/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13843242]

I grew up a Catholic but lost my faith during my edgy teenage years. Recently I've been dealing with depression and I can't help but feel that I need to find God. One of the things that I struggle with is the existence of God itself. Any books that give a good argument for God and also, books that will help me find my faith in Catholicism and God again?
Bless you, frens.

[Anonymous No.13843246]

>>13843242
My other question is what translation of St. Augustine's Confessions is the best, and what I should read (if I have to) before tackling Confessions.

[Anonymous No.13843249]

>>13843242
He is so much closer than you think

[a_poor_sinner !!eiHxl4pZe1i No.13843255]

pic related but really you don't need proof

also: >>13836158

[Anonymous No.13843266]

>>13843242
Literally me. I've found God ever since.

[Anonymous No.13843267]

>>13843255
I've gradually been realizing the flaws in the "why suffering if god good" and "why gay people bad" arguments, so I feel like I'm open to change. Could you elaborate on why I dont need proof and how I should find Him without it?

[Anonymous No.13843272]

>>13843242

[Anonymous No.13843277]

>>13843266
I'm glad that you found Him in your life. I'm working hard and hoping that I can regain my faith again.

[Anonymous No.13843281]

>>13843272
would you say that this is a hard read? i dont have too much experience with philosophy but am eager to take the necessary steps in order to understand pic related book.

[Anonymous No.13843283]

>>13843242
This >>13843255 is a good book. Aquinas' proofs in particular are very good. I believe Leibniz has a proof for God that's also good.

Also, /lit/ is not going to like me telling you this, but you might start looking up documented miracles confirmed by the Church. Stuff like Eucharistic miracles, Marian apparitions, healings, that sort of thing. If 'evidence' is what you seek, the Church likes to keep tabs on the good stuff.

[a_poor_sinner !!eiHxl4pZe1i No.13843289]

>>13843267
Sure. Because Jesus didn't ask for you to analyze him or his commands, he asked for your faith and obedience.

[Anonymous No.13843290]

Based Big Bibles Matthew Fox has very thoughtful words on this exact issue.

>My point is that the left has to open up. A lot of people in the left who are secular, if you will, they have not addressed what I would call their wounded religious child. A lot of the left that may have been Catholic, that may have been Jewish in their faith as children or something have been wounded by religion. A lot of people are wounded by religion. But if you’re going to be smart, you’re going to examine that. I’ll tell you, years ago I had a student in my program. And she came to me in October and she said, “I’m so frustrated. I thought this would be the most creative year of my life and I’m blocked. I can’t create anything.” I said, “Well, tell me a little about your life.” It turned out she was raised evangelical Baptist. She quit it all at 14 and went into the world. She became a feminist. She was a therapist and everything.

>I said, “Go back and write me a paper on what was good about being fundamentalist.” She said, “You’re kidding.” I said, “No.” She came back a few days later with a list: The music was good, the commitment to God was good, the teaching that you can experience God, and the community was good. All that was good. I said, “Great, now go on.” Then, she just utterly flourished. Utterly flourished. Became creative. When she graduated from our program, she went and was writing a weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle on work and spirituality, great stuff. But notice, as a teenager, she left out of anger. Okay. But as an adult, she had to take a better look at that. There was something good there.

>And I think a lot of these leftists who are kind of trying to build the political system in a secular way have not done their examination of their own story. They should ask, “What was good about being a Jew? What was good about being a Catholic?”
https://therealnews.com/stories/coming-to-terms-with-ones-religious-past-rai-with-matthew-fox-8-8

[Anonymous No.13843293]

>>13843281
no not really. The only difficulty is that there are many fragments, and some of the sections may seem like a string of short quotes. In these sections, you can’t just read at normal speed, but pause and think before you go on, because the adjacent fragments might not be that related

[Anonymous No.13843297]

>believing in a sky fairy
>2019

hahahahha

[Anonymous No.13843299]

>>13843267
Deuteronomy 4:29
>But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Proverbs 8:17
>I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Jeremiah 29:13
>You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7-8
>Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Isaiah 55:6-7
>Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Lamentations 3:25
>The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
James 4:8
>Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
2 Chronicles 7:14
>If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Matthew 5:6
>Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

[Anonymous No.13843303]

Thomas Merton brought be to God. Pick up any of his earlier writings like his memoir.

