For Valtiel..(X Protestants help)

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X Protestants, but now Catholics Please help!

Valtiel’s catholic faith is being shaken by our Protestant brothers…Please explain to her why you are no longer Protestant and why you left that faith. And explain why the truth of cahtolicism attracted you! She needs to hear your stories…This is the purpose why I started this thread,for her!

God bless
 
Hello Valteil,

First I would beg you to read the New Testament through. Any time a Protestant brings a verse to you, look it up and read the surronding text. Protestans are very selective in their approach to reading the bible. THey pick and choose the verses that fit a preconcieved position and disregard the rest. The bad thing is that in order for the bible to fit what they want it to, then scripture has to either be wildly distorted or to contradict itself.

I myself was from a fundamentalist background. One of the many things that turned me away from Protestantism for good, was the bible. Out of all the churches the Catholic is the most scriptual.
 
Seek ye first the kingdom of the Lord and of His righiousness,and ALL these things shall be added unto you. 😉 God Bless
 
Valtiel,

I’m not Catholic at this point, but I certainly think Catholicism is in a stronger position overall than Protestantism. (I’m Episcopalian, which is as close to Catholicism as I could get without totally breaking with my heritage.)

Feel free to send me a private message and I’ll be happy to discuss what’s bothering you. I do not think that there is any good theological reason for people to leave the Catholic Church.

Edwin
 
Just joined the Catholic church this past Christmas after 4 years of intense study. Everyone has their different reasons, and everyone finds different aspects of the faith easier or harder to accept than others. But overall, the utter inconsistencies within Protestantism, and the unchanging doctrine of the Catholic church are huge, since they really encompass every aspect of belief.

While Protestants claim unity in things essential, seemingly making it ok to have such denominational diversity if people are really only split over non-essential issues, I found it increasingly difficult to determine how we really know what articles of faith truly are the essentials.

For example, many Protestants baptize infants and many do not. Those who do beleive it is essential. So what about those who don’t? Are their unbaptized infants & growing children more in danger of hell should they die young or not?

And the once saved always saved thing. Those who believe it say that they have true assurance of salvation because they trust in the perfection of Christ’s righteousness applied to them. If someone falls into serious sin and decides to leave the Church, then it is merely said they must not have had a “real” faith, but only a “stated” faith. So, as for assurance, how does one really know whether their faith is “real”? And what if the “once saved always saved” idea is wrong. . .surely that would make it an essential aspect of the faith if you really could lose your salvation!

And then there’s communion. I understand Lutherans to beleive closest to the Catholic position in at least saying the body and blood of Jesus is really present, even though their full understanding is not compatible with Catholic teaching. But most Protestants beleive only in a symbolic presence. Even my husband, who is a Protestant, admits that of all doctrines, the Catholic church may have a point here since they seem to be the only ones who really have scripture on their side. And if the Catholic position is true (or even if the Lutheran position is closer to truth than other denominations) I would say that is a huge essential element of the faith.

I think the whole thing boils down to who has the authority to correctly interpret scripture, since private interpretation as practiced by Protestants clearly does not work. While there has been development of doctrine throughout the ages, only the Catholic church can trace it’s beliefs to the earliest centuries, as clearly recorded by the fathers.
 
When I first began considering the Catholic faith, I thought of the analogy of a puzzle. Maybe I heard it somewhere, I don’t know, but the analogy just seemed to come to me.

So there’s this puzzle, perhaps with a picture of a really pretty house in a field, with lots of flowers, animals in the background, and a beautiful blue sky. Well, I knew that with my Protestant faith, I had at least the core of the gospel, i.e. belief in the Trinity, the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, our utter inability to save ourselves, etc. So I imagined these beliefs to be the core of the puzzle, or in this analogy, the house. But then I started wondering, if the other teachings of the Catholic church were true, such as the ability of saints in heaven to assist us on our journey through intercessory prayer, the idea of Mary being our spiritual Mother, thus completing the Family, the authority of the Pope, through the Holy Spirit, to protect the church from teaching error, etc., then I started wondering if all these things made up the rest of the puzzle, like the flowers, animals, and clear blue sky.

I guess what I mean is, what if Christ intended his church to be this really beautiful thing, this complete picture, and through the years, Protestantism had gradually taken away one thing after another, until all we had left was the house? Yes, Protestants would have truth, but I saw it was possible they could be missing so much more! And so I began investigating, because if these things were true, then I wanted to experience the fullness of beauty for myself.
 
When I was considering joining the Catholic church, I read several books, among them one by Fr. Andrew Greeley, who I now believe has a rather eclectic understanding of church doctrine. But one of his statements was: “You can believe almost anything and still be a Catholic,” so I went ahead and joined the church.
I now think he is mistaken, though I find it humorous that God used his comment to help me in my decision. Once I had joined, I learned what the church is really about, and am now convinced that it’s the true church founded by Jesus.
The Catholic universe is so much richer and friendlier than the Protestant one; we are surrounded by a cloud of helpful saints, as well as Mary our mother whose intercession we can ask. Catholicism has a rich heritage of wisdom acquired from saints through the ages.
But if anyone wonders where God wants him, he has only to pray and he’ll be shown the way.
 
