Doubts, belief, salvation

[Anastasia13]

If someone has doubts about whether they really believe or not and isn't sure how much they really believe or want to believe, where is the line drawn between saved and experiencing doubts and losing salvation because of a lack of faith and meaningless actions?

[phatcatholic]

well, first of all, salvation is not something you "lose" b/c, as catholics, we believe that you never really gain it in this life to begin with. salvation is not something you receive once and for all time in this life. instead, salvation is a process that culimates with entrance into heaven.

however, what we do "gain" and "lose" in this life is the presence of sanctifying grace, or the "state of grace." as the catechism says:[list][b]1861 [/b]Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace.
[/list]now, as for your question: can a lack of faith or the existence of doubt about what we believe as christians cause the privation, or the lack of sanctifying grace? it depends on the nature of the disbelief.

as human beings, we are creatures that naturally question and doubt, especially those things we cannot see. so, a certain element of disbelief is to be accepted. however, when such doubts arise, we must work to overcome them. we can do this by asking questions and using our ability to reason, which God gave us so as to know him better. with things that are mysteries (like the trinity) which, altho they do not defy reason, are beyond our ability to understand, we must pray that God will grant us the wisdom to understand these things as much as possible and the faith and courage to believe them solely b/c they are True, whether we understand them or not.

as long as we are working to overcome our doubts and our lack of faith, we cannot be said to be in a state of sin. we are not perfect creatures, and the Lord knows this.

however, some people take their doubt and their inability to understand as reason enough to reject the Truths of the Church altogether. they willfully persist in doubt, and disbelief, and faithlessness. these individuals sin gravely and, although it is not up to us to judge the state of any man's soul, we can rightly say that he is in serious danger of eternal damnation, were he to die in faithlessness like that.

moral of the story: if you struggle with doubt and disbelief, don't give up. pray, study, pray, pray, repeat [list][b]Mark 9:24 [/b]"I believe, help my unbelief!!"
[/list]he will help you

pax christi,
phatcatholic