Converts: Your No. 1 stumbling block to conversion?

[pnewton]

One thing I like about this thread is that it tracks who voted. I clicked on the number of votes and brought up all the names of converts who voted. It was great to see so many of you who I have notice posting through the last few months are converts. God bless Catholic Answers for all its hard work in spreading the fullness of the faith that is the Catholic Church.

 

[WhatMeWorry]

My stumbing block was (of all things!)–Purgatory.

I was raised Lutheran and couldn’t see how Catholics could claim Purgatory existed because it wasn’t in Scripture anywhere. The usual “if it’s not in the Bible then it must not be true” business. But I didn’t have problems with some of the other things-like Mary, statues, etc.-that aren’t explicity stated in Scripture, so I don’t know why Purgatory was such a problem. I was willing to “just go along with it” but without really understanding the Catholic viewpoint. (Not having 2 Maccabees in a Protestant Bible didn’t help!) At the time I was doing a lot of self-study on the Church before making any decisions. I wanted to understand and accept all the Church taught, and if I didn’t, then I wasn’t going to convert. I had gotten some RCIA materials to read through, but the explanations in those books were actually pretty lame. I wasn’t enrolled in any RCIA classes yet.

Funny thing was, I had become very devoted to Our Lady and had been praying the Rosary for a number of years before my conversion. I didn’t have too much problem with any of the other teachings, although I was a little bit leary of confession (“What? Tell my sins to another person? That’s only between me and God!”–typical protestant thinking.) Of course now I understand what a grace Reconciliation is!

It wasn’t until I read Rome Sweet Home, the part where Scott Hahn explains Purgatory to his wife that the light bulb finally went on (a-ha!) and I realized that, hey, it IS in Scripture! It was there all along!

Once I resolved that issue, the rest all fell into place and I was received into the Church the following Easter Vigil–thanks be to God and with a little nudge from His Mother!

 

[cazayoux]

Cat:

The idea of baptism as a sacrament.

As an evangelical Christian, I had always believed that baptism was merely a symbol of our willingness to follow Jesus. (But of course, it had to be immersion. The symbol could not be done “symbolically” by sprinkling, pouring, or signing on the forehead!)

And I railed against (and still have problems with) infant baptism. I understand and accept it all intellectually, and agree with the teachings of the Church, and believe they are the true Biblical teaching regarding baptism.

But I still have a hard time accepting it.

The idea that baptism actually DOES something was very strange to me, and still is. For several years in college, I attended a Christian Church, which, IMO, is the closest evangelical Protestant Church to a Catholic Church (the Christian Church celebrates communion at every meeting). The Christian Church taught that baptism was required for salvation, and I argued against it then, as I considered baptism a “work.”

Howdy !!

I thought of a couple of things you could consider …

Since Abraham, God brought babies into his covenant at 8 days old. Jews still do this.

Do you believe that you can ask God for something on behalf of someone else?

My boys couldn’t rightly ask God for acceptance at only weeks old. I do believe, however, that I can ask God to accept my boys into his covenant.

my thoughts …

take care!

michel

 

[Annunciata]

Prejudice, pressure, fear of what others would say/do …

I honestly think that this is a biggy …it was my only fear when I converted to the Faith…didn’t have a problem with any of the the others mentioned.
My father, a former Catholic told me that I was going to break my mother’s heart. Well that wasn’t the case…my mom was actually pleased in a sense because, as she put it, “she knew I would be worshiping the Lord regularly instead of when I felt like it.”…
She later in life went on to become a Catholic and my father returned to the Chruch before he died…

 

[RNRobert]

wabrams:

I’m not a convert, though my girlfriend would love me to be. Some of my hurdles include the pope being infallible, magisterium, the one “true” church, and the churches history. Just can’t swallow that pill that the pope is infallible, especially since he is a mortal man. As for the history of the church, if it is the one true church then someone explain the crusades, inquisition, multiple religious wars in Europe, the Holocaust, etc.

wabrams, I was once a non-catholic, and had many of the same problems you did. While each of the topics above really deserves a thread of its own, I’ll try to answer them as briefly as I can.

The infallibility of the Pope: First off, infallibility doesn’t mean impeccability. His ability to avoid teaching error is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t mean it protects them from sinning. Look at John 11:49-52, where Caiphas makes a prophecy about Jesus dying so that the Jewish nation would not perish. He is able to make this prophecy not because of his personal holiness (far from it) but because, as verse 51 puts it, he was the high priest that year. In other words, his ability to prophesy was due to HIS OFFICE. The Holy Spirit worked through the Jewish high priest in the same manner that the Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles when they preached, and through their successors, the Pope and bishops. Their ability to lead the church is not dependent on their personal holiness (although they are called to a high degree of holiness, as we all are), but on their position. This is important to remember when our church leaders don’t perform their duties as they ought. As Frank Sheed writes in Theology for Beginners, when we become Catholic, we are joined to Christ, not the men who happen to run it at the time.

