r/Christianity

Saint athanasius of Alexandria said , his letter to serapion , chapter 28 : "us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which the Lord gave, the Apostles preached, and the Fathers kept. Upon this the Church is founded, and he who should fall away from it would not be a Christian, and should no longer be so called. There is, then, a Triad, holy and complete, confessed to be God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"

Saint Augustine of hippo said in his book about Trinity :" All those Catholic expounders of the divine Scriptures, both Old and New, whom I have been able to read, who have written before me concerning the Trinity, Who is God, have purposed to teach, according to the Scriptures, this doctrine, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit intimate a divine unity of one and the same substance in an indivisible equality and therefore that they are not three Gods, but one God "

Saint Gregory wonderworker said "This is the perfect, holy, Apostolic faith of the holy God. Praise to the Holy Trinity for ever through the ages of the ages. Amen"

The other church fathers said the same thing that Trinity was mentioned in apostolic traditions like the liturgies of st.mark and st.james . There are two sources in Christianity : the bible and apostolic tradtion. The Trinity was mentioned in tradition and was understood, explained by the bible .

According to Jeremiah 29:13 the Bible says that if we seek God, we shall find him.

My entire life I've done just that. It's hard to say it, but it's true. I actually knew that verse from a very young age and always have had the dream to get into a relationship with God where we communicate. A relationship where I actually know God is with me.

I have prayed so much. So much that it's almost crazy to believe that He doesn't show Himself to me. I want nothing more than that. I'm not going to lie, I have sought God, I really have. I don't know why He doesn't show himself to me.

Please help

Hi everyone, I'm not Christian, but I really admire Jesus and his teachings. This might sound silly, but I've been reading the Bible lately, and it got me thinking. If Jesus himself prayed to the Father, why would I pray to Jesus (even though they are One) instead of praying to the Father directly? Wouldn't that actually bring me closer to what Jesus taught?

Saw a post on another subreddit. Between image policy and potential cross posting issues, I figured it was safer to just quote it and make my point.

The post was about a woman's best friend who was texting her that she was not going to be attending her wedding because it was to another woman. First paragraph was about how she was getting closer to God and the usual stuff. The opening line of the second paragraph was the telling one, and the one I would like us to introspect with.

"Me going would show other Christians that I support it..."

Think of how many different things that line communicates.

How many of your stances are simply to fit in to your chosen in group? How many beliefs do you hold because the people around you hold it? Are there beliefs you would change, even change because you believe it to be more in line with the Bible or God's will, that you just don't because you don't want the other Christians in your life to think poorly of you?

I think it's worth a minute (for all of us, in whatever in group we're part of) to consider if our beliefs are what we truly think are right, or if we're holding onto them to appease those in our group.

Hey I’m a Christian 13 year old and not long ago I fell in love with this girl and she was the type of girl I wanted to spend my life with. I asked her out and she said no. Is it sin that I did so ?

Please read through and attempt to give me advice, I beg:

I’m 14M, before you get the idea, I’m not another immature clown of my age group. I first found the explicit content when i was 5 and didn’t really get addicted to it until 9 or 10, I would masturbate everyday up until 12. This was when I started getting closer to God and got in my first relationship with a girl my age. Now I wanna to add that when I was 12, I didn’t entirely stop masturbation, I couldn’t, I only delayed the urges for maybe 2-3 weeks before relapsing. Around this time, I also didn’t have much of a ‘staring’ at girls issue but I did look every now and then. But yeah, I got into my first rls and it was good. The only reason we went on a break was because I would say these weird, lustful things that she didn’t like. After she broke up with me and told me why, I had started to really become less sinful in that aspect, yes the masturbation continued on that cycle. I was trying to get out of the loop for so long, I even prayed, didn’t help me stop it for
good. Around a year or two after, maybe 3-6 months ago at the start or middle of the school year, me and my gf got back together we are doing much better in the rls due to better communication and me concealing my corrupted desires like the ones i’m about to mention. In this same time as we got back together, the content I watched got more and more extreme/intense, (CNC, Hardcore, etc.) Then I quickly started loving and hungering over seeing the ‘adult actresses ’ crying, struggling, or in pain. And quickly after that is when I started fantasizing about rape. I fantasized doing it to my gf, female friends, and other females too. I wanna say it’s just hormonal, that maybe I’m not praying right, but it’s gone on for too long. Something to add is that at times i’ll also get insanely misogynistic, only inside my own head, mainly when masturbating. All of this I know is unacceptable not just in the world, but mainly in the eyes of God. I thank Jesus for his continuous grace and I thank him for his sacrifice on the cross, it’s the only reason I haven’t taken my life in anger or sadness of disobeying God. On top of the twisted desires i’ve also drifted more from God and neglected my bible, rosary, and praying in general. I know none of it is right, it just feels like it’s a part of me I can’t get rid of, a part of me that will continue to grow. And then what if one day I really do act on these thoughts and urges, I fear for those around me especially as I get worse with age.
I don’t know what it is about the content, let alone wanting to rape someone.

