I would like to know your "Spiritual background"

[distracted]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

Are you now Catholic?

Why or why not?

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

 

[Sepharad]

I’m Jewish. I was raised an Orthodox Jew, got away from it for a number of years, and then returned, but in a more modified form. Lately I have found myself also affiliating with the Jewish Renewal Movement within Judaism.

Half my family is Roman Catholic; my mother converted to Orthodox Judaism in 1944, and much of the rest of her family left the church in the 1970s after the changes of Vatican II.

My husband was raised Baptist, then became 7th Day Adventist before I met him, and a few years before we met, he converted to Orthodox Judaism.

 

[JonNC]

Distracted,

Thanks for this thread.

What religion were you raised in?
Lutheran

Are you now Catholic?
As in a member of the (Roman) Catholic Church? No.
As in a member of the church catholic? Yes

Why or why not?
I have not yet felt moved by the HS to become RC.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?
I often stray, but the HS calls me back to confess.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?
I share the belief in the Real Presence, though I don’t use the term Transubstantiation.

**And anything else you would like to add… **

I believe strongly that we must seek unity through ecumenism.

Jon

 

[Nickkname]

I was raised atheist, even though my parents were Catholic and so obligated to teach me the Faith.

Yes, I am now Catholic, and proud of it!

I converted to Catholicism. For that story, please go here.

I haven’t left the Church.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

 

[Adam14]

What religion were you raised in?
Christian - Baptist

Are you now Catholic?
Not yet, but working on it, starting RCIA soon

Why or why not?

I can’t explain in only a few words…sorry. It would be a long explanation…

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

Never been a goat but I eat like one…jk

I guess I go away from Jesus every time I sin, but I’ve never* not *believed in Jesus, if that’s what you’re asking.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?
As a current Lutheran, I also believe in the Real Presence. But like I said earlier, I’m converting to Catholocism, so I’m starting to believe/accept it in the same way RCs do.

**And anything else you would like to add… Thanks… **
Thanks to everyone here(Catholic and non-Catholic) who have answered so many of my questions over the past several weeks.

 

[Rightlydivide]

What religion were you raised in?

None. I attended church with friends a dozen or so times. On five or six occasions, while at relatives for Thanksgiving, I attended Christian Science Thanksgiving services with a second cousin.

Are you now Catholic?

No

Why or why not?

We have differing beliefs.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

I was an atheist, regretfully a very vocal one.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

Well thats a fun one to throw in at the end. I think it is the result of bad exegesis and has a tremendous amount of historical support…since you asked.

 

[TriuneUnity]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

Neat thread idea, Distracted.

What religion were you raised in?

Roman Catholic.

Are you now Catholic?

I am a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Why or why not?

There are a handful of teachings to which I believe the Roman Catholic Church has departed from orthodoxy and Scripture on.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

For a number of years from my teens to my mid-twenties. I am also a goat every day when I sin against the Law of God; all praises to be to Christ that He has slain my inner-Adam and has raised the new man.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

I agree with it. I feel the Church has been placed into error by trying to use Aristotelian logic to explain the presence (i.e. transubstantiation). Also, I disagree with it as a sacrifice (depending on how this is explained)

 

[mozart-250]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?
Methodist

Are you now Catholic?
No

Why or why not?
Same logical reason I am not Presbyterian (or any other denomination that is not mine…not picking on Presbyterians)

• I am not omnipresent and can only go to one church at a time
• I feel led to the church that I am at and have no reason to leave it.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?
Yup…in high school. I probably smoked more weed than anyone else here in high school.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?
Oh…I go back and forth on it…but my inclination is to believe in some type of Real Presence. That being said I lean more towards the view that it should not be theologically explained (I think this is the traditional Wesleyan view).

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

 

[Robbinson]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

Jewish

Are you now Catholic?

**No - not yet, perhaps some day **

Why or why not?

I came to faith in Christ and was Baptized into the Protestant faith. I’m continuing that spiritual journey with an open mind and am drawn, in many ways, to the Catholic faith

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

Not since my spiritual conversion from Judaism to Christianity

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

I do believe in the real presence - which distinguishes me from many Protestants (other than Episcopalians). I can sense the presence when I take communion in the Episcopalian Church - but not when I do in the pentacostal Church that I also fellowship at. That was/is powerful and started my thinking further about Catholicism

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

I’m enjoying the fellowship here - in the brief time I’ve been participating.

