Faith

[Blythe]

I don't know what's wrong with me but I can not stop fearing oblivion. The idea that nothing matters and everyone will die and cease to exist including myself terrifies me to the point of keeping me up at night. I hate how people have to die!!! I will look up facts about how evolution and the big bang theory are false and feel better, but then I'll see atheists pointing out faults of the bible and coming up with new ways to disprove it. Is there some way I can keep my faith strong? I am a christian and believe in god, but still, I can't stop being afraid of death (Even though it's a while away). I guess I haven't been to a church in a (long) while... And I haven't even read the bible all the way through. That may have to do with my weak faith.

 

[homwardbound]

Brother, God himself is the one that gives you the Faith, and you already got that, as you just said you do believe.

and God's kingdom is not of this world, as he said this to Peter when he had Peter put down Peter's sword, and then restored Malchus's ear that Peter had cut off. And even said, if this word was his kingdom, he would have called a legion of Angels to fight.

Yet he did not fight by flesh and blood did he? Why
So maybe learn to fight Spirit and truth unto Father leading you. For we are saved by the life, resurrected life of Christ, death needed first for us to reckon self dead to flesh romans 6,7,and 8 reveal this

 

[homwardbound]

And you will do well to read the whole word without anyone else's interference, for God in whom you believe is your teacher

Hebrews 8:11

 

[Channa]

"We can't own it
We just get to hold it for a while.
This Life.
We can't keep it
Or save it for another time.
This Life."

From this song:
[video=youtube;PLhu-T8OBEA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLhu-T8OBEA[/video]

Maybe it helps to see life as a gift.
A gift from God
And. remember that what's after this,
is way better than this life!

Will pray for you.

 

[jonaki]

you don't have to fear the death because Jesus christ gave us eternal life with god in his kingdom.

1 john 5 v 17

 

[Percepi]

I'm a non-believer myself, but hear me out.

First of all, you need to evaluate your reasons for believing in God.

I'm sure there are numerous reasons why you believe in God, but make sure none of those reasons are based on fear of death. If you find that the only reason you believe in God is because you're afraid of death, then you're simply in denial of what you truly think. I would argue that you don't actually believe in God. Choosing to believe in God just because you don't want to die is not sincere, it's denial of what you honestly think because you don't want to cope with what you feel might actually be true.

If you sincerely believe in God, losing "fear of death" as motivation shouldn't annihilate your belief in him. It might challenge you though, so be prepared for that. But if your beliefs are sincere, you shouldn't fear the challenge. I can't promise you'll find God, but if you do come to that conclusion, I'm sure your belief will be much stronger.

That said...

I do believe there is no afterlife. I know many people might be curious why, but please don't ask in this thread. I'm stating what I believe and how I personally coped, not why.

Coping with the idea of death is something that kept me up many nights. But, I've grown used to it. I realized that whether or not there is an afterlife, there's nothing I can do about it. I realized that if there isn't an afterlife, then I must cherish my life here on Earth even more, no matter how sad I might be at times.

There may be an afterlife. And I'm sure many people here will help you re-enforce your belief in God. This will likely eradicate your fears over time. But if, for one reason or another, you do conclude that there is no afterlife... do what you can to enjoy your life and do your best to better the lives of the ones you love and even of people you've never met. Believe it or not, whether you believe in God or not, there is joy in helping others as long as you can learn to appreciate life. And appreciation for life is something that benefits everyone regardless of their religious or non-religious views.

TL;DR - Be honest with yourself and learn to appreciate life, both your own and the life of others.

 

[Simona25]

I don't know what's wrong with me but I can not stop fearing oblivion. The idea that nothing matters and everyone will die and cease to exist including myself terrifies me to the point of keeping me up at night. I hate how people have to die!!!

The greatest wisdom of man is to always think about death, always remember that he is going to die and that this death comes unexpectedly and it doesn't ask you if you're ready or not, it doesn't wait for you to finish your cigarette and coffee, death doesn't care if you are Alexander the Great or just a Joe Nobody; death comes for every and each one of us. We just don't know when.

