For Protestants who have been around awhile...

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While I am new to posting, I am not new to the forum…and I have listened to “Catholic Answers Live” for about three to four years now…I have found it to be very informative and it definitely dispelled many of the “myths” I had associated with Catholicism, I admit to my shame. Being from the Quaker tradition, you’d think I be more open to the truth, but I “accepted” some of the myths Protestants have told of Catholics without really ever condisering if they were even true.

Example…seeking the intercession of the Saints and Mary…hearing the explanation that we are part of a single Body…composed of those who are alive in Christ now and those who are alive in Christ in heaven…if God is the God of the living and not of the dead, why wouldn’t we ask those dearly departed saints that surround us as a “cloud of witnesses” to pray for us…we seek the intercession of those alive in Christ on this Side, why not other Side. I understand the concept now…to understand is not to embrace it fully, but it is no longer “strange” to me and I don’t believe Catholics “pray to them” to the exclusion of approaching the Light for themselves…I know most Protestants ask for prayers of their friends.

Another “myth” is how could Mary be Immaculate…it is no longer a strange assertion…I understand how she is called the Mother of God now…I have come to a greater appreciation to the Mother of the Lord and her place in the “story of salvation”…

I also have seen some of the misconception many Catholics have about Protestants reinforced in some of these forums, but that is to be expected…we all tend to be “isolationists” in our thinking and tend to divide “us” and “them”, which is sad…but true.
 
Publisher said:
I also have seen some of the misconception many Catholics have about Protestants reinforced in some of these forums, but that is to be expected…we all tend to be “isolationists” in our thinking and tend to divide “us” and “them”, which is sad…but true.
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Please stick around. I am actually learning from many of the Protestants here about their faith, and I welcome anything that will clear up misconception I may have about Protestants.
 
Publisher said:
While I am new to posting, I am not new to the forum…and I have listened to “Catholic Answers Live” for about three to four years now…I have found it to be very informative and it definitely dispelled many of the “myths” I had associated with Catholicism, I admit to my shame. Being from the Quaker tradition, you’d think I be more open to the truth, but I “accepted” some of the myths Protestants have told of Catholics without really ever condisering if they were even true.

Example…seeking the intercession of the Saints and Mary…hearing the explanation that we are part of a single Body…composed of those who are alive in Christ now and those who are alive in Christ in heaven…if God is the God of the living and not of the dead, why wouldn’t we ask those dearly departed saints that surround us as a “cloud of witnesses” to pray for us…we seek the intercession of those alive in Christ on this Side, why not other Side. I understand the concept now…to understand is not to embrace it fully, but it is no longer “strange” to me and I don’t believe Catholics “pray to them” to the exclusion of approaching the Light for themselves…I know most Protestants ask for prayers of their friends.

Another “myth” is how could Mary be Immaculate…it is no longer a strange assertion…I understand how she is called the Mother of God now…I have come to a greater appreciation to the Mother of the Lord and her place in the “story of salvation”…

I also have seen some of the misconception many Catholics have about Protestants reinforced in some of these forums, but that is to be expected…we all tend to be “isolationists” in our thinking and tend to divide “us” and “them”, which is sad…but true.
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I glad that the Protestants are more open minded. They do disagree on Catholic dogmatic issues like Marian doctrines. The only problem I have with Protestants are those who claim that the Mary we venerate and honor is the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah, which is not the same.

Maybe its because they have been reading a lot of Anti-Catholic material.
 
Being here helped me come to one realization about the differences between my beliefs and Catholic ones. When I first came here, the question “What Catholic beliefs do you disagree with?” would result in quite a long list from me. Now, though, I see that the entire list all hinges on one subject. So while the list is still accurate, it is really a reflection of that subject.

This forum also has showed me that there are some Catholics in the world who actually know what the CC teaches. 😉
 
Syele said:
Being here helped me come to one realization about the differences between my beliefs and Catholic ones. When I first came here, the question “What Catholic beliefs do you disagree with?” would result in quite a long list from me. Now, though, I see that the entire list all hinges on one subject. So while the list is still accurate, it is really a reflection of that subject.

This forum also has showed me that there are some Catholics in the world who actually know what the CC teaches. 😉
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Have you considered the question “What Catholic and Protestant beliefs do you agree with?” and how long is the list? 🙂
 
Publisher said:
While I am new to posting, I am not new to the forum…and I have listened to “Catholic Answers Live” for about three to four years now…I have found it to be very informative and it definitely dispelled many of the “myths” I had associated with Catholicism, I admit to my shame. Being from the Quaker tradition, you’d think I be more open to the truth, but I “accepted” some of the myths Protestants have told of Catholics without really ever condisering if they were even true.

Example…seeking the intercession of the Saints and Mary…hearing the explanation that we are part of a single Body…composed of those who are alive in Christ now and those who are alive in Christ in heaven…if God is the God of the living and not of the dead, why wouldn’t we ask those dearly departed saints that surround us as a “cloud of witnesses” to pray for us…we seek the intercession of those alive in Christ on this Side, why not other Side. I understand the concept now…to understand is not to embrace it fully, but it is no longer “strange” to me and I don’t believe Catholics “pray to them” to the exclusion of approaching the Light for themselves…I know most Protestants ask for prayers of their friends.

