I hope that NPR does not avoid or dissemble from the primary fact of that book, which is that Mother Theresa was a self-professed Atheist. Several Christians I have spoken with said that--if true--this means that Mother Theresa is going to Hell. Now, as an Atheist myself, I find it quite remarkable that a person who did all the great selfless works that she did is still consigned to hell because she didn't believe.
God is a myth, folks. Just because you don't like hearing that--even from Mother Theresa--does not change the truth.

Tom S. Hunter

Sent by Tom Hunter | 8:21 AM ET | 08-24-2007

Throughout my life I've made comments and asked questions that would lead someone to believe I'm an athiest, which I'm not. Many Christians question their faith and the reasons they believe, much like children question their parents. In the end, in many cases, they understand their parents better and love them more.

Sent by Stephen Matthews | 9:06 AM ET | 08-24-2007

The traditional prayer experience from the beginning of the church always grapples with the stage of the dark night. To borrow fron John of the Cross the soul that opens to God is purified in God like metal is burned in a furnace to burn away impurities. What those who met Mother Theresa experienced (I briefly met her) was that pure presence of God without ego. I can add 2 analogies - after I had been married there was a time when my love feelings were used up I did not leave my marriage I commited at a deeper level and came to a new love that I would not trade.
The mystics have described great closeness with God like a light that moves from visible at a distance to shining right in your eyes, you become blinded as it were and can only see darkness. The average pray-er gives up at this point but the extraordinary soul hangs in there and stops searching for the consolations of God and instead seek the God of consolations.

Sent by Janet Hartmann Jones | 9:23 AM ET | 08-24-2007

When I showed this NPR article about the crises in Mother Theresa's faith to an acquaintance who is a strongly avowed neoconservative, he blurted out, "Conservatives can shut NPR down, liberals can't." Not that I'm ever shocked at the political or theological logic my neoconservative acquaintance expresses. In our frequent discussions he often reminds me the power the neoconservatives have over the media that the liberals don't have. When it comes to topics about either politics or religion, the neoconservatives possess a much more powerful mnemonic God Spot in their hypothalamus.

This NPR reported piece about Mother Theresa's crises of faith simply got me into another one of my "Matching Logic" games with my acquaintance who is very, very proud to shout out that he is a died-in-the-wool Neconservative. Why would I try to match logic with him? Because I'm Buddhist. You see, political right and wrong are illusions. Think of that famous Koan asking what is the sound of one hand clapping. There's no one answer. There's no right answer. There's no wrong answer. You simply live with whatever you can live with the best way you can live it. And even that is an illusion.

Mother Theresa doubting her faith is on par with St. Augustine's own famous crises. By the way, my favorite quote from St. Augustine is "Beware the man of one book." If that isn't a saint speaking in Buddhistic tongues, I don't know what is. Okay, Mother Theresa expressed her loneliness in life. Here is the sad Buddhist logic. If you live in a leper colony and in the time of cholera, you probably aren't going to receive a lot of drop-in visitors. Yet, this reporting on Mother Theresa created the Pavlovian response of my neoconservative acquaintance once again reminded me the power his side has over the media. It's not like every time we have these logic debates that I admit his, or their power to pull the electronic plug. Liberals will one day have to resort to drum talk to communicate.

Mother Theresa's crises of faith seems to parallel my trying to compare logic with my neoconservative counterpart. Once again, I engage him in discussion as an exercise in Buddhistic thought that it is an illusion separating futility from agreement. I suspect neoconservatives can accomplish more clapping with one hand than a stadium full of liberals can accomplish applauding with two hands and stamping their feet while waving banners. Of course there is no logic to any debate I have with this neoconservative acquaintance. If there was, I'd be a liberal waging a losing battle. I refuse.

Here's a little secret. I spent an accumulated number of hours in the Catholic confession booth in my formative childhood years. I know from experience how powerful an archbishop can be, much less would I want to face the wrath of the Pope. From what I think I understand about the life of Mother Theresa, she could get along with the Dalai Lama as well as the Holy See. She lived in famine plagued places in India, for god's sake. The Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa shared the same doctor, Dr. Pankaj Naram. In 1965. Pope Paul VI issued a Decree of Praise to Mother Theresa that started her on her way to the beatification (a step in canonization, or sainthood) that Pope John Paul II exhorted to the Sistine Chapel ceiling upon hearing of Mother Theresa's death. There's something to be said about the theoretical philosophy that to administer suffering, one must know suffering.

Okay, no good deed goes unpunished. Mother Theresa suffered like a saint. She was sometimes the brunt of cruel jokes. Joan Rivers once said that Mother Theresa looked like E.T. without the makeup. Take it from a fallen Catholic, me, that the road to sainthood is filled with pothole spikes and thorny crowns and the whole terrible insurrection of the mean uselessness of life. What impersonal perspectives I had on Mother Theresa was that she could cross the line from Christian to Buddhist thought.

My neoconservative friend said that was why Mother Theresa was so lonely. According to him, Mother Theresa crossed the no-no line. She consorted with the likes of the Dalai Lama. I suppose I could argue these logic points with this neoconservative fellow. Except he can shut me down, and I can't shut him down. Which is fine with me. I'll applaud his neoconservative logic with one hand. Fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 10:14 AM ET | 08-24-2007

I've come to a conclusion that the spiritual life or religious life on earth
is not God sanctioned in any way shape or form. But I believe in it 100% because it helps me and other people. The true value of the religious life or spiritual life comes at death and the time of one's crossing to the other place, its appears to me that its more like a "password" or "announcement" that allows one to cross. But here on earth there really is no God Power. It all up to us not God.

Sent by Alfonso | 8:16 PM ET | 08-24-2007

As an educated (if a JD counts), 40 something, once- Catholic now not, I am astounded that Mother Teresa toiled in such darkness and frankly unbalanced by this. It is much easier to dismiss God as unscientific, unevolved, unfounded, and uncool. But to carry such loneliness and trust for so many years defies modern existence. Hitchens, her detracter, is an entertainer at best, too clever by half and Americans let him tap dance on their heads. This is the most profound revelation for a non-believer like me in my life. Wherever this story ends up, the tenacity and trust Mother Teresa displayed all those years is remarkable. A non-believer who longed to believe--and was not directed to do so by the state (USSR to Hitchens)--truly a modern story that does not quite fit into the modern box.

Sent by Lizanne Foley | 10:59 PM ET | 08-24-2007

The present generation so busy with the modern tech. media...etc may not fully understand what Mother Theresa meant by spiritual darkness and emptiness. When a human soul has the real communion and intimacy with God that is purely holy, he experiences his unworthiness and also before the true LIGHT one may feel that he is in darkness. A mystic comes to this understanding of darkness, doubt and unworthiness not compared to any human being but compare to God himself. God is the source of Holiness Light and purity. Compare to Him we are sinners who live in darkness and doubt.

But only a saintly person comes to this realization. In the Old Testament Abraham, Moses and many of the prophets
faced this problem and in the NT St. Paul himself says that I am the first among the sinners.But we know that he was a great missionary and apostle. Jesus himself said just before his death, in pain and agony, Father why have you forsaken me? It doesn't mean that Jesus had lost his trust in God.

