Cradle or Converted???

[lak611]

I am a cradle Catholic, did all the right Catholic stuff, CCD, Catholic high school, Catholic college; but I fell away as a young adult in my twenties. I came back after a friend took me to a Christian music festival (he had a friend in a Christian heavy metal band, and I liked heavy metal). At the festival, there were representatives of different churches: Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc. Somebody from the Baptist Church gave me a Bible (KJV with only 66 books). For some reason (I think it was the Holy Spirit, not myself, I actually decided to read it). I had never read the Bible before. I read it all the way through and realized that the Catholic Church was right. I repented first to God directly, then to my priest. Then I joined an adult Sunday school class (Bible study) at my parish. I also read the Bible all the way through at least once a year (with all 73 books now). I own the KJV (with Apocrypha), DRV, NAB, NRSV, and NASB. I use all of these in my Bible studies. I have also been an active volunteer at an ecumenical mission meal for the poor which is held at a Methodist Church (with Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal Church volunteers) for the past four years. I became an EMHC as well, after attending a retreat (Life in the Eucharist). God, the Holy Spirit, definitely knows what He is doing, because I would not be where I am if it wasn’t for Him.

 

[janryboy]

Hmm wouldnt call it New Age… more-so a a different variation of Platonism…and I thought Sikhism was older…

To answer your question firstly, who is to say Muhammed isnt correct? Then id be ignoring the prophet of God and God’s own words (as the qur’an says its written by him). What if Hindu is correct? Or taoism? Or shinto? or etc…

You see the problem? Everyone likes to think they are correct. I figure best bet is to see what I agree with and why and run with it. If I go to Hell, so be it, at least I had a happy life which I enjoyed Besides…Alot of what jesus teaches is already in Platoism and Gnostiscm. No offence, but nothing about jesus was original :S

To each his own!

^oh…some kind of a Freemasonry stuff here…

it seems that you’re fine with going to hell…how terrible…

BTW…cradle catholic here…and im on the process of studying and learning to be an Apologist…in my own way…kinda slow since im always busy at work.

 

[Pacbox]

Cradle Catholic born and raised. I never left my Mother the Church or Jesus. Can’t stand it when people use cradle as a negative trerm or tell me that I’m not a real Catholic unless I’m a convert.

I could never not be Catholic. I knew I had the truth when I was quite little and could never fathom leaving or why anyone left. Still can’t fathom such a thing.

 

[jmcrae]

Cradle Catholic born and raised. I never left my Mother the Church or Jesus. Can’t stand it when people use cradle as a negative trerm or tell me that I’m not a real Catholic unless I’m a convert.

I know what you mean - it always makes me really nervous when someone tells me that I “know more” than cradle Catholics just because I’m a convert. (I took a nine month class and did some reading - they’ve been at this since they were born. That verse about the flattering lips leading to pride and downfall sneaks to mind, here.)

My friend was baptized in the Catholic Church when she was six hours old (we are the same age) and trust me, she knows her stuff - she knows and always will know more than I ever will, because for me, it’s mostly head knowledge, but for her, it’s heart-knowledge. She may not be able to cite chapter and verse of the Scriptures, but she’s got a better grasp of their meaning than I ever will.

 

[AlegreFe]

Convert!

Story? Gonna have to wait for Surprised By Truth 4!

:dancing: I can’t wait!! I have the first 3! I can’t wait for the forth. Will you please let us know when it will come out?!

I’m a Cradle Catholic but I guess you could call me a revert. My story will have to wait, it’s late for me and have to go to bed. :yawn: And I probably won’t remember about this thread 'cause I’m half asleep right now.

 

[kellie]

I was born catholic.

I switched to atheism for the longest time until I met my current gf. Thnx to her i got interested in researching religions. After awhile I came to a few conclusions about myself, us (me and her), God, my place in the world and the meaning of life.

Ive decided that certain aspects of a few different religions/philosophies are correct and decided to culminate them into a new personal religion. Now I just need a name for something thats a mesh of Gnostic, agnostic, Platonian, nihilistic and enlightented Hindu theology.

Suggestions?

How about Planihilostic? hehehe

 

[kellie]

Im a cradle Catholic who sort of fell away during my 20s

Then I went and saw The Passion of the Christ and cried and cried and cried

Jesus did that for me

And how awesome is it in the movie when the Cross is lifted up with Jesus on it

It just really hit home for me how much Jesus loves me, and I always knew Catholicism was His Church, so I went back

Actually the day I saw the movie was when I googled “Catholic” and found Catholic Answers.

