How are the Catholic Spin Doctors handling Mother Teresa's' confessions that she was a closet Atheist?

Question

Just because Mother Teresa wore a cross and went to church does not make her a Chrisitan, a child of God, or a believer in Him.

I have heard the testimony of thousands of Christians in my lifetime, and also read the Bible a few times.

I have never heard a saved person talk like she does in these letters.

She was an unsaved woman, trapped in a dead religion, and never understood the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

She by her own admission did not live more abundantly as Jesus Christ promised those who believed in and followed Him.

The reality is that she did not know God.

Answer 1

Since she didn't say that, the only one spinning is you. Read her book.

Mother Teresa's enjoying paradise while you're getting closer to hell by mocking Christ's Church as a "dead religion." The really dead religion is whatever you're practicing instead of true Christianity. Repent.

Answer 2

Dude: If you think belief can save you, you're in deep trouble. Aren't we told that even Satan believes?

But that aside, maybe you should take a look at Mark 9:24 before going around criticizing people for confessing unbelief. Belief does not save us: God's grace saves us.

Now take a look at 1 John 1:9--"If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." What do you think Mother Teresa was doing? *Confessing* her sins. And don't you dare accuse her of not confessing them to God--you cannot possibly know whether she did so or not.

Edit: You said, "I have never heard a saved person talk like she does in these letters."

Maybe that's because the people you talked to knew that you'd accuse them of not being Christians if they confessed such a thing.

Edit #2: I can't help but wonder whether Mother Teresa's letters have been taken out of context to bring harm, anyway. An ethical confessor never, *ever* reveals the contents of a confession, and the fact that hers did so calls into question his motives and reliability. My own pastor was furious that this was done to Mother Teresa, and openly blasted her confessor the Sunday after all the news about it came out.

Answer 3

How ignorant as well as hateful to make such an accusation when all the evidence of her life is that she was totally commited to Her Bridegroom Jesus and dedicated her life to serving Him in the least of the brethren!

Faith is not feeling but the cooperation with the grace to convert one's life to what is believed and mother Teresa is a magnificent example of one who lived by grace and not by feelings.

Do some people when they isolate "faith' into a feeling of conviction unrelated to lived acts of faith and love miss the power and real meaning of faith?

Faith that does not work is dead and Mother Teresa's faith showed grace working very productively.

You have not read her book ,have you? Do you ever look up the bible citations and historical data that Catholics give you. There is no ignorance like a cultivated one! Pray for us and know that we catholic Christians are praying for you.

Answer 4

Good grief, you've got it in for the Church. One rant after another. This can't be good for your blood pressure.

Experiencing spiritual dryness even to the point of doubting God's existence is not an uncommon thing for believers. We tend to rely too much on our emotions; if we don't "feel it", then doubt creeps in. It's one thing to believe when we feel connected to God, and quite another to continue believing when we do not. Mother Teresa may not have felt God's presence for quite a long period in her life, but she continued to see Jesus in the faces of the poor.

That's not a spin, by the way. It's an honest opinion. Feel free to have your own.

Answer 5

What ??????? Have you read the gospels???? Jesus said, "NOT everyone who calls me Lord, Lord will enter the the Kingdom of Heaven. . . ONLY those who do the will of my father. She did the will of our Father. She lived the gospel. She died to her life to live for others. Every single OT prophet sometimes doubted or questioned God, or messed up from time to time. this is an absurd question. omigosh.

ohh. . p.s. Jesus said u will know them by their fruits. . what were her fruits????? people being loved and cared for. she loved people. she worked with lepers. that was her fruits. what are your fruits?? what are the fruits of the people you look up to?
p.s. again: two other books for you to read, Psalms and Job.
That is all.
Peace. Love.

Answer 6

Who cares? If she was a wonderful person and helped thousands of people, what difference does it make that she did not believe in God? Religion is only another aspect of culture, as any child in second grade or higher can tell you. Claiming that she was any less of a person because she did not believe in God is like saying that Hugo was less of an author because he did not write in English. I personally hold her in highest esteem.

Answer 7

Every person of faith has occassional doubts.

Some say that people with the most faith sometimes have the most doubts.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta had many doubts. But Mother Teresa was not an Atheist. Atheists do not write honestly to their spiritual guides things like, "In my soul, I can't tell you how dark it is, how painful, how terrible -- I feel like refusing God."

And this is not new. Here is a story from 2001: http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/south/09/06/teresa.letters/

Mother Teresa was not perfect and did not have it easy. She was a real human being with real thoughts and feelings. Just like the rest of us, sometimes she felt close to God and, at times, felt abandoned by God.

She wrote in one of her letters, "I am told God lives in me -- and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul."

Her letters show a real human struggle with her own spirituality and shows her humanity.

Even Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

Sometimes it seems to be the people with the greatest souls have the greatest doubts.

Struggle through and do not give up. God is with you even if you don't feel His presence at every moment.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

Mother Teresa was holy. I will not even entertain something so ridiculous. Everyone has doubts in life, especially about their faith.

It is with the holiest men and women that we find the greatest doubt. This is what makes them strong. This is what made her the person who could hug the sickest, poorest and most lonely and tell them that Jesus loves them.

peace out,

Pam

Answer 9

she never said she was an atheist. she did, however, question her faith which is not a bad thing. anyone that sees so much suffering would have to ask, if theres a GOD, why does he alow all this to happen. that doesnt make her an atheist, just human.

Answer 10

I sincerely hope she wasn't an atheist. She was a lying sack of garbage.

* * *
http://www.randi.org/jr/102502.html
"Is a Mother Teresa-inspired miracle that's been recognized by the Vatican a complete and utter fraud? Absolutely, says the husband of a woman whose purported tumor vanished after she applied a medallion of the beloved nun to the site of her pain. 'My wife was cured by the doctors and not by any miracle,' Seiku Besra told Time magazine."

http://www.salon.com/sept97/news/news3970905.html
"While much was made of Mother Teresa's devotion to the poor and downtrodden, she was in fact a lifelong friend to the rich and powerful. "

http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/shields_18_1.html
"Women from many nations joined Mother Teresa in the expectation that they would help the poor and come closer to God themselves. When I left, there were more than 3,000 sisters in approximately 400 houses scattered throughout the world. Many of these sisters who trusted Mother Teresa to guide them have become broken people. In the face of overwhelming evidence, some of them have finally admitted that their trust has been betrayed, that God could not possibly be giving the orders they hear. It is difficult for them to decide to leave - their self-confidence has been destroyed, and they have no education beyond what they brought with them when they joined. I was one of the lucky ones who mustered enough courage to walk away."

http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=hitchens_16_4
"The facilities she runs are as primitive now as when she first became a celebrity. So that's obviously not where the money goes."
.