Mother Theresa, St. Paul ...they all had same personal experience with God and they acknowledge the supremacy and holiness of God and admit their sinful nature. To come to that level one must have an intimate relation with God. Otherwise we just interpret the words superficially and misjudge the people.

Sent by Tom | 11:17 PM ET | 08-24-2007

Most people who give this matter more than a nanosecond of thought will have to wonder just what is going on here.

After all, even if you leave all matters of faith aside, what Mother Teresa accomplished amongst the downtrodden and "poorest of the poor" was truly remarkable.

From those consigned to death in the gutters of Calcutta to aids patients rejected by a supposedly sympathetic society in certain portions of San Francisco, left to die in utter loneliness and despair, Mother Teresa and her nuns brought dignity, love, and compassion.

Not the condemnation, isolation, and rejection which was all too common in their lives - rather something new, something fresh, something deep with meaning, leading to hope.

They did (and still do) this for all, with absolute no regard to the suffering person's faith, ability to pay, agreeable personality, whatever. They simply loved each person as a unique individual, created in the image and likeness of God.

How can anyone be against this, or deny just how good this is? The best part is that this holy work continues to this very day, changing thousands of lives one day at a time.

With that in mind, any thinking person has to wonder how can it be that this seemingly remarkable woman, so public about her faith, could express such doubts in private?

The answer comes straight from the heart of the mystical tradition of the faith that Mother Teresa so boldly lived - what she experienced for so long (and this was extraordinarily long) is known as "the dark night of the soul," amongst other names.

It is a trying of faith, a withdrawing by God of emotional comfort, of any kind of "spiritual buzz." God permits trials like this (and other suffering in life) in order to increase our faith, to encourage our transformation from what we are to what we may become.

All people are called by God to know Him, and to those who respond he will make himself known. And transform us as we are ready, sometimes a little bit at a time, sometimes in big huge steps. It's simply a matter of trust, perseverance, and faith.

And that is what these letters tell us of Mother Teresa - her interior transformation was as massive as her public actions - no mediocre spiritual journey here.

Mother Teresa persevered through these trials and more, through the grinding poverty and hatred of the world, through much that would have driven many to give up, in public or private. She persevered, finished the race with great faith, and to the end proclaimed the reality of the God who created us all.

From this we may draw great hope and comfort, if we have ears to hear.

Sent by Bob Lozano | 11:57 PM ET | 08-24-2007

Having spent 11 years in the seminary and 1 year as a priest in a parish,questioning one's faith in a loving creator is more common than not.

Her life is a beautiful tribute to our uniqueness. Her life was her sermon and a reninder to people like myself that we fell far short of what we started to be.
Since life is motion toward death, why spend the time in judgement. Who among us would dare to follow her lead? .

Sent by Anthony Liberatore | 12:36 AM ET | 08-25-2007

The Catholic Church is too late. Mother Teresa was a saint the day she walked out of the school for rich girls in Calcutta and began her street ministry to the poorest of the poor. Through her doubts she inspired millions of people including me with the message that wheter uttered by a saint or a devil is true--the surest way to God's heart is through serving the poorest of the poor however one defines them. At first I was in complete denial when I heard about her wavering of her faith. Doubts or not, she reflected the love and light of God and Jesus. She said that we are called to be faithful, not successful. God accepts faith as small as the tiniest seed. God accepted Mother Teresa's faith however wavering it may have been at times. Faith, home, love--the greatest of these is love and she loved. What more does God require than that we love God and our neighbor as we love ourselves. She loved God--however waveringly-and she loved the poorest of the poor. Now that I have accepted that she had doubts, I admire her no less. The sisters in her order are extensions of her and reflect the love she had for the poorest of the poor. No one can take away the fruit of her 50 years of love.

Sent by alan m. harris | 6:03 AM ET | 08-25-2007

As a Roman Catholic Sister for almost 50 years, it is not surprising to hear of Mother Teresa's doubts. My own spiritual life is strewn with periods of doubt and at times painful desolation, yet the joy of the experience of God more than compensates for these dry periods. Mother Teresa's extended period of doubt and emptiness is unusual, but it reflects a mystery of belief - not giving up in the face of pain. Hope that God is, faith that God is, and acting with love as though God is, runs extremely deep in the spritual life, deeper than the intellectual doubts and the absence of experiences of God's presence. Mother Teresa seems to have lived at a very deep level of spirituality, beyond the intellectual and the sensations of God. And that is truly remarkable in an age of instant gratification.

Sent by Sharon Collver | 10:11 AM ET | 08-25-2007

I guess the most interesting aspect of all of this is the spin put on it by those who are religious: Lots of analogies, metaphors and flowery language and few facts. I suspect that this is the problem she faced. Reality has a way of crushing Gods. The "Son of God" even doubted God to the end. Right now we are fighting a war started by politicians who to this day still do not doubt that what they are doing is right. Doubt may have its darkness but unlike Faith it is at least not blind.

Sent by Michael Langdon | 10:19 AM ET | 08-25-2007

I, too, like Mother Teresa, have had some questions about my faith and about the presence of a benevolent God with the power to influence events and disasters in the universe.
My spiritual doubts arose at age 14 when a boat carrying 67 passengers and crew, in 1944, disappeared without a trace. I had three siblings on that boat. I watched my mother literally driven out of her mind by that severe loss. She prayed for hours every day most often in tears and she died several years later of horrible cancer and a broken heart without ever knowing what ever became of her children.
It was at that time I became aware of the impotence of prayer to positively affect human suffering. It was also at that time that I began to question the motives of a supposedly loving benevolent God that would allow such things and other disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes and floods to ravish his children so completely without lifting a finger to help them. I wondered how a loving God could permit starvation and illnesses to ravage his creations so thoroughly. I wondered how this God could watch, for more than a minute, starving babies with bloated bellies, brittle bones, and emaciated muscles devoid of purposeless movements and not intervene. I often asked myself, "What are their sins to deserve this?"," What monumental transgressions could these little babies have committed to warrant such harsh punishment at the hands of their maker?"
This inner turmoil came directly on the heels of my trying to understand the alien concepts of immaculate conception and the rationale behind sacrificing one's only son to save mankind. "Save us from what?" We still sin. It seemed to me that it was a needless sacrifice of a good and decent man whose cardinal sin was an unrealistic belief in the power of a Savior whom he had never seen nor heard.
I am not yet willing to declare myself an atheist. There is much about religion and spirituality that I do not know and quite a bit more than I do not understand. It is tempting to completely dismiss the presence of a Maker, but in my limited intellect, I still have to explain the universe and its origins.
Mother Teresa has my admiration for questioning her faith. It is intensely human. It would have been much more forceful an argument if she would have done it publicly before her death and promoted a rational worldwide discussion on our realistic and credible expectations about religion.

Sent by Basil A. Marryshow | 10:26 AM ET | 08-25-2007

I've been concentrating on Mother Teresa's supposed dilemma, the crises of her faith that she purportedly uttered. Or wrote about. When one concentrates on a metaphysical answer long enough, the answer can come. Like a mantra. Or a prayer. Whatever you wish to call the experience of mini-enlightenment. This morning, coffee in hand, I turned on the computer, and this was the first story that caught my eye. It's one about glossolalia, or sometimes referred to as speaking for God through your own tongue. The article is titled, "Thinking in Tongues." Here is basically what the article is about.