He works in mysterious ways

 

[aboverubies]

}Ive decided that certain aspects of a few different religions/philosophies are correct and decided to culminate them into a new personal religion. Now I just need a name for something thats a mesh of Gnostic, agnostic, Platonian, nihilistic and enlightented Hindu theology.

Suggestions?

Or how about Confusionism?

I was a worshipper of this religion once. First I sought answers from the Catholic Church, was even seriously ready to convert, but I was young and naive. I saw the Church was full of sinners and hypocrites so of course it couldn’t be God’s Church.

Then I looked briefly at New Age, occult stuff, passing fad.

Then my DH and I lept into Assemblies of God pentecostal Christianity - huge life changing experience and made a new commitment to God. The health and wealth stuff just got too weird and unsustainable after trying to live it for five years . The teachings didn’t always prove to be true and we desperately wanted The Truth.

So decided to try out the Baptists, thought “they know their bible they must have it all sorted”. Things were travelling along just fine for a couple of years but began to unravel as members of our church were making aggressive attempts to turn the church pentecostal. Here we go again - blown around by the winds of church fashion. It seems they were all excited by these amazing “new promises” of God regarding his “blessings” of health and wealth. Excuse me this is our stop.

Meanwhile my DH (who has been on this entire journey with me ) began looking into the church of his birth, you guessed it, the Catholic Church. Bit of a rough patch ensued but thankfully God kept it short. Through my husband’s research and reading, the protestant pillars of faith alone and scripture alone crumbled. I pelted him with a million angry questions and he found each answer…scriptural and irrefutably Catholic.

God revealed the simple truth that Jesus said I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. As soon as we realised that His Church was the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church we wasted no time in coming home.

God has been truly merciful and patient with me, a confused sinner.

 

[AlegreFe]

I own the KJV (with Apocrypha), DRV, NAB, NRSV, and NASB. I use all of these in my Bible studies.

I’m not criticizing here, I’m only trying to help here so please don’t get the wrong idea here. Why would you use Protestant bibles in a Catholic Bible study? I also own the KJV with, what they call Apocrypha (we all know they are Deuteroncanonical books) but I use it mainly when I’m talking to my Protestant brother.

More importantly, I would be very careful with one of the Catholic bibles that you have there… the NRSV. :nope: That is not a good Catholic translation. It’s horrible. Inclusive language is used in it and was rejected outright by the Vatican under Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger because of such a loose translation and inclusive language. If you like the Revised Standard than you should get the RSV-CE or if you want a newer translation the RSV-CE 2nd Edition is a lot better than the NRSV. But the RSV-CE is perfectly fine if you already have it.

The best bible to use for a Bible study is the Navarre Bible (Old & New Testaments) . Now it costs a lot more because of the many books, but the commentary in those books is fantastic. And it uses the RSV-CE with corresponding Latin Vulgate on the same page. And of course the NAB bible is also good.

Navarre Bible Commentaries
These books include extensive explanations of the meaning
of the scriptural text and its implications for everyday life. The
commentaries draw on a rich variety of sources- Church
documents, the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the
Church, and the work of prominent spiritual writers, particularly
the Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, who initiated the Navarre Bible
project. Commentary appears on the same page as the Bible
text. Each volume is self-contained with extensive introductions
and notes to Old Testament prophecies. The text is the Revised
Standard Version Catholic Edition.

New Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition (1989). An
adaptation for Catholic use of the NRSV of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ. Although used in the American edition
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it was rejected for
liturgical use by the Holy See owing to inclusive language in
some unacceptable places.

Jimmy Akin wrote something about this. Choosing a Bible Translation.

There is also comments about the RSV-CE 2nd Edition.

I hope that helps.

Peace and God bless.

 

[mimontice]

Cradle Catholic here and I’m more in love with the Lord and His church than ever before!

It gets better every day I walk with Him.

 

[lak611]

I’m not criticizing here, I’m only trying to help here so please don’t get the wrong idea here. Why would you use Protestant bibles in a Catholic Bible study? I also own the KJV with, what they call Apocrypha (we all know they are Deuteroncanonical books) but I use it mainly when I’m talking to my Protestant brother.