Another “myth” is how could Mary be Immaculate…it is no longer a strange assertion…I understand how she is called the Mother of God now…I have come to a greater appreciation to the Mother of the Lord and her place in the “story of salvation”…

I also have seen some of the misconception many Catholics have about Protestants reinforced in some of these forums, but that is to be expected…we all tend to be “isolationists” in our thinking and tend to divide “us” and “them”, which is sad…but true.
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Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)uts - I agreed with you and I am so very happy that you come to understand more about the Catholic Faith and teachings.

Stay longer 🙂
 
water said:
Have you considered the question “What Catholic and Protestant beliefs do you agree with?” and how long is the list? 🙂
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Well seeing as how the “disagree” list all boils down to one… It’d be pretty hard to count the “agree” list, now wouldn’t it? 🙂
 
Syele said:
Justification/Sanctification
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That is actually getting shorter on the list. Lutherans and Catholics agreed on this a few years ago.

The main difference I see is with Calvinists, although there are Catholics who are Thomists and are not much different from Calvinists. I am more of a Molinist/Arminian myself. Predestination is one thing that just does not make sense to me.
 
Syele said:
Well seeing as how the “disagree” list all boils down to one… It’d be pretty hard to count the “agree” list, now wouldn’t it? 🙂
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Syele said:
Justification/Sanctification
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WOW! That kind of shocks me.

If a person says there is realy only one issue, I thought the answer would be “the authority of the Catholic Church”. All things usually fall into place once that issue is resolved.

OOPs. Sorry. I have been trying not to intrude, but just read this thread, but that answer really shocked me:eek:

Back to the “protestants who have been around awhile” discussion. Catholic being quiet now;)
 
LOL Maria, I didn’t know I was shocking.

Remember I said my list is still valid, but always in light of the real issue I cannot reconcile. CC authority, if wrong about justification, would still be wrong about something. If they are wrong about such a huge issue, I cannot accept their authority.

I can see how changing ones belief about authority could make it all fall into place though… Like when I say, “God says it, so it is.” You can accept many things if you have faith in your authority.
 
Syele said:
I can see how changing ones belief about authority could make it all fall into place though… Like when I say, “God says it, so it is.” You can accept many things if you have faith in your authority.
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On what authority do we have faith in? Caesar? 😃
  • the one that God gives authority to - in my belief, that is the Church.
 
Syele said:
Justification/Sanctification
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Hey,
You know you are right. That is probably the biggest hurdle even over authority because those two definitions directly affect salvation. That is what it is all about. To me everything else is second.👍
 
MariaG said:
WOW! That kind of shocks me.

If a person says there is realy only one issue, I thought the answer would be “the authority of the Catholic Church”. All things usually fall into place once that issue is resolved.

OOPs. Sorry. I have been trying not to intrude, but just read this thread, but that answer really shocked me:eek:

Back to the “protestants who have been around awhile” discussion. Catholic being quiet now;)
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I think you’re reading this through a Catholic lens (I know that you are a convert, but converts typically take on a Catholic lens!). Becoming Catholic often (not always) involves (or is the result of!) a paradigm shift in which authority becomes the main issue. (Note Scott Hahn’s story, for instance. It was only after he had already decided that the standard Reformed/Protestant view of salvation was wrong that he started looking at Catholicism seriously. He had already decided that the dominant theme in Scripture was God bringing humans into a covenantal relationship, and this led him to Catholicism. Had he started out with the assumption that faith vs. works was the defining issue, he might never have converted.) But it isn’t necessarily the main issue for Protestants. For the bulk of American Protestants–Baptists and Reformed particularly, also Lutherans on the whole–justification is the main issue.

This is not true for those of us coming from a Wesleyan position. Our differences with Catholicism on this point are relatively more nuanced, and questions of authority, ecclesiology, etc., tend to be the main thing.

Edwin
 
MariaG said:
WOW! That kind of shocks me.

If a person says there is realy only one issue, I thought the answer would be “the authority of the Catholic Church”. All things usually fall into place once that issue is resolved.

OOPs. Sorry. I have been trying not to intrude, but just read this thread, but that answer really shocked me:eek:
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Agreed.
 
I am going to focus on the earliest church fathers and their writings. I have read them before but not like I plan on doing now. When I read the Bible, like Reformed said on another thread, I do not see the Catholic church. One advantage or disadvantage of my early Bible readings is they were devoid of any bias. I was not a church goer and after reading, I went to church expecting to find what I had read. Strangely enough, the place I felt most accurately did was a little Quaker church I attended for awhile.
When I saw the shared meal, where everyone was supposed to wait for each other, the warning against head coverings, and the 3 or 4 prophecying in an orderly manner, I hope you can understand why I thought that:D
Back on topic, lest I digress too much, I really feel I need to read the early writings some more to find what the early church taught and emphasized.:confused:
 
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