If you are a Christian, what is the real reason for you not being a Catholic? - 3

[orthodork]

I am an Orthodox Christian, not a Catholic. I grew up protestant, and was on the ordination track within the Free Methodist Church. I found the truth in the Orthodox Church, in the liturgy, in the ancient faith. There are many reasons I’m not a Catholic, primarily I love the Orthodox Church too much, and I obviously overcame the standard biases that protestants have within the community because they apply to both Catholics and Orthodox (prayer to saints, the mother of God, real presence in the Eucharist, images, etc.)

Why would I not consider becoming catholic? 1. Novus Ordo, 2. too dogmatic, 3. Papal infallibility and subsequent ex cathedra dogmas, 4. too scholastic, 5. Western definition of original sin and subsequent implications. To name a few.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Catholics and find a certain solidarity especially in America, and especially with fellow converts. Its very difficult to live out a liturgical faith in a culture that stands for freedom and liberty above all else which translates into worship. I love a good dialogue, but I have seen the true light I have received the heavenly spirit, i have found the true faith worshiping the undivided trinity.

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Since exiting from the RCC I have come to see clearly that it is only the RCC making these claims about itself. It is the RCC tracing its roots back to the Apostles. I can trace myself back to Fort Knox because I was there once about 14 years ago but what does it ultimately mean? Virtually nothing. All Christians in one way or another can trace their roots back to the Apostles and to Christ.

Yes SIA, this is very true; and for every Christian to trace themselves back to the apostles, will have to go through the Catholic church to get there. And when they arrive they will find all there is, is a Catholic church, being persecuted for the teachings that the Roman Catholic church holds to today unchanged.

 

[celticcrusader]

Yes SIA, this is very true; and for every Christian to trace themselves back to the apostles, will have to go through the Catholic church to get there. And when they arrive they will find all there is, is a Catholic church, being persecuted for the teachings that the Roman Catholic church holds to today unchanged.

And the RRC can trace it’s roots back to King David of the O.T. Israel Gods chosen people. So is the RCC.the fullness of the Jewish Faith?

 

[elvisman]

Hello elvisman,

Great analogy, great comments, all true, short and to the point. Also, great sigiture, which, sort of says it all, doesn’t is?

"Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" - St. Jerome

I am paraphrasing St. Jerome, here often, when and write*, *

“Ignorance of Catholicism is ignorance of Bible”
.
The Bible is a Catholic Book and Holy Scripture, Holy Christian History and Holy Christian Tradition, all point to the one true, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, founded by Jesus Christ.

And more specifically, The Roman Catholic Church, the only Christian Religion which embraces, accepts and does not reject the Office of the Pope and Supremacy of the Pope, an unbroken succession, guided by the Holy Spirit, going all the way back to Saint Peter and Jesus Christ Himself.

The Office of the Pope; where Jesus Christ, our Lord, laid His hands on St. Peter and then St. Peter laid his hands on the Bishops who would become Pope and so on and so on on, for 2000 plus years, passing down the Holy Spirit, which is ultimately passed down, by Catholic Bishops to every Confirmed Catholic.

Protestants, who say that they read and understand the Bible, apparently missed the part, where the Holy Spirit was passed down.

Awesome post!.

Peace

I consider that a great compliment coming from a true soldier of the faith!

Peace, my friend!

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

And the RRC can trace it’s roots back to King David of the O.T. Israel Gods chosen people. So is the RCC.the fullness of the Jewish Faith?

Christianity begins with Jesus. From Jesus; it is written in the gospels prove the lineage back to king David. See Mathew, and Lukes gospels.; The Roman Catholic faith is not the fullness of the Jewish faith, it is the fullfillment of the old covenant law and prophecies of the prophets in Jesus Christ. Jesus being the Son of God, the promised son of David that will rule God’s kingdom forever, institutes his kingdom on earth upon Peter the foundation from which Jesus builds his church, from whom he Jesus is the corner stone that the builders (Jews) rejected. This church built upon Peter to shepherd, is the Roman Catholic church. The Catholic church is fully human and fully divine. That is why her doctrines are unchanged these two millenium.

