How to counteract local Protestant evangelism crusades?

[Holly3278]

Hi everyone. Although it is now too late to act on this, a local independent fundamentalist Baptist church in my area recently held a play every night for three nights called “Heavens Gates and Hells Flames”. This is a fundamentalist Protestant evangelism play. They receive many “commitments to Christ” through this prayer and even a few baptisms. This is all well and good but I am concerned that they may be deceiving local Catholics in to believing in Protestantism. What can one do to mitigate the influence of such Protestant evangelism crusades against the Catholic population in one’s area?

 

[Agape_Thom]

What can one do to mitigate the influence of such Protestant evangelism crusades against the Catholic population in one’s area?

And what makes you think that the efforts of this church are designed to be “anti-catholic”? Could it not be that they are just trying to spread the gospel and win souls for Christ? Or is that the exclusive right of the Catholic Church?

 

[shondrea]

I’m kind of in agreement with the above here. They’re doing what Christians do; evangelize. A group may or may not be anti-Catholic, but that doesn’t mean that everything they DO is anti-Catholic. Couldn’t we give them the benefit of the doubt that they have the right to spread the word of their church without us autimatically thinking that they’re doing it for the sole reason of snatching Catholics away from the church?

If it worries you so much, do something for CATHOLIC evangelization.

 

[fkjuliano]

No doubt it’s better to be a Baptist than an atheist, but the fullness of truth is only found in the Catholic Faith. We should take evangelization more seriously, both in regard to keeping Catholics where they belong and bringing fundamentalists home to the One Church of Jesus Christ.

 

[shondrea]

No doubt it’s better to be a Baptist than an atheist, but the fullness of truth is only found in the Catholic Faith. We should take evangelization more seriously, both in regard to keeping Catholics where they belong and bringing fundamentalists home to the One Church of Jesus Christ.

That was my thought exactly. Those who love God can be saved in a Baptist church, and devout Baptists are doing what they feel is their mission, to get people saved. We can’t hold ill thoughts for them for teaching the word of God. I do also agree though, that of course I wish it was a Catholic church that was bringing them to God. I wish the Catholic church was more active in evangelizing. .

 

[LoyalViews]

And what makes you think that the efforts of this church are designed to be “anti-catholic”? Could it not be that they are just trying to spread the gospel and win souls for Christ? Or is that the exclusive right of the Catholic Church?

I don’t think she meant that they were “anti-Catholic”…

 

[LoyalViews]

No doubt it’s better to be a Baptist than an atheist, but the fullness of truth is only found in the Catholic Faith. We should take evangelization more seriously, both in regard to keeping Catholics where they belong and bringing fundamentalists home to the One Church of Jesus Christ.

AMEN!

We are the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The True Church.

 

[TimothyH]

No doubt it’s better to be a Baptist than an atheist, but the fullness of truth is only found in the Catholic Faith. We should take evangelization more seriously, both in regard to keeping Catholics where they belong and bringing fundamentalists home to the One Church of Jesus Christ.

fkjuliano’s point is well taken. To reject the Catholic Church is to reject the body of Christ and that’s a bad place for a Christian to be.

As a Catholic living in the deep south, it has been my experience, that to be Baptist is to be seriously misinformed about what Catholicsim is, what it teaches and what Catholics believe. Many Baptists and other Evangelicals sincerly want to bring souls to salvation but they do so aggressively and are very good at what they do.

shondrea:

We can’t hold ill thoughts for them for teaching the word of God. I do also agree though, that of course I wish it was a Catholic church that was bringing them to God. I wish the Catholic church was more active in evangelizing.

We shouldn’t hold ill thoughts for them as individuals but their Church is teaching the word of God incorrectly. The individual members of the Baptist Church need to be firmly and confidently told that what they are teaching is wrong when they get agressive with Catholics.

As to evangelization, wishing won’t do anything. I find Catholics almost apologetic when asked where they go to Church. Being enthusiastic about your faith is a big first step and it has a wonderful effect.

Catholics have to view any attempt to remove people from the Church as anti-catholic. Catholics who are knowlegeable about the teachings of the Church, who know the biblical basis for Catholic doctrine and who are mature enough to be able to argue without getting angry and insulted bear a special responsibility to defend the faith. I take this responsibility seriously and wish I was better at it.

I sometimes invite Protestants to try to talk me out of Catholicism.It is not wrong to walk up to a group of people and say, “You know, I heard you talking about Catholicism. I’m Catholic and what you said about such-and-such is not what the Church teaches.”

In response to the original post, it may be enough to point out that the Church teaches that associating with Churches and attending events which teach docrines contrary to the Catholic faith is a sin.

