Honest questions from a seeking protestant

  • Thread starter Thread starter jahutch
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I will try and answer the opinion question, number 8.

No, this is why…

First off we need to remember that Catholics are human and have a wide range of views so there will be some who deviate from the norm to either extreme. So I will describe the ideal Catholic I want to be to describe what a common Catholic perspective of non-Catholics are.

I try to love everyone and see Christ in each person I meet.
I know some people will have different opinions, as you have seen, some of us are gun-shy from frequent attacks, insults and misunderstandings. This might lead to some Catholics not wanting to talk to others about the faith, or even anger\dislike for Protestants. Sorry for that, if you do encounter this.
I realize most Protestants have a deep love for Jesus Christ and have many similar beliefs as ours, if we focus on our similarities and discuss our differences we can come to better understandings of each other.

The Catholic Church is one big family, we have brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers, those that are outside are our separated bretheren and they are always welcome home.

There really isn’t a public\private viewpoint, being Catholic means that you profess a unity of faith in Jesus Christ. In fact about the Catholic viewpoint (as I will describe it), I believe Catholics really want more people to know about this. This would lead to less misunderstandings of the Catholic faith.

God Bless and thank you for your patient attitude.

Scylla
 
I would just like to emphasize on the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession).

Christ is the one who instituted the 7 Sacraments, including the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He gave the apostles the power to forgive sins; “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive it will be forgiven…” The priest was given the authority to forgive sins. It is an extension of Christ’s continual presence and authority once He had started, particularly the forgiving of sins. After Christ ascended into heaven, the apostles continued the work of Christ on the ministry of reconciliation (among others). Paul speaks beautifully on this;

"So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. " (2 Cor 5:18)

Very clearly, from the very start of apostolic ministry, the apostles were exercising this ministry in the Church.

God bless.

Pio
 
I just want to comment about not understanding how X can be a sin.

Fist of all, I think it’s awesome that you even asked, since some Catholics don’t even address this issue on their personal disagreement with the church’s moral teaching.

On a practical level, try to learn all you can about WHY the Church teaches X is a sin. But most importantly, pray for the strenght and perseverance to abstain from sin X while you are researching, and even more importantly, pray for the gift of Understanding as to what the truth is about X and for conviction regarding that truth so that it will be firmly planted in your mind and heart as to why X is a sin, and why you need to abstain from it.

Such good explanations!🙂 I’ve learned so much too!

God Bless you on your journey!
~Joy
 
jahutch,

You’ve already been provided a lot here, but you may get some more from these things as well.

#6) The Eucharist – Not many responses on this one yet, so I’ll provide a link to a very insightful talk on the Eucharist. Please try this page, and choose “The Fourth Cup”.

netfiles.uiuc.edu/tomashek/www/

You may find the other documents intersting as well, including “Sola Ecclesia” and “Sola Fide Refuted” both of which I got from other discussions on this forum.

#3-4) These items take a little more to describe because they deal with one of the most divergent aspects of protestant and Catholic theology, which is how we are truly saved. You are correct that our description of purgatory as a final cleansing place does not seem to fit with the doctrine that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross already paid the full price for all of our sins, past, present, and future. This is why the reformers rejected the doctrine of purgatory to begin with – their reformed view of salvation left no place for it. What is disagreed upon is how Christ’s death “paid” for our sins. Previous posters have done a good job showing how, despite Jesus’ resurrection, sin remains a part of our lives, and there still needs to be repentence from those sins and personal reconciliation with God.

One thing that I don’t understand about the protestant view of salvation is that if all we will really be judged by is whether or not we have “accepted Christ” and exchanged all our sins for His righteousness, then what was Jesus possibly talking about when He described the Final Judgement to his followers? He himself described it as the sheep to the right and the goats to the left, and the criteria He used for separating them was not “belief” in Jesus, but the people’s very works of charity and love, for “whatever you do to the least, you do to me”. And this did not even require that they recognized that their service was to Jesus! (“Lord, when did we see you thirsty, or hungry, or naked…?”).

On the other hand, the Catholic view of salvation fits this story of the final judgement perfectly, and is the only church whose doctrine seems to me to conform to all of Sacred Scripture.

Peace be with you in your searching, and please let me know what you think of the documents I provided a link to above (PMing me about them would be fine!)

javelin
 
My view on Confession:

The church is the body of Christ, Christ is the Churches head! Right.
The Church is Considered “Our Holy Mother Church”
Mary is Our Mother, but the Church is our Earthly mother.
You sin against God, you sin against the Church. Now yes you can ask God for forgiveness. No big deal.
But if you’ve committed a grave sin, most Good Catholics would want to go to confession. If you are close to the Church (mother), and hold her teachings true you would want to ask her to forgive you. If the priest says your forgiven, then God forgives you too. For whatever you bind on earth is bound and heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Jesus said this to Peter, the first Pope/bishop/priest. The Rock.