So, my dear one, I think your anxiety is actually very good and it can be very fruitful unless you decide to anesthesiate your mind and live exclusively an exterior life like some people do (Aristotle called this kind of people "satisfied pigs"; he said that he prefers to be an unsatisfied philosopher rather than a satisfied pig). Jesus Christ said that He talks in parables so that those from outside do not understand. A Romanian intellectual interpreted those from outside as being those who don't have any important questions, those who only live by the body and ignore the soul. Christ comes with answers, but people also must have questions and believe it or not, there are people who do not care one bit about the "why" of this life, they content themselves to "enjoy life", to live like animals and that's it, that's happiness for them. They accept death as if it was the most natural thing ever and their heads and souls are very empty, while their stomachs always filled.

Bear in mind that in Christianity (in Eastern Christianity, at least), death is not a natural phenomenon, but something that parasitize life and we have a promise that we will be resurrected by Christ at His second coming. This is what we say in our credo "I wait for the resurrection of the dead and for the life of ages that is to come". Also, for christians, death doesn't mean that you cease to exist, but death is a passage from this life to the after-life. The dead are often called "the fallen asleep" in the Divine Liturgy.

Some people (the atheists) think that death is a natural phenomenon that is secondary to life (because it follows life). And I have a question for these people: if the one and only certitude that we have in this very short life is that we are going to die, isn't it more logic to say that actually life is a phenomenon of death and not viceversa? Plus, death is eternal (according to the atheists), while life is very short.

Anyway, you are very right to ask yourself questions, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, you remind me of the American writer J.D.Salinger who is very very dear to me. Indeed, a row of men who get born, struggle to become successful and then die, doesn't make any sense. This life is a bitter sweet symphony like the song from The Verve says.

P.S.: do not stop here with your struggle; I mean, do not stop at this point where you realize how meaningless everything is without God, but start to search for possible answers or for directions. Atheism is a no because it represents a conclusion that in and by itself doesn't encourage a further search, doesn't encourage the asking of metaphysical questions. You can read the book of the Ecclesiastic from the Old Testament, a book which mirrors the interior struggles of a man with whom each one of us can identify at one point or another in our lives. After this book, I suggest you read the gospels, and then the Acts.

 

[Percepi]

Some people (the atheists) think that death is a natural phenomenon that is secondary to life (because it follows life). And I have a question for these people: if the one and only certitude that we have in this very short life is that we are going to die, isn't it more logic to say that actually life is a phenomenon of death and not viceversa? Plus, death is eternal (according to the atheists), while life is very short.

As an atheist, allow me to answer your question. Is death secondary to life or is life a phenomenon of death? The answer is, both answers are the same. It's like asking if the glass is half-empty or half-full.

Many atheists view life as a wonderful phenomenon that we should embrace and appreciate. In fact, this is true of many people in general. You also have people, theist and atheist, who have a more negative outlook on life and view life as little more than needless torture, pain, or even a waste of time.

There are numerous outlooks and philosophies that stem from all kinds of backgrounds.

Atheism is a no because it represents a conclusion that in and by itself doesn't encourage a further search, doesn't encourage the asking of metaphysical questions.

I can assure you, many atheists spend a great deal of time thinking about death and asking questions regarding spirituality, metaphysics, etc. Just because we don't come to the same conclusion as you doesn't mean we don't think about these things.

I'd rather not debate this here, but I'd like to clarify for sake of honesty.

 

[Simona25]

As an atheist, allow me to answer your question. Is death secondary to life or is life a phenomenon of death? The answer is, both answers are the same. It's like asking if the glass is half-empty or half-full.

...it is not really like this. If you would think more into it you would actually realize that there is no half-full, only emptiness.
The opener of the thread understood it. The author of the Ecclesiastic also understood it when he concluded his book with the famous "vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas".

I can assure you, many atheists spend a great deal of time thinking about death and asking questions regarding spirituality, metaphysics, etc. Just because we don't come to the same conclusion as you doesn't mean we don't think about these things.

I'd rather not debate this here, but I'd like to clarify for sake of honesty.