-Tim-

 

[Holly3278]

What I am concerned about is the fact that Catholics may be attracted to such crusades where they will then be preached a false Gospel and may possibly be deceived in to believing a false Gospel. What I am asking is how can I counteract this?

 

[shondrea]

What I am concerned about is the fact that Catholics may be attracted to such crusades where they will then be preached a false Gospel and may possibly be deceived in to believing a false Gospel. What I am asking is how can I counteract this?

By helping to support better education of Catholics about their faith. I’m not yet twenty. Went to CCD since kindergarten. Leaned next to NOTHING Catholic. Learned a bunch of protestant mumbo-jumbo, or generic Christianity about how God loves me, how there is a heaven and hell, and bad people go to hell when they die. But I didn’t know ANYthing about being Catholic. So if a Baptist had come up to me a year ago preaching sola scriptura and sola fide, I would buy right into it, because NO ONE TAUGHT ME BETTER.

it is not the fault of the Baptists that Catholics are leaving the church. I see it as largely the fault of church educators for not teaching good Catechism.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hi everyone. Although it is now too late to act on this, a local independent fundamentalist Baptist church in my area recently held a play every night for three nights called “Heavens Gates and Hells Flames”. This is a fundamentalist Protestant evangelism play. They receive many “commitments to Christ” through this prayer and even a few baptisms. This is all well and good but I am concerned that they may be deceiving local Catholics in to believing in Protestantism. What can one do to mitigate the influence of such Protestant evangelism crusades against the Catholic population in one’s area?

Make sure that the local Catholic Church is represented at all public events, have a tent, give away evangelization material. The Kof C has lots available, as well as material from places like CA. There should be a parish budget for this. Make sure that you parish has a well stocked pamphlet and CD rack in the hall. Make sure that there are plenty of ADULT Catechesis programs at the parish. Another thing that has seemed to work here are a Parish “Open House” with local adverising, inviting non-Catholics to “come and visit” with an open Q and A.

 

[fkjuliano]

fkjuliano’s point is well taken. To reject the Catholic Church is to reject the body of Christ and that’s a bad place for a Christian to be.

As a Catholic living in the deep south, it has been my experience, that to be Baptist is to be seriously misinformed about what Catholicsim is, what it teaches and what Catholics believe. Many Baptists and other Evangelicals sincerly want to bring souls to salvation but they do so aggressively and are very good at what they do.

We shouldn’t hold ill thoughts for them as individuals but their Church is teaching the word of God incorrectly. The individual members of the Baptist Church need to be firmly and confidently told that what they are teaching is wrong when they get agressive with Catholics.

As to evangelization, wishing won’t do anything. I find Catholics almost apologetic when asked where they go to Church. Being enthusiastic about your faith is a big first step and it has a wonderful effect.

Catholics have to view any attempt to remove people from the Church as anti-catholic. Catholics who are knowlegeable about the teachings of the Church, who know the biblical basis for Catholic doctrine and who are mature enough to be able to argue without getting angry and insulted bear a special responsibility to defend the faith. I take this responsibility seriously and wish I was better at it.

I sometimes invite Protestants to try to talk me out of Catholicism.It is not wrong to walk up to a group of people and say, “You know, I heard you talking about Catholicism. I’m Catholic and what you said about such-and-such is not what the Church teaches.”

In response to the original post, it may be enough to point out that the Church teaches that associating with Churches and attending events which teach docrines contrary to the Catholic faith is a sin.

-Tim-

The sad thing about Catholics leaving for other churches is that not one sincere person would ever leave the Church to become an evangelical (let alone a Mormon) if they were properly educated about Scripture, Church teaching and Church history. Sure, there would still be a few liberals defectors who prefer to worship their own points of view instead of God, but no real Christian would ever leave, in fact many more would come in from outer Christianity. To give just two examples: no Christian would ever consider a church that did not believe in the Real Presence if they really learned Saint John 6, because to disbelieve the Real Presence is either to deny the accuracy of the Bible or to call Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ a liar. Another example is James 2 which thoroughly discredits the ubiquitous protestant doctrine of “faith alone”. I could go on, but I think everybody gets the point.

Unfortunately, though, we are handicapped by the perception that the Catholic Church is more corrupt than protestant denominations, when the opposite is closer to the truth. In order to better reach Catholics and others, the moral authority of the Church must be restored. That is why I thank God for Pope Benedict because, despite being so maligned by the media, he has made a real effort to clean house, to rid the Church of homosexuals and other unchaste individuals. I also pray that the Hierarchy will crack down harder on those who openly defy Church teachings, like the infamous Sr. Chittister.