"Last week, the New York Times reported that neuroscientists had gotten a look, for the first time, at the brains of devout Christians engaged in speaking in tongues. The test subjects believe that God takes possession of their minds and babbles through their mouths. And now, says the Times, "they have some neuroscience to back them up."???

Don't you just love it when the New York Times sticks their necks out. My neoconservative friend can't make up his mind about the New York Times. One article is liberal to his tastes. Another article meets with his satisfaction. Whenever the New York Times sounds liberal to him, he talks about how conservatives can shut down media the way liberals can't. So far, he hasn't shut down the New York Times. Thank God. I suppose. Not that I care one way or the other. It's all an illusion.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama had certain similarities, or happenings. The Dalai Lama has written several books on the relationship between faith and science. A lot of people don't like to mix faith and science. To them, it hints of alchemy. Taking the New York Times report on "Thinking in Tongues," one could argue that if Mother Teresa was expressing a crises of faith, it could have been God talking through her. Glossolalia. One could argue that God was having a crises of faith that was being expressed through one of his mouthpieces, Mother Theresa.

As for me, whenever I visit Barnstable, I go to the church that was introduced to me by a fine gentleman named Kurt. I go to the "Church of the God of the Utterly Indifferent.?"Essentially, the church teaches the gospel that God has a lot more on mind than to worry about what I, or any other mortal, is egocentrically thinking at the moment. Expressing a crises of faith does not really alter the balance of the universe and chaos theory all that much. I suspect. But, who cares? It really doesn't matter, does it? I mean, this is all shadow boxing with the computer while drinking a morning cup of coffee. Fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 10:30 AM ET | 08-25-2007

I don't know whether Mother Teresa's doubts of the existence of God fit into the category of the mystical "dark night of the soul" to which others like St. John of the Cross who coined the phrase have borne witness. It may be that some people's brains/temperament are programmed to have powerful experiences they interpret as manifestations of God and others are not. Certainly she is not the first spiritual giant to have testified to the impossibility of our knowing much of anything about God. The apophatic tradition of Christian spirituality has always emphasized that the best we can say about God is, "God is not that."

All I know is that her experience rings true. Mother Teresa's namesake, St. Teresa of Avila, was another saint who, while she did have mystical visions occasionally that she interpreted allegorically as visions of God, strongly cautioned against seeking "consolations" as she termed them, and gave herself over to the busy (and thankless, even persecuted) work of reforming the church in 16th century Spain. Mother Teresa's oft-expressed belief that in the faces of the poor and dying in Calcutta, she was encountering Christ, is a key to her ability to sustain the long darkness and loneliness so faithfully. Whatever or whoever "God" is, in this life, at least, we can never get closer than the fully human encounters we have with other people. As St. Athanasius once said, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive."

We should all be such doubting saints as Mother Teresa.

Sent by Larry R. Kalajainen | 10:30 AM ET | 08-25-2007

This discussion reminds me of a line from a favorite book of mine:

"Is faith - the supreme assertion of human thought - desirable? Then must the mind of man find itself in that troublesome predicament where it ever knows less than it can believe."

I believe that faith IS desirable...and it makes me wonder where this propensity of ours - to believe more than we can know - comes from. Is it just a joke? An aberration? What is it in the human mind that longs for the assurances of safety, of unity, of connection to something greater than ourselves - that thirsts for Truth, beauty and goodness even when we have no material evidence of its presence?

In my own experience, that existential longing has been satisfied only by the search for, and the finding of, God. Yes, it can be a lonely path, it can be frought with recurring doubt, but the triumph of faith over doubt is an invigorating victory to se savored, as any truth-seeker will tell you. The rewards are enjoyed in the inner experience, and are unique to the individual who believes. This can never be adequately demonstrated to another who does not believe, but it is very real to the believer. Personal experience is always the best teacher and the best evidence.

It is distressing to hear of Mother Theresa's dark night of the soul, but not altogether surprising. She was a woman who lived by faith - how else could she have kept on in her ministry to the poorest of the poor? The unrelenting need of those she served must have been a crushing reality to her heart of love. In spite of her doubt, she kept on doing good in the world, and in the name of God. Through her actions, she demonstrated her faith. Was all of that just an empty gesture, now devoid of value, because she expressed doubt? The goodness that she did is real, it has life, and continues to inspire those who are seekers to go and do likewise in their own way, in their own world. There is a reward for faith, and who is to say that Mother Theresa did not feel that reward - peace that passes understanding? The fact that she entertained doubt at times is not the complete picture. She may have been a conflicted soul at times, but who in their right mind does not entertain doubt from time to time? It is the human condition, as the facts of material existence are all we can see with our material eyes. The fact that she returned time and agin to her good works is, to me, a testament that in spite of her doubts, she was indeed enjoying some modicum of satisfaction as the fruits of her faith. She saw with the eyes of the Spirit the truth of her mission, and the righteousness of her life purpose.

I think it is wrong to now shine a spotlight on this soul's honest doubts which she shared in confidence. Her goodness survives them, and her legacy is a far brighter light for those who have eyes to see.

I wonder why the person, or persons, to whom she bared her innermost soul comes forward now to roil the waters, and besmirch this honest and loving woman. It is a great disservice to all of us, and I say, shame on you...

Sent by MaryJo Holman Garascia | 12:01 PM ET | 08-25-2007

This living the Dark Night of the Soul should not be taken that a person living it experiences it as wholly negative.
For some, it is the only anchor in this life that is out of this world. A spiritual place of retreat to contemplate and to be rightly related to the purpose at hand that for all of us is always within reach, if we will own it.
It is whatever is source or hope that is (Romans 8:28); their assurance that all things shall work out for "good" --- for those who love ----.
And, not just for themselves --- who devote this life to that fulfillment of the "promise" of ultimate good. The Dark Night of the Soul for Mother Teresa, as one of that persuasion justly may have had that mind/soul-set as her consolation--- i.e., that that ultimate good is not of oneself at all; so limited in human achievement to overcome all that is inertia seen against "Ultimate Good."
Be assured, she did not lack that hope. It was her consolation, even as she humbly confessed it to her correspondents. In so doing, she put revealed herself entirely of the Body of Christ, and Him crucified---to the very point her redeemer expressed His darkest dispairing words for his own Dark Night of the Soul---for all mankind---dying the death to end all death. In that reference, Mother Teresa found the grace to live, move and have her being.
And in so-doing, there mercifully came the "light" that endures. And she does.

Sent by Harry M. Bright, Jr. | 12:23 PM ET | 08-25-2007

One who so yearns for the voice of God can can be called an atheist. Divine silence is often a quality one finds in the spiritual lives of the devoted. Chaim Potok wrote of it in THE CHOSEN, Jesus encountered it, and enumerable writers have described "the dark night of the soul." Those who wish not to believe will find comfort in this story, but not for long. The thousands who benefited from Mother Theresa's ministry will not doubt for a minute that God and the Kingdom of Heaven, however we imagine that, has a power to soothe and inspire that no atheist can begin to emulate, because no atheist wishes to.