 

[Carjack1]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?
Baptized Catholic. My parents weren’t devout. I spent 1st grade in Catholic School and 7th Grade in Catholic school as a punishment for having a academically bad year in 6th grade

Are you now Catholic?
No. I am debating between taking RCIA classes and staying with a non-denominational church.

Why or why not?
I am having a bit of a problem witht he birth control and legalistic aspect of the Catholic Faith. However, there are other nice aspects like praying the rosary.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

Yes.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

I agree

If you need any other clarification let me know.

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

 

[sambos671]

What religion were you raised in?

Catholic

Are you now Catholic?

No.

Why or why not?

My family movedfrom the US to East Africa when I was 14 and I had an american education at a missionary boarding school. I was confronted with scriptures that I had no real understanding of and saw people who lived their faith unlike my family who being Catholic did not live rightly (quite the opposit). I thought how could their faith be real if they live like that and became protestant. My life improved and I learned more about scriptures than I ever did as a Catholic. However, as I study traveled the world and studied scriptures more intently I’m giving the Catholic Church another look.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a "goat

Not after I started believing.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

For me this is where the rubber meets the road. Studing scriptures and the earliest church writings I can only conclude that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. I cannot define how or whether the Catholics or the Orthodox are right about the mechanics but it is definately so.

 

[Fred_4]

I was raised a fundementalist Baptist. By the grace of God I am now a Roman Catholic Papist. Why? Because it’s TRUE! Did I ever go away? Oh mama… did I ever! Da stuff I seen and da tings I done! The Lord is kind and merciful!! Real presence? Of course I believe that… ref the “why?” question above.

 

[wisdomseeker]

Distracted,

Thanks for this thread.

What religion were you raised in?
Lutheran

Are you now Catholic?
As in a member of the (Roman) Catholic Church? No.
As in a member of the church catholic? YesWhy or why not?
I have not yet felt moved by the HS to become RC.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?
I often stray, but the HS calls me back to confess.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?
I share the belief in the Real Presence, though I don’t use the term Transubstantiation.

**And anything else you would like to add… **

I believe strongly that we must seek unity through ecumenism.

Jon

my question is. what CC is that you are talking about? there is only One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church which rules from rome. if there is any other catholic church tell where is she at?

 

[ibkc]

** What religion were you raised in?**
That’s complex. My mother was a nominal Episcopalian, and my father was a fallen-away Presbyterian. When they had me and throughout about the first ten or eleven years of my life, my dad was a vocal free-thinker and I was raised to be critical of organized religion. When I was around ten years old, he went through an intensely spiritual phase and he became a seeker. He and my mother visited every religious group imaginable and I went with them much of the time. He explored Scientology, the Gurdjjeff (sp?) folks, the Friends (Quakers), Zen Buddhists, Hindus … until discovering the Shroud of Turin and deciding that Christianity was most likely the truth. He looked at the Catholic Church but he didn’t like some of what he found. Finally, he settled on the Episcopal church. He then decided that he had made a big mistake by raising me without faith, and started forcing me to go to church too. I was 14 by this time and greatly resented it, but I went through confirmation classes and got confirmed anyway. As soon as my parents stopped requiring me to go to church, I quit.

** Are you now Catholic?**
Yes

** Why or why not?**
That could fill a book (and maybe someday it will) but basically, a slow and steady exposure over a period of about 5 years to Catholic history, philosophy, art, beliefs and practices finally convinced me that it is the true church, and where I needed to be.

** Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?**
Oh yes. I rejected Christianity entirely in my 20’s. I studied Buddhism for about a year, and I found it interesting but I never formally became a Buddhist because I stumbled into neo-paganism, specifically Celtic reconstructionism. I was pagan for about a decade and a member of an international druid organization for about seven years of that time. I was quite involved in the druid movement - I founded a local grove, traveled to large pagan festivals several times a year, made presentations about druid beliefs, all that stuff. In the last year, I realized I was not following the right path, and disentangled myself from my pagan commitments before starting RCIA.

** What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?**
I accept it, heartily.

 

[BlestOne]

** What religion were you raised in?
**I was raised Catholic
** Are you now Catholic?
**Yes… very much more faithfully Catholic than when I was younger
** Why or why not?
**Because I have studied and found the Catholic Church to be the Church that Christ started
** Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?
Yep… contemplated going into ministry… during my feminist college days. I attended a Lutheran Church after checking out many different flavors of Protestant denominations and they were the closest to what I believed and allowed women clergy.
** What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?
That is what brought me back… I totally believe in the real presence and missed it at Protestant services.

