Catholic Converts: What was the last straw that made you left the Protestant Churches?

[Mimi]

This is an unfair and loaded question due to the fact that your church has an authority equal to scripture (in its eyes and certainly nobody elses) and mine does not. Folks are permitted to differ on beliefs in my church but are not in yours due to your churches authority. This still does not change the fact that there are Catholics that do not believe in the Real presence and others that are pro-choice and many that do not conform to the churches teachings. This is the real point. The church can use its authority to set certain beliefs but it cannot prevent its faithful to have beliefs that waiver from what the church beliefs are.

The Church is a “field of wheat and weeds” indeed. There will always be naysayers and dissenters, and those who are nominal.

However, the Church is one holy catholic and apostolic, and we can rely on her to hold and teach the true deposit of faith as handed down to us from the apostles. Amen

Mimi

 

[KarenElissa]

I’m not a convert, but am researching the Catholic Church. As a lifelong Protestant it has been a journey just to get to a point which I was open to looking at it. There are 2 things which moved me.

First a RC Deacon taught a class on Theology of the Body I attended. It got me thinking that the RCC actually had thought about these things, and done so in the light of scripture.

The second reason is that I’m a hospice chaplain and most of my RC patients have a seriousness about their faith which intriqued me and I wanted to find out what made them so passionate. I decided to research myself rather than relying on a purely Protestant viewpoint.

Peace,
Steve

Welcome! Thanks for sharing. As one who seems to be a little further along on this journey, it seems to be amazing and scary all at the same time! I’ll pray that you follow God where ever He is leading you.

 

[silentdeb]

Leaving the Protestant church (actually, Christianity pretty much entirely) and deciding to become Catholic were separate incidents many years apart, in my case.

The sort of ‘final straw’ that made me leave my Pentecostal church was a silly one. I was only 11 years old, and it had always been left up to me to decide if I wanted to have anything to do with church or not - and I DID, badly. I was oblivious to there being different denominations - there was just Christianity, as far as I was concerned, and I went to the church closest to my home. But I’d been increasingly unhappy with attending Sunday School - actual church services were meant for families or adults, not kids going alone - and felt that I wasn’t accomplishing anything… I wasn’t being taught anything, just memorizing Bible verses without comprehension (or explanation!) in exchange for McDonald’s gift certificates. I kid you not.

So I decided the problem must be with me, and I was probably too old for Sunday school and should be going to church. I think I did that 4 or 5 times, and it was horrible … just try finding a place to SIT, if you’re a kid alone.

“Excuse me, may I sit here?”
“NO!”

So I’d sit in the front pew - which was always vacant, for some reason (are they reserved or something???) - and be glowered at by the minister during the entire service. He’d bypass me entirely for Communion (or whatever it’s called in the Pentecostal church … no one ever explained that either )

So there I’d sit, feeling rather depressed, not particularly feeling like I was offering God much of anything by being there, and thinking that the other congregationalists’ attitude certainly didn’t seem very Christian. (judgmental of me, I know - but hey, I was 11. And it’s embarrassing being stared at as you sit up front alone!)

The final straw was all these surly, unfriendly ‘Christians’ were suddenly flailing about on the floor and speaking in tongues. I was willing to believe that maybe SOME of them were genuinely having some kind of religious experience, but to me, it just seemed to be one mass ‘me too! Hey, watch me - I can do that!’

I stomped out of there thinking that God was still good, but Christianity - or people that called themselves ‘Christians’ - was for the birds. (well, the actual words I used at the time were rather nastier )

I managed to hold onto that belief - making exceptions for some people, mind you - for about 25 years, while I searched for spiritual meaning in other religions, without luck.

I kind of stumbled across Catholicism … I’d made the decision to put some serious study into Christianity in general, and thought that since the Catholic church was THE original Church, rather than a church that only incorporated selected bits of the original whole, it’d be a good idea to find a Catholic study bible and go from there - not really intending to ‘convert’ to anything.

And so I started reading.

And reading.

And burying myself in the Catechism and anything else Catholic-related I could find. And finding that, somehow, anything or anyone I thought was special had some sort of Catholic connection.

And realizing that HERE was what I’d originally thought Christianity and God were all about. Catholicism embodied the spirit that I was chasing after all those years earlier, and was so furious to discover didn’t exist within my own church at the time.

That’s the condensed version, anyway.

