Evangelical wants to understand Catholicism

[crazzeto]

I want to read a book that explains common Protestant misconceptions in Catholicism. For example, most of my evangelical friends will say “Catholics worship Mary.” A Catholic friend of mine explained this isn’t true. It is these kind of issues I would like to learn more about (Protestant misconceptions).

Well we most certainly don’t worship Mary, though she is blessed. In fact, we believe she is the creature which is most conformed to Gods Will and Jesus. We also beleive she is the only human (as in human strictly speaking as opposed to the Christ who is both God & Human) spared original sin.

We do pray to Mary for intercession, in the same way the early Israelites asked Moses to pray for intercession (personally). The reason is scrpiture clearly states “a righteous man’s prayers avails much”, well you can’t get any better than the most conformed creature to God’s will.

Now the next typical objection is “you can’t pray to the dead”, some times this is said in a practical sense, other times it’s more accuatory than that. We get charged with necromancy a lot. Well lets remember a couple things:

Spritis in heaven, do know what’s going on, on earth. There are a number of scriptual references for this. From “The saints will be as Angels”, to “There is more rejoicing in heaven over the conversion of one sinner than there is for a righteous man” and on from there. Clearly the saints in heaven know what is happening on earth, they can hear our prayers.

How does this work? Well you need to understand the communion of saints. For starters, relating to “necromancy” which I discussed earlier. Remember it was written “I am not God of the dead, but of the living”. The saints in heaven aren’t dead, but alive in heaven in the presence of our lord. Now all members of the Church, including the saints are members of Christ’s mystical body. Jesus is the God Head, we are the bits and pecies of the neck, torso, arms, legs etc. If you want to pray to a saint, you can think of it as a nerve impuls running from the left hand (us the living), through God the head (the right hand), then if (when) the saint prays an intercessory prayer that prayer is another nerve impuls gonig back to the God head again.

When God receives the prayer, he answers it in the manner which is truely best for you, and his plan for you. Maybe that isn’t always what we think we want, but it’s always what is best for us.

I know I left a lot of scriptual support out, I’m kind of busy at work and I"m taking a lot of time already just to write this. Hopefully someone else can fill in the blanks, or if not I can come back. Ultimatly I would suggest some of the books I already recommended, or I would also recommend

Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths. It’s really more of an apologetics book, but it’s VERY affordable, it quotes from the NKJV bible, and it breaks down all (or most all) catholic beliefs Protistants would be interested in learing about.

 

[Anna_Scott]

Baptist, then Charismatic, then Reformed and Charismatic. Now? I’m not so sure!

Shift:

As a Christian in the Protestant Sector, I understand your “searching.”

I have learned so much on these forums. There are many misconceptions about Catholicism–sadly, many are taught from Protestant Pulpits.

I would not say that I am close to embracing Catholicism, but I have a great respect for Catholics and really appreciate all the help and resources the forum members have given to me. Needless to say, I love CAF.

May God’s peace be with you, and may His truth be revealed to you,
Anna

 

[Catholic1954]

Check out Patrick Madrid’s book, “Suprised by Truth”. It is a collection of conversion stories by all types of people from all faith traditions who NEVER thought they would convert to Catholicism. It is about their personal stories and their reasons for converting.

 

[SSTeacher]

Check out Patrick Madrid’s book, “Surprised by Truth”. It is a collection of conversion stories by all types of people from all faith traditions who NEVER thought they would convert to Catholicism. It is about their personal stories and their reasons for converting.

Also possibly helpful for you might be Patrick Madrid’s book titled, in the BibleThat? Its purpose, he declares at the outset, is “to provide a helpful overview to the discussion of the Faith with non–Catholics.”

Ecumenically,
Mick

 

[howarja]

Greetings all.

I am an Evangelical who recently became aware that my tradition skews the facts on Roman Catholicism. I was wondering if anyone here could suggest a book (or books) on Catholicism.

Thanks,
Shift

Hi !!

Well one that really helped me out was by Catholic.com itself : The Essential Catholic Survival Guide. It deals with a lot of questions that people ask/attack/question Catholics about often. Its really a beginner book, or it’s supposed to be, but it does a wonderful job. It’s literally about 2 inches thick its got so much information in it. I’ve used it to explain our stances, as Catholics, to several friends who are Baptist and other various protestant denominations. They seemed to really respect to information that it presents and how it’s presented. It breaks down all of the chapters into major topics of concern and then breaks those chapters down into individual sections. I really don’t think that when reading you have to already use a Catholic perspective and I haven’t read anywhere in the book that we should believe something just because the CCC says to – I’ve seen that before in a couple of books and I just role my eye’s. I think it also does a good job of citing its sources and references in the bible. I think it’s a good book. I hope that this helps.