I want to add that reading the Early Church Fathers was a total reality check… proved to me that the Catholic Church is the ONE!!!

 

[emeraldisle]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

I was born with a sin nature and grew up as a sinner, an enemy of God.

**For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Rom 5:10 **

Are you now Catholic?

I’m now by Gods great mercy born again by the Spirit of God and so by Gods amazing grace I’m a child of God and I’m in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Why or why not?

Because I’m born again by the Spirit of God and I’m in the Lord Jesus’ Church.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

I have sadly strayed from the Lord Jesus but in His great love and mercy He has restored me.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

It’s not a correct biblical belief

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

**For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Eph 2:8-9 **

 

[Benedictus]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

Catholic. However, my father became a non-denominational Protestant when I was younger, but despite his best efforts, that never really interested me. I was a pretty serious, daily-mass and rosary Catholic for a number of years.

Are you now Catholic?

Somewhere between agnostic and “spiritual not religious”

Why or why not?

The condensed version is I began to wonder why God was hiding (to use the words of JPII’s book Crossing the Threshold of Hope). That led to me wondering if God was even real. After years of reading, studying, praying, etc., I concluded that if there is a god, he is most likely unknowable. The Judeo-Christian God is not believable, the Christian understanding of Jesus’ nature is–at best–highly unlikely, and the Bible contains too many historical, factual, and logical errors and inconsistencies.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

Like Christianity itself, it’s prima facie absurd. Of course, if I don’t really think that Jesus was God, it’s obviously unlikely that I’d think he comes in the form of bread and wine.

I will say that even as a Catholic, I thought transubstantiation was a horribly outdated way of explaining the Eucharist. But I was always more of an Augustinian anyways and never was impressed with Scholastic philosophy.

And anything else you would like to add…

I bear no particular ill-will towards the Catholic Church. There are few objections I have against the Church that don’t apply to organized religion in general.

 

[sneakers]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

Are you now Catholic?

Why or why not?

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

I was raised in the Catholic faith by my mom, who made sure my siblings and I practiced the faith. My dad, though, was a non-demoninational protestant who didn’t go to church at all.

I am still, joyfully and thankfully, Catholic. In fact, my heart yearns for the Extraordinary Form of the mass. I would go every day if we had a Latin mass here, and if it were available every day.

Why or why not? Because the Church is Jesus gift to us, and our guide. It protects and passes on the Tradition of the Apostles and early church fathers, and interprets the Holy Scriptures. It unites me with Catholics all over the world in a common belief, as it has done for 2000 years.

Yes, by sin I was a goat and separated from Him. I thank God for the sacrament of Confession.

Oh! The Real Presence! Jesus comes to us in physical form! I weep for joy at the thought!

Other thoughts:
If anything, I am more Catholic than I was when I was growing up. When I was young, I was surrounded by Catholic Culture and teachings (I grew up in a mostly Catholic neighborhood with a Catholic School.), so I took it for granted. Now, however, I better understand my faith. I now appreciate the richness of the Catholic Church. I’m trying to learn a little Latin as well!

 

[Publisher]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene, I became “convinced a Friend” at 19.

Are you now Catholic?

No

Why or why not?

I do not find the my life answers and needs met in Christ through the ritual of the Catholic Church.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

There was a time when I “sowed my wild oats” and didn’t walk “in the Light”.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

**I do not believe in a “priestly sacrifical system” so I do not believe any “sacrament” can be confected by a priest…I do not accept a “priesthood”. **

And anything else you would like to add… Thanks…

I believe each of us must follow God as moved by the Spirit according to the Light. God reveals Himself and is found in the redeemed lives of His People. Our “doctrines” and “dogmas” are not truth…Truth is lived out in the daily of life and finds expression in the two greatest commandments…alll else is…"fluff"

 

[Jennifer_G]

I would like to better know the people who come to these forums…

What religion were you raised in?

Lutheran. (ELCA)

Are you now Catholic?

Yes!

Why or why not?

My beliefs seemed more in line with the Catholic Church, and the fact that whenever I was in my old church after being in a Catholic church (even for a family event like a wedding or baptism), something seemed to be missing in the Lutheran church.

Did you ever go away from Jesus… (in other words, were you ever a “goat”)?

Well, I suppose if you want to be technical about it, then every time I sinned.

What do you think about the Catholics’ belief of the Real Presence?

Just one of the reasons I became Catholic.