Baptists and anti-Catholicism

[rfournier103]

I have wondered for some time why Baptists seem to have such a serious hair across their behinds in regards to Catholicism.

Has the Church done something to these people that I’m not aware of? I just don’t get it.

If a Catholic tries to join one of their web forums; what do you think the over/under is on how many days they last before they get banned for “heresy”?

Sites like Baptist.org and 4truth.net exhort Baptists to “share the good news with Roman Catholic friends.” Do these people know that the GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST is proclaimed from the pulpit EVERY DAY at Catholic Churches all over the globe? Catholic masses are celebrated 7 days a week; compared to one day a week for Baptists. Maybe they don’t know that?

How can we enlighten these people? Do we have a plan?

 

[DarkLight]

First off, no they don’t. I grew up in a very conservative baptist church, and the amount of straight misinformation about Catholicism was astounding. Most of them believed that Catholicism discouraged bible reading and didn’t have it as a feature of the services.

My impression as well is that a lot of badly catechized ex-Catholics went into the Baptist churches. These people tend to form their impression of Catholicism. They also tend to have a significant fear of people “going through the motions”, and to someone who’s unfamiliar with liturgy the Catholic Mass looks scarily formalized.

 

[po18guy]

Sadly, they have not been exposed to any theology deeper than the razor-thin (and man-made) doctrines that drove the wedge between Baptists and all other protestants.

While raging against the Catholic Church, they have nothing to say about the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox and their thicker bibles, seven Sacraments, priesthood, divine liturgy, doctrinal parallels with Catholicism, etc. etc. etc.

 

[Blue_Goose]

I was a fallen away ex-Catholic that joined the Baptist church. Misinformation from the pulpit and Sunday School teaches ,coupled with Ignorance, is the biggest reason for the anti-Catholic bias.

I am now back in the Catholic Church where I always belonged.

 

[Kliska]

I have wondered for some time why Baptists seem to have such a serious hair across their behinds in regards to Catholicism.

I have start by saying I’ve never heard the phrase “hair across their behinds” before lol

Has the Church done something to these people that I’m not aware of? I just don’t get it.

Disclaimer: I’m not a Baptist, nor have I ever been, so please everyone and anyone correct me if I’m wrong. Isn’t one of the ideas of the Baptist denomination as a whole that many of the teachings that they hold to were actually believed far back in the history of the church, but that believers with similar views were persecuted, and even executed by the RCC, or by the secular gov’t’s associated with the RCC?

If a Catholic tries to join one of their web forums; what do you think the over/under is on how many days they last before they get banned for “heresy”?

It would depend on their posting rules.

 

[DarkLight]

Disclaimer: I’m not a Baptist, nor have I ever been, so please everyone and anyone correct me if I’m wrong. Isn’t one of the ideas of the Baptist denomination as a whole that many of the teachings that they hold to were actually believed far back in the history of the church, but that believers with similar views were persecuted, and even executed by the RCC, or by the secular gov’t’s associated with the RCC?

This is entirely correct. And not entirely unfounded, to be fair.

 

[po18guy]

I was a fallen away ex-Catholic that joined the Baptist church. Misinformation from the pulpit and Sunday School teaches ,coupled with Ignorance, is the biggest reason for the anti-Catholic bias.

I am now back in the Catholic Church where I always belonged.

Welcome home!

 

[white_sheep]

Methinks they doth protesteth too much.

 

[andrewstx]

I have start by saying I’ve never heard the phrase “hair across their behinds” before lol

Disclaimer: I’m not a Baptist, nor have I ever been, so please everyone and anyone correct me if I’m wrong. Isn’t one of the ideas of the Baptist denomination as a whole that many of the teachings that they hold to were actually believed far back in the history of the church, but that believers with similar views were persecuted, and even executed by the RCC, or by the secular gov’t’s associated with the RCC?

It would depend on their posting rules.

There are a handful of Baptists called Landmarkers, they have discredited by Baptist theologians and they teach that the Baptist church goes all the way back to John the Baptiser. They teach a version of apostolic succession and claim that many heretics Paulicans etc. were really early Baptists. Basically everyone who was not Catholic or Orthodox.

