Former Baptist seeking for truth

  • Thread starter Thread starter treadingtiber
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
 
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
 
Hail Mary,
Full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee
Blessed art Thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb,
Jesus
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of death,
Amen
 
Prayers for you…
✝️
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amoung women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners, NOW and AT THE HOUR of OUR DEATH. Amen.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou, Oh Prince Of the Heavenly Host,
By the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl
About the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
 
Regarding Mary. She had God in her tummy so Catholics tend to focus on calling her Mother of God instead of Mother of Jesus (the human) which is more common within the protestant communions. I would say that it gives a totally different perspective on the virgin Mary, Mother of God.

It is common for those who have been very involved and have taken their faith very seriously to have a “roller coaster road” before being received into full communion with the Catholic church. One deacon just said to me “Sit still in the boat with your hands on the railing while the storm lasts! Don’t get out of the boat or you’ll drown.”

You are “relearning” what you have been taught and find errors that were taught as truths. That makes the ground you are standing on shaking. When you have the possibility make an appointment to meet with a Catholic priest or deacon.

Called to Communion is a good programme on EWTN as well as all that other people have suggested already.
 
HeDa said:
Sit still in the boat with your hands on the railing while the storm lasts! Don’t get out of the boat or you’ll drown.”
Click to expand...
This is a perfect description of all that is going on right now. I’ve considered just going back to what I knew but I can’t! I’ve seen the errors. And the holes in Protestantism are great enough that the beliefs don’t hold water. I still am struggling with some Catholic beliefs, however the entire new testament is suddenly cohesive. Scriptures that were explained away suddenly make sense.
 
Praying for you, brother.
I’m a former presbyterian and have converted recently to the Catholic Church.
I was afraid at the beggining like you are now, but trust God! Things eventually settle and you will see how every struggle was worth it.
May Christ have mercy on us all
 
Thank you I appreciate your prayers! May I ask, what was the biggest factor in your conversion? (Btw, I’m a woman so your sister in Christ lol, but no worries😉)
 
treadingtiber said:
Thank you I appreciate your prayers! May I ask, what was the biggest factor in your conversion? (Btw, I’m a woman so your sister in Christ lol, but no worries😉)
Click to expand...
Lol sorry!
My journey began two years ago, when I started to study the Church Fathers. I realized that their positions were consistent with the Catholic Church, not with Calvinism (the branch of Protestantism I followed), but I can say the key points were the Apostolic Sucession (something no Protestant communion have) and the belief of the Real Presence in the Eucharist going back to the Apostolic Fathers (You should read St. Ignatius of Antioch).
I then started to ask myself: “Has God left His Church in heresy since the II Century and only came to rescue her with a rebel monk and an humanist lawyer in the XVI Century?”.
The answer is obviously not, as Our Lord himself promised that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Holy Church.
So I came home. It was hard in the beggining, as my family and most of my best friends are protestants, but God have merciful to me and things are settling down.
 
After reading Rome Sweet Home, try “Why We’re Catholic” by Trent Horn. He does an excellent job at talking about the beliefs of Catholicism. He also argues a lot of it from a “logical” point of view
 
We can second-guess any decision in life, and can’t be perfectly certain about many things that we begin to undertake. Often we’re challenged to make changes and that necessarily includes some trepidation, as we make baby steps into the unknown. But it’s probably too late, once you begin to honestly question the foundations of Protestantism. Because the necessity of having teachings and beliefs that are derived from a continuous, lived experience, a history or Tradition traceable to the beginnings of our faith, becomes increasingly clear. Once authority is placed solely in the bible, many of our beliefs will basically derive from
nothing more than best-guess exegesis, no matter how educated and sophisticated we are in biblical and theological fields of study. We must have the voice of experience speaking and informing in order for our beliefs to be solidly grounded. I’d even go as far as saying that we cannot be sufficiently certain of anything in our faith without that voice; I could no longer bother with Christianity without it. Additionally, Christianity would never have survived to this day without the Church, and with the bible alone; it would’ve become a minor footnote in history long ago. The Church preserved and assembled the various writings into our present-day bible for that matter.

And, especially as truth-seeking, which essentially means God-seeking, is your focus, it’s not really possible for you to “embrace false doctrine” and “lose a walk with Christ”. If you’ve truly begun that walk to begin with then He’s not going to let you go too far astray anyway; Truth will ultimately correct your path towards or away from Catholicism. Just keep praying and studying; asking, seeking, knocking-and trusting.
 
Last edited:
Maybe you should meditate on Luke 8:22 when Jesus calms the storm? Have an honest conversation with Jesus like the apostles did. Imagine you are one of them and let Jesus know your fears, longings, concerns and joys. Give Him time to answer. There might be an instant answer or it could come later. (This is very common in the Ignatian spirituality starting with St. Ignatius of Loyola during the first part 1600s. The Jesuit order ((within the Catholic Church)) was founded by him.)

Another thing I usually recommend those who are coming toward the Catholic Church from an evangelical/baptist etc background is to read the gospels and focus on the relationship between Jesus and Mary. What is Jesus’s role and what is Mary’s? How are they interacting? How are other people seeing Mary? How is Mary’s relationship with God?
 
treadingtiber said:
Did anyone who converted to Catholicism go through the same fears of being dreadfully wrong? How did you know that it was the Holy Spirit guiding you and not your own desires? Thank you for your prayers!
Click to expand...
Absolutely, it was very distressing; as I grappled with the Marian doctrines I nearly vomited once or twice!