Peace!!

Joseph

 

[howarja]

Well we most certainly don’t worship Mary, though she is blessed. In fact, we believe she is the creature which is most conformed to Gods Will and Jesus. We also beleive she is the only human (as in human strictly speaking as opposed to the Christ who is both God & Human) spared original sin.

I actually used to get so confused about Mary being spared from original sin, because I thought that only Jesus was sinless.

“All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and even Mary said that her “Spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47) And the church teaches that Mary also needed a savior from the stain of Adam and Eve. Mary on the other hand was saved by special intervention of God upon the instant that she was conceived. She was, unlike the rest of humanity, preserved from the stain of original sin and its consequences, by anticipation, through Christ Jesus.

This would be similar to us and the rest of humanity walking along and falling into a hole (original sin) and then Jesus pulling us out. With Mary we could say that she was walking along and had the possibility to and nearly fell into the hole. Yet, her Son, our Lord, Christ Jesus grabs her by the arm and keeps her from actually falling into the hole. Where we and the rest of humanity were covered in the staining mud of original sin and needed Jesus to pull us out and keeps cleaning us off, Mary never fell into the hole because Jesus saved her before she fell. Thus, she never got the dirt of original sin on her.

I just thought that made complete sense when I heard that to explain how she was free from original sin. The book that I mentioned earlier, in my previous post, does a better job of explaining it than I do. But anyway, I thought that I’d just throw that in there.

Peace!!!

Joseph

 

[benidict]

Greetings all.

I am an Evangelical who recently became aware that my tradition skews the facts on Roman Catholicism. I was wondering if anyone here could suggest a book (or books) on Catholicism.

Thanks,
Shift

hello shift. a really good book, is cathocism vs. fundamentalism, by karl keating. also by what authority, author escapes me at the present. these are two very well written books, that take an indepth look at the attacks of catholocism by fundamentalist. be careful what you wish for. you just may stumble upon the truth! what you find may shake you to your protestant core( it did mine) and give you a whole new life.(it did me) happy reading. youll really enjoy these and the other books.God bless you and yours

 

[BenjaminLumen]

Thank you!

One more question: which translation do Catholics use the most? I own a NAB, but I’ve heard the “official” English speaking text is the RSV (here). Is this correct?

Thanks again!

Latina vulgata to Clementine Vulgate concurrent with Original Rhiems Old and New Testaments and then Clementine based Douai-Rhiems to NAB. That is the chronology
of Bibles in the Church, if you go RSV or NRSV there are Catholic Editions of those, but their derived from KJV w/ Apocrypha or The Authorized Version (again King James authorization) And are not actually rigorously Catholic. As the Church itself doesn’t produce anything but DR’s Vulgates and NAB’s…

So you can get a Vulgate and Original Rheims or
you can go Clementine Vulgate and Challoner Rheims (Very close to original Rheims)

 

[LilyM]

I love translations of Scripture. I own a Catholic NRSV and GNB/TEV.

I’ll be sure to take a look at Four Witnesses. Thank you!

In regards Catholic scripture translations, I know some like the Jerusalem Bible (there’s also a New Jerusalem Bible). If you like the King James Version, check the Douay-Rheims translation, made three years before the KJV and with a similar beautiful style of language.

 

[Captain_America]

OP: I saw you mention that old canard that Catholics worship Mary. . . and it–for the 500th time—makes me wonder why some Protestants are ignorant–willfully ignorant?—of these things.

The Catholic Church has been around for a long time. Certainly they can get the real answers. The Catechism is all over the place, on the web, in libraries, in stores, etc.

Nowadays information’s cheap and easy to get. There’s less and less excuse for ignorance by Protestant pastors—unless perhaps because they financially benefit by shoveling misconceptions to people.

Oh, this sounds harsh, I’m sure. But c’mon “Catholics WORSHIP Mary”? That’s so patently erroneously.

 

[Kay_Cee]

I recommend Mark Shea’s By What Authority? An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition.

It’s a small book, less than 200 pages, and a quick, easy read.

 

[Bill_Pick]

Greetings all.

I am an Evangelical who recently became aware that my tradition skews the facts on Roman Catholicism. I was wondering if anyone here could suggest a book (or books) on Catholicism.