 

[Tiber_Squid]

I haven’t had the chance to read all of the other posts yet – but my reason was – with all of these 1000s of denominations, somebody has to be right – and after a little study of history and removing predjudices against Catholicism, I found the Church had to be that answer. I knew Jesus could not have intended all the competition and fighting – and that let me down the path. Meeting a good Catholic girl helpd that as well, but I was already in that stage of looking for the right Church – she just challenged me to open my eyes a little wider for the answer which I found… I had a lot of things that also bugged me, like many of the posts here from what I see upon a quick scan. I guess you could lump me under the authority crowd. To me that covers everything – once authority (one, holy, Catholic, apostolic, etc… ) is settled, then scripture, salvation, Mary and the saints, the Eucharist, and all of the other stuff falls into place. Then again, for some if not many, some of those other issues may help draw people, such as the Eucharist. The first jump into the Tiber is a bit scary, but the swim isn’t as scary as it looks…

 

[qui_est_ce]

I’m glad you’re confident but if you believe each person sitting in your pew doesn’t have a different belief or opinion on Catholic doctrine and teaching, then you should probably live in a jar.

Back to the many denominations, something is either true or not true:

John 6:56-60 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

Then many of his disciples who were listening said, ***“This saying is hard; who can accept it?” ***

Either the Eucharist is Wine and unleavend bread the the body and blood, TRUE Presence or crackers and kool-aid.
therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.html
People have believed in Priests and the True Presence since at least the 8th Century, anything else is perversion (heresy, error) by the Reformists and later new denominations started by men and are are unbiblical and un Sacred Tradition.

John 20:23
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Either Jesus gave the Apostles authority to forgive sins or He did not.

What people beleive he said has nothing to do with the truth.I can give many examples. Just because people admint they are wrong doesn’t make them right. doesn’t change the truth that has been handed down over 2,000 years by the HCC.

John 20:31 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of (his) disciples that are not written in this book.

But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

John 21:25
There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written. John 21:15-17-15
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Mathew 16:18-20

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

 

[qui_est_ce]

I’m glad you’re confident but if you believe each person sitting in your pew doesn’t have a different belief or opinion on Catholic doctrine and teaching, then you should probably live in a jar.

Footnote to the Matthew 16:18-20
18] You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: the Aramaic word kepa - meaning rock and transliterated into Greek as Kephas is the name by which Peter is called in the Pauline letters (1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:4; Gal 1:18; 2:9, 11, 14) except in Gal 2:7-8 (“Peter”). It is translated as Petros (“Peter”) in John 1:42. The presumed original Aramaic of Jesus’ statement would have been, in English, “You are the Rock (Kepa) and upon this rock (kepa) I will build my church.” The Greek text probably means the same, for the difference in gender between the masculine noun petros, the disciple’s new name, and the feminine noun petra (rock) may be due simply to the unsuitability of using a feminine noun as the proper name of a male. Although the two words were generally used with slightly different nuances, they were also used interchangeably with the same meaning, “rock.” Church: this word (Greek ekklesia) occurs in the gospels only here and in Matthew 18:17 (twice). There are several possibilities for an Aramaic original. Jesus’ church means the community that he will gather and that, like a building, will have Peter as its solid foundation. That function of Peter consists in his being witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it: the netherworld (Greek Hades, the abode of the dead) is conceived of as a walled city whose gates will not close in upon the church of Jesus, i.e., it will not be overcome by the power of death.

Either Peter is the Authority or he is not. Either the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church of Peter, or they will not. There is ONE Church, the Church of the Apostles. People in that Church, including Popes are sinners, the the TEACHING or Magisterium can never be wrong, it says so in the Bible.

Either Jesus preached other things than are written in the Bible or he didn’t. Everything Jesus preached was not written down, but spoken to the Apostles, therefore Tradition handed down by the Apostles, by the one true church of the Apostles. Catholic.

 

[qui_est_ce]

I’m glad you’re confident but if you believe each person sitting in your pew doesn’t have a different belief or opinion on Catholic doctrine and teaching, then you should probably live in a jar.

Therefore, anyone who thinks he pick and chose and believe anthing he wants is in error.

Those who know the truth, Catholics, and rebell against it commit sin those who do not know the Truth, ie Baptists, Mormans, Muslims, etc.do not commit sin. Having said that, each person is called to serach the Truth.

Therefore, thank you CAF for helping all seek the truth. The is our mission in evangelizing - to bring all to the fullness of Truth, which is taught by the Holy Catholic Church of the Apostles.

Period

 

[contramundum7]

Sola Scriptura.

We were kicked out of our Evangelical Free Church…the church got together a “tribunal” of pastors and deacons. One of them had never even met us. They “tried” us and condemned us…

Thank you for your testimony…

They used the Bible to justify their accusations …
Anyone can twist and turn the Bible into anything they want.