But the first Baptists came into existence only in the 16th and 17th centuries.

 

[Faith1960]

I was a fallen away ex-Catholic that joined the Baptist church. Misinformation from the pulpit and Sunday School teaches ,coupled with Ignorance, is the biggest reason for the anti-Catholic bias.

I am now back in the Catholic Church where I always belonged.

My husband grew up in a Baptist church and doesn’t remember an anti-Catholic attitude. What were you taught?

 

[betsybug354]

How can we enlighten these people? Do we have a plan?

One of my best friends is Baptist, the daughter of former Catholics who left the church when she was only 5 years old. According to her, they left because the Baptists had a Vacation Bible School that was very appealing to her children, while their rural Catholic church didn’t offer much for kids. Anyway, today my friend and her husband wander from Protestant church to Protestant church looking for one that “feels right.” I know that one doctrine they feel very strongly about is believer’s baptism by immersion, so even though our kids attend Lutheran school together, she has ruled out joining the Lutheran church because of our practice of infant baptism by sprinkling. If you want to enlighten Baptists, I’d suggest starting
with the subject of baptism.

 

[jmr_1985]

Well, I’ve found a lot of OSAS theologies have strong anti-Catholic tendencies. Because they believe so strongly that once a person has a born again experience, they are set for heaven, they tend to believe that the Catholic Church is an impediment to people’s salvation. Basically, they see the Catholic Church as an apostate church leading many people astray and possibly damning many to hell. Because their theology tends to revolve around the absolute requirement of getting people to have a born again experience, it is generally difficult to dialog and discuss common ground. I would note that it isn’t a strictly Catholic bias (but it is worse towards Catholics). I’ve also seen many OSAS church goers criticizing the mainline protestant churches of their childhood pretty badly.

 

[Faith1960]

Well, I’ve found a lot of OSAS theologies have strong anti-Catholic tendencies. Because they believe so strongly that once a person has a born again experience, they are set for heaven, they tend to believe that the Catholic Church is an impediment to people’s salvation. Basically, they see the Catholic Church as an apostate church leading many people astray and possibly damning many to hell. Because their theology tends to revolve around the absolute requirement of getting people to have a born again experience, it is generally difficult to dialog and discuss common ground. I would note that it isn’t a strictly Catholic bias (but it is worse towards Catholics). I’ve also seen many OSAS church goers criticizing the mainline protestant churches of their childhood pretty badly.

We have some friends who were once Catholic but both had been divorced prior to their marriage and are now in a non-denominational church. I don’t see how somebody can go from a faith they strongly believed in to something totally different because they couldn’t get their first marriages annulled.

 

[DarkLight]

Well, I’ve found a lot of OSAS theologies have strong anti-Catholic tendencies. Because they believe so strongly that once a person has a born again experience, they are set for heaven, they tend to believe that the Catholic Church is an impediment to people’s salvation. Basically, they see the Catholic Church as an apostate church leading many people astray and possibly damning many to hell. Because their theology tends to revolve around the absolute requirement of getting people to have a born again experience, it is generally difficult to dialog and discuss common ground. I would note that it isn’t a strictly Catholic bias (but it is worse towards Catholics). I’ve also seen many OSAS church goers criticizing the mainline protestant churches of their childhood pretty badly.

This is definitely true. Most Catholics don’t have the conversion experience they think is necessary for salvation.

 

[white_sheep]

What kind of conversion experience do they think is necessary?

What about confession, or an act of contrition, or fasting and penance, why don’t any of those count?

 

[DarkLight]

What kind of conversion experience do they think is necessary?

What about confession, or an act of contrition, or fasting and penance, why don’t any of those count?

Among once saved always saved people, the thing to realize is that there is a conversion. Not many conversions - any individual has one conversion. Typically this takes the form of what’s called the “sinner’s prayer.” An example:

“Lord, I confess that I am a sinner. I acknowledge that I deserve hell for my actions. I believe that Jesus came into the world and died for my sin. I ask Him to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.”

