loves you Dan.

God bless you

David

-- David (David@excite.com), September 10, 2002.


Hello Dan, Believe in yourself Dan ! And don't believe anyone that doesn't know how to trust!! It's a Dog eat Dog world out there but it's doesn't mean that everyone is alike. No "proof" of him?? How can you even say that? So if Adam and Eve didn't really exist?? that means we don't exist at all !! Study your bible... from Abraham to Moses. You'll learn a great deal. God Bless ! Anna

-- AnnaMarie (apellegrn@rogers.com), September 10, 2002.

We have the stars, the moon, the sun, all the various forms of plant life, animal life, human life, feelings, emotions, good and evil, rain in the spring, snow in the winter. Doesn't every great painting have an artist?

All of these point to our Creator.

Love,

Gail

-- Gail (rothfarms@socket.net), September 10, 2002.


"I thought about it all day and with this I came to the conclusion that if a Priest whom I respected and trusted came up to me and told me to do something I would do it. I then thought, WOW, thats how easy it is to be brainwashed."

Dan, That's not being brainwashed; it is having trust and faith in Gods faithfull Apostles!

Had the sentance you worte goen:

"I thought about it all day and with this I came to the conclusion that if a Priest whom I [didn't know at all] came up to me and told me to do something I would do it."

Than I would say, yes, you are brainwashed. But Christ gave us the Magisterium, and the Bible, both oral and written Traditian to back us up. If a Priest says something, and we know it to be true - or to at least follow suite, then that isn't being brainwashed.

In Christ.

-- Jake Huether (jake.huether@lamrc.com), September 10, 2002.


Sheesh! How many spelling errors can one have in a single sentence. Sorry for that. Try this:

...

Dan, That's not being brainwashed; it is having trust and faith in Gods faithful Apostles!

Had the sentence you wrote gone:

... Than I would say, yes, you are brainwashed. But Christ gave us the Magisterium, and the Bible, both oral and written Tradition to back us up. If a Priest says something, and we know it to be true - or to at least follow suite, then that isn't being brainwashed.

In Christ

-- Jake huether (jake.huether@lamrc.com), September 10, 2002.



Dan,
I find this statement of your teacher's a puzzle:

''The teacher (a teacher I really like and respect) told us that we should never believe/trust/do what a person tells us.''

He is telling you this and proposing to teach. Why believe HIM??? Why do what HE teaches you? It's a contradiction you should have pointed out to him. Maybe he was waiting for you to do it, and you failed.

You say it was in a religious context. But how can it be so, in college? Unless he's a teacher of religion, he's disqualified from speaking in that context; particularly since he's advised you NOT to do what you're told to by somebody else.

You only accept the word of someone with authority. Christ was marvelled at in the gospels by the people. Because He spoke as One with authority. To this very day and age, His authority is still a cause to marvel, Dan. We know He's the Son of God, and has authority from God His Holy Father.

This is that authority Christ has entrusted to the apostles and by them to His Holy Church. We must accept the word of the Church because it has behind it Christ's own authority. Considerably (no--infinitely) greater than the word of a college professor. Ask that professor for this credentials. He is without authority in the least to speak in the context of religion.

___________



-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), September 10, 2002.


The teacher(a teacher I really like and respect) told us that we should never believe/trust/do what a person tells us to do. This was all in the context of religion.

The problem with this assertion is the fact that belief, trust, and doing are three different things, especially when put in this context. When we refer to belief it is usually in a religious context, and in such case, for him to tell you not to believe what another person says has merit insofar as he is dealing with another religion. However, that should not preclude a dialogue with others with beliefs different than yours. For example, a discussion of a Catholic and a Protestant on their different beliefs with regard to Purgatory or Papal Authority. Unfortunately, he seems to be saying that all beliefs in general should be scrutinized "until proven true."

Trust diverges from belief and is more something that we learn through experience and right or wrong judgements. It is a subjective idea and really seems to have no bearing on his original "thesis."

To do something someone else asks or tells us to do is not as bad as people try to make it out to be. In fact, to do something for someone else, whether with a smile or grumbling, is a sign of charity, a degree which is based on intention, to be sure. The Saints thrived on the virtue of acting for others whether they wanted to or not. They felt obedience to another (superior usually) was akin to accepting a command from God Himself. However, keep in mind that they would not obey superiors or others if the request would cause or lead them into sin.

Kind of ironic or sad even that he chose two words that compose the Fatima reparation prayer as a sign of something to disobey. "My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love Thee."

I thought about it all day and with this I came to the conclusion that if a Priest whom I respected and trusted came up to me and told me to do something I would do it. I then thought, WOW, thats how easy it is to be brainwashed. Not that I consider myself brainwashed but others do and how do I defend this?

How is that being brainwashed? If your parents ask you to do something for them, would you? If your wife or girlfriend asked you to do something, would you do it? The problem is everyone wants to feel like the martyr, as though they were never able to think for themselves, and one day, finally, they opened their eyes and saw that everything they believed was indoctrinated into them. As though up until now they were blind. A similar thing happened in the Bible, in Genesis to be exact. The serpent told Eve that she would be able to see, that her eyes would be open. But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The question is, were we blind up until then, or have we seen through the filter of sin?

I also would like to ask others opinion on another thing. One gentleman in our class said that there is no room for religion in our world. The teacher backed up religion saying that it is a great thing until it makes individuals act in a different way for the negative.

Maybe you can get him to clarify what he means by "acting different" and in "negative" ways? If he means killing in the name of religion that is one thing, if he means living, preaching, and bringing the Word of God to others at all costs, that is quite another thing.

How should one go to back up the fact that I believe in God even though I have no "proof" of Him?

You have no proof? How well do you know your own faith? I mean no disrespect by asking you that, but if you have no proof, then what do you profess in the creed, what do you believe the Eucharist is, and most importantly, have you prayed for an increase in faith?

The Catechism states, "The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself." (I,27) I Believe

St. Pio was given the gift of an arrow that left a hole in his heart, a constant and painful reminder of his own desire and love for God and God alone. Augustine too is famous for his quote, "our hearts are restless until they rest in you." (Confessions). Our hearts are left with the indelible mark of God, written there for all eternity. There have been countless arguments for the belief and existence of God, but they are all "straw" as St. Thomas Aqinas has stated if they are not weighed with the eyes of faith.

If you are really struggling for belief in God, I always liked the way the Baltimore Catechism stated it,

Who made us?

God made us.

Who is God?

God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things and keeps them in existence.

.....

Can we know by our natural reason that there is a God?

We can know by our natural reason that there is a God, for natural reason tells us that the world we see about us could have been made only by a self-existing Being, all-wise and almighty.

Can we know God in any other way that by our natural reason?

Besides knowing God by our natural reason, we can also know Him from supernatural revelation, that is, from truths found in Sacred Scripture and in Tradition, which God Himself has revealed to us.

Thank you so much. I have questions like this and have no one to ask to find an answer, I found this site is a good way to get answers.

God Bless and great to see more new members.

-- (seminarian@ziplip.com), September 10, 2002.


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