Evangelizing uncatechized....Protestants? (Catholic perspective)

[CrossofChrist]

Is there anything wrong with evangelizing Protestants who were grossly un(der)catechized from a Protestant perspective, by explaining what the Bible says from a Catholic perspective–without necessarily clarifying “as a Catholic I believe…” but more “the Bible says…”? I would think it’s okay but want to check here for thoughts.

It’s just…weird. I mean I meet people who were raised Christian (should it be “Christian”?) with incredibly small amounts of knowledge for basic Christian beliefs. It baffles me.

 

[Hatikvah]

Can I provide some insight?

It is always good, regardless of your religion or tradition, to explain (respectfully, of course) your beliefs when asked, or if they allow it. Protestants are no exception. I myself, as with other Protestants on here, have come not only to communicate, but to learn about faith, even the Catholic faith (though I have learned of other people’s faiths, too).

If you are pejorative, and although I have not seen much of that towards Protestants, yet I keep increasingly coming across it, they will not feel welcome. Do not assert your dominance. Sure, you can be enthusiastic about your faith, but do not use it to divide and conquer. Many Protestants have come from the Catholic Church, and yet more will go to it.

And many Protestants do not see the Universal Church as “divided” between Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriential Orthodox, Protestants, etc. It is truly one Body of Christ, eternal, that Christ protects. We are founded not upon the Catholics or the Protestants or the Orthodox, we are founded upon God’s promise of the New Covenant.

God bless.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

Fine to do it to Protestants and Catholics.

Pax.

 

[Rosebud77]

Hmmm… I once sold jam to an American at my market stall… A Catholic lady, recent convert. My email address is on the label… I then had a weblog. I had written an entry very simply explaining Catholic teaching on homosexuality. Nothing condemnatory. The next market the lady came back, shouting and yelling, threw the jar of jam at me, shouting that the Catholic church SHE knew was loving and tolerant.

Odd how jam comes into it. I was in a supermarket queue, trolley laden with jam making materials and an American started asking me about it… I explianed that I make jam to sell for work with the homeless and abandoned babies… The man promptly accused me of “doing it to try to curry favour with Jesus so I could get into heaven…” Emerged he is some kind of a pastor… I quoted Matthew, re feeding the hungry and said that that was what Jesus tells us to do so that is what I do… Took my breath away that did.

We used to get the young evangelists in from the North when I was in Donegal. Selling rosaries ( as well as jam!) they converged on me and when I quoted the same verses. they chorussed “That won’t get you to heaven!”

“Thankfully, young man that is not for you or i to decide !” and I blessed my Anglican bible based raising as I knew the gospels better than they did

But it should not be like this? Ah well!! Living the faith is all any of us can do. Arguing is a waste of precious breath … where I go after my body dies is entirley up to God in WHom I trust totally… Maybe we try too hard to do His job?

 

[PolliceVerso]

Is there anything wrong with evangelizing Protestants who were grossly un(der)catechized from a Protestant perspective, by explaining what the Bible says from a Catholic perspective–without necessarily clarifying “as a Catholic I believe…” but more “the Bible says…”? I would think it’s okay but want to check here for thoughts.

It’s just…weird. I mean I meet people who were raised Christian (should it be “Christian”?) with incredibly small amounts of knowledge for basic Christian beliefs. It baffles me.

I would just say “this is what the Bible says,” unless it is one of those few areas where Protestant and Catholic teaching are clearly different. Quite frankly, most Protestants have no idea what they believe (much less what Catholics believe!) and why they believe it. You could pretty much say anything and they would probably accept it, based on your description of them as “grossly underchatechized.”

 

[exnihilo]

I don’t think most Portestants most of the time are themselves going to say, 'as a Protestant I believe '. Nor should they. If you believe something you believe it because you think it is true not simply because of a group you belong to. The belief may be on the basis of the authority of that group. But the group isn’t what makes the belief true. It may at times be helpful to point out that an interpretation is different from others, but there is no need to always preface your statements with 'as a Catholic '.

 

[heidi_storage]

I’m still a little confused as to what you’re talking about here. There are many questions with answers that are the same whether you’re Catholic or Protestant–eg, “Is Jesus God or man?” You can definitely point to the Bible to talk about the nature of Jesus–though that is still a complicated subject!

It’s a little trickier when you’re talking about something on which Protestants have different perspectives. Baptism, for instance, is washing away original sin’s stain in Catholicism; in some Protestant denominations, it is the New Testament equivalent of circumcision, marking the baptized as part of the covenant community (but not necessarily a believer); in other Protestant denominations it is the outward proclamation of one’s faith in Jesus. (I have heard Biblical defenses of all three positions.) If you’re talking about one of those kinds of topics, it would probably be sensible to note that you’re speaking from a Catholic perspective.

It also sounded as if you were hesitant to engage in these conversations in the first place. If someone was open to being taught or evangelized, I would always share what I believe to be the truth.