I was just telling my Prot friend this last night… Of course, i have been telling him “Catholic stuff” for years… I can’t figure out why he doesn’t at least have more curiosity about the Church and want to learn more… Maybe he’s just set in his way (he is about 60 yrs old).

I’ve said it before on this forum and I’ll keep saying it. I believe that sola Scriptura is an evil doctrine straight from hell…

I don’t think your words are harsh at all. Jesus said that whoever is not for me is against me, whoever does not gather with me scatters… So, it looks pretty straight-forward & simple to me::yup: wrong beliefs are from the evil one.
Some people on these forums get down-right rude in responding to Catholics who say anything against the Prot religions… But Absolute Truth (Jesus ) is irrefutable.
Catholics (good ones) believe in living the Word of God. I hate to sound critical or whatever, but in my opinioin, most Prot. believe in (mostly) TALKING / discussing the Word of God - and only the Word as found in scripture… & only the verses they want to discuss… Catholics are into objective truth, not subjective truth… My aforemnetioned friend doesn’t seem to care that there are all these various interpretations of the Bible and that there is no way to figure out who is right and who is wrong - without a CHURCH!! He doesn’t see the need for the Church… But I guess that’s understandable since Prot have been separated from the Church for hundreds of years…
Do you know people like this??? I would like to hear testimonies…
Thanks and God bless…

 

[Seeker64]

Hi Contromundum7,

I was just thinking yesterday that my ex-Protestant faith was more about philosophical theology than true spirituality which bears practical fruit. I used to be a Calvinist Baptist.

I’m not a Catholic yet, but once again I am feeling the pull, and from my reading today recognise it could be Actual Grace.

For me the process of leaving Protestantism started while studying Theology. I was researching an essay in 94-95 at an Evangelical College in England and had a few commentaries out. I dawned on me that the commentaries contradicted, even though they were all written by Evangelicals! Sola Scriptura (which Luther didn’t actually practise because he quoted the Fathers) was seriously in doubt.

A lot has happened since then, but mainly I have been in the wilderness as far as church is concerned.

About 2 years ago - how time flies - I went to a Catholic Church for the first time after much studying and finding many of my beliefs about Catholicism were myths. I enjoyed the services, but on about the 9th visit, I stopped going because it dawned on me as the Priest lifted up the Host that I couldn’t believe in transubstantiation.

I’ve felt the pull off an on over the last 2 years, but recently it became stronger. About 4 weeks ago I was praying as I was doing housework and I felt this pull, so I reasoned with the Lord that He had said: “By their fruits, ye shall know them.” I argued in prayer that the Catholic Church had persecuted people, etc and that ruled it out, surely?

A few days later I read a recommendation of Albert Nolan’s book, “Jesus before Christianity” and was impressed with the reviews, so I ordered it, along with his recent “Jesus Today.”

I didn’t know Albert Nolan was a Dominican! I only found this out after being wowed by his wonderful book. I had to check out which church the author belonged to!

It dawned on me that this may be an answer to my prayer about fruits. I’d ruled out the Catholic Church, though not in a close-minded way, I’d offered my reasons to the Lord, and here were my reasons being challenged, strongly. I went on to read about how Nolan distinguishes between the Administration of the Church (which has at times been corrupted) and the Prophetic side. Nolan explains how God has raised Saints to challenge the corruptions. “Gosh! This is just like ancient Israel!” I realised.

So, in the next week or so, I shall go to church again, my local Catholic one and put spirituality before theology. I’ve read some of Chesterton’s before, now I’m awaiting a book by Belloc about the middle ages and the reformation to fill the gaps in my knowledge.

Christina

 

[wanner47]

This is an unfair and loaded question due to the fact that your church has an authority equal to scripture (in its eyes and certainly nobody elses) and mine does not. Folks are permitted to differ on beliefs in my church but are not in yours due to your churches authority. This still does not change the fact that there are Catholics that do not believe in the Real presence and others that are pro-choice and many that do not conform to the churches teachings. This is the real point. The church can use its authority to set certain beliefs but it cannot prevent its faithful to have beliefs that waiver from what the church beliefs are.

And how does that negate the unity of official Catholic teaching?

Of course people are going to have “different opinions.” That’s due to the sinful, rebellious nature of all human beings. Many of us, when confronted with the Truth, rebel against it because it’s not easy or convenient or simple.

Jesus taught that we must do what is right, not what is easy, and that’s a bitter pill to swallow for EVERYONE - Catholics and Protestants alike - due to our sinful natures.

Your above reply still hasn’t answered my question, however:

Originally Posted by **wanner47 **
Can you give an example of conflicting interpretations that are official Church teaching? Not an interpretation held by Joe Catholic in the pew, but conflicting interpretations found in official Church documents or the Catechism?