Sent by Dr. David L. Rowe | 1:36 PM ET | 08-25-2007

Leave it up to Mother Theresa to move the Atheist community to speak loudly about Her Faith...

Sent by NotAtheist Mom | 2:00 PM ET | 08-25-2007

In my humble opinion there can be only one reason why "Mother Teresa" experienced such darkness in her walk with God, it's because she did not know God! I say this knowing full well that it will stir up things but it has to be said. The Bible is very clear about how one gets saved, and most Catholics are ignorant of it or have refused to believe what Jesus said. The Bible says (Jesus is the author of the Bible!);

Acts 16:31
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved..." and also;

John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me."

You see, people get saved not by doing good works (like for the poor...), but by repentance of sins and faith in Jesus alone!

Most catholics like Teresa will perish because they believe that they must do good works to get to heaven, but this practice clearly goe's against the clear teaching of the Bible;

Luke 13:3
"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

2 Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but
the sorrow of the world worketh death."

John 5:24
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

I could go into a long teaching on the Bible, and prove with the Bible that good works doesn't save but only belief in Jesus and the perfect sacrifice that He offered to God for the sins of mankind, but that would only serve to confuse most. What it all comes down to is simple;

We are sinners, and we need to be forgiven of our sins to go to heaven, Jesus Christ paid for our sins and God excepts Him, and if we by faith offer to God Jesus the Lamb of God, then God will save our souls and take us to heaven when we die, period!

1 Timothy 2:5
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus;"

1 Timothy 2:6
"Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

I am not saying that Teresa was not truly saved, but if she held to the doctrine of the catholic church then she may be in Hell right now. I know this teaching is shocking to some but the Bible is clear and one must believe what it says or they will suffer God's wrath for all eternity. God is good and he wants all to be saved and has provided a way for all to be saved. We can't make up our own salvation way, we have to do it God's way! Believe the Bible, repent and believe on Jesus and God will take you to heaven, He promises it!

The Lord Bless You,

A Saved Sinner

note: all scripture is from the Authorized Version, The King James Bible

Sent by Luke A. Maney | 3:43 PM ET | 08-25-2007

Pretty pathetic and cheap shot to attack a dead, elderly nun who cannot defend herself. SHAMEFUL.

Mother Teresa was human. NO SECRET. NO SURPRISE. Human beings are imperfect. Only God is perfect. Human beings, despite their weaknesses and faults, however, can, with Divine Grace, become holy and one day become saints (someone who is in heaven).

These revelations of Mother Teresa's 'dark night of the soul' (as St. John of the Cross would describe it) or the 'desert experience' do NOT jeopardize her current beatification nor her future canonization. These are not moral faults that incur culpability as do SINS. Fears, doubts, anxieties, apprehension, uncertainties, etc. are not sins but weaknesses. Only grace can overcome them and for many, the struggle is lifelong. Only after death is their ultimate victory. Mother Teresa never doubted IN God. She merely had many bouts of not FEELING His presence. The lack of consolations is not a sign of infidelity nor of any immorality. ALL saints LONGED for God but were not satisfied or fulfilled in this life. That is what heaven is for.

Sent by Father John Trigilio | 3:47 PM ET | 08-25-2007

As I read over these comments, one thing is clear.

Religion teaches a person to be dishonest. They lie to themselves, and they repeat the lies in order to persuade others that the lie is true.

After a few decades, they no longer feel the normal guilty over lying about their Imaginary Friend. Sad.

Sent by William Hays | 5:39 PM ET | 08-25-2007

It's very troubling as a Christian to hear that Mother Teresa doubted the existence of God. I'm not Catholic, but I take this mean that no matter how much you do in life, it may not increase your faith. Either that, or it just won't increase your faith in Catholicism . . . it may be the true church of Jesus was lost.

Sent by Steve Rinehart | 5:52 PM ET | 08-25-2007

I do not feel properly equipped to articulate all that I feel about this report on Mother Teresa's private life. I feel many of the comments I have read were thoughtful and intelligent, but I felt compelled to respond to the gentleman who speaks as the authority of the one true path to salvation.

My feeling is that Mother Teresa spent her entire life concerned about the parts of society that no one else cared to even acknowledge. Her life was a selfless act for others not an attempt to reach personal salvation. Her life is an example of what we as humans could do if we really cared and wanted to make a difference in this world. Instead we make the excuse that God said there will always be poor people and thus wash our hands of this problem. Can you imagine the world we could live in if we all lived a life in the same manner as Mother Teresa?

In short Mother Teresa did not live her life in pursuit of saving her life she lived in the pursuit of saving those lives less fortunate than hers. That should be applauded and respected for the ultimate sacrifice that it was, I am happy that the writer who wrote that Mother Teresa may be in hell right now, is so content with his own personal salvation. My comment to you sir is a quote that has always brought me comfort. "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
- Sir Stephen Henry Roberts (1901-1971)

Kind regards

Sent by Lance Meacham | 7:02 PM ET | 08-25-2007

Luke,

I pray for you to come to an understanding of Christian faith that you currently lack.
As a Catholic, Mother Teresa did not believe that good works alone would ensure her salvation. She had a far deeper understanding of Christ's works and his sacrifice than most of us lay-people could ever understand. Her belief in him led her to take up the cross he gave her - one of loneliness and despair, yet also of hope. Her cross was like his in so many ways, perhaps she no longer heard his voice because their voices had become one. She not only believed in and accepted Christ's sacrifice, she lived it and became a saint long before she died. Beatification is just a formality.

Sent by kjw | 7:48 PM ET | 08-25-2007

All Christians go through period of doubting and spiritual crisis. Mother Theresa's words do not reflect a doubt that God exists, rather, she asks prayer for herself, that she may draw closer to him.

The debate between believers and atheists has gone on for many years, but for someone to call Mother Theresa an atheist is a real stretch. Mother Theresa was a devout follower of Jesus Christ, and the love she showed for the poor was not her own, but Christ's love living in her. Mother Theresa was a real human being, with all the same questions, doubts, and emotions that real human beings have. Her life and works speak of her love for Jesus Christ, and the words he used to sum up the 10 commandments : Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Enough said.

Show me just ONE atheist who has helped the poor and disadvantaged of this world like Mother Theresa did.

Pastor Bernie Schillo
The Chapel at Riverfront Park
Garrison, Montana

Sent by Pastor Bernie Schillo | 10:02 PM ET | 08-25-2007

So she had some doubts, no big news here many believers struggle with their faith, even John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Jesus truly is the one. it is all part of the fallen nature of man. those of you who thing these dry episodes of Mother Teresa make her an Atheist are out to lunch.

Sent by truth4u2c | 11:23 PM ET | 08-25-2007

I am puzzled at the cult that has surfaced around Mother Teresa. She used donations of millions upon millions of dollars to set up squalid places for sick people to just die! Why didn't she build hospitals? I believe it went against her view of how people should suffer as christians. She really believed people should suffer in sickness and death! She should only be well known as fanatic and possibly a criminal. If my facts are wrong, please correct me, but it seems she reveled in human misery.