St Augustine - Confessions

James Keefe - How Not To Be Secular

Introduction fo Catholic Theology - Bsp Barron

Letters To A Young Catholic - George Weigel

The Rule of St Benedict

Anything by Emerson

Simone Weil - Gravity & Grace

[Anonymous No.13843306]

>>13843297
*tips fedora*

[Anonymous No.13843311]

>>13843283
>Stuff like Eucharistic miracles, Marian apparitions, healings, that sort of thing. If 'evidence' is what you seek, the Church likes to keep tabs on the good stuff.
Non-christfag here who used to be obsessed with that stuff out of a desperate desire to believe. Pic is a book I read on Fatima, probably one of the better ones. I wish the event were more thoroughly sourced. It's a shame no seriously investigative books about it have, to my knowledge, been published. I entertained fanciful notions of doing something like that myself at same point. Still a fascinating event.

[Anonymous No.13843313]

>>>/his/
GTFO OFF MY FUCKING BOOK BOARD GODDAMNIT I HATE PSEUDS USING RELIGION TO POSTURE INTELLECTUALITY IF YO UWANT TO HAVE A GOOD DISCUSSION ASK FOR FUCKING BOOKS AND TALK IN GOOD FAITH OR GO TO FUCKING HIS FUCKING SHIT THERE ARE WYA TOO MANY FUCKING RLEIGIOUS THREADS NOW ADAY THAT ARE POSTED IN BAD FAITH FUCKING SHIT YOU'RE RUINING THE BOARD

[Anonymous No.13843322]

>>13843303
what would you say is a good bible version to purchase? i hear kjv a lot, but ive read on websites that kjv isnt ideal for a catholic. any recs? preferably amazon specific

[Anonymous No.13843324]

>>13843242
same here

age 13
>um fuck god lol no kings or gods

age 17
>space colonies will save us, thank u based Sagan

age 21
> who cares lol get laid, should I be a skinhead?

age 30
>Kyrie eléison, Christe eléison

[Anonymous No.13843340]

>>13843313
>the Bible isn't a book, religious books aren't books
the absolute state of /lit/

[Anonymous No.13843342]

>>13843313
Go back reddit

[Anonymous No.13843351]

>>13843322
Catholics use NAB or NASB in service. I like NRSV, it's not the prettiest but I feel it is the most accurate.

[Anonymous No.13843357]

>>13843242
G.K. Chesterton's The Ball and the Cross, perhaps also his Orthodoxy.

[Anonymous No.13843358]

>>13843340
>>13843342
Internet Christians are the new Reddit Atheists. You will cringe at this phase

[Anonymous No.13843364]

>>13843358
>Christianity is a phase
lmbo

[Anonymous No.13843380]

>>13843358

[Anonymous No.13843383]

>>13843255
I have been wanting to read this myself, I know Dr. Carrier debunked most of it(link below), but I am still interested as I've heard good things about it.
https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/13752

[Anonymous No.13843424]

what should i read before reading confessions? and is penguin version a good pick?

[Anonymous No.13843435]

>>13843424
Nothing. Just read confessions. The penguin version is fine.

[Anonymous No.13843445]

>>13843435
luv u anon. hope u have awesum week.

[Anonymous No.13843446]

>>13843435
i thought the oxford v is better

[Anonymous No.13843495]

>>13843246
Thomas Williams

[Anonymous No.13843508]

Are you me?

