Catholic Heavy Weight Thinkers who became Protestant

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Hello JfM,
JesusforMadrid said:
I know there are those Catholic theologians such as Hans Küng who preach the liberal protestant cause. However, I am not aware of any leading Catholic theologians who, whilst remaining orthodox Roman Catholic, embrace ideas of conservative evangelical protestantism, such as rejection of Papal authority or a focus on salvation by grace through faith.
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Garry Wills is a noted historian that considers himself Catholic and advocates opposition to the authority claimed by the Pope…but I think Peter J got it right re rejection and orthodoxy.
As for b), be careful before you generalise. There are a number of Protestants who reject Sola Scritura.
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I am not sure how you think Sola Scriptura applies to (b)…and which flavor(s) of SS did you have in mind?
 
decrumpi said:
You would be hard pressed to find conservative Catholic theologians anymore. All of the modern ones have decidedly liberal protestant leanings, seeing as though they feel like Rome has kept them from new theology. When one begins to deny Catholic doctrine, one becomes a de facto non-Catholic.

I guess we could turn this around and ask for some Catholic scholars!
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Yeah, I’d like to know the answer to that as well. We see these surveys that tell what % of Catholics believe in the RP, papal infallibility etc. I’d like to see a survey of Catholic historians as to what % believe Peter was the 1st bishop of Rome, Petrine primacy was believed at the start etc.
 
decrumpi said:
Martin Luther, John Calvin (old)

Greg Boyd, Bart Ehrman (then to agnosticism), Joe Mizzi (just for Catholics), etc.

Not that great thinkers are any more sincere than non-intellectuals! I have known countless Catholics leave the church who were convicted by their desire to serve Christ - not intellectual arguments.
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I don’t think Bart Ehrman was ever Catholic and I don’t think Greg Boyd was a Catholic Theologian/Clergy/Philosopher type when he became Protestant. I could be wrong. I don’t know anything about Mizzi
 
Stephen168 said:
I don’t think Bart Ehrman was ever Catholic and I don’t think Greg Boyd was a Catholic Theologian/Clergy/Philosopher type when he became Protestant. I could be wrong. I don’t know anything about Mizzi
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Bart Ehrman
Ehrman became an Evangelical Christian as a teen.
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Greg Boyd
Boyd was raised Roman Catholic, but became an atheist as a teen
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Ok, these are from Wikipedia. :confused: But it seems if Ehrman ever was Catholic, he was not brought up in the Church. Boyd was never a Catholic Theologian. Although a baptized Catholic, he became Protestant at 17.

Joe Mizzi isn’t even in Wiki. :confused:
 
Re Calvin, Luther, etc, I have seen someplace that the best heretics were all Catholics. If one traces the various spin-offs of spin-offs, one notes a steady decline in heavy weight theology,consider Luther vs Mary Baker Eddy.
 
I have just done a Wikki (so treat with warning) on Hans Kung and it seems that whist he has arguments with aspects of Catholic teaching he still sees enough in the Catholic Church to remain a Catholic.

" Küng argues that Barth like Martin Luther overreacted against the Catholic Church, which despite its imperfections has been and remains the body of Christ.[7]"

The same seems to be said for the Spanish chap who was mentioned in an earler post (forgot his name) where he remains close to Catholic teaching whilst not agreeing with it all.

It may well be an Anglo Saxon bias but there are still view few examples of Catholic scholars who have converted to Protestantism. Many lay people will however renounce their Catholic faith because the church has not done enough to feed them. However, I see a huge change coming with the advent of a new Catholic apologetic middle class (educationally), supported by new media which provides easy access to tracts and answers on matters of faith.

I am an example of this: my wife used to attend an evanelical church and on occassion so did i. In the past I was embarrassed to mention that i was a Catholic in case i was asked questions about my faith. However, now the opposite is true and i am the one asking the questions of my evangelical friends. I know for sure that my ability (all be it very rudimentary) to explain Catholic doctrine together with my questionning of thier beliefs has opened a few eyes. I would not go as far as to say i have converted anyone - nor do i think that i want to - all I want to do is make them think. Oops sorry i seem to have strayed a little from the point of this thread.
 
Mannyfit75 said:
She is but you know I thought he was a Gnostic since he done Dan Brown’s movies.
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Maybe the reason he participated in those movies was because he was being paid 50 million a piece to act in it. 😃 I think a lot of people would throw the CC under a bus for that amount of money. 😃
 
josie_L said:
Maybe the reason he participated in those movies was because he was being paid 50 million a piece to act in it. 😃 I think a lot of people would throw the CC under a bus for that amount of money. 😃
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Isn’t his movies, just movies? I mean I was very uncomfortable with the first movie, but still watched it at the behest of others. It at least gave me the chance to talk Church history with them.

The second movie was entertaining, though there’s something missing.

To stay on topic, I remember reading in one of Karl Keating’s book that many people leave the church for emotional reasons but disguised as theological difficulties. Well, I can’t think of anyone leaving for honestly theological reasons. I remember reading that Luther left mainly because of corruption between kings and clergy, not theology.
 
StillWondering said:
To stay on topic, I remember reading in one of Karl Keating’s book that many people leave the church for emotional reasons but disguised as theological difficulties.
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Interesting. I wonder if that is equally true of people leaving Protestant denominations.
 
Peter_J said:
Interesting. I wonder if that is equally true of people leaving Protestant denominations.
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I would imagine those that leave Protestantism faiths to convert to Catholicism for emotional reasons disguised as theology will need to confront that theology before or soon after they join. The reason for my thinking is that while Catholic teachings are wonderful and inherited from God, they are not easy to live by.

Those that join the faith to get married or because of other emotional reasons will probably try to integrate into the faith as much as needed. However, those that claim to enter for theological reasons will be confronted by the people they left as well as Catholic teachings colliding with their understanding of reality.

Thus, I would gather that those who enter the faith due to emotions disguised as theology will have a very difficult year through RCIA as well as demonstrate their emotional conflicts. Leaving the Church usually does not involve my difficulty, some denominations may even immediately accept someone when they simply say they deny the Catholic faith. However, becoming Catholic in an Orthodox or at least close to Orthrodox parish will require RCIA as well as integration.
 
Peter_J said:
Interesting. I wonder if that is equally true of people leaving Protestant denominations.
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People who leave protestant religions fro emotional reasons shop around till they find another church that they like - theres 30k to choose from so one of them will suit their needs
 
ConfusedTim said:
People who leave protestant religions fro emotional reasons shop around till they find another church that they like - theres 30k to choose from so one of them will suit their needs
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This may be true to some degree, particularly those whose thelogy isn’t particularly deep, or are the Protestant equivalent of a cafeteria Catholic. But the fact is if a Lutheran, for example, is well catechized, leaving Lutheranism for Calvinist or Baptist (as examples) isn’t easy. In fact, there are really only 5 or 6 groups of Protestants within which there are these well-discussed 33k variations. Moving within those groups might not be difficult, but moving from one group to another is difficult for someone who knows their faith.

Jon
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Re Calvin, Luther, etc, I have seen someplace that the best heretics were all Catholics.** If one traces** the various spin-offs of spin-offs, one notes a steady decline in heavy weight theology,consider Luther vs Mary Baker Eddy.
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👍 Bingo!
 
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