Catholic Explanation of Salvation and Joining the Church?

[auctoris]

I have added Lover_of_Truth to by ignore list. It is obvious they are the pre-Vatican II brand of Catholic that believes everything the Church has taught in the past 50 years is essentially heretical. They only read the old councils and never the more recent councils that harmonize truth in light of our expanding knowledge of God and the world.

Or they are a Protestant apologist trying to show Catholics why they are wrong. In any case, they aren’t worth the time since they are not interested in an exchange of idea.

You can add people to your Ignore List by clicking on the Profile menu at the top of the page and selecting Control Panel > Edit Ignore List.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, it seems it is harder for a non-believer to be received in the Catholic Church that it is for them to be received in the Protestant church. It doesn’t mean Protestants are correct. But the simplicity of Protestantism can be appealing to many non-believers.

I’d say the simplicity and also the freedom to not be under any real authoritative church is very appealing to many. Theology becomes have it your way, ME-ology.

And yeah, for those leaning Catholicism, 9 months of RCIA and possible painful annulment process for the remarried is daunting as well.

Nobody just goes through all that and becomes Catholic on a whim, that is certain lol

Since I started my journey towards Catholicism after a lifetime of being a Protestant, I call Catholicism “advanced Christianity”. There is more to it–more substance. At the same time, its advanced nature can be daunting for those with no religious or Biblical background non-believers. Since there was recently a push in the Church to focus on evangelism, it would be interesting to see how the process could be simplified without losing content.

These are just my ramblings on how to get more people into the Catholic Church.

It’s a lot of information to absorb and most protestants don’t care enough about it to investigate. They should, considering the bible they hold so dearly was birthed by this Church.(humanly speaking)

And when people do take the time to objectively investigate they either become Catholic or join a brnach like the Orthodox, Lutherans or Anglicans, which are obviously much closer to Catholicism than the others.

 

[auctoris]

And when people do take the time to objectively investigate they either become Catholic or join a brnach like the Orthodox, Lutherans or Anglicans, which are obviously much closer to Catholicism than the others.

No danger of that for me. I disagree with the theology and direction of Lutherans and Anglicans. There is no Orthodox church within a few hundred miles of where I live.

Not to mention the fact I don’t believe they have authority. I can understand a case made for the authority of the Orthodox Church since it was the Eastern Catholic Church, but not for Lutherans and Anglicans.

I used to believe the Protestant Reformation was good. Now I believe it was bad. But I also see how God has brought good out of it. However, reconciliation would be ideal.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

No danger of that for me. I disagree with the theology and direction of Lutherans and Anglicans. There is no Orthodox church within a few hundred miles of where I live.

Not to mention the fact I don’t believe they have authority. I can understand a case made for the authority of the Orthodox Church since it was the Eastern Catholic Church, but not for Lutherans and Anglicans.

I used to believe the Protestant Reformation was good. Now I believe it was bad. But I also see how God has brought good out of it. However, reconciliation would be ideal.

Very pleased to see you are on your way home, friend! Hope you don’t catch much flack like i did from well meaning protestant family

The Eastern Orthodox church is really beautiful. Truly ancient with Chant; no modern day hymns.

Yeah, any conversion to Christ is a good thing, it’s the formation that can be bad.

I have heard that Luther actually repented before he died and asked for last rites from a priest. And the reason being is he saw the nearly 80 denominations in place before he passed and realized he may have done more harm than good.

Not sure how much of that was true, but I totally get his frustration seeing these guys selling indulgences in order to fund Rome’s projects. That’s a no-no and the Church has since acknowledged that some wrong doing did take place.

Maybe one day we will have a Lutheran rite. Would be nice

 

[auctoris]

I have heard that Luther actually repented before he died and asked for last rites from a priest. And the reason being is he saw the nearly 80 denominations in place before he passed and realized he may have done more harm than good.

The Catholic author Peter Kreeft said that in today’s world a conservative Protestant and a conservative Catholic have more in common than a conservative Protestant and a liberal Protestant or a conservative Catholic and a liberal Catholic.

The gap in belief is wider between people within their own tradition than between Protestants and Catholics with the same religious/political tendencies (conservative vs liberal).