Crusades, Inquisition, etc: It’s important to remember that the Church is not so much a hotel for saints as a hospital for sinners, and there will be some (including authority figures) who do not live up to their calling. That being said, you also have to judge them by the standards of their time. Regarding the Crusades, you have to realize that at that time, Islam was overrunning much of the known world at that time, and even conquered parts of Spain and Italy. The Crusades were an attempt to push them back as well as to regain the Holy Land. Sadly, there were abuses, but if it was not for them, Western Europe might well have fallen to them. As for the Inquisition, it was not a church-wide institution. Rather, there were two main Inquisitions. One was in France, and it dealt with the Albigensian heresy. The Albigensians were not proto-Evangelicals, as some fundamentalists like to portray them, but rather were descendants of the Manichean heresy. They taught that there were two Gods: the evil god of the Old Testament who created the world and Jesus of the New Testament. They taught that marriage and childbirth was a sin, but considered fornication ok and taught that suicide was a virtue. These teachings threatened the very fabric of society (much like today’s culture of death does), so both the church and state felt the need to suppress this heresy.

Continued…

 

[RNRobert]

Conclusion…

The other, more notorious Inquisition was the Spanish Inquisition. This was more political than religious. As I said, above, Moslems had conquered part of Spain, and the Spanish had to fight hard to free their land. As a result, Catholicism was bound up tightly with Spanish national identity: In other words, being a good Catholic and being a good Spaniard were considered being one and the same. Now there were a number of Jews and Moslems who converted to Catholicism purely to gain political power. The Spanish Inquisition was created to ferret out these false converts (I believe they were called ‘Marranos’), who were considered traitors by the Spanish government. Where there abuses? Unfortunately, yes. However, many Protestants who point fingers at the Church for the Inquisition don’t realize that many of their forefathers (like Luther, Calvin, the Church of England, and even the Puritans) all persecuted those who held differing beliefs.
As far as the wars of religion in the 16th and 17th centuries go, politics had as much to do with that as religion, and there is enough blame to go around for both sides.

The Holocaust: The Church was not responsible for that atrocity. Could it have done more? Perhaps, but then so could some of the secular leaders who had an idea of what was happening, but chose to look away. As it was, Pope Pius XI wrote an encyclical entitled Mit Brennender Sorge (German for With Great Sorrow) condemning Hitler’s actions, and Pope Pius XII helped save a number of Jews in Rome. The Chief Rabbi of Rome actually converted to Catholicism after the war because of the Pope’s efforts on behlaf of the Jews.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Don’t be discouraged because some Catholics (then or now) have failed to live up to the standards set by Jesus (come to think of it, most of us fall short). As Jesus told us in his parable of the wheat and tares, there will always be some “weeds” in the Church, but it is still Christ’s body.

 

[asquared]

I have just been looking around my parish, the other parishes in my town, a neighboring parish having an extreme problem with dissenters, a former parish split down the middle over a social justice ministry, trying to look at US as an outsider, looking at how people are welcomed, now the parish structures function, how we communicate, I would have to say if I were coming into my own inquiry or RCIA classes, my biggest obstacle would be Catholics themselves. the ones who either give no evidence of any finer Christian feelings that dictate attitudes and behavior, and the ones who give no evidence of believing or acting on the gospel message.

 

[StubbleSpark]

My biggest hurdle was my predjudice. I would never have given the Church the slightest thought had it not been for the fact that a friend I respected very much began converting and I finally got answers from a kind and gentle person I could trust.

Before that, I thought Catholics were just plain WEIRD :whacky:

 

[StubbleSpark]

Prejudice, pressure, fear of what others would say/do …

I honestly think that this is a biggy …it was my only fear when I converted to the Faith…didn’t have a problem with any of the the others mentioned.
My father, a former Catholic told me that I was going to break my mother’s heart. Well that wasn’t the case…my mom was actually pleased in a sense because, as she put it, “she knew I would be worshiping the Lord regularly instead of when I felt like it.”…
She later in life went on to become a Catholic and my father returned to the Chruch before he died…

That’s so beautiful!!

 

[jifner]

Currently I believe my biggest stumbling block is to just do it. Part of it is knowing that I have to give up part of myself and lifestyle to live according to the Catholic faith. Part of it is shyness on my part and actually going to the local parish and talking with a priest about it. And finally I guess I’m just not ready to make that leap.
I’ve reading and researching it for a while and there hasn’t been anything that I have disagreed with or not able to accept. I dislike the birth control issue, but would be willing to accept it.
Another part is the fact that I would need to have my first marriage declared null in order to get married again. (Guy I’m dating now is Catholic although he’s a bit lapsed)
I think I’ll take the plunge at some point. Just not sure when.

 

[Cairisti]

Well, I voted “other” though I guess I could have put down pressure, though that’s not really the case. Mostly it’s my family, primarily my parents. (Had a thread about it - How not to discuss your conversion or something like that). Although I’m an adult (and always the goody too shoes in my family), seems like they still see me as a 15 year old - or younger! ) I thought, naively obviously, that they were ok with Catholics as their closest friends were. Wrong!

