And I have noticed among my Catholic relatives the phenomenon of uncertainty. It seems to result from a sense of separate-from-God responsibility for doing good works and a lingering doubt that anything they could do would be good enough.
Yes, I have noticed this as well and see this as a great difference between Apostolics and many Protestants. Of course there are several people who call themselves Protestants who in fact have a false faith and are in great peril. However, this does not change the Biblical fact that any Christian CAN KNOW FOR SURE if he or she is among God's children. And that is regardless of whatever church one attends, etc.
And thank you so much for the assurance verses. The time of passing of a loved one really is one when the rubber meets the road. When both of my parents passed away a few years ago I really had no idea how I would actually react. I knew what my previous words were, but I had never lived it. Praise be to God that He carried me all the way through, and while there was sadness, there was no despair, or anything approaching it. Such is the power of God and His word through His promises. :)
But the biblical "fact" has to be authenticated by the a priori "knowldge" (gnosis), otherwise it's not a biblical 'fact' is it?
What you call faith is not hope but certainty of the (s)elect, which neither you nor anyone else can prove, so it is pointless to speak of it as a matter of fact.
Claiming such knowldge as fact is at its root Gnostic.