Sent by Matt | 12:24 AM ET | 08-26-2007

You know what shines out like a beacon to me is, even though she had "darkness", she had a very strong faith to go on and do the will of God. I find this incredible and very inspiring.

Sent by DSL | 1:15 AM ET | 08-26-2007

Mother Theresa is in good company. Nailed to the cross Jesus said "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Faith is to believe in spite of doubt.

Sent by Chris Winn | 5:23 AM ET | 08-26-2007

While I think Mother Teresa did an awesome job of helping the poor, we don't go to heaven based on things we have done. Works do not get you into heaven. If they did then Christ came for nothing. He came because we can not save ourselves. As for God being a myth, I disagree. Think about the human body and how it all works and is made. You can't tell me we just happened when you discover how amazing the human body is. I am not asking you to look for God but when you look at how incredible the human body operates, I think it leads you straight to Him.

Sent by Mike | 7:49 AM ET | 08-26-2007

Of course we can rely on NPR to draw out all the smug atheists - this story is confirmation of their own failures in life - chiefly the failure to PROVE the non-existence of God to anyone but a fellow atheist. Let's not forget that long after Hitchens and his ilk are dust the church and it's believers will still be here. Or as the little story goes:

'God is Dead' Nietzche, 1882
'Nietzche is Dead - HA-HA!' God, 1900

Sent by Frank Dale | 8:53 AM ET | 08-26-2007

If faith is living as though you believe when you don't and doing good works anyway, isn't that a pretty huge reconstitution of the definition of faith?

Is that the Good News? (Act as though you believe, even if you don't most of your life.)

The Gospel? (Do good works for you'll be remembered for them and your doubts forgiven.)

The Real Presence? (The Eucharist is a symbol of presence...)

Relationship, not religion? (Relationship is defined by persistent trust in Absence, not reciprocal interaction.)

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit? (Unfelt, undetected and beyond experience.)

I'm more interested in what it does to the definition of faith that a holy woman doing good works would have to hide her doubts for 66 years and wish for them to be destroyed because she feared for the state of her soul.

Sent by Julie Bogart | 10:09 AM ET | 08-26-2007

I'm not sure that its been sufficiently emphasized that the guy who put this book together was/is involved in her canonization proceedings. This information was known to the Church when they chose to beatify her-- which demonstrates that this sort of struggle is NOT condemned by the Church-- something that I suspect is very comforting to a large variety of people who deal with lower-key versions of the same struggle.

Southern author Flannery O'Connor once said that "nihilism is the air we breath" and it does seem at times that ours is a culture that has lost its hope.

Mother Teresa seems to be a saint particularly for our age. No matter how you understand it, her perseverance was remarkable-- the legacy that she has left behind her in the Missionaries of Charity demonstrates that her struggle was not futile.

The title of the book is "Come be my light." I think we can repeat this phrase too, as the totality of Mother Teresa's life can serve as a light in our own periods of darkness.

Sent by km | 4:27 PM ET | 08-26-2007

In response to Kelly's comment, I think that what Mother Teresa's life says about the definition is one thing: emphasize that faith is not emotion.

The phrases "walk of faith" and "act of faith" point towards this: Mother Teresa's remarkable perseverance (continuing to pray, and to ask for help from various confessors) in the face of these the loneliness she experienced in fact points towards the remarkable strength of her faith, rather than suggesting some sort of insincerity on her part.

Sent by km | 5:24 PM ET | 08-26-2007

I'll just say what a catholic priest said to me: If there is a hell, I'm sure it is empty.
Not believing is not a passport to hell and the church does not advocate that anymore!

Sent by Alexandra | 6:54 PM ET | 08-26-2007

Mother Teresa (Gonxhe Bujagjiu) will always be a symbol of peace and love. I am Albanian as she was and my family always had this picture of her that said "Kudo qe eshte jeta ne rrezik, aty gjendet Nena Tereze" (wherever danger is Mother Teresa will be there to save your life). I was raised with that belief and knowing what she has done all her life no question that she is a saint. My God, going through what she has and seeing and meeting top leaders she probably was dissapointed at times and got to question the reality of the world. I did visit the church in Viti where she first went to church and there is a special feeling. I am proud of her and whoever is trying to disgrace her power they better get a life because they don't go the heaven this way.

Sent by Valbona | 10:01 PM ET | 08-26-2007

I read another Time story years ago, and I recall a priests responce to a question of who is God. He said If there were a God there would be no need for me. He toiled caring for the poorest and found believing gave them hope. I am not a believer but know that faith gives hope where there is none.

Sent by Patricia | 10:53 PM ET | 08-26-2007

Mother Teresa chose to work in one of the neediest places in the world. My son went to Calcutta 22 years ago and he said that the people in some places there, lived, ate, slept and relieved themselves on the sidewalks. Her letters sound to me like they were written by an exhausted woman who needed to rest and be cared for herself, especially when she grew older and her heart was bad, but she never left her work to go back to the comfort of the Loreto convent which she left as a young woman. Most care givers experience burn out and have had to get away from the constant work, especially in such dire poverty, but she stayed and she established a home for the dying, AIDS hospices, orphanages and charity centers which are run by her nuns. She said that she felt dark inside but the people who met her saw only her light and they were inspired by the light that shone from her.

I remember her saying that God doesn't ask us to be successful, He just asks us to be faithful and she certainly was. I am sure that when she died, Jesus welcomed her and said, "Well done, good and faithful daughter, for I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me to drink, naked and you clothed me. Enter into my kingdom."

May she rest in peace.

Sent by Joann Miller | 3:21 AM ET | 08-27-2007

The Loneliness of Mother Teresa
This morning I chose to drink tea while shadow boxing on the computer. Tea instead of coffee sounded more ... .more... spiritual. Though I understand tea is a more desperate legal addiction than coffee.

All the same, I've been meditating on the loneliness and crises of faith of Mother Teresa. That, or I'm thinking about the book written about the loneliness and crises of faith of Mother Teresa. There seems to be a parallel universe in action here. There's the actual loneliness and crises of faith. Then there's the book version. If someone makes a movie, there will be a triumvirate in parallel universes at work. As you can plainly see, the topic of loneliness and crises of faith can become a very complex discussion.

My guess is that as the "truth" of Mother Teresa's life evolves from a frail woman toiling the leper colonies to the account of a book about a doubting woman who gathered the lepers to extol aloud the questioning of her faith, will evolve into a movie about a very secretive woman who is given a computer by the local shaman, or priest of insurgent Communist guerrilla leader (the screenplay is currently in rewriting).

The movie on Mother Teresa's life, based on the book that is based on the life, will show Mother Teresa sitting in a darkened shanty interior. This is somewhere in remote India. The sound of a generator humming will fill the background. Mother Teresa's face. The camera revolves around so that we are looking over her shoulder. Is she writing about her loneliness and her crises of faith? Well, yes, she is. But not in the way you expected from the book or from her actual life. Mother Teresa is typing furiously in a chat room scenario. She has multiple identities. She is at one moment a lonely semi-truck driver in a motel room in Easter Oregon, writing about his hours of loneliness and questionable faith on the long, winding roads of boredom. In another persona, Mother Teresa is writing as a lady who was born on a farm just outside of Lawrence, Kansas. She has come to New York to try to become an actress. She is writing about her loneliness and crises of faith while lost in the demeaning enslavement of waitressing in the Big Apple. In another personality, she is a soldier just returned from Iraq. He is alone with his stress, with his questions about faith. And so.

