Former Baptists now Catholic

[Joe_Kelley]

KJV-only sects are truly wide-eyed and wacky. They can also attract some pretty dangerous people. Glad you escaped.

My former secretary was Assembly of God. She told me that her minister once commented [sarcastically] that of course the KJV was the only proper version. God gave it to Adam and Eve on their way out from Eden.

 

[andrewstx]

I notice there are quite a few former Baptist/Fundamentalist Christians on these forums.

I wonder, both current and former Baptist and Fundamentalist Protestants (and Jehovah Witnesses and Adventists, if any) does the emphasis your church places on opposing the teachings of the Catholic Church draw your attention to Catholicism? I can imagine parts of the Southern US where you could go through life never knowing about, or thinking about, Catholicism, unless your Protestant pastor brings up the subject in order to draw a contrast with what you believe?

Is there an element of ‘thou dost protest too much’ about this? i.e. people protest so vocally because inwardly they are drawn to Catholic ideas?

Also, perhaps ex Baptist/Fundamentalist Catholics frequent a forum like this because they are seeking the Church full of rules and rituals that their former Protestant pastors warned them about, but actually don’t find it among the lived faith of most Catholics in their home parishes? I know when I first converted, I did a very good impression of a bad Protestant stereotype of a Catholic hypocrite for the first few years. Do former Baptists and Fundamentalists find that the Catholic Church is not what they expected?

I am a former fundamentalist myself and the few rules amoung Catholics pale when compared to those of fundamental Protestants.

No drinking even a single drop will doom you to hell. (it’s so bad here with the fundamental influnce the county voted it’self “DRY”)

No dancing, also will send you to hell.

Any form of tobacco will also doom you.

No playing cards.

It’s even worse in the groups that call themselves holiness and pentecostal. They have a ton of rules.

No TV or movies.

No makeup or pants on women, and they may not cut their hair either. Nor may they color it.

Men must keep their hair very short, and facial hair is discouraged.

No shorts for either sex.

Secular music is frowned on, and books.

Just goes on and on.

 

[komeeks18]

I was raised in a KJV-only independent fundamental Bpatist church. However, what was taught there (while emotionally charging at times) never really struck me as authoritative. Of course, I couldn’t have expressed this at the time, but as I mentioned in another thread, there were a lot of things that had to be “explained away.” My wife (a non believer no less) suggested that if i were going to be a Christian that I should at least be part of the oldest Christian church. Well, considering what I was being taught never really “clicked” for me, I thought, “Why not?” So, I began researching, and voila! It all made sense. So, I guess, to answer the actual question at hand, my former church didn’t really bring my attention to it at all.

Oh my goodness, I’ve felt exactly like you! I’ve always had questions unanswered and things that didn’t make it sense. And I’ve never understood why Christianity is so divided, and who gets to decide what the Bible is saying. Once I began researching Catholicism, I couldn’t stop. I know God is trying to lead me Home, and I will get there one day once I can get out of high school and out of the house! You know my parents would never let me go to Mass!

 

[GaryTaylor]

My grandmother came from a strong New England Baptist family, her uncle was a minister. She became Catholic just before she married my grandfather over 100 years ago. Her family was always strongly supportive of her and maintained close relations.

When my grandfather’s family left the Catholic Church a year after their wedding, my grandfather, his father and my grandmother were the only ones to remain Catholic.

When my grandfather died, the priest invited the local Baptist minister, who was married to my grandmother’s cousin to join him in prayer at the cemetery. We always had good relations with all the Baptists in the area.

My grandmother was always especially devoted to Mary and the rosary.

Well. I have very close friends who run area Baptist congregations in Philly, New-Haven and New London. I fiind peace of mind in that I know these men are their. I know their character. They teach no Us and Them theory in Christianity, all of us who have paying attention know there’s just Us in the end. We know the responsibility placed on Christianity here in the USA. I expect nothing less of the Souls in this country to step up when need be. And that time has come.

 

[Jacob_Morgan]

I grew up in the Church of Christ and heard sermons claiming the Pope was the antiChrist, that Rome (meaning Catholic Rome) was the Babylon in the book of revelations, etc. It was from a self-educated enthusiast (anyone in that denomination can preach) who was mindlessly repeating the urban legends about the Catholic Church. A lot of people I grew up around never missed the chance to smear the Catholic Church.

My conversion story to Catholicisim (Easter Vigil 2010) is too complex to reduce to a paragrah. The biggest part of it was realising that instead of figuring out what kind of Church the New Testament was telling one to make, it was not telling one how to make a church at all. What it was doing was recording the history of a Church once made, and giving enough history to be able to recognize that Church.

But there were steps along the way where I realized that something was wrong with the charges against the Church. When I got serious about studying religion I bought a dictionary of theological terms from Lifeway (Baptist). That book never missed a beat in trashing Catholic doctrine. But, as I started to see what the Catholics had to say (mainly through the Catholic Encyclopedia on-line at NewAdvent.com) what that dictionary was trashing had little to do with what the Catholics actually had in black and white as to what the doctrines really were. Who prints a dictionary that plainly lies about what anyone can see for themselvs in print? At that point, yes, the interest level goes up. What was provoking such a reacation that people were going a little crazy?

If it was just dumb superstition, then just show it. But no, why did people have to make up verifiably false stories about it? Chesterton said that first one decides to be fair to the Church, then they realize that it is the true Church and run from it, and then they (hopefully) surrender to it. People may realize that if they are fair to it, they will have to surrender to it. It reminds me of Uncle Screwtape: “don’t argue with the patient, confuse him” and “use jargon, not logic.”

 

[buzzoff1031]

Oh my goodness, I’ve felt exactly like you! I’ve always had questions unanswered and things that didn’t make it sense. And I’ve never understood why Christianity is so divided, and who gets to decide what the Bible is saying. Once I began researching Catholicism, I couldn’t stop. I know God is trying to lead me Home, and I will get there one day once I can get out of high school and out of the house! You know my parents would never let me go to Mass!

Of course you must obey your parents. Maybe they would listen if you started giving them reasons you are beginning to check out the Catholic Church…maybe not. Only you could have a sense of that. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I’d be glad to find an answer for you.

 

[komeeks18]

Of course you must obey your parents. Maybe they would listen if you started giving them reasons you are beginning to check out the Catholic Church…maybe not. Only you could have a sense of that. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I’d be glad to find an answer for you.

Thank you very much; I really appreciate it!