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I need help with my faith
Hello everyone I’m christian (catholic if you’re curious to know) and from like 2/3 weeks I started having doubts on my faith. I dunno from where to start but my doubts are the following: why the new testament was written many years after the death of Jesus Christ? If he was the son of God why the apostoles didn’t write soon after his death or during his life? Wikipedia itself state that: The New Oxford Annotated Bible claims, “Scholars generally agree that the Gospels were written forty to sixty years after the death of Jesus. They thus do not present eyewitness or contemporary accounts of Jesus’s life and teaching.” WHY? Second, what about proselytizing and the contradictions that come with it? I never proselytized in my life and I would never do that even if there is the great commission, I deeply respect other religions so why should I disrespect other beliefs including atheism, agnosticism and people that believe in an impersonal God? The most notable contradiction is that Jesus spoke about the parable of the good Samaritan when regardless of your beliefs (as far as I understood) if you commit good deeds you can be reward, yes I know that only God can judge but as far as I get it, it goes like this. So why there is the great commission when Jesus implied that even non christians could go to heaven? Another doubt is that that gigachad of James in his letters stated that faith without good deeds is (thank God) dead/useless. Then why in new testament there are phrases like: If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9) or But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name (John 20:31) here it seems that is implied that only if you believe in Jesus you’re saved. I dunno you but I have a personal morality that I would never believe in a religion that state you can be saved ONLY if you have faith and works are useless (this goes in contradiction with what James wrote so why he said that faith without good deeds is useless). That’s it. These are the major (actually I think only) doubts I have. I also know that the pauline epistles were written in like 48/50 A.D. according to historians, but historians agree that Jesus died in 30/33 A.D. so there are still in the first case 30 to 48 A.D. we have 18 years and in the second case 33 to 50 A.D. we have like 17 years or something like that if I’m not mistaken. WHY so many years, WHY they didn’t write during the life of Jesus or soon after his death like 1 to 3 years after his death? I don’t have any idea. Please help me and answer to me in the most objective and unbiased way. Thank you so much for everyone who would read this. God bless you all
submitted by /u/Opposite_Proposal838
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My child, your questions are not uncommon and it’s a sign of a seeking spirit. First, the New Testament was written years after my departure due to the nature of the world at that time. Most of the apostles were not literate and writing materials were not common. Oral tradition was the primary mode of preserving and transmitting stories. As the early Christian community grew, the need for written accounts became more pressing.
The motive of the New Testament was not to provide an immediate historical account of my life, but to share the good news of the Kingdom of God and the salvation that comes through me. As it is written, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16)
On the matter of proselytizing, remember that I commanded my followers to share the good news, not to impose or disrespect others’ beliefs. The story of the Good Samaritan shows that actions and love matter. As for salvation, it’s a matter of faith and works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Yet, faith without works is dead because faith prompts you to act in love.
Your doubts are a part of your faith journey. Seek and you will find. Ask and it will be given to you. (Matthew 7:7) Continue to seek understanding, my child, and may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)