Mother Teresa, the movie, will be about a woman of many personalities questioning all her forms of loneliness and crises of faith. Fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 10:31 AM ET | 08-27-2007

Gotta love people who throw out mythical quotes from the Bible as if it makes them right. People twist these often times absurd passages to their own whimsical stance. You see it from fanatical psychopaths all the time in the form of cults, fanatical Islamic murderers, etc. To me when you start throwing Bible or Quran passages out there it makes you nuts more than anything. You don't have to be religious or believe in God to do good things. There has been FAR more blood shed and lives lost over the course of human history in the name of "religion" than all political conflicts combined. It's hands down the single biggest flaw in human-kind (fanatical belief in the after-life). You don't need to worship "God" to be a good, honest, giving person. If there really is a God and if he sends people to hell for doubting his existence, there are maybe 4 people in Heaven right now. I find it quite sad how many people truly lie to themselves and others throughout the course of their entire lives. Get a grip people. God and heaven don't exist. But it doesn't mean we can't be loving, caring people.

Sent by Jim Stevens | 11:42 AM ET | 08-27-2007

Religion exists because people are scared of death, period. I think you'd be suprised at the percentage of people who "believe" in God and Heaven out of fear. They're scared that, if there really is an afterlife, they have to believe it to go there. It's patenly absurd. We're told how caring and forgiving God is, but if you don't believe in him then he sends you to hell regardless of how you live your life on earth? Please. People can be giving and caring and honest enough with themselves to realize that there is not a God. It's all made up people. The "if you don't believe in him you go to Hell" nonsense is nothing more than threat (literally of Biblical proportions) made up by "believers" to recruit people to believe in their version of the afterlife. You see, there is strength in numbers, and your version of God and Heaven doesn't hold much water against the next guy's if no one believes it. Am I making sense here? The irony is that millions of people have died throughout history in the name of religion, which is a man-made myth that stems from our inherent fear of death.

Sent by Jim Stevens | 11:58 AM ET | 08-27-2007

Mother Teresa
What a marvelous turn of events. We can all find meaning in this story now and imagine so many facets. Her life will be added to Christ's now as a modern story. And Christianity will grow from Mother Teresa's story as the meaning of her story is worked like clay. Just like Jesus's story was worked like clay; so many new vessels will be created. There is real beauty in a complex life that cannot be boxed. It is in the complexity of trying to understand this womans life that the significance to our own lives will be born. I am happy that these revelations have come to light. I had forgotten Mother Teresa. But now, I want to know more. If we are being manipulated, well it wouldn't be the first time, it won't be the last. And you have to admit, the Christian story is a beautifully, meaningful story. And now even a little more so.

Sent by Dale McBrier | 1:49 PM ET | 08-27-2007

The discussion and controversy regarding Mother Theresa's crisis of faith is indeed surprising. What human has not once experienced doubt in that which they cannot see, feel, taste or touch?

Mother Theresa was human - working in the most deplorable conditions imaginable, ministering to the forgotten, the sick, the unfed, the unloved in the darkest realms of humanity. She dedicated her life to what a lesser human would consider an exercise in absolute futility, and despite her doubts, continued on.

I daresay that very few individuals on this earth would have been capable of achieving what she did, despite the nearly insurmountable odds. Why shouldn't she have had misgivings, second thoughts or questions about her own motivations?

I once read something that seems quite relevant to this discussion. The opposite of faith is not doubt. It is certainty.

Sent by Beth M. | 2:48 PM ET | 08-27-2007

"Jesus, in my heart, I believe in your tender love for me. I love you."
This it the prayer Mother Teresa taught her sisters, and it has given hope to me, a self-critical perfectionist, since I learned it. I say it every time I find myself not measuring up to some ideal I've concocted, and I'm reassured of God's love for me just as I am. It's a simple prayer to strengthen faith from a nun who offered her life in Christ's service, thus living out a couple of other citations from the Authorized Version of The King James Bible that were overlooked by an earlier contributor:

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Eph 2:10

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without work is dead." James 2:26

St. Augustine prayed:
"God, I do believe. Help my unbelief."

Mother Teresa, with her doubt, however fleeting or prolonged, was in good company.

Faith is the antidote for fear. Our world could use a lot more of it along with putting our hands to work to bring about peace and stewardship to a planet at risk from war and greed.

Sent by cmc | 3:08 PM ET | 08-27-2007

Mother Theresa is one whom I have admired immensely for her work. Her deeds speak for her godliness thousand folds more than the preachers who shout from the pulpit. I am an agnostic, but I believe in the idea of having faith in God as a wonderful form of healing. It gives hope for the future with greater joy and promise. It provides the believers the motivation to do good. It is where one finds solace in times of agony and sorrow. It is a form of medicine for the soul. Unfortunately believers tend to get cloistered in a shell unwilling to believe that it is not only their God that gives hope but many other forms of Gods and spirits that gives the same kind of hope and promise. It is this unwillingness to accept this possibility and sometimes a superiority complex about their own God that is the seed of most confrontations. I don't believe in a heaven or hell like believers do. If there is such a thing I hope Mother Theresa is in heaven. If she is not I'd rather go to where she is than be the company of hollow preachers.

Sent by Luminda Kiliman | 3:11 PM ET | 08-27-2007

As with all "saints," for those of us who believe (and I am not Catholic, but I do believe), their spiritual impact continues even after their death...I believe this to be true right now of Mother Theresa, even more so because of the controvery that surrounds her right now. Think about it, for those of us less inclined to draw to God because of our own misguided, personal sense of weakness, shame or guilt, this news lets me believe I should still hang on, that no matter what I may be feeling, God still loves me and that my faith and his grace will carry my through, despite what I may be thinking about myself. Because of this controversy, ironically, without sincere empathy for our beloved Mother Theresa, I feel more blessed than ever before. How is this possible? I am aware of God's grace working in me right now, filling me with His peace, love, and wisdom. And I am encouraged that if I should lean toward darkness, as I have done so in the past, I am not alone, I was in the company of a Great Saint who did the same. I feel like now I have a chance in succeeding where before the deceiver convinced me I wouldn't, or couldn't. For those of you who can see, you can see the miracle in this. And this, my friends, is the thread that inspires one to continue to do good and to heal others.

Sent by Tony M. | 5:48 PM ET | 08-27-2007

Some musings on an earlier post of mine... Mother Teresa ministered to the poor, the outcast, the diseased, the forgotten. As she did unto the least of Christ's children, she did unto Christ. She shared their misery and she shared His. The slums of Calcutta were her Via Dolorosa. Perhaps, in her despair, she shared a fraction of a nanogram of the despair God must feel for his creation. We would appear to revel in the misery of our fellow beings, for in many cases we turn a blind eye, we do nothing or worse, we continue to perpetuate the misery. Is it any wonder that Mother Teresa's soul would cry out? Is it any wonder that God would choose her to voice the despair that he feels as he chose her to be His caregiver? Would that we could all give as selflessly as she did. Perhaps God would weep less.