[Anonymous No.13843509]

There is no point in converting back since even if you do believe in God it would not mean that Christianity is the sensible solution to your problems, you're better off following something that isn't rooted in slave-morality, or better yet, go get some help

[Anonymous No.13843515]

>>13843242
>Any books that give a good argument for God
No

[Anonymous No.13843582]

>>13843358
Seriously? There is no phase after this one. Either you hold onto the cross or you fall off the cliff.
I mean look around you.

[Anonymous No.13843705]

Give Shia Islam a chance. Look into the lives of the 12 Imams, at the very least, they will make you a better Christian, and if not that, a better person.

[Anonymous No.13843714]

>>13843705
no

[卐 No.13843717]

>>13843705
I just don’t know if the west is ready for Islam, their hardly ready for their own Christ. I would love to see the Quran discussed more on /lit/

[Anonymous No.13843718]

And you'll find that he matches his high worlds with his high actions

[Anonymous No.13843746]

>>13843714
well I gave it a shot haha
>>13843717
It's the "you have to follow the laws of God" bit that they can't stand. Degenerates want to live their lives free to do whatever they please, relieving every urge that they feel with no attempt to control it. They've abandoned Christ.

[Anonymous No.13843754]

>>13843746
>well I gave it a shot haha
yeah and you're cringe for it, you can't even say that without tacking on "haha" after

[卐 No.13843760]

>>13843754
Relax buddy

[Anonymous No.13843772]

>>13843242
Books about Saints, or written by Saints

[Anonymous No.13843803]

>>13843322
>that kjv isnt ideal for a catholic
kjv is pretty exclusively a Protestant thing. I've heard its generally the one fundamentalists obsess over (as in its the truestword of God, even over the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic), but my only irl reference is a Born-Again relative who swears by it.

official Catholic bibles or works will have "Nihil obstat" and "imprimatur" on the verso.

[Anonymous No.13843817]

>>13843242
what made you lost your faith in the first place?

[Anonymous No.13843843]

>>13843817
not OP but: technology, mass media

[Anonymous No.13844083]

>>13843817
Things went pretty badly and I became suicidal. Didn't know who or what to blame so I assumed that my suffering was an indication of the absence of a benevolent deity. It was a childish way of thinking and I see why a lot of people call atheism a phase.

[Anonymous No.13844233]

>>13843843
>technology
how?
>mass media
huge problem. Ask Mel Gibson

>>13844083
pic related I guess.

[Anonymous No.13844255]

>>13844233
>"how?"
>implying being raised by technology from childhood through adolescence and young adulthood is not an alienating experience
just look at the average 4chan user for goodness sake

the up side is technology has allowed me to educate myself to the point of being well prepared for anything, matured me beyond the average normie, and personal initiative and fortitude has earned me an opportunity to prepare for even greater things.

[Anonymous No.13844262]

>>13844255
>well prepared for anything

can you kill a chicken and cook it ? without looking an online tutorial.

[Anonymous No.13844268]

>>13844262
easily. i haven't needed to, but sure i've dressed whole chickens before. cutting the throat isn't much more difficult. just turn them upside down in a cone and slice. then pluck.

[Anonymous No.13844276]

>>13843242
I suggest Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason"

[Anonymous No.13844284]

>>13843582
friendly reminder that the more secular/non-religious a country is, the less crime and higher rates of happiness metrics it has

[Anonymous No.13844508]

>>13844284
Have you been to Estonia you fucking retard

[Anonymous No.13844935]

>>13843324
>that gif
now I finally understand pic related

[Anonymous No.13844952]

>>13843358
B...b...based

[Anonymous No.13845033]

>>13843242
Read scholastic philosophy and apologetics. Faith and theology need not be contrary to reason but is above it as metaphysics is above science.

[Anonymous No.13845554]

>>13843242
Forcing dogma on kids is a poor method of developping spiritual awareness and a relationship with the divine.
I was a fedora, then I read Kierkegaard, then did most of the drugs, I cut that shit out, now I'm Baptized and a content Lutheran.