 

[CalCatholic]

By helping to support better education of Catholics about their faith. I’m not yet twenty. Went to CCD since kindergarten. Leaned next to NOTHING Catholic. Learned a bunch of protestant mumbo-jumbo, or generic Christianity about how God loves me, how there is a heaven and hell, and bad people go to hell when they die. But I didn’t know ANYthing about being Catholic. So if a Baptist had come up to me a year ago preaching sola scriptura and sola fide, I would buy right into it, because NO ONE TAUGHT ME BETTER.

it is not the fault of the Baptists that Catholics are leaving the church. I see it as largely the fault of church educators for not teaching good Catechism.

Catholics have a responsibility to learn more about their own faith! There is a lot of information out there at any Catholic book store, Catholic sites (like this one) on the internet. But many people are content with their elementary school Catholic education and that (as you pointed out) is not good enough. I’m a convert and knew next to nothing about Christianity (let alone Catholicism). But after receiving a calling (from the Holy Spirit) to start going to church, I went to my local Borders and started reading up on it. The information (The Catechism of the Catholic Church) is out there, people have to want to find it.

 

[fkjuliano]

By helping to support better education of Catholics about their faith. I’m not yet twenty. Went to CCD since kindergarten. Leaned next to NOTHING Catholic. Learned a bunch of protestant mumbo-jumbo, or generic Christianity about how God loves me, how there is a heaven and hell, and bad people go to hell when they die. But I didn’t know ANYthing about being Catholic. So if a Baptist had come up to me a year ago preaching sola scriptura and sola fide, I would buy right into it, because NO ONE TAUGHT ME BETTER.

it is not the fault of the Baptists that Catholics are leaving the church. I see it as largely the fault of church educators for not teaching good Catechism.

You make a good point. It is essential when educating Catholics, children and adults alike, to not only teach them general Christian principles but specifically Catholic ones and to explain how they differ and why they are superior to those of outer Christianity. This is especially true in countries where Catholics are a minority among Christians, such as the United States, or those where there is significant fundamentalist proselytizing activity going on, such as Brazil, because without being well-educated in the truth and beauty of Catholicism, our brothers and sisters will be vulnerable to any dullard knocking on their door and asking, “If you died today, are sure where you’d go to heaven?” It is irresponsible and, yes, sinful to ignore the reality of millions of Catholics being converted to fundamentalism and Mormonism.

 

[Jesus_123]

+*And then again *. . . perhaps you could meditate on the Jesus teachings below a bit Holly3278 . . . to gain a better balance and understanding of God’s perspective of others who are accomplishing work of the Lord in this world . . . one needs to be . . . very. . . very . . . respectful when in contact with others of God’s beloved children . . . and extremely careful so as not to wind up fighting against God **Himself **among those beloved children in other flocks of believers of the faithful . . . who are not yet walking in full light . . . as they live and walk with God in the protective comforting shadow of the Holy Cross of Christ . . .

. . . :coffeeread: . . .
The Holy :bible1: Bible
Mark 9:38-40

36 Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in** my name**, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

37 John answered him, saying: Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, who followeth not us, and we forbade him.

38 But Jesus said:
Do not forbid him.

For there is no man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me.

39
For he that is not against you,
is for you.

40 For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ: amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.​

A gentle additional note . . . extremely rarely . . . if ever . . . *in this day and age *. . . are protestant evangelism crusades ever motivated by the odd premise of agressively fighting against Catholicism . . . the Godly thrust of true evangelism is to bring souls to Jesus . . . *the Blessed Christ *. . . ***our Lord ***. . . and to the foot of His Holy Cross . . .

. . . all for Jesus+
Jesus I Trust In You!+
​

 

[KShaft]

+*And then again *. . . perhaps you could meditate on the Jesus teachings below a bit Holly3278 . . . to gain a better balance and understanding of God’s perspective of others who are accomplishing work of the Lord in this world . . . one needs to be . . . very. . . very . . . respectful when in contact with others of God’s beloved children . . . and extremely careful so as not to wind up fighting against God **Himself **among those beloved children in other flocks of believers of the faithful . . . who are not yet walking in full light . . . as they live and walk with God in the protective comforting shadow of the Holy Cross of Christ . . .

. . . :coffeeread: . . .
The Holy :bible1: Bible
Mark 9:38-40

36 Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in** my name**, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

37 John answered him, saying: Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, who followeth not us, and we forbade him.

38 But Jesus said:
Do not forbid him.

For there is no man that doth a miracle in my name, and can soon speak ill of me.

