Baptist Pastor Here

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I’ve recommended THE BELIEF OF CATHOLICS often, in cases like this.

And Knox’s 1926 broadcast is printed as the last selection in Knox’s collection, ESSAYS IN SATIRE, under the title “A Forgotten Interlude”.
 
Catholic “revert” here. Just so you know-it’s too late for you; you know too much already so it’s all in the works and only a matter of time before you have to come home. Sorry to tell you -but many of us simply aren’t allowed to remain wayward forever. Your own fault, too, though-you just had to keep asking, seeking, and knocking-and hearing. 🙃
 
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I am honored to pray for you and your family.

A couple of quick points:
  • Every minister that I have met who became Catholic all shared something along these lines, “as a Protestant I understood John 6 in a metaphorical way; as a Catholic I understand it in a deeper, fuller, literal way that I couldn’t possibly ‘unsee’ now.”
  • There’s an adage about Patristics — don’t start reading the Fathers unless you are open to Catholicism. They will lead you to Holy Mother Church; perhaps kicking and screaming, but to Her nonetheless.
As I have told hundreds of RCIA candidates, there are lots of reasons to investigate the Catholic Faith: Dating/engaged/married to a Catholic, deep diving into Christian history or Church Fathers, interest in Catholic radio/TV or websites/forums, the magnetic example of a good Catholic who is a friend/relative/co-worker … but there’s only one reason to become Catholic. And that is if you come to believe (through this journey of RCIA) that Jesus Christ started THIS PARTICULAR CHURCH, filled it with His holy mysteries (sacraments), and calls you to be one with Him in it.

If you come to that realization; He will open every closed door, resolve every obstacle, provide every resource needed, and bring you true peace that only He gives.

PM me if you want to visit more personally or in greater depth.

May Holy Week be a lamp unto your feet,
Deacon Christopher
 
I understand your problem with the analogy as I presented it. It is the analogy Fr Knox uses in the beginning if the book. It represents the state someone would be the targeted reader if his book. You make a good point, I am sure I made it seem than Fr Knox ever intended it.
 
Diaconia said:
don’t start reading the Fathers unless you are open to Catholicism. They will lead you to Holy Mother Church; perhaps kicking and screaming, but to Her nonetheless.
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Interesting. As a good little evangelical teen, I was first introduced to the Fathers in a book published by a Baptist publisher. The book was called “A Treasury of Evangelical Writings”. That did light a spark that took 15 or so years to engulf me 🙂
 
Indeed. The only shopping that is involved, the only choice that enters in is that God chooses us.
 
tomarin said:
May I ask about something that I’ve been curious about for some time now, namely what is the difference between Southern Baptists and northern and/or any other Baptists? It seems to be more than a geographical designation but my Baptist friends can’t explain it to me or they don’t know.
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The difference today is not based on geography. There are more Southern Baptists in the northern states than “Northern Baptists”.

Southern and Northern Baptists used to be members of a single denomination, popularly called the Triennial Convention. Around the time of the Civil War, the Triennial Convention split over the question of whether slave owners could be Baptist missionaries. The Southern Baptists formed the SBC. Later, the “Northern Baptist Convention” changed its name to the American Baptist Churches USA, so no one probably refers to themselves as a “Northern Baptist” today. They might say I’m an “American Baptist” or my church is affiliated with the ABCUSA.

Today, the difference is that the ABCUSA is considered a “mainline Protestant” church (and it tends to be more liberal but not as liberal as the Episcopal Church or the Presbyterian Church at this point as a whole). The Southern Baptists are considered conservative Protestant, evangelical or fundamentalist (but this last one might be considered more of a slur).
 
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Thanks for the explanation, @ltwin. Are there equal numbers of white and black members of ABCUSA? I ask because all of the Baptists I know are black.
 
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tomarin said:
Thanks for the explanation, @ltwin. Are there equal numbers of white and black members of ABCUSA? I ask because all of the Baptists I know are bl
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ABCUSA is largely a white denomination. As of 2014, it’s 73% white, 10% black. The SBC is also largely white, 85% white, 6% black. According to the Pew Center.

