When many people convert to Catholicism, they sometimes tell me about how they read the Bible, and based on their understanding of it, looked for the religion that best conforms to it (the Bible teaches the Trinity, the Catholic Church teaches the Trinity, therefore the Catholic Church is right). I never āconvertedā like that (I was technically raised Roman Catholic). I donāt consider Scripture as anything other than a collection of texts with some historical value by itself. I never assumed Scripture was infallible
a priori. Instead, I asked, what is the philosophic view of Christianity? I was raised in an educational environment that if (non-political) philosophy was even discussed, other then the curiosities of Plato and Aristotle (which were often butchered anyway), only philosophers Descartes on were of any value. When I started contemplating the philosophical views of Aristotle, I realized that I always believed in the āunmoved moverā argument unconsciously. I then ran into this guy named Thomas Aquinas. It is from his writings, as well as some of contemporary Thomists who adapted his philosophy to modern understandings, that I realized the correct way to approach the world.
The biggest problems for my soul now was accepting the authority of the Catholic Church, and some emotional problems (our culture is very anti-Catholic, and I am very sensitive to other people. Remember: no one is convinced of something by pure intellect. Aristotle says we are persuaded in three ways: intellectually, emotionally, and ethically/culturally). I, like many Modern Americans, am very skeptical of authority, especially one that from the outside, looks like a monarchy (only recently has the Pope stop wearing his crown). Curiously, unlike many of my peers, I have never had a problem with Catholic moral teaching, I have always been pro-life and I was apathetic to gay āmarriageā (no one disagrees with the Church on issues such as insider trading and nuclear war, but when it comes to sex, the Church is obviously outdated
).
My studies of Second Temple Judaism and early Church history (St. Ignatius, St. Justin, St. Irenaeus, etc.) led me to abandon any hope of Protestantism, and since I started cleaning my mind of modern philosophy, as well as learning how Logic works, I began to agree with the Christian view of the world (I want to emphasize how much the Judo-Christian understanding of Tradition differs from our Western view today: we Westerners sort of downplay oral tradition and eyewitnesses, even though there isnāt much evidence against them: I think the denial of eyewitnesses in particular is why many moderns deny miracles). But it would be modern thinkers such as Lewis and Chesterton that would really get me into the Christian view of things, and I finally accepted that the Christian story in history was correct.
Now, Christians from the very beginning taught that the Apostleās Successors were the Bishops. My problem then became a choice between Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Coptic Christianity, etc., since all these Churches can trace Apostolic lineage to the first century. I was tempted greatly to join the Orthodox, because again, they sort of believe in a confederation of Bishops, rather than the Catholic Church, which again, looks like a monarchy (I had big problems with papal infallibility also). However, the deal breaker for me was the fact that the Orthodox canāt give me a historical, objective definition on what an Ecumenical Council is. The Catholics can. I learned that Papal Infallibility is not something like a dictatorship, but rather the logical conclusion of sorts from the College of Bishops being infallible. I actually learned this from looking at the posts of a Coptic Catholic on this website by the username of Mardukm (this is how I found this site). Thank you Mardukm! (maybe heāll see this
). Furthermore, the Orthodox are ethical Churches (my fatherās family is traditionally Ukrainian Orthodox/Catholic), and sort of ignore any Christian who has viewpoints that arenāt 100% Orthodox to them. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, tries to find the truth even in heretics! (we teach that most Protestant Baptisms are valid, and that Orthodox sacraments are valid, for example. Pope Benedict XVI actually uses a quote from the āGospel of Thomasā in his book
Jesus of Nazareth to support orthodox positions. Maybe the āGospel of Thomasā accidently includes misinterpreted oral teachings from Jesus, since even some of the Fathers quote Jesus saying phrases that donāt appear in the Four Gospels
).
This is when I accepted the Church, and Iāve been trying to sanctify myself since. The Church has challenged me and continues to do so on every single level: physical, philosophical, historical, emotional, etc. I didnāt come because it āfeltā right to me, I came because it shows itself to be an authority. The Saints say that the best way to learn humility and get to Heaven is to learn obedience. If the Church is Christās Body still on Earth, then shouldnāt we expect Christ to still speak through it? How can we say to obey God if we disobey His Church, His Body? You said you were raised Catholic: why did it fall out of favor for you?
Christi pax,
Lucretius
I donāt really have any original thoughts. I just look for what others have found to be true (especially the Saints).
Conversely, formulating an opinion purely on what one intuits, or comes to believe over time, based on his/her eventual interpretation/understanding, can be quite divisive resulting in many beliefs about the same topic e.g. the protestant fracturing of Christsā Mystical Body, the Church. For catholics itās rather simple: although we have considerable leeway to discern truth from our unique perspective, we still feel it necessary to defer to a higher authority when doctrinal differences occur, and that higher authority is God via Jesusā church leadership, comprised of all fallible leaders. For you, I think, the final authority, regarding Christian Gnosticism, ends with you?
I havenāt either, and he threw me into a depression of sorts. Never read Nietzsche until youāre older and know better 
St. Augustine warns us about how terrible intellectual pride is.