 

[Pixie_Dust]

Comparing the Christian beliefs of the first three centuries to those of the Church of the week I was attending.

Those first Christians were just so darn Catholic.

I’ll just ditto this. It was a gradual journey for me, starting in 2004: liturgical worship really resonated with me, in 2005 I became a sacramentalist, in 2006 I became a catholic, then on Aug 12th I was confirmed Catholic.

My REAL “last straw” was hearing John Martignoni’s “One Church” CD, which explains WHY those early church guys sounded “so darn Catholic.”

 

[qui_est_ce]

My REAL “last straw” was hearing John Martignoni’s “One Church” CD, which explains WHY those early church guys sounded “so darn Catholic.”

Congratulations and welcome! I am a cradle catholic who is continually reading myself into the faith!

There are a lot of Catholics who wouldn’t be able to do this, but they are still powerfull witnesses to the faith. Maria Goretti comes to mind, as well as the faithfull old ladies and men who go to daily mass and pray their rosaries (the rope of hope).

 

[allofgrace]

Sola Scriptura.

Sola scriptura allows Christians to prove or dispprove almost anything. I have read very logical defenses from the Bible of Christian homosexual practice. I have also read very logical defenses from the Bible for hunting down and killing homosexuals. Anyone can twist and turn the Bible into anything they want. And yes, they can do so using correct “hermeneutics.” This is just a smoke-screen. It sounds fancy, but many advocates of hermeneutics believe in a certain interpretation of the Bible not because of careful study, but because “that’s what their church or pastor or denomination teaches.”

I’ve said it before on this forum and I’ll keep saying it. I believe that sola Scriptura is an evil doctrine straight from hell. If you think I’m being harsh, think about it. This doctrine challenges the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who clearly gave the authority for leading Christians to the Church and specifically, to Peter and his successors. The sola Scriptura advocate becomes his/her own authority.

I am very grateful to the Lord for snatching me and my husband out of the clutches of the sola Scriptura advocates, and I pray for those who are still mired in it.

I agree with you. In October of 1979 I picked up the first book on the Reformation and have studied it for nearly three decades now. Sola Scriptura has split Christians to a point of lawlessness; people don’t even believe that there IS TRUTH or that we can know it. Unless we know the TRUTH of God, we can have no relationship with him that Evangelicals talk about. “Can two walk together unless they be agreed.”

Sola Scriptura is a rupture in the Body of Christ and denominations which come from doctrinal disagreements are a scandal.

 

[Jeanette_L]

The final straw was becoming aware that Truth was more than opinion, it was an absolute reality, always and forever, never changing. And it encompassed everything in life, everything. I spent my entire life bouncing from church to church, hearing many, many different opinions about the Christian faith from the pulpit, each believing his to be true, but with no more proof of it than the other pastor down the street. And I was growing increasingly more uneasy with my obvious lack of ability to nail it down myself, using every resource available to me.

So, I did the logical thing, I started studying the Reformers. I wanted to find out why they didn’t agree with each other, right from the start. I figured one of them had to be right, they staked everything on it, and my whole world depended on one of them being right, but I had to find out which one it was and then go with it.

Needless to say, once you start down that road, with those intentions, you are doomed to leave Protestantism behind, eventually. Because if Truth is what you are after, what you crave more than anything, then God’s not going to leave you alone until you have found it in it’s fullness.

And once I allowed myself to even consider the Catholic faith as an option of honest study, all the pieces came crashing into place, uncomfortably so at first, then wonderfully so when I humbly submitted to Christ.

 

[silentdeb]

The final straw was becoming aware that Truth was more than opinion, it was an absolute reality, always and forever, never changing. And it encompassed everything in life, everything. I spent my entire life bouncing from church to church, hearing many, many different opinions about the Christian faith from the pulpit, each believing his to be true, but with no more proof of it than the other pastor down the street. And I was growing increasingly more uneasy with my obvious lack of ability to nail it down myself, using every resource available to me.

So, I did the logical thing, I started studying the Reformers. I wanted to find out why they didn’t agree with each other, right from the start. I figured one of them had to be right, they staked everything on it, and my whole world depended on one of them being right, but I had to find out which one it was and then go with it.

Needless to say, once you start down that road, with those intentions, you are doomed to leave Protestantism behind, eventually. Because if Truth is what you are after, what you crave more than anything, then God’s not going to leave you alone until you have found it in it’s fullness.

