Complicated things of the Church-Explanations?

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I’m a Southern Baptist teenager learning more about the Catholic Church, and the Baptist Church is very different (obviously), and isn’t as complicated. It’s very simple & easy to understand, but the Catholic Church is harder to understand for me, because I’ve never learned the same things, and don’t even know what they are. What is liturgy, dogma, and Sacred Tradition? What are all of these things? I know I sound so uneducated(well, I am of the Catholic Church-not like schooling), but I promise you I’m not, I just need to figure out everything, but I don’t know where to start and don’t understand most of the complicated things of the Catholic Church. Please help and understand where I’m coming from.
 
komeeks18 said:
I’m a Southern Baptist teenager learning more about the Catholic Church, and the Baptist Church is very different (obviously), and isn’t as complicated. It’s very simple & easy to understand, but the Catholic Church is harder to understand for me, because I’ve never learned the same things, and don’t even know what they are. What is liturgy, dogma, and Sacred Tradition? What are all of these things? I know I sound so uneducated(well, I am of the Catholic Church-not like schooling), but I promise you I’m not, I just need to figure out everything, but I don’t know where to start and don’t understand most of the complicated things of the Catholic Church. Please help and understand where I’m coming from.
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Welcome to the forums! I hope that I can assist you with your questions:

Liturgy is basically another word for a worship service. Catholics also use this word as a substitute for Mass. For example: The liturgy begins at 9 a.m.

Dogma is doctrine taught by the Church to be believed by all the faithful as part of divine revelation. All dogmas, therefore, are formally revealed truths and promulgated as such by the Church. They are revealed either in Scripture or Tradition, either explicitly (as the Incarnation) or implicitly (as the Assumption). Moreover, their acceptance by the faithful must be proposed as necessary for salvation. They may be taught by the Church in a solemn manner, as with the definition of the Immaculate Conception, or in an ordinary way, as with the constant teaching on the malice of taking innocent human life. (Etym. Latin dogma; from Greek dogma, declaration, decree.)

Doctrine is any truth taught by the Church as necessary for acceptance by the faithful. The truth may be either formally revealed (as the Real Presence), or a theological conclusion (as the canonization of a saint), or part of the natural law (as the sinfulness of contraception). In any case, what makes it doctrine is that the Church authority teaches that it is to be believed. This teaching may be done either solemnly in ex cathedra pronouncements or ordinarily in the perennial exercise of the Church’s magisterium or teaching authority. Dogmas are those doctrines which the Church proposes for belief as formally revealed by God. (Etym. Latin doctrina, teaching.)

Sacred Tradition is teachings of the Church that were passed down over the centuries that can be traced back to the early Church. Many of the writings of the Early Church Fathers describe and indicated certain traditions of the time that are still used to this day.
 
hello friends,
I strongly suspect that the elevations at the Consecration reached their current rubrical significance after the Great Schism. Trent did not specify the height of the elevations. Even today some Roman priests do not elevate the Host and Chalice above their heads, either because of physical disability or habit. The congregation hears the bells but does not see the Host or Chalice. While a clear elevation is desirable, Rome has never held that a clear elevation is necessary for a valid and licit Sacrifice.

thanks

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webspider said:
hello friends,
I strongly suspect that the elevations at the Consecration reached their current rubrical significance after the Great Schism. Trent did not specify the height of the elevations. Even today some Roman priests do not elevate the Host and Chalice above their heads, either because of physical disability or habit. The congregation hears the bells but does not see the Host or Chalice. While a clear elevation is desirable, Rome has never held that a clear elevation is necessary for a valid and licit Sacrifice.

thanks

california automobile accidents attorneys
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This post has nothing to do with the topic of the thread and is clearly designed solely or primarily to promote the legal services linked to. As advertising it is against forum policy. Reported.
 
There are some distinct differences between Southern Baptist traditions and Catholic tradition, but there’s a whole lot more where things are similar. The main differences are the names we give to things.

In the Catholic Church - as well as the Orthodox, Armenian and much of the Anglican communion, our worship tends to use a fixed set of words and is centred on Holy Communion. This formal style of worship is what we call liturgy. It involves both words and actions and can include music. Baptist worship tends to be less formal, although there is a certain uniformity in the ceremonies used in Holy Communion and Baptism.

