[cripplecreek]

The fact that she continued doing her good works are evidence she did have faith.

[sarasota]

I don’t see what is so unusual about anyone having doubts, off and on. There are periods of light and periods of darkness because we’re human and until we see Him face to face, doubts are part of the “test”.

[HarleyD]

Another interesting article at TIMES.

[MEGoody]

Mother Theresa was a wonderful servant of God, but she was also human. We all have ebbs and flows in our feelings. Thank God that He has promised He will never leave us or forsake us (not matter how we are feeling).

[P8riot]

Faith is not based on feelings.

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."Romans 10:17

[FormerLib]

All humans have a sinful nature that will cause them to challenge or doubt their faith. In this case, the way she lived proved her faith.

All these letters do is highlight the fact that the idea that you are eternally saved once you declare Christ your Lord is a fiction.

It’s how you live that faith that matters.

[Uri’el-2012]

A personal relationship with YHvH comes from daily reading of the Holy Word of Elohim.

As you read the Word of Elohim, He speaks to your soul and gives you the assurance
that He has provided for you His salvation. His name alone speaks this as
Yah'shua means "YHvH is become my salvation"
Our good works are like used rags.

We must seek the face of Elohim by reading His Holy Word.

NAsbU Exodus 15:2 "YHvH is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will praise Him;

NAsbU Psalm 118:14 YHvH is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.

NAsbU Psalm 118:21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.

NAsbU Isaiah 12:2 "Behold, Elohim is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For YHvH Elohim is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation."

NAsbU Isaiah 60:16 ....; Then you will know that I, YHvH, am your Savior And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

NAsbU Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like menstruation rags; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

shalom b'shem Yah'shua HaMashiach

[wmfights]

she said. “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.”

Is this thinking a result of believing in a works based justification that in the end causes you to realize you can't do enough and then in despair question GOD's existence?

It's sad to see she didn't believe in the blessed assurances of JESUS. She had really dedicated herself to trying to help the poor.

[xzins]

WOW!!

The dark despair of no assurance.

That’s the problem with not teaching the All Sufficient Sacrifice of Jesus Christ....not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy HE saved US.

[fishtank]

This blog post captures my position exactly. Assurance is grounded in faith in Christ, not in an amount (or lack thereof) of good works.

http://ruminationsandramifications.blogspot.com/2007/02/on-salvation.html

Reformed and Lordship authors teach that assurance comes through subjective experimentation. This is the reason why R.T. Kendall calls Lordship Calvinists “Experimental Predestinarians”, because one must always be about subjective experimentation to ‘verify’ if one truly has believed, and is saved.

R.T. Kendall and John Calvin, and the Free Grace movement do not believe that the assurance that God wants us to have comes from such experimentation, from looking to oneself, to works, affections, feelings, attitudes, etc. Only ‘anxiety’ and ‘despair’ or pride can come from such an experiment.

Imagine, for a moment, Marcia, that growing up, your dad didn’t give you his objective word that you were indeed his daughter. When you got into trouble he would say, “you have every reason to doubt that you are my daughter, because you are not passing the tests.” What kind of dad would that be?

John MacArthur has stated “You may be a spiritual defector who hasn’t defected yet”

This means that you could be doing awesome now in your walk with God (by your own estimation) but at some time, because you are not one of God’s elect, you will defect and show you were never born again.

Kendall, Calvin, and Free Grace theology teach that the only foundation for assurance is not subjective whatsoever. The only bedrock for assurance is the infallible and objective word of God that promises eternal life to all who believ in Christ for it.

We must not look to ourselves for assurance.

We must look only to Christ in His objective promise, and only then can we have the kind of assurance God wants us to have — not some kind of ‘think so’ feeling, but certain, persuaded assurance.

[P-Marlowe]

After reading her statements about all the different paths to salvation other than through Christ, I am not at all surprised by this revelation.

[dangus]

I’d love to read the sources. Anyone who reads the works lot of extraordinary faith are familiar with a “spirtual dryness” during which the holy people experience a lack of sensory awareness of God’s presence. This is not a lack of faith, but a faith that is so strong it needn’t the constant reminder of sensation. St. Therese Lisieux (”the Little Flower”) was known for such ecstasy during prayer that she seemed to float above the ground. Yet in her very public writings which have become the most-read writings since the Bible and which have inspired so many, she writes of spiritual dryness which would devestate me.

I believe — and I hope — that this is what Mother Therese is writing of, and that she has been taken out of context. Some of St. Therese’s writings, out of context, certainly could be sensationalized in terrible ways.

[VOA]

“Mother Teresa Did Not Feel Christ’s Presence for Last Half of
Her Life, Letters Reveal”

Big deal.
She got her “marching orders” and stayed the course.
She got no “counter-manding orders” and stayed “on mission”.
GOOD for her!!!

Personally, I’m comforted when some evangelist/preacher/pastor admits
to never having “heard G-d (personally) talking to them”.

One of the prominent examples I can recall is Charles (Chuck) Swindoll.
And yet he remains faithful and engaged into practicing and promoting
the Christian vision.
Maybe that’s the sort of conduct to be expected from a fellow that
graduated from divinity school...then had to do a hitch in the US Marine Corps!
http://www.insight.org

[topher]

This article is much better than the Patented Thomas Crapper article by Time Magazine on Mother Theresa and these letters.

The Thomas Crapper was a version of toilet common in Britian during World War I. It is where the term crap comes from -- an abbreviation of Thomas Crapper

[dangus]

Excerpted from the original article:

Rev. Kolodiejchuk maintains that Mother Teresa did not suffer “a real doubt of faith,” but that, on the contrary, her agonizing demonstrates her faith in God’s reality.

On the other hand, St. Therese of Lisieux quite excellently expounds the futility of doing works to earn salvation. Not having read Mother Therese’s writings myself, For the little I know, it could be that she was heretical, holding some notion that she was trying to earn God’s love. But seeing the fruits of her work, it is hard to fathom that. And by the fruits of her work, I do not even mean all the souls she comforted, but rather the vast numbers who have turned their entire lives over to Christ because of her.

[aruanan]

Could it have anything to do with her having embraced Hindu gods?

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

This is a very unfair attack on Mother Teresa.

Christians on the way to mystical union with God undergo terrible trials of Faith where things are so black it seems God has abandoned them. Remember Christ on the Cross? “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Does Christ fail your standard because He doubted?

The mystical path mirrors the path of Calvary - persecution, torture, insults, false accusations, trials of Faith, abandonment, death and resurrection. Some experience a spiritual resurrection in this life, others suffer until death. The Church is going through this process right now.

If anyone wants to understand the concept read Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila. St. John of the Cross is excellent as well but his works are a little more intense. Interior Castle is approachable and easier reading.

[diamond6]

Didn’t St. Teresa of Avila also experience this most of her life. The fact that she went on regardless, and did what she did makes her a saint!

[Larry Lucido]

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done unto me.

Mother Theresa knew this was true, and now understands it more clearly than she ever could in this life.

[M Kehoe]

Faith is something ya gotta work at. It ain't easy. Never has been, never will be.

The Lord asked me to type this post. Since He knows better than I do...

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