And once I allowed myself to even consider the Catholic faith as an option of honest study, all the pieces came crashing into place, uncomfortably so at first, then wonderfully so when I humbly submitted to Christ.

beaming I’ve had a similar experience, but you’ve stated it far more eloquently than I would have been able to - you do have a remarkable talent for that, dear Jeanette!

 

[allofgrace]

beaming I’ve had a similar experience, but you’ve stated it far more eloquently than I would have been able to - you do have a remarkable talent for that, dear Jeanette!

And this is a second to that! It is my experience exactly. I’ve studied the Reformation since 1979 and two years into it I walked out the door of my Calvinist “church” and literally wiped my feet on the mat going out. I’ve continued to study the Reformation ever since and I believe that it is the thing that let loose what the Bible refers to as the great apostacy that must come before the return of Our Lord.

This past week I received a phone call from a Nazarene Sunday School teacher who tells me that I am in great danger n the Catholic Church and I must come out. He sent a couple of articles that are blatantly anti-catholic and twisting fo history; these are things he has picked up from Hagee, David Jeremiah, Tim LaHaye, etc. He is teaching this stuff as are they and it turns my stomach. With this kind of misinformation they are taking Catholics out of the Catholic Church. I pray for these people and for those they teach and proscelytize; please join me in that prayer.

 

[Jeanette_L]

And this is a second to that! It is my experience exactly. I’ve studied the Reformation since 1979 and two years into it I walked out the door of my Calvinist “church” and literally wiped my feet on the mat going out. I’ve continued to study the Reformation ever since and I believe that it is the thing that let loose what the Bible refers to as the great apostacy that must come before the return of Our Lord.

This past week I received a phone call from a Nazarene Sunday School teacher who tells me that I am in great danger n the Catholic Church and I must come out. He sent a couple of articles that are blatantly anti-catholic and twisting fo history; these are things he has picked up from Hagee, David Jeremiah, Tim LaHaye, etc. He is teaching this stuff as are they and it turns my stomach. With this kind of misinformation they are taking Catholics out of the Catholic Church. I pray for these people and for those they teach and proscelytize; please join me in that prayer.

 

[Jeanette_L]

I agree with you. In October of 1979 I picked up the first book on the Reformation and have studied it for nearly three decades now. Sola Scriptura has split Christians to a point of lawlessness; people don’t even believe that there IS TRUTH or that we can know it. Unless we know the TRUTH of God, we can have no relationship with him that Evangelicals talk about. “Can two walk together unless they be agreed.”

Sola Scriptura is a rupture in the Body of Christ and denominations which come from doctrinal disagreements are a scandal.

You know, when I was coming to a point of crisis in my Christian faith, and didn’t know where else to turn, because I had tried all the churches, the words of Christ kept turning in my head: “you will know the Truth, and it will set you free”. And I had always taken that as just a way of saying, having a relationship with Christ, knowing Him as Savior. But I did have a relationship with Him and I still wasn’t free. I was trapped in the Christian world of mass confusion.

So those words about knowing the Truth kept rattling around in my brain for the better part of 3 years, driving me crazy. Until one day, I had the realization that not only was knowing Christ as Savior the truth, but that Christ Himself was the Truth in such a huge and encompassing way, and that everything in my life had to be held against the standard of the Light of Absolute Truth. Everything I believed had to held up to that light. I couldn’t just shrug everything off and just look around for what “felt right” to me anymore, I knew that I had been misled by that standard before, and dissappointment and depression always followed. The realization of Absolute Truth encompassing everything, that it could be found and known, changed my world entirely.

 

[Ferdy_000]

I’m not a convert, yet any way (I start RCIA next week ), but it doesn’t have much to with Protestant doctrine. The best way I can explain it is that Protestant doctrine, is cut short in some ways and keeps changing most of the time never even considering history…now there are thousands of different sets of beliefs, and only one Jesus. Then Catholicism comes along with all the historical elements, and explainations that encompass the whole bible…and I can’t help but to consider the facts right?

May the Holy Spirit keep you fed and always well read on our Catholic Doctrine. I found out that if I studied more of my faith I wouldn’t have gone astray to other Protestant “doctrines” . But now I’m well fed in the Sacraments and through prayer ( most of the time) …We have the history and that’s important but it’s our unity and Sacraments which get us through the night . :banghead: Just thought I’d say that and good luck with your classes. May you inspire others to learn about the Catholic faith ! :tiphat:

 

[Lissla_Lissar]

Realizing that there is no way that Jesus wanted us to be endlessly divided and bickering, with no authority but personal feeling and personal study. Disgust with the model of received doctrine which is entirely based on individual experience of God.

And the fact that I couldn’t keep praying to Mary and remain Protestant.