L
Lady_Bug
Guest
Hi, I am a person who has been interested in Catholicism for some time now. I almost forgot how I even became interested in it, but I think it is rooted in the fact that I was interested in Orthodoxy first but realized things about it that I didn’t agree with, and here I am.
I have a friend who is a nondenominational Protestant. She has been my mentor since April 2006. She helped me become a Christian (she did not force it - my interest in Christianity was a very long time before she ever entered the picture)
When I became a Christian, I had thought of myself as a Protestant. But during our mentoring period, we have come across some disagreements, in which I realized that my point of view on the subject reflected more of a Catholic stance - one prime example of being “Once Saved Always Saved” and the souls in heaven not having any relationship whatsoever with their loved ones left on earth, etc. I am also starting to realize that the booklets she has been mentoring me have a Protestant slant to it and are implicitly against Catholic beliefs, and I am starting to get extremely angry about this and don’t know what to do. I feel as if I am looking at heretical booklets and any type of doctrine that I view as heresy gets me foaming at the mouth (I don’t literally lose my temper but it invokes anger in me that I wish would not emerge)
I do not think that she realizes that my points of view have a Catholic slant to it, yet. But the major problem is that she thinks Catholics are not Christians (I asked her this some time before I started studying Catholicism) and her reasons for thinking so are so wrong and misguided, but she is thoroughly convinced of the fact that she has the right perspective on these kinds of things. She got some 2-year degree in religious studies, and she would claim that she knows more than I do because she’s “studied” comparative religion. (Yeah, hard to get through)
She wants to start taking me to Bible studies at her nondenominatonal church, and another nondenominational church that she is familiar/affiliated with, and I want to refuse her because I think that I am on the way to being a Catholic. I don’t know how to find the words to tell her why I have to decline this.
But I can’t seem to tell her that this is the reason. She has been the only Christian that I could get in contact with (I found her through another friend I had, who moved away). My family does not know I am Christian yet, and the results of them would be disastrous (I still live with them), and I was able to meet with this lady without my family realizing it was for religious reasons.
But I feel estranged from her because I can’t seem to fellowship with her the way I used to. I still fellowship with her but I don’t enjoy it, because I feel like I have to keep my emerging interest in Catholic beliefs hidden from her, and when I come across things in our mentoring booklets that are at odds with Catholic beliefs, I have to keep my mouth shut and not say anything (well I don’t HAVE to, but you know what I mean). I’m not saying I can’t be friends with her, but since the majority of our friendship has been comprised in discussions about faith, I can’t help but feel that this schism between us is going to have some effect, one way or the other.
Anyway, this is causing me to have feelings of “hate” toward Protestantism (not Protestants, but Protestantism). In spite of the fact that I haven’t officially accepted a couple Catholic teachings yet, I somehow feel that I eventually will. And I want to stop feeling such bitterness against Protestantism but when I see something that is so blatantly heretical and possibly detrimental to the salvation of an individual, it makes me concerned, but also extremely angry. I do NOT want to subscribe to heretical doctrines within Christianity. When Christianity becomes heretical to this point, I sometimes even wonder if it is real Christianity anymore. (yes, I know I am asking if Protestantism is real Christianity, and I am having a lot of trouble saying that it is “real Christianity without the fullness of the truth” - yikes! sorry)…Why does such heresy invoke feelings of “hatred”? I feel as if I can’t even HELP it. If I think that rejection of core beliefs about baptism, salvation, justification by faith/works, etc can lead to dangerous heresy, how can I help but not hate the heresy?
I hope you can forgive me for the “hatred” I feel for heresy. I do not like to feel this way at all. I think it’s ruining me somehow
I have a friend who is a nondenominational Protestant. She has been my mentor since April 2006. She helped me become a Christian (she did not force it - my interest in Christianity was a very long time before she ever entered the picture)
When I became a Christian, I had thought of myself as a Protestant. But during our mentoring period, we have come across some disagreements, in which I realized that my point of view on the subject reflected more of a Catholic stance - one prime example of being “Once Saved Always Saved” and the souls in heaven not having any relationship whatsoever with their loved ones left on earth, etc. I am also starting to realize that the booklets she has been mentoring me have a Protestant slant to it and are implicitly against Catholic beliefs, and I am starting to get extremely angry about this and don’t know what to do. I feel as if I am looking at heretical booklets and any type of doctrine that I view as heresy gets me foaming at the mouth (I don’t literally lose my temper but it invokes anger in me that I wish would not emerge)
I do not think that she realizes that my points of view have a Catholic slant to it, yet. But the major problem is that she thinks Catholics are not Christians (I asked her this some time before I started studying Catholicism) and her reasons for thinking so are so wrong and misguided, but she is thoroughly convinced of the fact that she has the right perspective on these kinds of things. She got some 2-year degree in religious studies, and she would claim that she knows more than I do because she’s “studied” comparative religion. (Yeah, hard to get through)
She wants to start taking me to Bible studies at her nondenominatonal church, and another nondenominational church that she is familiar/affiliated with, and I want to refuse her because I think that I am on the way to being a Catholic. I don’t know how to find the words to tell her why I have to decline this.
But I can’t seem to tell her that this is the reason. She has been the only Christian that I could get in contact with (I found her through another friend I had, who moved away). My family does not know I am Christian yet, and the results of them would be disastrous (I still live with them), and I was able to meet with this lady without my family realizing it was for religious reasons.
But I feel estranged from her because I can’t seem to fellowship with her the way I used to. I still fellowship with her but I don’t enjoy it, because I feel like I have to keep my emerging interest in Catholic beliefs hidden from her, and when I come across things in our mentoring booklets that are at odds with Catholic beliefs, I have to keep my mouth shut and not say anything (well I don’t HAVE to, but you know what I mean). I’m not saying I can’t be friends with her, but since the majority of our friendship has been comprised in discussions about faith, I can’t help but feel that this schism between us is going to have some effect, one way or the other.
Anyway, this is causing me to have feelings of “hate” toward Protestantism (not Protestants, but Protestantism). In spite of the fact that I haven’t officially accepted a couple Catholic teachings yet, I somehow feel that I eventually will. And I want to stop feeling such bitterness against Protestantism but when I see something that is so blatantly heretical and possibly detrimental to the salvation of an individual, it makes me concerned, but also extremely angry. I do NOT want to subscribe to heretical doctrines within Christianity. When Christianity becomes heretical to this point, I sometimes even wonder if it is real Christianity anymore. (yes, I know I am asking if Protestantism is real Christianity, and I am having a lot of trouble saying that it is “real Christianity without the fullness of the truth” - yikes! sorry)…Why does such heresy invoke feelings of “hatred”? I feel as if I can’t even HELP it. If I think that rejection of core beliefs about baptism, salvation, justification by faith/works, etc can lead to dangerous heresy, how can I help but not hate the heresy?
I hope you can forgive me for the “hatred” I feel for heresy. I do not like to feel this way at all. I think it’s ruining me somehow
