Religious anxiety

[JonoG]

Hi

I’ve been having some religious anxiety because there are concepts in my religion (Christianity) that I want to be possible e.g. reincarnation and infinite chances at life and I’m anxious and worried that they aren’t possible and I’m anxious and worried that they can’t happen

[Taylor-RO]

Hi @JonoG, sorry to hear what you are going through at the moment. It is normal to want particular things to be possible or apart of your future. Is there anything or anyone that has supported you through this? We are always here to listen

[WheresMySquishy]

Hi @JonoG!

That sounds really tough. I was also raised as a Christian and struggled with a lot religious anxiety growing up too. I have learned that it is possible to develop your own beliefs and incorporate different aspects of your religion into your worldview. This can become easier as you experience new things and mature. I know a lot of Christians who believe in theories such as the big bang rather than literal creationism as depicted in the Bible, but are able to think about it in a way that can still fit in with their beliefs. For example, they can choose to believe that God created the particle that led to the big bang (sorry if my understanding of this theory is a bit rusty).

I think it would be really cool if reincarnation was possible. We don't know that it's definitely not a possibility. Nobody really knows what happens we die. Additionally, not all Christians believe in the concept of heaven or the afterlife. Some of my family members believe that my great uncle is 'sleeping' until he can eventually reunite with his loved ones in paradise after they have all lived out their lives, or at least this was how I remember them explaining it to me when he died. One of my other family members is a Christian and does not believe in the existence of heaven.

[spacejam]

thank you for sharing @JonoG 

I definitely agree with @WheresMySquishy as I was also raised within a Christian family. I thought that because you were raised a certain way, that you have to believe exactly the same thing as everyone did - and if you moved away from that, you were a bad person. But as I matured a little more, I started to form my own beliefs based on my own experience and I found that it lifted a weight off my shoulders.

Can I ask, did something specific happen to make you feel anxious about this? Have you maybe spoken to a leader or someone you trust within your church to ask about their opinion?