Let’s say you’ve done someting wrong, and our earthly mom (biological mom) knows about it, and you feel guilty. Your going to ask her to forgive you right? Mom, I’m sorry what do you want me to do to make it up to you?
You are pretty much doing the same thing in Confession. Penance, today, isn’t meant to punish you. It’s meant to help you become closer to GOD (the trinity), the Mary (the heavenly Mother, and the Church (the earthly it’s a living intity). They telll you to do some prayers (hail Mary, Our Father, whatever). Prayer’s give you more faith and help you become a better person

Hope that made since.
It makes since to me.
I’ve not done First Reconciliation yet, (newly baptized Catholic) but that is how my brain processed Confession in RCIA
 
Thank you all so much for the great replies. I’m sorry I haven’t been responsive to this thread of late, I got busy for a while with finals and moving! Thankfully all that is behind me now. I will definitely be checking out some of the online docs and books that you have all recommended.

Thanks again, and God bless!
 
In response to your last Honest Questions regarding a good book, I submit:

“Why Do Catholics Do That? A guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church” by Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D.

I have heard it mentioned on Catholic Answers on the radio — it is really well written, easy to read, informative and entertaining. I am a Catholic, but I learned a lot from reading it.

It would provide answers to virtually all the questions that you’ve asked — which are very good questions incidentally.

Hope you get a chance to read it – and Happy Learning, it is an adventure – but one well worth your time.
 
40.png
jahutch:
Forgive the length of this thread in advance, I am quite a curious person
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with being curious or having many questions, but you will normally get better results overall if you open different questions in different threads. This forum charges as much money (ie, nothing) for one thread as it does for twenty, but opening multiple threads allows the conversations to be more focused.
 
Hello to my brother in Christ!

I too am a Protestant that has been seeking out the Catholic faith for the past year and a half. I too have had exactly the same questions as you have…and many more! My endeavor began because I was dating a Catholic man, and we were discussing our future together, and inevitably, the topic of raising our kids came up. I am a strong Evangelical, and I feel strongly about my beliefs. I began this endeavor with the mindset that all I could have known to be true could in fact be false, and that the Catholic way may be right. Unfortunately, thus far, I have not found this at all. In fact, I have found that although my questions have been answered by the CC, it is still not sufficient in my heart. I have found that the common sense God has given me cannot allow me to believe most of it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have met such wonderfully strong and patient Catholics that have been such a large asset to my journey. I even believe that we will be standing next to each other in heaven (because God untimately looks at the heart). But I don’t feel that God has led me in that direction. In fact, I feel as though he has strengthened my beliefs. I want you to know that I am not in any way telling you my experience to influence yours, I just want you to be aware that there are those that have not converted (although what you will mostly hear here and many other Catholic sites is that there is this big movement from Protestant to Catholic), and that other people share you questions and concerns. Now, my journey is not even close to over, and life demands that we constantly challenge ourselves not only in life, but in faith, so to say this is a final outcome would be insufficient. There really is so much beauty in the Catholic faith, but yet I find that the truth still rests rests in mine. Suffice it to say, I am not the be all and end all of what is right and true, but I know it is for me. I have such a wonderful and close relationship with God, that I don’t feel that I need my attention diverted elsewhere (whether on Mary, the Saints, rituals, priests, or popes).That is my opinion and my opinion only. It saddens me to think that we all have the same foundation (Christ Jesus), and yet we all have grown so far apart. I have met so many great people (both on this forum as well as in life…my boyfriend and his family being some of them), and at the same time, I have been met with much intolerance from others. My only piece of advice is to ignore the pettiness of some, and look at the jist of what they are saying; it’s the only way you’ll get anything out of this. I also encourage you to pray to your God, and continue to ask your questions (the people on this forum are very helpful). Also, continue to cherish the simplicity of our faith that so many deem inadequate. It’s in the simple things that one can focus on the important. Be true to your heart, and be ready for God to lead you anywhere. God Bless you. You are in my prayers.

Skattas
 
40.png
skattas:
… I have such a wonderful and close relationship with God, that I don’t feel that I need my attention diverted elsewhere (whether on Mary, the Saints, …
Click to expand...
Skattas, would you be interested in starting a new thread explaining why you think that love of other Christians (Mary, Saints) and asking others to pray for us diverts attention away from God?
 
God bless you Jahutch and Skattas for searching. Be true to your heart, and let the Holy Spirit guide you. This forum is a great resource for learning as I have come to appreciate.

Skattas, I too was wondering why asking others to pray for us and loving other Christians diverts attention from God??? :confused:

Jahutch, don’t mean to hijack your thread! Maybe Skattas will start a new one on this very topic!
 
I am also very interested in the post by skattas and would encourage her to open a thread (or multiple threads) about the topics she raised (and the “many more” questions she has).

I am particularly interested in exploring the statement,
In fact, I have found that although my questions have been answered by the CC, it is still not sufficient in my heart. I have found that the common sense God has given me cannot allow me to believe most of it.
Click to expand...
I have found that “common” sense is very UN-common, and is often based in our own proclivities. I hope that skattas will open a discussion on this (and other) topics.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top