That would be a pretty standard basic form. The words themselves typically don’t matter, but a conversion experience is taken to include all of the following:

• the individual acknowledging their sinful nature
• acknowledging that they are going to hell and can’t save themselves
• asking Jesus to be their Savior

For the sort of people we are talking about, this experience is the dividing line between Christian and non-Christian. In some ways it fills much the role that Catholics believe baptism does. They believe it frees the person from original sin, and that like baptism it can only be done once. The difference is that once a person undergoes that experience they believe they are saved, no matter what. They tend to believe that saying otherwise goes against the sufficiency of Christ’s death.

Other experiences of contrition are typically termed re-dedications. Just like we wouldn’t believe that someone could be baptized again, no matter what’s happened since then, they don’t believe that someone can have another conversion. So the way they use the word is a little different than the way it’s used in Catholic circles, referring to that one-time quasi-sacramental event.

 

[Kliska]

Among once saved always saved people, the thing to realize is that there is a conversion. Not many conversions - any individual has one conversion. Typically this takes the form of what’s called the “sinner’s prayer.” An example:

“Lord, I confess that I am a sinner. I acknowledge that I deserve hell for my actions. I believe that Jesus came into the world and died for my sin. I ask Him to come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior.”

That would be a pretty standard basic form. The words themselves typically don’t matter, but a conversion experience is taken to include all of the following:

• the individual acknowledging their sinful nature
• acknowledging that they are going to hell and can’t save themselves
• asking Jesus to be their Savior

For the sort of people we are talking about, this experience is the dividing line between Christian and non-Christian. In some ways it fills much the role that Catholics believe baptism does. They believe it frees the person from original sin, and that like baptism it can only be done once. The difference is that once a person undergoes that experience they believe they are saved, no matter what. They tend to believe that saying otherwise goes against the sufficiency of Christ’s death.

Other experiences of contrition are typically termed re-dedications. Just like we wouldn’t believe that someone could be baptized again, no matter what’s happened since then, they don’t believe that someone can have another conversion. So the way they use the word is a little different than the way it’s used in Catholic circles, referring to that one-time quasi-sacramental event.

It is very much a parallel with water baptism, as they believe it is upon faithing on Jesus that one is baptized by the Holy Spirit, which is then followed by water baptism. However, it is always the conversion experience, that placing of one’s faith on Jesus that is stressed and is seen to be the moment of salvation and the moment of efficacious baptism into the body of Christ, then water baptism is an outward sign, and a profession.

 

[white_sheep]

Hmm, well it seems to me, while we clearly differ on beliefs of what is happening, that Catholics fulfill all the demands of Protestants and then go on to do about a thousand times more of it.

That all seems to be satisfied by one or two basic prayers that many Catholics say every day. That is, the Apostle’s Creed and an Act of Contrition.

 

[MommaduckofMany]

Sadly, they have not been exposed to any theology deeper than the razor-thin (and man-made) doctrines that drove the wedge between Baptists and all other protestants.

While raging against the Catholic Church, they have nothing to say about the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox and their thicker bibles, seven Sacraments, priesthood, divine liturgy, doctrinal parallels with Catholicism, etc. etc. etc.

Not true. We had to live with a Baptist family for several months. This family had not been happy about our conversion. My daughter visited their church once to be with another friend…the pastor was preaching on one subject, saw my daughter and suddenly changed the entire sermon to such as “not worshipping idols and pictures of dead people” etc. Yeah, daughter picked up on it fast, rolled her eyes, and tuned him out the rest of the service.

 

[andrewstx]

Not true. We had to live with a Baptist family for several months. This family had not been happy about our conversion. My daughter visited their church once to be with another friend…the pastor was preaching on one subject, saw my daughter and suddenly changed the entire sermon to such as “not worshipping idols and pictures of dead people” etc. Yeah, daughter picked up on it fast, rolled her eyes, and tuned him out the rest of the service.

I would have tuned him out as well. A sermon full of lies aimed at one young girl!
I would have walked out instantly. That ‘praycher’ should have paid more attention at Jim Bobs bible school, for we Orthodox for certain do not worship ‘idols’ or pictures of ‘dead people’. I bet that same preacher has plenty of pictures of his ‘dead’ relatives.

I think the departed are alive in Christ!