:

I was in a coffee shop about 2 years ago. I had 3 Bibles with me, the NAB, NRSV, and KJV. I was working on my homework for my Catholic Bible study class (we were studying the Infancy Narratives, from Matthew and Luke). A fellow saw that I had Bibles. He said that he had gone to Catholic grade school and high school and that there was nothing in the Bible that said that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Christ. By the way, this fellow was a baptized Catholic. I read him the appropriate verses in Matthew and Luke from the NAB, but he said that it didn’t sound like the true Bible. Then I opened up my KJV and read him the same verses and showed him the verses. He said, “Oh, I guess that really is in the Bible.” He believed that the KJV was scripture even though he didn’t believe the NAB because of the “thees and thous”. Hopefully he thought more about what I told him. I pray that he came to really understand the Catholic faith, but sometimes, an old English Protestant Bible is the best thing that we have. Personally, I was a lapsed Catholic who was given a KJV Bible by a Baptist. I read it all the way through and repented and returned to the Catholic faith; I did not ever consider becoming Baptist. The Holy Spirit can do things in mysterious ways, but then again, He is God; I give Him all the credit in my life because I certainly was not helping Him by the way I had been living previously.

 

[AlegreFe]

Personally, I was a lapsed Catholic who was given a KJV Bible by a Baptist. I read it all the way through and repented and returned to the Catholic faith; I did not ever consider becoming Baptist. The Holy Spirit can do things in mysterious ways, but then again, He is God; I give Him all the credit in my life because I certainly was not helping Him by the way I had been living previously.

Other than the fact that the KJV does not have ALL the books, there is nothing wrong with it. I like the RSV-CE a lot and it uses sort of that same kind of language. I’m not questioning you having that bible, I have one myself. I just don’t think it belongs in a Catholic Bible study that’s all. The RSV-CE I think is one of the closest translations out there. So I would rather attend a bible study that uses only Catholic bibles.

Not that your bible study is like this but there have been some Catholic bible studies that were run more as a “debate” kind of class and it didn’t matter what kind of bibles they used. I just hate to see Catholic Bible study groups that are not properly catechized and where it doesn’t matter whether they used Catholic or Protestant bibles. But it’s your bible study class and you care about our Faith so I will say nothing further.

Peace and God bless.

 

[Anne1964]

Cradle. Went to Catholic elementary school, CCD classes after that. Left the church when I was 15 after my father died. Came back this year after a long wandering path through other religions. I am very happy to be home.

 

[lak611]

Other than the fact that the KJV does not have ALL the books, there is nothing wrong with it. I like the RSV-CE a lot and it uses sort of that same kind of language. I’m not questioning you having that bible, I have one myself. I just don’t think it belongs in a Catholic Bible study that’s all. The RSV-CE I think is one of the closest translations out there. So I would rather attend a bible study that uses only Catholic bibles.

Not that your bible study is like this but there have been some Catholic bible studies that were run more as a “debate” kind of class and it didn’t matter what kind of bibles they used. I just hate to see Catholic Bible study groups that are not properly catechized and where it doesn’t matter whether they used Catholic or Protestant bibles. But it’s your bible study class and you care about our Faith so I will say nothing further.

Peace and God bless.

The “official Bible” of my class is the NAB, but when I do my homework for class, I use the NAB, NRSV, Douay-Rheims, and KJV (with Apocrypha) as cross references.

 

[rafaelcatolico]

I am proudly a cradle Catholic! I can honestly say I have never found the church anything but absolutely amazing and blessed! Never have I lost an interest in its teachings. When I moved to Utah eight years ago, my faith was challenged by all who I encountered(surprise! ) but that only made me infinitely more Catholic! I am thankful for the experiences I have had here. Mormons in their infinite faith have taught me to be more faithful!!

 

[Jeanette_L]

Convert here, as of Easter Vigil, 2006.

Was born into a devout Christian family, mother was Baptist, father was Assemblies of God. Because of their conflicting Christian views, the whole family was in a constant whirlwind, first going this way, then that. We tried many varieties of Fundamentalist/Evangelical churches, many non-denominationals in the mix. Never could figure out how any of us were supposed to know who had the right set of doctrines. Got to the point where I didn’t think it much mattered anymore, as long as I was born again. But, all was not well in my soul.

I walked away from “religion” many times out of frustration. God always sought me out and brought me back. But in all this traveling about through the years, I had learned to not believe everything I heard from a pulpit, and that was good. I became a thinker, and that also was good.

I finally came to a place a few years back when I told God that I wasn’t going to go to church anymore until He showed me the Truth and where I could find it. I knew it was out there because Christ told us we could know the Truth, so I knew He wouldn’t lie and it had to be there somewhere.