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auhsoj88:
X Protestants, but now Catholics Please help!

Valtiel’s catholic faith is being shaken by our Protestant brothers…Please explain to her why you are no longer Protestant and why you left that faith. And explain why the truth of cahtolicism attracted you! She needs to hear your stories…This is the purpose why I started this thread,for her!

God bless
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have her list her hangups if she could so we can get a better idea of what she is having a hard time with.
 
REAL PRESENSE
REAL PRESENSE
REAL PRESENSE

I had an internet friend thinking about becoming a Scientologist. I prayed this wouldn’t happen. About a month and a half, two months after she first told me this, I asked her if this was still on the table. She said no. She went to an Episcopal church for a wedding and felt God was missing; like it was a fake church or something. She said she felt that it would probably be the same elsewhere. Now, let me tell you, this chick isn’t the best Catholic; she is very liberal, but, THAT struck me.

Pray Pray Pray that you understand and get what you are now missing. Believe me, you wont get NEARLY as much elsewhere. Look at our history!! The great thing about all this is this is what the CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS ALWAYS TAUGHT!!! Check it out!! See, when one is a Protestant, I don’t know if you were, but, basically, you have Jesus, St. Paul, & St. John. St. Paul is the bulk of most Protestant theology. No matter what, St. Paul has an answer…mostly used to shoot down Catholocism. They don’t realise that St. Paul was a…Bishop, I want to say? Anyway, after St. John on Patmos died, Christianity went into…who knows…it doesn’t exist in Protestantism. It doesn’t re-imerge until 1517 when the Holy :rolleyes: monk pointed out what was wrong with Catholocism. And then…well…we’ve seen what happens. BELIEVE ME, there is no better place to be. Check it out. Check out what has changed. – It’s more true than I can say.

One last thing…I had a pm session with another here who, like me, felt he was going through a dry spell. This person has noted that this has been happening on this board lately…why… Think about it. Here are the serious hard-core, loving Catholics, the Devil wants to destroy as much as us as possible!! Look at what Jesus says, “Unless you eat this bread…you will not have life in you;” you don’t get this in the Protestant church’s. I will pray for you.
 
First, I’m not Catholic but I’ve posted this before and it might help.

From what I understand, many converts to Catholicism have done a great deal of truth seeking, wrestling, and soul searching before entering into the Church. And plenty of studying too many times. In other words, they didn’t enter it on a whim, didn’t take it lightly. I would suggest that you don’t let a few comments take you away. Dive back into your Faith. Read it, study it, get help from these boards. Don’t be swayed by a few Protestants. Don’t just leave the Church out of frustration or on whim. (not to suggest you should leave the church at all).

I know what it’s like to question your own beliefs, and to become confused (expect the reverse…questioning Protestantism in my case). Withdraw, regroup, pray, don’t lose heart.
 
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adstrinity:
She went to an Episcopal church for a wedding and felt God was missing; like it was a fake church or something. She said she felt that it would probably be the same elsewhere. Now, let me tell you, this chick isn’t the best Catholic; she is very liberal, but, THAT struck me.
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It’s true… even when I was not serious about my faith, I couldn’t help but notice Protestant services just felt so “empty.” Like they’re really nothing more than a big glorified social event.
 
What Protestant chruch are you interested in? I’ve been: Jehovah’s Witness, Church of Christ, Non denominational, Southern Baptist, Evangelical Free, and Lutheran - Missouri Synod.

Nice & not so nice people in all, some music better than others, all read the Bible but interpret differently. I decided which church to go to (after the JW’s) by picking one that pretty much matched up with what I believed. When my beliefs changed or the church split (happens ALOT in Protestant Churches due to disagreements) I’d just shop around for a new church. I decided that no one was totally right so it didn’t really matter where I went.

Three years ago I started looking for something holy & reverent & true. I was tired of the rock bands and the sermons with catchy little titles meant to entertain me mostly - and teach me a little. I didn’t want my church experience to be all about ME - I wanted it to be about God.

So now I’m Catholic. I will never ever go anywhere again. I’m here for life. What’s different? The Catholic Church has the history - I do believe Jesus established a Church & didn’t just toss a Bible down from heaven for us to figure it all out on our own. I also believe Jesus wanted us to be “one” - to be “unified” not all split apart. I think Martin Luther was wrong to break away - he should have stayed & prayed to God & trusted that He would correct His church. The Catholic Church has the Eucharist - no one else does. The Catholic Church is the most charitable - always preaching “help the poor.” In some churches I went to, the poor were never even mentioned. The Catholic Church doesn’t change with the times - just because something is now acceptable to society doesn’t mean it’s now acceptable to God.

And I find every mass to be holy, reverent and true. For me, being at mass is like heaven on earth.

Those are my reasons. God Bless you,
CM
 
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