[Anonymous No.13846543]

>>13843242

A good one against Christian pacifism. Removes all doubt

[Anonymous No.13846606]

>>13843242
>I need to find God.
No, let God find you. Think of the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Prodigal Son. Open your heart and let the Holy Spirit within. Go to mass and confession too.

[Anonymous No.13846769]

>>13843306
*counts anal beads*

>>13843242
Reading Confessiones is the closest I got to finding my way back to the church, but I realised that I was just in awe of Augustine who is extremely based and had a huge brain.

[Anonymous No.13847078]

>>13843242
The Holy Bible, but a King James Version, not Douay Rheims or other cathlic versions. They have the same corruption that's present in NIV and other modern versions. Long story short, the work salvation doctrine is false, despite what you were taught.

[Anonymous No.13847167]

you american cunt don't know Pascal ? one of the best christian philosopher ever and one of the best french writer

[Anonymous No.13847423]

>>13847167
Pascal is trash

[Anonymous No.13847459]

>>13847167
I don't read anything written by the french

[Anonymous No.13847733]

>>13847078
incorrect translations make me so mad

[Anonymous No.13847736]

>>13844284
>he buys into happiness metrics

[Anonymous No.13847763]

>>13847736
>he discounts happiness metrics
it's because your country is trash, right?

[Anonymous No.13847780]

>>13843242
>a good argument
Those exist, but you'll have to be prepared to lose.

[Anonymous No.13847789]

>>13847763
Majority of any population is lower class. Lower class has low quality needs. Not so that they are ascetics, but in that they are extremely limited.
It's like asking Downs kids anything and treating their expression as the absolute state of the Universe.

[Anonymous No.13847895]

>>13847789
>Lower class has low quality needs
>they are extremely limited
this is based on what? I think you'll find outside of druggie burnout types, the lower class is extremely similar to the higher class, just with less capital

[Anonymous No.13848035]

>>13847078
>Not posting the Greek and Latin sources beside it

[Anonymous No.13848684]

>>13847895
>the lower class is extremely similar to the higher class, just with less capital
Merchants are not upper class except in a society run by lower class ideals, such as envy (equality).

[Anonymous No.13848840]

>>13843242
>Any books that give a good argument for God

There are books, but I suggest you pray earnestly, and ask God - or make a conditional prayer to a God that possibly exists - for the gift of faith. To be able to "see" the truth of his existence.

But do pray *earnestly". And repeatedly.
Consider getting down on your knees. You can do this in a private place, no one need know.

Trust in the goodness of God.

By praying you are *already* cooperating with God's grace.

Keep in mind: Mercy is a feature -- it's in His nature. He can't not be merciful.

Thus, throw - abandon - yourself on His mercy.

>and also, books that will help me find my faith in Catholicism and God again?

I highly recommend:

>A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

>The Seven-Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

Another book I strongly recommend is Spiritual Journeys edited by Robert Baram, a really first-rate collection of conversion stories. I've read many such collections, and this is one of the best and most interesting of the lot. It's got some great short memoirs of conversion experiences, from every walk of life.

Here is a link to the general Amazon listing for the book, which has an absurdly priced copy as the primary price:
https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journeys-Toward-Fullness-Faith/dp/B003YIZDR0/

And **here** is a link to reasonably priced used copies of the book:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003YIZDR0/

Buy this book and read, fren.

[Anonymous No.13848847]

>>13843242
Yes,you need to find God and you wont find him on 4chan

[Anonymous No.13848994]

>>13843358
You’ll never get rid of the reddit association lol

[Anonymous No.13849077]

>>13843358
It's been a phase for 2000 yrs buddy andbreligion in general much longer, fedorism if anything is the phase.

[Anonymous No.13849815]

>>13843242
William James Varieties of Religious Experience.

[Anonymous No.13850734]

>>13848684
are you using the terminology of class while not referring to financial status? also, which society are you referring to which is not run in large part on greed?

[Anonymous No.13850767]

>>13843242
Read some William Lane Craig. His Evangelism is all about having actual reasonable arguments for believing God exists.