Help for Evangelical Converts to Catholicism

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lordjules

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Hi Folks, I thought I’d put this up for people who are converting/have converted from Protestant Evangelicalism to Roman Catholicism.

My question is how do we as former Evangelicals best serve our new found community? In particular how do we discuss issues without causing offence? I ask this because I think, at least for me, the ‘old ways’ are so ingrained that it’s easy to fall back into them.

Maybe I’m off the mark, I’m new to this but there seems to be a different way of discussing in the Catholic Community and I for one could really do with some advice.

If others have questions please add to this.
 
Can you give an example of what “issues” you are concerned with “discussing”?

As a general note, when people are new to a group (any group, not just Catholics - could be the new employee in an office or the new member of a club, etc.), the members who have been around longer may be a bit put off by the new person all of a sudden having a bunch of “issues” to bring up. If there’s something the new person doesn’t understand or questions, one would expect them to maybe talk privately and non-confrontationally with a couple of the established members to learn more about why something is a certain way.
 
Thanks folks. It’s often about language I think. I’ve noticed in places that arguments erupt between a couple of people and then the thread just ends up as that with often the sides not seeing what the other side is saying or making assumptions that the other side doesn’t share.

What would you folks say ‘annoys’ (not a great word I know) you about newbies?
 
We on here are generally not annoyed with newbies, as this is a place for people to ask questions about the Catholic faith and many people who are new to the faith have such questions. At the same time, we expect the poster to follow the TOS of the forum and also understand that discussions are open and the answers s/he receives might not be the ones s/he was expecting or hoping to get.

Sometimes if a question has already been answered or discussed 100 times in the past, a responder will politely suggest that the OP (original poster) should use the search function and read the past responses.

Again, without specific examples of a thread, it is hard to answer your question. There are a million reasons why a particular discussion might go haywire.
 
Maybe it’s like this. I’m kind of used to the open kind of question but it seems that many of the answers will give an answer that doesn’t allow for interpretation. Is this because CA needs to do this because of the nature of its mission?
 
A couple of things I can think of. One is say you say something that is answered in part by the CCC the answer might be what is written in the CCC rather than discussing the nuances.
Another thing I came you there other day was listening to a former Evangelical talking about the book of James, he was about to say the Holy Spirit but quickly changed to saying James I wondered if there’s an issue in referencing the Holly Spirit in Catholic circles?
 
lordjules said:
A couple of things I can think of. One is say you say something that is answered in part by the CCC the answer might be what is written in the CCC rather than discussing the nuances.
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I think you’ll usually find answers of both kinds. One commenter will post a link to the CCC or an online Bible or one of the Church Fathers on the New Advent website, while another will give his own views in his own words. Both kinds of answer are helpful, I find.

And no, you’ll see occasional discussions about the Holy Spirit if you look for them. Here’s one recent thread, for example:
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Is the Nicene Creed Confused? Apologetics
I read in the Nicene Creed And in one Lord Jesus Christ, also I read And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and giver of life. If Jesus is the one ‘Lord’, how can the Holy Spirit be the ‘Lord’? I can see partial explanations all unsatisfactory. First both the Holy Spirit and Jesus are God hence there is one ‘Lord’, but the persons of the Trinity are really distinct. Secondly ‘Kurios’ can mean different things, from God to Mister (Mr.), so ‘Kurios’ may be used in different ways, hence there can be …
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Sometimes I become a little nervous about my posts, there is quite a bit that is missing in text only and that’s apart from people misunderstanding your angle sometimes.

I’ve asked for a little advice from time to time but I mostly just post and hold my breath! We all make mistakes and as long as someone is prepared to try to empathise and remains polite it seems to be fine. There are very few arrogant and dogmatic posters thankfully.

Peace 😊

(I personally don’t talk very often about the Holy Spirit because to me He is mysterious.)
 
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There is one other thing I might say. If I’m not sure about something I will look it up in the Catechism and sometimes just post the relevant section, I expect others do the same, this also prevents us from posting error, which we should avoid. If there is any doubt maybe it’s best to not post sometimes.

There are several people who are very knowledgeable in some areas and you can ‘invite’ those if you know their names in the hope that will be available and help in some way. I’ve got to know of several and I’m sure you will too. Edward George for example is a very knowledgeable priest! And will often help if needs be. Generally posters who have ‘admired’ in their bio are excellent and very helpful.

(Present company included!)
 
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Usually if something is covered explicitly in the CCC, that’s the end of the discussion for Catholics. Occasionally we’ve had people trying to claim the CCC is wrong based on some other source (a Pope from decades ago, an unofficial/ old Catechism (Baltimore Catechism), their own interpretation of Scripture) and that doesn’t fly here.

