M
MrZetterlund
Guest
For some time now, many at Catholic Answers have asked me to give a testimony of my conversion for other Protestants leaning towards Catholicism, especially Baptists, which is the denomination in which I used to reside. This is only a summary of the testimony of my conversion. Throughout my testimony, I make Scriptural reference without quoting the text before or after my citations. So break out those KJVs, Baptists, and prepare to do some Scripture-surfing!
Looking around at Christianity today, I can’t help but realize how strikingly similar our spiritual situation is to St. Paul’s audience in his first letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were being “divided” due to “quarrels” that were arising in the church. They were each “interpreting” the teachings of one of the apostles they learned from in a different way. This is why St. Paul wrote to them, saying:
“Now I appeal to you my brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there may be no divisions amongst you, but that you all be united in the same mind and same purpose.” (1 Cor. 1:10.)
The Church is the body of Christ. As the body of Christ, unity is of the utmost importance. After all, it is one of the four marks of the Catholic (universal) Church. The problem within Christendom today is that we have allowed “quarrels” to divide us too greatly. The self-jurisdiction and self-justification by the independent “interpretations” of Sacred Scripture without an established authority of what is indeed Christian belief, and what is not, has created a religion of chaos swarming with quarrels and controversy. We all share a spiritual bond in regard to the moral and (most of) the theological teachings of Christ, but Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity are too vastly different from the Protestant Christianity for one or the other to TRULY BE “Christianity.” I’m not speaking of the members of the Church (whether they are of traditional Christianity or Protestantism,) but the religion itself; the beliefs, practices and dogma that are defined as “Christian” belief.
I myself am a Catholic convert from a Baptist church. I was “won-over” through careful research of Catholic practices and beliefs. I converted because there were many aspects of Christianity that I saw supported in the Catholic Church that weren’t supported elsewhere in Christianity. One example is Primacy of the Pope as the Vicar (representative) of Christ here on Earth. I knew that because Christ is the Head, the Shepherd and the Rock of the foundation of the Church, that those roles need to be clearly attributed to St. Peter in the gospels as well, which they are: Matt 16:18 & John 21:15-17.
I also knew that there had to be a complete order of succession from St. Peter to the current pope, which there is. I can’t recount the entire chronology here, since it is too great. But a very detailed review can be found in P.G. Maxwell Stuart’s book, Chronicle of the Popes, which explores the Papacy from St. Peter (32-67 AD,) to St. Linus (67-76 AD,) to St. Cletus (76-88 AD,) all the way down to the current pope. I found that a pope’s primacy is very necessary. We be our own popes and declare independently of ourselves what is and isn’t Christian doctrine. The pope’s job isn’t to declare new beliefs, but define what is and is not the belief of the Catholic (universal) Church. Without authority within the Church and outside of ourselves, we become divisive and Christianity becomes whatever we make it out to be (which can go many ways in regard to how individuals interpret the Good Book, as history testifies to.)
This brings me to my next point of conversion, the realization of the succession of apostolic authority found within the Church. It is evident from the gospels that Jesus passed some of His authority on to the apostles, such as anointing the sick in Mark 6:13 (Another sacrament of the Catholic Church), forgiving sins in John 20:23 (another sacrament as well), as well as casting out demons, binding and loosing, raising the dead and making disciples of all nations by Baptizing them, etc. We also know that this authority is transmitted through the Sacrament of the Holy Orders in the Catholic Church.
The Catechism (which means “instruction”) of the Catholic Church says:
“The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordained the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.”
We clearly see this in 1st Timothy 5:22 and Acts 8:17-18. It is impossible not to see this transfer of authority. As a Protestant, I believed in the doctrine of Sola-Scriptura (Bible alone as source of a source of authority without clergy or tradition.) However, I knew that this completely contradicted three sources of authority expressed in a single verse in the Bible. 2nd Thessalonians 2:15 accounts of the authority of tradition both written AND by word of mouth (which implies not everything was written down.) And also the apostolic authority, since he writes “hold fast to the traditions WE pass onto you.”
Looking around at Christianity today, I can’t help but realize how strikingly similar our spiritual situation is to St. Paul’s audience in his first letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were being “divided” due to “quarrels” that were arising in the church. They were each “interpreting” the teachings of one of the apostles they learned from in a different way. This is why St. Paul wrote to them, saying:
“Now I appeal to you my brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there may be no divisions amongst you, but that you all be united in the same mind and same purpose.” (1 Cor. 1:10.)
The Church is the body of Christ. As the body of Christ, unity is of the utmost importance. After all, it is one of the four marks of the Catholic (universal) Church. The problem within Christendom today is that we have allowed “quarrels” to divide us too greatly. The self-jurisdiction and self-justification by the independent “interpretations” of Sacred Scripture without an established authority of what is indeed Christian belief, and what is not, has created a religion of chaos swarming with quarrels and controversy. We all share a spiritual bond in regard to the moral and (most of) the theological teachings of Christ, but Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity are too vastly different from the Protestant Christianity for one or the other to TRULY BE “Christianity.” I’m not speaking of the members of the Church (whether they are of traditional Christianity or Protestantism,) but the religion itself; the beliefs, practices and dogma that are defined as “Christian” belief.
I myself am a Catholic convert from a Baptist church. I was “won-over” through careful research of Catholic practices and beliefs. I converted because there were many aspects of Christianity that I saw supported in the Catholic Church that weren’t supported elsewhere in Christianity. One example is Primacy of the Pope as the Vicar (representative) of Christ here on Earth. I knew that because Christ is the Head, the Shepherd and the Rock of the foundation of the Church, that those roles need to be clearly attributed to St. Peter in the gospels as well, which they are: Matt 16:18 & John 21:15-17.
I also knew that there had to be a complete order of succession from St. Peter to the current pope, which there is. I can’t recount the entire chronology here, since it is too great. But a very detailed review can be found in P.G. Maxwell Stuart’s book, Chronicle of the Popes, which explores the Papacy from St. Peter (32-67 AD,) to St. Linus (67-76 AD,) to St. Cletus (76-88 AD,) all the way down to the current pope. I found that a pope’s primacy is very necessary. We be our own popes and declare independently of ourselves what is and isn’t Christian doctrine. The pope’s job isn’t to declare new beliefs, but define what is and is not the belief of the Catholic (universal) Church. Without authority within the Church and outside of ourselves, we become divisive and Christianity becomes whatever we make it out to be (which can go many ways in regard to how individuals interpret the Good Book, as history testifies to.)
This brings me to my next point of conversion, the realization of the succession of apostolic authority found within the Church. It is evident from the gospels that Jesus passed some of His authority on to the apostles, such as anointing the sick in Mark 6:13 (Another sacrament of the Catholic Church), forgiving sins in John 20:23 (another sacrament as well), as well as casting out demons, binding and loosing, raising the dead and making disciples of all nations by Baptizing them, etc. We also know that this authority is transmitted through the Sacrament of the Holy Orders in the Catholic Church.
The Catechism (which means “instruction”) of the Catholic Church says:
“The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordained the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.”
We clearly see this in 1st Timothy 5:22 and Acts 8:17-18. It is impossible not to see this transfer of authority. As a Protestant, I believed in the doctrine of Sola-Scriptura (Bible alone as source of a source of authority without clergy or tradition.) However, I knew that this completely contradicted three sources of authority expressed in a single verse in the Bible. 2nd Thessalonians 2:15 accounts of the authority of tradition both written AND by word of mouth (which implies not everything was written down.) And also the apostolic authority, since he writes “hold fast to the traditions WE pass onto you.”