Anyway, they are elderly (78 and 82 respectively), so guess I’ll wait and put my conversion on “hold”. Hate to do that though as I’ve waited 30-something years. Anyway, have put my RCIA class on “hold”. Hope they at least understand.

 

[Lisa_N]

Having just discovered this thread, I skimmed through the list and saw a few kindred souls…not knowing you COULD convert was the stumbling block for me. I had had Catholic friends, knew people who converted after marrying a Catholic but I didn’t know you could “walk in off the street” so to speak. Quite honestly I never met a Catholic who even talked much about his or her faith nor invited me to attend Mass or to somehow learn about the church. I must saw EWTN is a real blessing for those who are on the outside looking in. You can get a bit of a feeling for the Church from the safety of your living room. No need to walk into Mass where a sign will flash on your forehead “She doesn’t know when to stand and when to kneel!” Simply because of the participatory nature of Mass, it’s a bit scary for us who weren’t born in the Church.

Meeting a convert at a healing retreat and hearing her story really inspired me to look into Catholicism. Where have you been all my life!!??

Lisa N

 

[abcdefg]

I have no problems converting myself from an atheist. but when I tried to convert my classmates their block is always Prejudice, pressure, fear, not because of “Poped” but the saying in marxism philosophy (mandatory class in Chinese colleges) textbook, “all religions are born out of ignorance and are bound to demise in the future” and “men created god to their likeness” yikes!

 

[abcdefg]

I haven’t yet, but definately will, run into someone who has trouble with “Humanae Vitae”, as college students currently are adulterous.

 

[Lisa_N]

abcdefg:

I haven’t yet, but definately will, run into someone who has trouble with “Humanae Vitae”, as college students currently are adulterous.

So ask them what lasting benefit they get from this behavior? I mean if all you want is a cheap thrill, don’t take the risk of pregnancy and STDs.

Lisa N

 

[abcdefg]

let me try
humor: let’s pray they don’t seat themselves in electric chairs as cannibal Albert Fish call it “supreme thrill”

 

[Deacon2006]

My wife converted and the reason why she didn’t convert earlier was that no one asked her to convert. The doctrine was not a struggle becasue the Holy Spirit gave her the eyes of faith. A simple question just ask and be willing to witness with them through the RCIA program.

Try ask someone you know if they would like to be a catholic, the answer might just surprise you.

God Bless

 

[Maccabees]

abcdefg:

I have no problems converting myself from an atheist. but when I tried to convert my classmates their block is always Prejudice, pressure, fear, not because of “Poped” but the saying in marxism philosophy (mandatory class in Chinese colleges) textbook, “all religions are born out of ignorance and are bound to demise in the future” and “men created god to their likeness” yikes!

Well shows you have much Marx knows his philosophy died with the Soviet Unions downfall. Does the Chineese government recognize they have sold out Marx’s economic principles by engaging in free trade and watered down captilsim. The Chinees are only Marxist in their views of human rights and the freedom of religion. They have already admitted the failure of Marx in ecominics it is more than likely he s errored in his view of humanity and religion. Christian experiment via the catholic church has survied far longer than the Soviet Union did. We know they are dead lasting around 100 years. The catholic church
has lasted 2000 years with no interuption. The foundation of our church is a rock thus the everlasting quality the foundation of communism is sand and thus destined to fade away Marx, Lennin , Stalin, Mao are all rotting and dead (Lenin rotts slower due to chemicals) Only Jesus has rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the father the rest of these creeps are probably in a real hot place right now.

 

[Jade]

BlueMit 1 1 posted:

“It’s interesting to look at these in a sort of “Screwtape Letters” point of view and realize why Satan uses all of these things to keep peopl away from the Church. Well, Mary is obvious: Satan hates her because he knows that she is above him and that she brought Christ into the world to destroy him and his works. Her humility is the ultimate insult to his pride. I can see the issues with the Pope, too. It seems Satan has always had this thing with making God’s rules-the ones that bring us true freedom-seem the opposite of what they are: limiting and suffocating. Therefore, he focuses on twisting our view of authority as well. And of course he would try to skew our view of the sacraments, especially Holy Communion. This is a really interesting way to look at things.”

Thank you Blue for your insight! What a unique perspective! It makes compleate sense to me now that I have heard it. I’ve always thought that deep down, but never knew how to express it until I read your post. Thank you!

 

[Jade]

What a benifical thread this is! I have learned a lot.
One of my ‘hurdels’ is the “one “true” church”. As a student of RCIA, I hope we will cover this topic. I am of the opinion of many here- I may not understand why the Church has said what they have said about certian issues, but I will try my hardest to obey them. I have found that St. Augustine’s words ring very very true: “I believe in order to understand, not I understand in order to believe.”
If I take the jump and have faith and obey the teachings of the Church, God will open my eyes to why He wants it that way, if He so desires to.