Thanks,
Shift

Yes Catholism and Funddamenatalism by Karl Keating and another good book Is This is the Fairh by Francis Ripley,
If it was me I,d start with Catholicism and Fundamentalosm, Enjoy and may Our Lord bless You

 

[2nd_Adam]

Yes Catholism and Funddamenatalism by Karl Keating and another good book Is This is the Fairh by Francis Ripley,
If it was me I,d start with Catholicism and Fundamentalosm, Enjoy and may Our Lord bless You

I also read this Karl Keating book years ago!

 

[buffalo]

This is the Faith

 

[benidict]

I also read this Karl Keating book years ago!

hi 2nd adam, and what exactly were your thoughts on this book?

 

[Bill_Pick]

This is the Faith

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buffalo , Thank you it was nice to see the book "This is the Faith on the internet
,Thanks again

 

[Cat]

Hi, Shift,

My husband and I converted from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism in 2004. We love being Catholic!

I grew up in the evangelical church (Conference Baptist) pastored by Evelyn Christenson’s husband. My associate pastor was Gary Smalley. I grew up with John Ortberg in my Sunday school classes and eventually in my youth group. I played the piano for him many times. Steven Douglass was a member of our church and a frequent speaker, as was Dr. Bill Bright and Dr. Erwin Lutzer.

You will recognize these names of great evangelicals. I only drop the names to prove to you that I was raised in a completely trustworthy, rock-solid evangelical church. The theology that I was taught growing up was absolutely solid evangelical teaching straight from the Bible.

The book I would recommend is Evangelical Is Not Enough by Thomas Howard. Thomas Howard is Elisabeth Elliot’s brother (and I KNOW you recognize that famous name!).

His book is beautifully written and points out all the good things about evangelicalism. But it demonstrates how Catholicism is the Church of Jesus Christ.

Of all the books I read before becoming Catholic, this one touched my heart the most and taught me the most.

I would also recommend attending Mass as often as possible, and reading the Bible. Get hold of a Catholic Bible–I would recommend the New American Bible because it’s what is used in Masses in the United States. You’ll hear a lot of Catholics argue that there are better translations, but why not use what the bishops have decided is appropriate for Catholic Churches? I personally use the New Revised Standard (Catholic) Version (I find it similar to the NASB, which was the version I preferred as a Protestant). I also love the New Jerusalem Bible because of its poetical language. Just as you use several translations of the Bible for your studies as an evangelical, there is no reason why you can’t use several translation for your Catholic Bible study. Read them side by side, just as you read NIV, NASB, KJV, and TLB side by side.

Start with the Deuterocanonical books, the books that we evangelicals always referred to as “Apocrypha.” Read these books for yourself–I especially love
the book of Sirach. This book was apparently used for centuries in Christian (Catholic) churches as a “catechism” to teach new Christians how to live their everyday lives for Christ.

Also, if you haven’t read them recently, re-read the first five books of the Bible (Protestant or Catholic, they’re the same). Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. I think that it was these books that were most helpful in convincing me of the truth of Catholicism, especially regarding the theology of the Lamb of God and the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

And I disagree with those who say that the Catechism is a bit much. If you are a typical evangelical, it’s not going to be a bit much for you. I know you’ve sat in seminars and retreats where the speaker talks for hours at a stretch and you’ve filled entire spiral-bound notebooks with your notes from these speakers! The Catechism is simply a very logical laying-out of the systematic theology of the Catholic Church and because you are an evangelical and you are testing the spirits (I John 4:1) and studying (II Timothy 2:15), you will want to read it and learn the truth. There are lots of cross-references to the Bible and other writings in the Catechism which you’ll enjoy.

Godspeed to you.

 

[buffalo]

Here is one more - The Mass - A Biblical Prayer

 

[Bill_Pick]

Greetings all.

I am an Evangelical who recently became aware that my tradition skews the facts on Roman Catholicism. I was wondering if anyone here could suggest a book (or books) on Catholicism.

Thanks,
Shift

Shift, You do know you can get the Douay-Rheims Bible on line. I think you also ask about a Bible

 

[OmegaSupreme]

In regards to the NASB Bible, I’d suggest checking it out here:

iPhone NASB Bible

Despite the URL, the formatting works fine on a standard PC as well as on an iPhone.

The NASB translation has become my translation of choice. I know some people don’t like it due to the literal translations of passages, which does take away from the poetic feel, but I find it preferable for understanding the true meaning of the words. The footnotes in it are fantastic as well, although they can be sparse in areas in the OT. You will probably want to check out multiple translations to see which one you find preferable to your own tastes.