39
For he that is not against you,
is for you.

40 For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in my name, because you belong to Christ: amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.​

A gentle
[/right]

Excellent post and I indeed agree with this statement. Thing is though, a lot of baptist and especially 7DA guys are a bit anti Catholic. I was invited to go to a Campus Crusade for Christ Bible study thing and I do enjoy it as I feel I am with fellow Christians, whether or not they are Catholic. However, there was some anti-Catholic stuff being said. One guy even said “they arent saved” That being kind of strange, being the primary requirement for salvation(from Scripture) is believing that Christ is the Christ being that he was crucified, died, and rose again from the dead being the Lord in the Flesh. Well everything after that is icing on the cake. But it seems that Catholics have a **** load of Icing! Thing is I havent met a Catholic that doesnt believe in Christ as Lord and Savior, and if he didnt he wouldnt be Catholic and I wouldnt refer to him as such. I have to admit however, I have protestant tendancies. I have reservations about the also canical books being canical, All the praying to Mary is heritical as well. Yeah according to Doctrine your not supposed to pray to Mary but ask her to pray for you, but how many people in effect pray to Mary mistakenly? Id say a good number. I used to. Yes I went to CCD all those years ago too.
Mass can seem strange. On Good Friday we paid homage to the wood, that is almost like idoltry. Its unnerving to me.
But if you have ever attended a protestant mass, its so deprived of anything sacred or reverent its almost not a mass(well I guess it isnt a mass but a sermon). Its just like a bible study in its atmosphere only you throw in a few Hymns, Its really pathetic. And the churches are a joke. “Well thats just material things not as important as what goes on inside.” Well protestantism always seemed to be like it was missing something, Its intangible but you can just sense it. And to the material superficiality of Churches, well you look at the fruit of the vine to see the quality or truth of the vine itself. What the Catholic Chruch produce is a beautiful product, the curches, the spirit of love as opposed to legalism you see with the fundamentalists, the music and art(Im talking like Bach and Gergorian Chants, and oh yeah take a look at the works of Raphael, Michelangelo,etc… how bout Chesterton[the most underated modern philosopher of our time] and Tolkien you wont see that from fundamentalists). Not to mention the uniformity of the Catholic Church. Fundamentalists and Protestants have no uniformity and differ from parish to parish in whatever they teach even with the supposed Scripture Only stance. All the various little sects are insane and all these things are why I think Catholicism is the true church. Its not I do not see problems and things I disagree with, the alternative just isnt one. And anyhow, Lets say nearly all the Clergy was corrupt in Luther’s era. So what? You just leave all the sheep you promised to the Lord be shepherd to? “Nah I dont like it Im out of here.” Im not even talking about protesting the Bishops and Cardinals, Im talking about leaving your parishioners. Lame. Luther probably had many valid arguments, I just don’t think he went about it the right way.

I do think the Bible has all the fundamental keys to salvation(thank the early Church for keeping the sacred scripture). I also believe that it alone does not a complete Christian make, but that is a bit self evident I think.

 

[fkjuliano]

I agree that we should not malign the Protestants or the Orthodox. But if it is a sin to despise those who have some of the Truth, it is a worse sin for them to defame the fullness of the Truth contained in the Catholic Church. And they must be not go unchallenged when they distort, albeit unknowingly, the meaning of Scripture and the history of the Christian Faith in order to persuade poorly educated Catholics to leave the Church. We should use to power of Truth in order to respectfully persuade other Christians to come home and finally end the division in the Body of Christ.

 

[kage_ar]

Support with time talent and treasure the efforts of Catholic evangelization in your community. For those weak in faith, pray for those Catholic efforts.

 

[Mariusioannesp]

And what makes you think that the efforts of this church are designed to be “anti-catholic”? Could it not be that they are just trying to spread the gospel and win souls for Christ? Or is that the exclusive right of the Catholic Church?

Yes it is.

 

[hotdjdave]

fkjuliano and others, I disagree. The true Church of Jesus Christ is the Apostolic Church founded on the day of Pentecost; the Apostolic Church which existed before the Catholic Church of Constantine; the Apostolic Church which the Holy Roman Church persecuted; the Apostolic Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ that still exists today. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles were Catholic – in fact no one was until the fourth century AD.

There is only one Church (or assembly of believers) of Jesus Christ and it doesn’t belong to any one religion or sect. It is all the believers of Jesus Christ who are baptized with water in his name for the remission of sins and have been baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). There is no sect, religion, or church (including the Catholic Church) which has claim on the works of Christ and His Church.

A person can receive salvation (accept Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Savior, be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and be baptized with the Holy Ghost – “be saved”) and have never stepped foot in a Catholic Church building nor have spoken to a catholic person or priest.

You do not have to be Catholic to be a Christian or to be saved. With all this being said, I am not trying to say that Catholics are not saved…just not the only show in town (per se).

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27

So please! Stop with that “Catholicism is the only one true religion” stuff. You insult yourself and your church leaders by spewing that inclusive falsity.