The big difference is that the Catholic Church is organised as a hierarchy. The priests at each Catholic church are answerable to a bishop who appoints them to a church and who decides what it proper practice. Bishops are then organised into conferences - usually for a country - and the conferences are answerable to the Pope. Baptist churches are organised from the bottom up with the Church membership employing the minister who is largely independent of other ministers. It is the difference in structure that tends to make Baptist worship less formal than Catholic worship. Basically a Baptist minister can make it up as he goes along, but a Catholic priest has to follow a set liturgy. In both disciplines, some are better at it than others.

The concepts of theology and dogma tend to confuse everybody - including bishops. Basically theology is what we can know about God and religion through study and scholarship and dogma is what we believe has been revealed to us. Both Catholics and Baptists have both.

Tradition is very important to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. In the early days of Christianity, what we believed and what we did was passed on, both by word of mouth and in writing, from the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. This process continues and is known as tradition. The Gospels were written later and it was a few hundred years before what we now know as the Bible was finalised. The process was abused in the middle ages and the Protestant reformers, principally Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, rejected the process of tradition in favour of seeking the will of God through the Bible. That’s where the trouble started. The Southern Baptist Churches are based very much on Calvin’s approach to Christianity and his open hostility to the established Church.
 
Here is a thread in which a former Baptist CAF member explains his journey. Also, please consider getting a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. It offers a great explantion of the faith, in easily understandable language. I believe it will be a great help.
 
po18guy said:
Here is a thread in which a former Baptist CAF member explains his journey. Also, please consider getting a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. It offers a great explantion of the faith, in easily understandable language. I believe it will be a great help.
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Do *not *make the mistake a friend of mine did and get the Idiot’s Guide… In fact, if you can get Home Sweet Rome by Scott and Rebecca (?) Hahn, it explains many Catholic things from a Protestant perspective.(and is a very easy read).

That book explains difference in the idea of worship that Catholics have, which is that worship includes a sacrifice, which the Protestants don’t have.
 
komeeks18 said:
I’m a Southern Baptist teenager learning more about the Catholic Church, and the Baptist Church is very different (obviously), and isn’t as complicated. It’s very simple & easy to understand, but the Catholic Church is harder to understand for me, because I’ve never learned the same things, and don’t even know what they are. What is liturgy, dogma, and Sacred Tradition? What are all of these things? I know I sound so uneducated(well, I am of the Catholic Church-not like schooling), but I promise you I’m not, I just need to figure out everything, but I don’t know where to start and don’t understand most of the complicated things of the Catholic Church. Please help and understand where I’m coming from.
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Greetings Komeeks18,

I would counsel you to get the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2nd Edition. Blessed Pope John Paul II said of the Catechism, that it is the sure norm for teaching the faith.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit
 
@CatholicZ09: Thank you so much! I really needed those explantations! I’m not as confused! (:

@jimrob: Thanks for sharing those similarities. I never saw those similarities before!

@po18guy: Thank you very much for posting that link. I read that person’s conversion story & it definitely makes sense. I’m not really ‘on the fence’ anymore. I’m truly beginning to believe the Catholic Church is the true Church. Although, I probably can not join until I am older, since I’m a teenager with Baptist parents.

@St. Francis: Thanks, I’ll definitely consider reading it!

@Anathama Sit: Thank you, I’ll also considering getting this book!
 
komeeks18 said:
@CatholicZ09: Thank you so much! I really needed those explantations! I’m not as confused! (:

@jimrob: Thanks for sharing those similarities. I never saw those similarities before!

@po18guy: Thank you very much for posting that link. I read that person’s conversion story & it definitely makes sense. I’m not really ‘on the fence’ anymore. I’m truly beginning to believe the Catholic Church is the true Church. Although, I probably can not join until I am older, since I’m a teenager with Baptist parents.

@St. Francis: Thanks, I’ll definitely consider reading it!

