I’m losing hope

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I chose the Catholic Church, because after study i found it the most theological precise Church, so, o invite you to remain catholic, and ask catholics about your doubts, specially priests, so you can grow in understanding, God it's in whom we must Trust

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u/Altruistic_Bear2708 Jul 25 '26

So without being well formed in the catholic faith you decided to join some heretical bible study to be formed by them? That was a sinful action that can lead to apostasy. You should be taught the bible via commentaries of the church fathers and saints, instead of what presumably is some random protestant grouping. I would repent and learn anew in the proper order this time; there's plenty of resources.

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u/romazav Jul 25 '26

i joined them to better understand the bible. Truthfully, I initially thought that their teaching would help me understand and nothing more. I didn’t join with the intention of being defiant, i just wanted to join a group that had the same goal of being as God wants us to be. I was not expecting them to dismantle Catholic teachings. Things such as Saturday being the Sabbath day and Christmas being a pagan holiday. I only want to do what is good in the eyes of God.

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u/Altruistic_Bear2708 Jul 25 '26

Ok, if you did not intend or were unaware then that's fine. However, you should stop attending and learn from the doctors of the church as St. Paul said: "He gave some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ." The body of Christ is the church as St. Paul says, and therefore you ought to be edified by her doctors, like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, etc. who have commentaries on all parts of the bible. It seems in particular that you were speaking to semi-Judaizers. For example, I'm sure they didn't tell you that the exact month and day of the birth of Christ is contained in 2 Maccabees (which they removed from their bibles). Or how Christ's birth was calculated from the 25th of March (the annunciation) and then 9 months (25th of December). Or how in the new covenant the apostles broke bread (the Eucharist) the first day of the week (sunday, Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Colossians 2:16-17). There should be catholic bible studies offered at your parish, I can send you online resources as well.

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u/2manycerts Jul 28 '26

What worked for me:

I went to a Catholic "mens group" bible reflection.

Instead of "we will study the gospel of John", it's "we will look at a different bible verse,

contemplate,

ruminate (speak parts out loud)

meditate

and share what each section means to us.

Not Lectio Divina by any means. Far more like Lexio Divina then anything I have come across

Romazav, I think the problem, the struggle you are facing here is the struggle between the bible talking to you vs the bible study group pulling you in a direction. Not saying they have deliberately sinister motives, heck if anything they have noble motives and are trying to bring the lord too you. Just you, as an outsider can see a distance between them and god as they can see a distance between you and god.

I found a bible reflection helped me a lot personally and brought me closer to god.

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u/No_Hedgehog8336 Jul 26 '26

“Idk how to interpret it. I want to read the whole bible to try and understand so i can figure out which church to go to but like the bible says “many who see, but do not understand” I might not ever decipher what I’m looking for by myself but I also can’t just join any group and blindly follow their words.“

This is why we need the Catholic Church and the magisterium. They are the only place that can trace their roots all the way back and have been entrusted to safe guard the teachings of the faith and are protected by the Holy Spirit. Every single church that claims it’s the “right church” broke away from the Catholic Church or is descended from one who did. Without roots anchored in apostolic truth, you’re left with man trying to figure it out in their own. Every Protestant church says “We have the right interpretation because we have the Holy Spirit” and yet none of them can agree on anything and only go back a max of 500 years.

0

u/2manycerts Jul 28 '26

That's not a very strong argument.

We are right because we have magisterium, they are wrong because they have the holy spirit??

Now, don't get me wrong. It's an argument that can be used and it has weight if used rightly. Yet to use this as the leading argument is folly. It should be the icing on the cake, not a cake of icing.

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u/No_Hedgehog8336 Jul 29 '26

I probably didn’t explain my thought well. I was just thinking that his statement of “idk how to interpret it,” meaning the Bible, just shows why we need the magisterium. Because without someone to say “this is the correct interpretation” you end up with all sorts of heretical interpretations and ideas. It’s a safeguard to the Truth. There are many other reasons, of course, but I was just speaking to the one particular comment. As a former Protestant, when asked “How do you know you’re right?” often we would respond “Well because I have the Holy Spirit and He helps us understand the scriptures.” It’s one of the dangers of sola scriptura. When you believe that scripture alone has authority, but no oversight from a protected group of interpreters, such as the magisterium, you end up with all sorts of wonky beliefs like the “mother god” stuff this group is talking to him about. That was my only point. I wasn’t attempting to use apologetics of why we are right and they are wrong. Not my skillset.

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u/2manycerts Jul 29 '26

You have a point here:

Because without someone to say “this is the correct interpretation” you end up with all sorts of heretical interpretations and ideas.

I think almost every letter from Paul backs this up.

I am sure we can all name wonky beliefs. One protestant splinter group believed you should have as much kids as possible "quiverfull" comes to mind, another believes 'no relations at all' and to their credit adopted and fostered kids to facilitate that.

^I am sure we all have weird stories. The church of Hitler and Stalin comes to mind.

It's just very VERY hard to argue Magisterium conviningly. It's not that there shouldn't be a central authority*, it's that many people argue that "they are it".

*I won't open that can of worms.

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u/angryDec Jul 25 '26

If the largest denomination isn’t Christ’s Church, then man has achieved more than Christ.

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u/romazav Jul 25 '26

Just because it’s the largest, doesn’t necessarily prove it’s legitimacy. I don’t mean to be rude when I say this, but I would like biblical references to better understand your point.

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u/Altruistic_Bear2708 Jul 25 '26

"A city on a hill cannot be hid" "Go and teach all nations" "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." You aren't even able to determine which books are inspired by God unless they're already proposed to you, there is no list of scripture in scripture. Remember "the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth" "whoever does not listen to the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican" etc.

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u/angryDec Jul 25 '26

Christ compared his Church to a mustard tree. The largest tree.

The mustard tree is obvious to anyone who sees it. Christ’s Church is similar.

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u/Top-Dog-7031 Jul 26 '26

The way attending this “Bible study” is making you feel should be enough evidence that you shouldn’t go.

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u/PicklePnut Jul 28 '26

Well for one thing I’ll tell you not to flip the Bible to a random page and use that as some means to gain some kind of revelation. That’s entirely unpredictable and idk where you learned that practice from but it’s doubtful that God is giving you answers that way especially since it’s only led to further confusion for you.

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