As I studied Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism, and then began to read the Early Church Fathers, I realized that the key question was “to whom did Christ give authority to teach in His name, and what did they teach with that authority?” So I made a careful study of Scripture (formatting from the old site doesn’t work any more, sorry), and discovered that the overwhelming evidence from Sacred Scripture and from extra-biblical historical doumentation is that Jesus founded a Church with a visible, hierarchical and infallible teaching authority vested in the sucessor to St. Peter and the Bishops in union with him: the Magesterium of the Catholic Church.

Once I knew that, I realized that I could safely ignore anyone who taught in contradiction to the Catholic Church. Obviously, having been brought up on Chick tracts I had a lot of emotional damage that needed healing, but I made an act of the will to do what I knew Christ was calling me to, trusting Him to take care of the baggage.

And you know, the moment I first received His Body and Precious Blood at the Easter Vigil, a great peace came over me, and within just a few days I was completely healed. Of course Mary is the Ever-Virgin Mother of God! Of course we can ask the Saints in Heaven for their intercession! Of course … it all became so clear.

I’ve never looked back.
 
Last edited:
@treadingtiber I’m in my 50’s and have daughters in their 20’s. I am a former Baptist ( Pentecostal before that with a sprinkle of Church of Christ from my wife’s upbringing ). We are both entering the Church this Easter Vigil. I have spent hundreds of hours over the last 13 months on this Catholic journey. Take a look at www.CatholicTransformation.com which I put together with NUMEROUS resources. Use the dropdowns under ABOUT and RESOURCES.

For me, I can sum it up in this…

I came to the conclusion that either the Catholic Church is the TRUTH that the Church claims or it is not. If it’s true, I have to be a part of it. The overwhelming evidence lead me to the logical conclusion that it’s TRUE. There are so many things in Protestantism that fall apart once you do enough research. I have to answer to God for me and no one else. I cannot ignore what I believe is TRUE. It has not been easy, but I’m glad that I found Catholicism and wish I had discovered it many years ago.

I just finished reading “Why We’re Catholic” By Trent Horn. It’s just over 200 pages. The first book I read which someone already recommended is “The Protestant’s Dilemma.” They are both good books and worth reading as you continue your journey.

Be sure to check out conversion stories from the Journey Home https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL97DC29A06F85B07E
 
Last edited:
treadingtiber said:
Have any of you converted to Catholicism from Protestantism? What was your experience? I would appreciate prayer as I am on this journey.
I have found that the tenants of Protestantism are faulty and can no longer blindly accepted all I used to believe. (Justification by faith alone was the first to fall. After that was brought down, I have begun to see the problems with sola scriptura.) But I’m still struggling with many of the other typical issues that protestants have with Catholics. I feel as if I am stuck, unable to turn back yet unsure of moving forward. I also fear that perhaps my search is driven by emotions, circumstances or the desire to rid myself of the fundamentalist cult I left. It is this fear that makes me wonder if I am doing wrong by seeking out Catholicism and that I will end up embracing a false doctrine (ie. Catholicism) and lose a walk with Christ. Did anyone who converted to Catholicism go through the same fears of being dreadfully wrong? How did you know that it was the Holy Spirit guiding you and not your own desires? Thank you for your prayers!
Click to expand...
Hi treadingtiber:

I was raised in the Church of Christ, was atheist/agnostic for a bit, and then I was a nonaffiliated Christian before becoming Catholic.

I can only speak from my own experience, but when I started reading up on Catholicism I personally found its internal consistency and defenses to be waterproof in the way nothing else was. Yeah, I had some of those emotional fears too (like the veneration of Mary, or praying to the saints, or the entire idea of a Magisterium) but they melted away the more I learned.

This is a private matter, but I went through two phases in my life where I experienced an almost incapacitating dread of hell (once when I was agnostic, and the other when I was moving from protestant to Catholicism). In July of 2013 I was awake for about 72 hours straight at one point before the fear instantaneously left me.

I can’t really sum this up in a post except to encourage you to keep doing what you know you need to do: pray for discernment and continue to study the faith from apologetic sources, such as on this website. I believe the more you read with a receptive and objective heart & mind, the more those fears are going to vaporize.

And as far as being worried about doing it for selfish reasons: remember that our motivations are not going to be 100% pure. Because of our wounded & corrupted nature, there are going to be some human motivations wrapped up in everything we do. It’s okay, because we have a God who humbles himself and comes down to us, even to the point of the Cross. He will work with what he has to work with. Trust in God.

Peace.
 
Last edited:
My whole world revolves around independent fundamentalism. I currently attended a Baptist university and feel that I have to watch my words lest I get kicked out. But God has been good. I prayed to meet someone walking the same journey and he answered that prayer within the week. The church fathers have been a big factor in my journey as well. I used to think that the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was crazy, but it is now something I crave.
 
Thank you. I thought of that passage when you talked about “staying in the boat” in the previous post. For Lent, I’m setting time aside daily for prayer to seek God in this journey.
 
Ahh yes, Chick tracts…the fundamentalists typical idea of what Catholicism is. The ironic thing is that so many of us that have converted or are in the process of converting to Catholicism have agonized, fasted and prayed through every decision of this journey yet we are told we are going against the truth of the gospel and making a liberal, emotional decision because we don’t want to live a life that is sacrificing everything for Christ.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top