Sent by kjw | 5:52 PM ET | 08-27-2007

It would be wrong to say that Mother Theresa was having doubts about her FAITH. I'm sure she continued believing in the truths of her faith (i.e. That God exists, that suffering can be redemptive, that Heaven is promised, etc.), just like any other Cathoic, no matter what inner struggle she may have been going through. What she was expressing then, was not positive doubt, per se (which, if true, would make her an atheist), but what theologians call NEGATIVE doubt which says "I don't see how this can be true, but I believe it anyway."
Remember, scripture says (Rom 3:30) that there will be people--spiritual "Jews"--who will show their faith by their actions (The proof is in the pudding!). Mother Theresa persevered in faithful actions until death; therefore, she is a spiritual Jew, and therefore worthy of greater emulation, not less.

Sent by David Rudmin | 8:21 PM ET | 08-27-2007

For all Catholics who identify with the spiritual crisis that Mother Theresa experienced I would recommend the book Far From Rome, Near to God, Richard Bennett and Martin Buckingham, Ed.

Sent by C.J.Anderson | 11:38 PM ET | 08-27-2007

That Mother Theresa got up each day and did God's work on this earth with such a black hole inside is a miracle that should be counted toward her cannonization.

Sent by Connie | 9:37 AM ET | 08-28-2007

The Hollywood Redemption of Mother Teresa: Good news on the cinematic home front. The initial screenplay based on the book on Mother Teresa's "Crises of Faith" is making the Hollywood rounds with encouraging hints. Thus far, Sir Ben Kingsley has indicated interest, and Fiona Apple is said to be interested in writing the movie's musical score. There is high-minded talk throughout Hollywood that Mother Teresa's story could attain the levels achieved by the film version of Gandhi's life. Fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 11:13 AM ET | 08-28-2007

I don't know that Mother Theresa was, at the end of her life, a self professed athiest. For certain she stuggled with the pull of athiesm or agnosticism, as many of us do. Is she going to hell for that, and should she be denied Sainthood or the respect of Christians? That depends on whether she really abandoned her faith. Her struggle seems really to put her in the class of Job. Job, described by God as the most upright of men, complained about the injustice of his circumstances but continued to do his part even in the face of God's silence. If Mother Theresa fell short of Job by ceasing to pray for a time, that's only human. And a Catholic still must ask, "was she in the state of Grace when she died?" If so then after a lifetime of struggle against doubt God might still welcome her after fighting the good fight against the afflictions that beset her (and us). That is, if God and Heaven exist...

Sent by john | 12:21 PM ET | 08-28-2007

Mother Theresa's confessions of doubt and anguish should not bother Christians in the least. After all, Christ experienced a loss of faith when he cried out on the cross that God had forsaken him. From Job to Christ to Mother Theresa, such a cry is sacred when it is uttered by the truly just which, admittedly, most of us are not, and a lot of our own anguish is pretty much self-absorbed narcissism and amazement. St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians that the only things that matter are faith, hope and love. The greatest of these, he says, is not faith and it is not hope. When faith and hope have fled, however, there is still love. Love is a decision. We can choose to love even when we have lost the object of our faith, indeed, especially when we have lost that object. If Christ can lose his faith, so can Mother Theresa, and so can you and I. Where is the difficulty in that? But to love when one is without all hope, when one is afflicted, and crushed -- that is truly a supernatural miracle, greater than walking on water or raising the dead.

Sent by Peter Isely | 5:16 PM ET | 08-28-2007

Bless Theresa's dust that nourishes the seeds of love she planted, her voice that still echoes with sunny humor and hard truth. Her smile radiates through tears and fear. Whatever started her on her journey, her doctrine was love. Be clever, whatever you say about her, but also be grateful she lived.

Sent by Rose Marie Leather | 7:20 PM ET | 08-28-2007

WhenI was just a young Catholic girl of 16, Iwas greatly blessed by having a brief encounter wth Mother Teresa. I can say from personal experience, she can never be replicated. She was the true embodiment of love. I,ve never met anyone who touched me. It was exactly like I was in the presence of Jesus. I have no dougt where she is, she did all things for her Savior.

Sent by Maryanna Robertson | 8:38 PM ET | 08-28-2007

donot judge and you will not be judge..mother teresa is in heaven right now....pray for us mother teresa

Sent by joseph defensor of the philippines | 11:51 PM ET | 08-28-2007

To those who condemn Mother Teresa's times of low faith, ask yourself the following: Could you work with the unlovlies of the world - those poor unfortunates with open sores, those who were mostly destined to die? Could you stand the awful odors of the squalid surroundings? What would it do to your self-esteem to beg for money in order to help these people? I agree with Joann Miller's comment of 8/27 - Mother Teresa had to be exhausted, and yet she kept on...that showed her faith in itself! Though I am not a Catholic, I have accepted Christ as my Savior, but I have to admit I wouldn't have the strength to do what this tiny woman did. Before you condemn, ask yourself if you could have done what she did her whole life for just one week! Wouldn't you despair and have times of low faith, too? I think she was an amazing woman, and she took on the job no one else wanted to do! I think we were blessed to have seen this woman pass our way!

Sent by J. Wescott | 6:09 AM ET | 08-29-2007

While I don't know the answer to why Mother Teresa had such a profound crisis of faith, I don't believe, as some athiests are gloating, that she is a "self-professed athiest". People have doubts about everything. Even the most popular athiest of the moment, Christopher Hitchens, revealed in an interview that his children were baptized. He essentially claimed that he didn't want to be responsible for their souls.
Kind of a "just in case". Even the nay sayers have doubts.

Sent by Maryanne | 10:38 AM ET | 08-29-2007

"We are on the side of religion as opposed to religions, and we are among those who believe in the wretched inadequacy of sermons and the sublimity of prayer." - Victor Hugo.

Mother Teresa was like a Dura Mater, and a caregiver to so many people.

I think it's only human to wonder about the existence of God.

It is not the first time that, humans have expressed doubt for things that they cannot touch, feel, and see.

Mother Teresa would be the personification of GOD (if there is one) with her life long dedication, serving the poor and the sick.

When it comes to me: I'd rather go take a walk in the fresh air, look at the stars and observe the tide.

Actions are the ones that matter, not prayers. As as an Albanian too, I respect her work deeply. I respect her even more for her doubts.

Sent by Sabina K. Marsh-Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology | 6:52 PM ET | 08-30-2007

I think many who are saved walk in darkness for a period of time, the fact that for M.T. it was so prolonged is somewhat suprising. As an ex-Catholic now Protestant, I believe the false doctrines she was living under had much to do with her lack of relationship with Jesus. However, even those with little faith are lifted up unto heaven. Although it is not for me to judge, I wouldn't be suprised if M.T. was saved despite her alliegance to the RCC.