For sake of honesty, you can read one more time what I said and see that I wrote "atheism" and not "atheists". I repeat my idea, I believe atheism (as a philosophy) doesn't open up to further questions because of its conclusion and decision that "there is no God". Since the conclusion is that "there is no God" what is next for a person to do is to say "let's eat and drink for tomorrow we will die" (1 Corinthians 15:32).

P.S.: I also am not interested in a debate with you.

 

[Simona25]

I also want to add that the christian conclusion doesn't close the doors of the mind, quite on the contrary, God is unlimited and you can't comprise Him with your mind. You can only know as much as He revealed of Himself.

 

[Percepi]

I'm sorry, but I will have to correct you regarding atheism.

For sake of honesty, you can read one more time what I said and see that I wrote "atheism" and not "atheists". I repeat my idea, I believe atheism (as a philosophy) doesn't open up to further questions because of its conclusion and decision that "there is no God".

Atheism is the lack of belief in a deity. It's not a philosophy, it's a very vague description. The "atheist philosophy" isn't that one should not ask questions. Whether or not people ask questions and seek answers is irrelevant.

Since the conclusion is that "there is no God" what is next for a person to do is to say "let's eat and drink for tomorrow we will die" (1 Corinthians 15:32).

Sure, why not? Or maybe the next thing to say would be, "Let's figure out why we have a sense of right and wrong" or "What value is there to my life?". Who knows? Atheism doesn't suggest a direction one takes. Atheist merely describes a person who lacks belief in God or any other deities. That's literally all atheist refers to. And atheism is the act of lacking said belief. That's literally all atheism refers to.

 

[Simona25]

And I didn't say otherwise. Atheism is the lack of belief, I was more picking on the word itself "a-theism" literally means "without God", "godless".

If you don't want to call it a philosophy, don't call it. I called it like this because atheism constitutes for a lot of people a ground of how to live their lives.

I did not change my mind about how atheism doesn't encourage further thinking (interior struggle). I believe agnosticism does, not atheism.

 

[homwardbound]

1 Corinthians 13:1-3New International Version (NIV)13 If I speak in the tongues[SUP][a][/SUP] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [SUP]2 [/SUP]If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [SUP]3 [/SUP]If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[SUP][b][/SUP] but do not have love, I gain nothing.


And Ecclesiastes sums this up, or visa versa, you choose. The life Christ includes the words of Love that you use, the difference is God's love to all is perfect

1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)
[SUP]4 [/SUP]Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [SUP]5 [/SUP]It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [SUP]6 [/SUP]Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [SUP]7 [/SUP]It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.


That love of God is an imputed righteousness from Father to us through Son's finished work of perfection for us to get new life, in Spirit and truth, by the resurrected Christ, passed the dead Christ

 

[pug32]

[SUP]Even some the greatest of us lost faith at time, but God knows His own

PETER
MT. 26:69 [/SUP]Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
[SUP]70[/SUP]But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
[SUP]71 [/SUP]And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
[SUP]72 [/SUP]And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
[SUP]73 [/SUP]And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
[SUP]74 [/SUP]Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
[SUP]75 [/SUP]And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

[SUP]John 21:15 [/SUP]So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

ELIJAH
[SUP]1 KING 19:2 [/SUP]Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
[SUP]10 [/SUP]And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:
[SUP]12 [/SUP]And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
[SUP]14[/SUP]And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
[SUP]16 [/SUP]And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

[SUP]Eph. 1:13 [/SUP]In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

[SUP]HEB. 8:12 [/SUP]For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

[SUP]Heb. 10:17[/SUP]And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
[SUP]19 [/SUP]Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
[SUP]20 [/SUP]By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
[SUP]21 [/SUP]And having an high priest over the house of God;
[SUP]22 [/SUP]Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
[SUP]23 [/SUP]Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised

[SUP]Luke 19:7 [/SUP]And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
[SUP]2 [/SUP]But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
[SUP]4 [/SUP]And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
[SUP]5 [/SUP]And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
[SUP]6 [/SUP]This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.
[SUP]7 [/SUP]Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
[SUP]8 [/SUP]All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
[SUP]9 [/SUP]I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
[SUP]10 [/SUP]The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
[SUP]11 [/SUP]I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
[SUP]12 [/SUP]But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
[SUP]18 [/SUP]No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.