It’s like I have a switch, when it’s flipped, I just wish to ruin a girls life, to break her, and see her as a helpless object for me to abuse. When the switch is flipped off, I focus on pure love more, I despise the thought of even immoral sex. Either way I know if something isn’t done soon that I will eventually be unable to stop it and give into the corruption in my heart.

I’m open to any ideas, whether they help me truly repent or push the fantasies out of my heart and help me become more pure. Please if you’ve read this far, recommend something, anything. I’ve probably already tried it before, but you can still recommend, please and thank you.

Thank you for at least reading, I hope you have a blessed day and can pray for me.

Note: I’ve never had sex before nor have I been raped or groomed, nothing of the sort. I somehow yearn for this stuff still. I may have left a few things out, if you have questions please ask.

I'm christian ( ex Muslim ) . I found the truth in Christianity after reading the bible and church fathers writings .

i got away from God a long time ago. there are a lot of reasons to that but i am not going to embarrass myself :/

but i started reading prayers. this morning i read Lamentations 3:22: It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

but now i feel this guilt i wasn't expecting. like i don't deserve to be here. i don't know if He's listening to someone like me. i don't know if i'm allowed to just show up after all this time.

For example, I think a child would grow up to be a better healthier person if adults were mostly kind to them, whereas if adults were mostly judgemental to them, the child would end up having a lot of problems.

In order to live with someone, you have to be able to tolerate some of their faults.

This is what true Christianity looks like. Jesus accepted all his children.its one of the most valuable lessons that I have taken from my faith.

Someone claimed that if You haven't experienced a supernatural encounter with God, then you're not a true Christian. I know people who've had many miracles done by God where gods even spoken to them, but not in this miraculous extravagant way like taking them to heaven and hugging them and (God) telling them they're his child or something like that...in other words, if you're one of God's people, His elect, his chosen, and you're a sheep 🐑 Who hears his voice and obeys his commandments, But if you haven't had that supernatural experience, going to make it to heaven...someone even spoke of this happening to them before they believed

...any thoughts ??

Hello all. I'm at my wits end. I'm a 29 year old man who is purely same sex attracted. I'm trying to follow Christ but I find that I don't have much peace, joy, or hope. When I try to commit to celibacy fully and give up hope of a romantic relationship I find myself depressed, hopeless, resentful, and angry. But if I were to pursue a relationship I'd feel shame and guilt and a constant fear of damnation. It's driving me crazy. My church members tell me to tough it out and how brave I'm being meanwhile they all constantly talk about the blessings of marriage and family. I'm just not sure how much longer I can keep going and I'm scared my faith is about to break.

In general, Christians are happier than atheists, or at least from what I’ve gathered. Do you guys feel the same?

I'm 30 years old and it feels like my biological clock is ticking. I'm getting so depressed and lonely that it is tearing me up. Please pray that I find a wife soon. Thanks so much!

Short context: I’m M 26 . The main issue I'm dealing with right now is feeling lonely—or more accurately, misunderstood.

I live alone, have a good job, and great friends. But whenever I've tried to open up about my deeper thoughts or dreams, I've felt heavily rejected; I can tell just by the way people look at me. I don't have any trouble socializing, and I'm currently single by choice.

I moved to another state because I realized—and God has been confirming to me—that He wants to work on something special with me. It’s really hard, but I can see it's what is best for me (it's a long story).

A lot of the time, I dread the nighttime because that's when I feel the most vulnerable. I usually try to stay in constant communication with God, but in the end, overthinking is inevitable.

I know things will change in the future, but the process is tough and might take a while.
My question is: how do you handle your loneliness