There are a lot of historically black Baptist churches, but they tend to belong to their own Baptist conventions. This is a legacy of segregation in the US. The largest black Baptist denomination in the US is the National Baptist Convention, and it has 7 million members.

There are lot more Baptist groups than just these 3 though. The Southern Baptists are the largest though with 14 million members.
 
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I can’t help but think about the courage it took for the first Christians to take that GIANT leap of faith. Just imagine a family of Jews having to make that decision, and pretty much with none of the resources we have today. The New Testament wasn’t even on paper yet, it was walking and talking, it was living. Believing Jesus was the Messiah was ONE step, the second step was believing what the Messiah said. It seems many made that first difficult leap of faith, then one day Jesus said something that floored His new followers, and it even floored His closest oldest followers and friends, the Apostles,

“You must eat my flesh and drink my blood.”

Hmmm, hard saying! Especially even harder hearing for the first time, no Bible to explain, no Church to clarify yet, just Jesus in the live giving the Bread of Life discourse in a very serious mood.

Being born Catholic, we have that belief instilled in us from the beginning, so it’s easier to accept. But for you, in a way you are kind of on that hill all those years ago with the other disciples who had been following Jesus. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you have a mountain of courage to even be considering taking that leap of faith, to believe something so hard! And to think what is involved to take that leap, it isn’t just about you, but also your family and friends. God bless you for seeking the Truth.

You know, during that discourse, when many of Jesus disciples walked away, He also said “No one comes to Me unless the Father draws him.” It certainly seems you are being drawn, not to a symbol, but to the Real & Present Body & Blood of Christ. We all will certainly pray for you, but if you want real discernment, go find an addoration chapel and spend some time before the Most Holy & Blessed Sacrament. May be hard to do right now until the corona stuff subsides, but hope you will consider when things settle down.

You probably already know in your heart that the early Christians never debated over such a hard belief, it was the one thing that was very understood and not up for debate. You are fortunate to have a treasure trove of early Christian writings, while they are not Scripture, they are a very true history describing the beliefs and practices of the new Christian religion. Those folks had courage as well, knowing their belief might cost them their life.

May the Holy Spirit be with you and guide you!
 
I will be praying for you @Home2RomeIDK. I am an ex-protestant and remember that feeling of knowing my days of protestantism were ending and I knew I was starting down a new path to Rome. (for me a return from a long time gone) It can be scarey but wonderful at the same time. Once home it is the most awesome place to be.

I wasn’t a pastor but I listened to many ex-protesant pastors on EWTNs Journey Home show with Marcus Grodi during my journey back to the Catholic faith. Their stories are so inspiring and telling. If you haven’t checked it out yet you might try it.

God bless and will be praying.
 
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I sympathize with your struggle. I was a Baptist and an Evangelical. I became disillusioned 17 years ago and made the jump first to the Episcopal Church and then to Catholicism. I didn’t really have to worry about hardship on my family, since my husband didn’t attend church. So I attended RCIA and converted a year later. My husband converted to Catholicism 9 years later. Prior to becoming a Catholic, when I attended the Episcopal (Anglican) Church, I found that hardly anyone attended and the overall feeling I got was one of spiritual dryness. That was just my impression. Now that I have been a card-carrying Catholic for 11 years, I can look back and wonder why I was a Protestant for so long. I have found the Catholic Church to be exactly what I was looking for. I had always been attracted to it because of its ritual, tradition and beauty. The Eucharist is what made all the difference for me. I will pray for you on your quest. God will show you what to do.
 
The Baptists are quite fragmented and there is substantial freedom and doctrinal difference between the various denominations in Baptistry. Some have closed communion, if you can believe that. Where’s he uproar???
 
I am a convert to the faith from being Methodist and the concept of denominations is what shifted my pursuit of the truth as well. I very much recommend Scott Hahn’s Rome Sweet Home book as well! I said a prayer for you to be guided to the truth and live out God’s will for your life!
 
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