@Anathama Sit: Thank you, I’ll also considering getting this book!
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Greetings Komeek218,

If you ever want to talk or need me to pray about any prayer requests please feel free to shoot me a Personal Message.

I would definetely recommend you getting the book, but here’s good news.

You can find the Catetchism online here.

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Though in book form, it has the Index which is helpful because you can look up topics and it will refer you to paragraph numbers. If you have any questions are you also welcome to shoot me a Personal Message and I will get the paragraph numbers that will help you.

God Bless.
Anathama Sit
 
@Anathama Sit: Thank you for offering me your ‘ear’ to talk to you and I definitely wouldn’t mind if you prayed for me in my current troublesome position. Do you know where I can get that book? If I have any questions I will definitely post on here, or PM you! Thanks for your support! (:
 
komeeks18 said:
I’m a Southern Baptist teenager learning more about the Catholic Church, and the Baptist Church is very different (obviously), and isn’t as complicated. It’s very simple & easy to understand, but the Catholic Church is harder to understand for me, because I’ve never learned the same things, and don’t even know what they are. What is liturgy, dogma, and Sacred Tradition? What are all of these things? I know I sound so uneducated(well, I am of the Catholic Church-not like schooling), but I promise you I’m not, I just need to figure out everything, but I don’t know where to start and don’t understand most of the complicated things of the Catholic Church. Please help and understand where I’m coming from.
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If you are interested you could buy a Catholic dictionary, which will explain Catholic terms. Amazon has a few both in print and Kindle.
 
If you like to read, get a copy of Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David Currie.

Each chapter is one topic - Eucharist, Mary, saints, Mass etc - and he explains how he reconciled what he had been taught with what the Catholic Church teaches. IMO, very clear and easy to read.
 
@KCT: Thank you! I’m very interested in this book! I may have to check it out! (:
 
You can buy almost any book, including those mentioned above, through Amazon. com. Many of them are also available for the kindle.
 
LilyM said:
This post has nothing to do with the topic of the thread and is clearly designed solely or primarily to promote the legal services linked to. As advertising it is against forum policy. Reported.
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I reported a similar spam post by this same user this morning. By the way, you shouldn’t quote the spam or at least be sure to remove the link from the quote, otherwise if the moderator doesn’t notice the link remains in your post and the spammer wins. That’s happened here.

Now you’ve been reported for spam. Just to get the link deleted, not to get you in any trouble of course. 🙂
 
To the OP, there’s been good advice so far about your specific questions and book recommendations. Let me add to the recommendations the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s newer, shorter, and simpler than the full Catechism, in a question and answer format instead of a paragraph format and with a few pieces of Catholic artwork mixed in and lists of common Catholic prayers and formulas in the back. Definitely a good resource for beginners. An ideal might be to get both, to read through the Compendium, and then when you get to topics you want to know more about switch to the Catechism itself and read the corresponding sections. I’m personally the kind of person to read books like the Catechism or even the Bible cover to cover for fun, but most people don’t do that sort of thing.

Anyway, regarding the complexity of the Catholic faith in general, it can be a little overwhelming at first but ultimately I think it’s wonderful. On the one hand the essential message is the simple Christian one that even a child can understand. On the other hand it’s a real life thing, with all the layers and complexities of a real life thing. Natural and social sciences are complicated because this is a rich and complex universe we live in, and the sacred sciences so to speak are no different. Catholicism’s very complexity, with all its definitions and nuances and "both/and"s, suggests its authenticity in my opinion.
 
komeeks18 said:
@CatholicZ09: Thank you very much for posting that link. I read that person’s conversion story & it definitely makes sense. I’m not really ‘on the fence’ anymore. I’m truly beginning to believe the Catholic Church is the true Church. Although, I probably can not join until I am older, since I’m a teenager with Baptist parents.
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Great! And, what an opportunity for you regarding your parents as your journey continues. As your parents have formed you in faith, you may now have the chance to lead them to the fulness of faith. Yet, one step at a time.
 
@komeeks18 - Blessings to you on your journey home to Christ’s Church. I will be praying for you as it won’t be easy, but if the Lord wills you to join His Church, then you will be welcomed with open arms not only from Him, but from all of us. Good luck!
 
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