Catholic · Emmaus course
The Threshold of Faith: Why Believing in God Changes Everything
It was never the evidence. It was the pride.
Why is it so hard to believe, even for people who want to? Fr. Benedict Groeschel — Franciscan friar and trained psychologist — answers that the real obstacle to faith was never a shortage of evidence but a proud and self-sufficient spirit.
NBCC CE · 0.75 clock hours · Human Growth and Development (HGD)
With Fr. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.
- Length
- 45 min
- Lessons
- 1
- Level
- Intermediate
- Version
- Catholic
- Price
- Free
to understand why faith is hard for them or for someone they love, and what to do about it
About this course
Why is it so hard to believe, even for people who want to? Fr. Benedict Groeschel — Franciscan friar and trained psychologist — answers that the real obstacle to faith was never a shortage of evidence but a proud and self-sufficient spirit. In this short, searching course he shows why belief in God is the one step that changes all the others, why the Trinity and the Eucharist stop being impossible once that step is taken, and why a merely symbolic reading of the Real Presence falls short of what the Church believes. The course pairs his lecture with enrichment from Catholic psychology (the psychology of belief and the Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person) and from the spiritual and theological tradition (Newman, Ratzinger, Augustine, Aquinas).
Who this course is for
Parish / general Catholic adult
Lead with the felt, personal hook: "Have you ever wanted to believe more than you do?"
University / theology students
Lead with the intellectual puzzle: the psychology of belief and unbelief, Newman's account of assent, Ratzinger on what kind of act faith is.
Graduate counselors / pastoral professionals (NBCC CE)
Lead with the professional payoff: "When a client says 'I just can't believe,' what are you actually listening for?"
From the course syllabus
Why is it so hard to believe, even for people who want to? Fr. Benedict Groeschel — Franciscan friar and trained psychologist — answers that the real obstacle to faith was never a shortage of evidence but a proud and self-sufficient spirit. In this short, searching course he shows why belief in God is the one step that changes all the others, why the Trinity and the Eucharist stop being impossible once that step is taken, and why a merely symbolic reading of the Real Presence falls short of what the Church believes. The course pairs his lecture with enrichment from Catholic psychology (the psychology of belief and the Catholic Christian Meta-Model of the Person) and from the spiritual and theological tradition (Newman, Ratzinger, Augustine, Aquinas).
Curriculum
-
Module 1
The Threshold of Faith
- 1.The Threshold of Faith — Belief in God and the Door to the Eucharist
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