As for mentioning the Holy Spirit, many Catholics will freely mention the Holy Spirit but there are a handful of Catholics who associate the Holy Spirit with Protestant evangelical culture and with the Catholic charismatic movement, and thus might shy away from discussing the Holy Spirit. That’s just their personal issue/ preference. It does not make the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Ghost in traditional terminology) any less God or any less a part of Catholic spirituality.
 
This is interesting, so where is all the writing in the Catechism not debatable?
 
Because the Catechism is the official teaching of the Catholic Church. It’s designed to provide the most important teachings. Those who argue with it often have a negative agenda such as justifying their own sins, claiming the current post-Vatican II church is wrong and we should go back to pre-Vatican II, complaining about the Pope, or pushing their own interpretation of Scripture or some other church’s teachings. In any event, even if one doesn’t have an agenda and one disagrees with the Catechism, it’s pointless because they don’t get a vote. We are bound to follow the teachings in the Catechism and believe what is in it.

Keep in mind that there are many, many questions where the Catechism leaves a question open. For example, Catholics are free to believe in evolution, or not believe in evolution, or believe parts of evolutionary theory and reject other parts. That’s just one example - there are many other areas where the Catechism doesn’t provide a definite answer.

I note that the Catechism is full of footnotes so you can see the basis of each teaching. A lot of the teachings are based on Scripture, as interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church.
 
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I have a question on what you folks mean by the Catechism. I went to public school way back in the 1960’s and on certain days we who were Catholic were taken for religious instruction and we called that Going for Catechism. But then in 2006 a cousin gave me a CD he called the Catechism. This CD has a huge amount of data on it. I think it has writings going back to Augustine of Hippo. Unfortunately, the CD is not what we call User Friendly, it’s hard to find what I want. So when you talk of the CCC are you referring to a CD, a DVD, or a book?

A bit about me. I grew up when the Mass was said in Latin and very few people knew what was going on. To make matters worse my home town church was huge both in size and the congregation. My mother was a devout Catholic and very godly woman but my father had this odd idea that God was only for women and children. At 18 due to personal tragedy and too much intellect for my own good I stopped believing God existed. However, God Himself had other plans. This was back in the days where every where you went there were Christian Tracts urging you to accept Jesus. I thought I did that at my Confirmation. Honestly, my church did that when we were too young. In any case I hated those Tracts, but they were every where. For 10 yrs I tried to pretend God was a myth just like Zeus and the others. It didn’t work out so well. I decided to read the Bible myself and prove, once and for all, God didn’t exist and the CC was nonsense. After all, God gave me a powerful brain.
Well, God does what He wants. He proved to me He us real and I still study the Bible. But I never found a church I felt at home in, and I sure did try. Now I’m disabled and the only church I can get to is Roman Catholic. Well, why not. I’m so disgusted with virtually every evangelical church I’ve been to I don’t know if I’d go to 1 even if I had a car again. I am Catholic, Baptized and Confirmed. I’m single never married, maybe I was supposed to be a priest. Almost all my family is dead, God wants me alive and I’m trying to understand why.
So you may see me here from time to time.

So what do you mean by the CCC?
 
“CCC” or Catechism means the official Catechism of the Catholic Church, available on the Vatican website. It is also available in hardcopy book form at Catholic bookstores and churches that sell or lend books. I’m sure there are electronic versions on disc or download out there too but I have no idea if that’s the same thing your cousin gave you. The CCC was first introduced in 2004 and has been updated since. Here is the version on the Vatican website:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

The Catholic Church also has a youth version of the catechism called “YOUCAT” that is currently used to teach children and young people.

Throughout the 20th century and up to the 1960s and 1970s in USA, many Catholic schools used an “official national catechism” called the Baltimore Catechism to teach children preparing for first confession, first Communion and confirmation. This was replaced in 2004 by the CCC.

P.S. Please do consider returning to the Catholic Church. God may want to give you a chance to grow closer to Him through His Church before you pass away. Also, remember that even if you cannot do anything else, you can always pray for other people living and deceased, which is helpful to both you and them.
I will pray for you.
 
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It sounds like you’ve had an interesting life Geo17. I hope you don’t think me rude but what form does your disability take? It sounds like you’ve developed a much more rigorous faith. I think keep going to the Catholic Church near you. It’s good to have somewhere that people know you even though it may take time to feel ‘at home’. There’s so much diversity in the Catholic Church that your bound to find a place sooner or later but in the meantime you’ll have a community around you.
 
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