All God needed from me was to ask Him that question. I was then sent into a quest of intensive study, starting with the 20th century theologians, then the Reformation and then backwards on through Christian history until I found the Early Church Fathers. At this same time I had discovered EWTN. It was the 1-2 punch. I was no more my own, but firmly in the bossom of Christ and His Church, even before I could come to terms with it, it had already happened.

And now I am at Peace, finally, for the first time in my Christian life. And I know it won’t be an easy journey from here, but I have confidence for the first time that I have found the right place to stay through it all.

 

[kellie]

Convert here, as of Easter Vigil, 2006.

Was born into a devout Christian family, mother was Baptist, father was Assemblies of God. Because of their conflicting Christian views, the whole family was in a constant whirlwind, first going this way, then that. We tried many varieties of Fundamentalist/Evangelical churches, many non-denominationals in the mix. Never could figure out how any of us were supposed to know who had the right set of doctrines. Got to the point where I didn’t think it much mattered anymore, as long as I was born again. But, all was not well in my soul.

I walked away from “religion” many times out of frustration. God always sought me out and brought me back. But in all this traveling about through the years, I had learned to not believe everything I heard from a pulpit, and that was good. I became a thinker, and that also was good.

I finally came to a place a few years back when I told God that I wasn’t going to go to church anymore until He showed me the Truth and where I could find it. I knew it was out there because Christ told us we could know the Truth, so I knew He wouldn’t lie and it had to be there somewhere.

All God needed from me was to ask Him that question. I was then sent into a quest of intensive study, starting with the 20th century theologians, then the Reformation and then backwards on through Christian history until I found the Early Church Fathers. At this same time I had discovered EWTN. It was the 1-2 punch. I was no more my own, but firmly in the bossom of Christ and His Church, even before I could come to terms with it, it had already happened.

And now I am at Peace, finally, for the first time in my Christian life. And I know it won’t be an easy journey from here, but I have confidence for the first time that I have found the right place to stay through it all.

Hi Jeanette,

That is a beautiful story, and welcome Home
Jeanette L:

I finally came to a place a few years back when I told God that I wasn’t going to go to church anymore until He showed me the Truth and where I could find it.

I giggled at that bit though, it made me picture you storming off pouting and looking up the sky, and God looking down at you rolling His eyes as He sent His Holy Spirit down to you to send you on to study

 

[RCCDefender]

Other than the fact that the KJV does not have ALL the books, there is nothing wrong with it. I like the RSV-CE a lot and it uses sort of that same kind of language. I’m not questioning you having that bible, I have one myself. I just don’t think it belongs in a Catholic Bible study that’s all. Peace and God bless.

Au contraire, ma souer! The KJV is notoriously mistranslated. For example in Luke 2:14 it says, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
However the original translation should be: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. (D-RV)

that agrees with the rest of Scripture, which is based on the idea of covenants between God ans Man, each party contributing something through a free-will choice. But the Anglicans taught that salvation is a free gift that you get by simply believing in Christ; so the commission changed this verse to “Peace on Earth, good will to Men”.

Why Do catholics Do That? p.26

This is just one example.

 

[Jeanette_L]

Hi Jeanette,

That is a beautiful story, and welcome Home

Thanks! It’s great to be here!

I giggled at that bit though, it made me picture you storming off pouting and looking up the sky, and God looking down at you rolling His eyes as He sent His Holy Spirit down to you to send you on to study

I guess it might seem that way. I think though, I was finally where God wanted me, completely frustrated and ready to give in. I had exhausted myself seeking the Truth, but behind it was always this notion that when I found it, I would know it because it would “feel” right, and by that, I mean I would feel comfortable with it.

What God wanted was for me to finally be in a place where I could say to Him, “o.k., I want to know the Truth, no matter where it leads me, even if it’s somewhere I would never think of looking, where I would never want to look for it”. I had to be able to accept it for what it was, not for what I wanted it to be. And the only way that was going to happen was if I was desperate for it.

He works in ways we can’t imagine, and most of the time don’t want to imagine!

But, even though it’s not what I would have at one time wanted, it’s where I know I am supposed to be without any doubt, and I finally have the Peace I have been missing throughout all my wanderings! :angel1:

 

[KatieD]

I am a cradle Catholic. A couple of years ago, I decided that answering questions about my faith with “I don’t know, we’ve just always done it that way,” wasn’t good enough. I have been studying my faith intently ever since, and I wish I knew as much during my 20s and 30s as I do now. We have a beautiful faith.