Sent by AC | 8:49 AM ET | 08-31-2007

She was not an atheist!We have all questioned God's existence at one time or another? When faced with the dept of evil and cruelty in the world it can be easy to do that, but she was a woman of vows,like us, struggled to hold on to her faith at times. There are many things we see and cannot understand the why. Even Jesus when anticipating the cross was distressed and sweat capillaries busted from the intensity. No one said it would be easy, she is going to heaven because of her faith not her doubts. The love of God being poured out through her is the evidence. 1 John 4:7-8 ..."everyone that loves is born of God..." She loved the unlovable and that is always hard.

Phillip Guerra
Webmaster
Alloftheanswers.com

Sent by Phillip Guerra | 2:14 PM ET | 08-31-2007

Good news from Hollywood on the movie made from the book about Mother Teresa's Crises of Faith. Angelina Jolie has expressed interest in the movie. Cindy Sheehan is interested in doing cameo appearances.

fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 3:31 PM ET | 08-31-2007

Jesus explained it so simply, "By their fruits you will know them". Theresa's good fruit is everywhere. My question is, where is the good fruit of all these people criticizing her? WHo the hell are they anyway?

Sent by john | 11:38 AM ET | 09-01-2007

Expandingly good news from Hollywood on the project to turn Mother Teresa's Crises of Faith into cinematic form. Charlton Heston has expressed interest in being the 'Voice of God.' fred call aka bigbro

Sent by fred call | 10:20 AM ET | 09-05-2007

None of our belief or disbelief changes the truth. Reality is what it is. But getting at it, thats the rub. None of us can know the truth. We are too limited. Pompous statements about reality without admiting to the underpinnings of faith that everyone -- scientist and theologian, naturalist and supernaturalist, athiest as well as thiest -- must build on is arrogant and ludicrous. Athiests and thiest alike have to depend on faith at some level to make sense out of life. And, faith causes us to act. The statement that "God is a myth" is as much one of faith as any other religious statement. Furthermore, just because Mother Teresa experienced doubt because she missed the feelings of connectedness with Christ, doesn't mean she lacked faith in Him. Her work bears that out. Far from being evidence of no God, her faithfulness in the absence of feeling is evidence of the power of God to move a life through faith even when feelings are absent. Her Faith resulted in exemplary work. Her Faith, if followed by all, would result in a much better world. Lets not lose sight of the work of God in her even through her doubt. That is, I believe, the main point of her life.

Sent by Tom Cormack | 12:19 AM ET | 09-08-2007

These discussions about Mother Teresa remind me, FAN NOLI a multi-talented figure of Albanian literature, culture, religious life and politics, well travelled and educated in Harvard.
He used religion to get very close to the masses, as a way to help people...but he created the most westernized Albanian democratic government in the 20's.

Sent by MiStamatisis | 12:44 PM ET | 09-08-2007

I don't agree with Mr. Cormack. When you are so close to these unhealthy people...poor and dying then you wonder:- Where is God to help them?
Just like at the springs of Lourdes in France...aha alot of people are healing.
Sure.

Sent by MiStamatisis | 5:31 PM ET | 09-12-2007

Mother Teresa wanted to suffer as Christ suffered, and He granted her the ultimate suffering--the feeling of being alienated from God. That was the last torture that Jesus experienced on the cross, when He cried, "Father, why have You forsaken me?" It is a mistake to think less of Mother Teresa for what she went through. Look what a saint she was in the face of inner emptiness and doubt. The rest of us have no excuses for our failure to live the love of Jesus Christ at all times. We should love others as Jesus loved us not only because God is real, but because that is the right thing to do. Mother Teresa is a true saint because she didn't depend on feeling connected to God in order to do His will.

Sent by Francesca Williams | 1:31 PM ET | 09-17-2007

In the book "Mother Teresa, come be my light" - there is no crisis of Faith in the text. She has not expressed any absence of Faith. She does express an extremely depressing feeling in very spiritual terms.
A depressing feeling would ordinarily be the result of always being with the people she has chosen to help.
An ordinary person might say 'Calcutta has some terrible slums, they were so awful I had to leave immediately.'
Mother Teresa, though, always expresses Love and Joy of her work; but, She seems to have repressed and sublimated the ordinary human response to the scene in Calcutta -

Sent by Sam Barzilla | 1:18 PM ET | 11-10-2007

Mother Teresa inspires me with all of the ways that she gives and thinks about other people before herselve and i look up to that and respect that also.

Sent by jessica | 5:02 PM ET | 12-06-2007

What amazes me is that most people would today could find a way of pulling out one line or two from the sayings of Jesus to make him out to be an Atheist! "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?"
If you read mother Theresa's words she says "Jesus has a very special love for you ... and "I want you to pray for me ??? that I let Him have [a] free hand." If she was an atheist why would she mention praying to Jesus? If you read the Bible you'll see all the great leaders had their times of doubt and struggle, Moses, David, Samuel, Job, Peter, Thomas etc...

Sent by Pat C. | 9:53 PM ET | 01-06-2008

She was damn sure a "Light of Wonder" for so many victims of poverty. That is a sure-fire positive of at least one member of our Homo sapien sapien species as measured against evil others who have used the power of mythical, revengeful gods to lay waste to each other,to subjugate geographically, to annihilate and bludgeon millions of their own kind who dare resist their so-called belief system, to rape, torture, maim and kill for the pleasure of it and for spoils. And no matter how many centuries pass and technology increases, the basic instinct of psychotic madmen with leadership powers and his ilk is to force their god system on each and every occupation or conquest mostly by means of war, terror, and genocide and so worthy a happening because it was done under divine guidance. These crazed religious leaders and their followers have evolved over time into devastating killing machines throughout recorded history (Crusades,Inquisition, Ottoman Empire, Spanish Empire, Roman Empire, etc.). In present times the degree of warfare is so nuclear, biologic, and robotic to the point that if a major war breaks out the planet may not endure the consequences and therefore the earth, unable to overcome such a catastrophic endgame, may likely suffer global annihilation of all species. No big deal to global powers who feel justified to do war or jihad forever; They continue going at it hot and heavy and screw the circumstances. God is on our side??? They have sucker-punched their flock for centuries and some never reach adequate consciousness again to understand why. To face up to the truth, that there is no adequate civilization (pardon the misnomer)that can lay the claim to building a great economic and peaceful society for all to copy has no weight in their dark circle of demons. There is no such imagined society of mankind being completely civilized just as there is no mythical god as perceived by christians, muslims, or even the followers of Zeus. However, we are indeed comforted every few decades by the one-in-a-million Mother Teresa's that come along. She never really became a woman who could use her female assets for love, family or wile if she so desired. Passing on her genes may have been a priority she thought of too late in life. She may have had some dark times but in her heart of hearts and without any answers from a god only believed in by faith and not evidence, she rose to great humanitarian status and proportions. In a moral and philosophical sense, she was a goddess on earth. I have deep emotions and gratification for her timely work on earth despite the hell on earth she had to endure; summed up it is known as RESPECT. She did make a difference to millions and that is as big as any man history has spent way too much time on including religious icons.

Sent by Tex Tom | 11:40 PM ET | 03-19-2008