Peace be with you

 

[thirdn6]

And speaking of Peter, if I may add, maybe one reason why God allowed him to escape from prison with the help of an angel so that he could lead the Church. (see Acts chapter 12)

 

[Jimmy_B]

**If you are a Christian, what is the real reason for you not being a Catholic? - 3 **

Why aren’t you Catholic? Tell the truth.

Note:

“If you are a Christian, what is the real reason for you not being a Catholic -1?”

And

“If you are a Christian, what is the real reason for you not being a Catholic -2?”

Were closed because, they both exceeded the maximum number of posts.

Please, continue your remarks on this topic, here.

I would like to hear a non-Catholic, Protestant and “former Catholic” response.

 

[myredeemerlives]

I’m a protestant former Catholic… I think I responded in this thread elsewhere (maybe) so forgive me for repeating myself.

My family is all Catholic and I’m now the Martin Luther of the family so to speak. For me it was the realisation that Jesus presence is not in the bread and, if I believed that, then I was worshipping a false idol. Pure and simple as that. So I did some study on which church I believed would be the right church… if the Catholic church was wrong like I suspected… I realised that if the Catholic church wasn’t right… then all I had to hold on to was God’s word. So I looked for a church that followed God’s word and went and had a look. Mind you, I was only going for a LOOK… I had no intention of joining them. I found a church so on fire for God and people just worshipping Jesus like I had never known, I instantly felt the presence of God in that place… repented of my sin and got filled with the spirit of God for the first time in my life.

 

[Robbinson]

I’m a protestant former Catholic… I think I responded in this thread elsewhere (maybe) so forgive me for repeating myself.

My family is all Catholic and I’m now the Martin Luther of the family so to speak. For me it was the realisation that Jesus presence is not in the bread and, if I believed that, then I was worshipping a false idol. Pure and simple as that. So I did some study on which church I believed would be the right church… if the Catholic church was wrong like I suspected… I realised that if the Catholic church wasn’t right… then all I had to hold on to was God’s word. So I looked for a church that followed God’s word and went and had a look. Mind you, I was only going for a LOOK… I had no intention of joining them. I found a church so on fire for God and people just worshipping Jesus like I had never known, I instantly felt the presence of God in that place… repented of my sin and got filled with the spirit of God for the first time in my life.

Hi myredeemer lives

Its ironic - I’m Protestant, but its the realization/my growing belief that Christ’s presence is within the Eucharist that has me thinking in earnest. For this reason, I fellowship most often in the Episcopalian/High Anglican faith as they/we share this belief with the Catholic Church. Its interesting to see how many Catholics move to the Protestant faith and visa versa over many of the same issues (albeit, other side of the issues).

Blessings,

Brian

 

[Janet_S]

Since exiting from the RCC I have come to see clearly that it is only the RCC making these claims about itself. It is the RCC tracing its roots back to the Apostles. I can trace myself back to Fort Knox because I was there once about 14 years ago but what does it ultimately mean? Virtually nothing. All Christians in one way or another can trace their roots back to the Apostles and to Christ.

Can you trace your roots back to George Washington just because you have a $1 bill in your pocket?

You may believe Apostolic Succession is an insignificant Catholic invention, but it is one of the 4 marks of the true Church (one, holy Catholic, and Apostolic) and is listed in the Nicene Creed. The Early Fathers wrote about it extensively, and it is a historical reality.

No church (that I am aware of) popped up out of the pages of Scripture. New churches pop up every day, and each one started at a particular point in time. If a church was started in 1986 by Joe Blow, Joe Blow is its founder. Joe Blow may love the Apostles and quote them often, but he has no claim to Apostolic Succession. Joe Blow’s church started in 1986 and he is the founder. That’s the historical reality.

 

[Hisalone]

I’m a protestant former Catholic… I think I responded in this thread elsewhere (maybe) so forgive me for repeating myself.

I had no intention of joining them. I found a church so on fire for God and people just worshipping Jesus like I had never known, I instantly felt the presence of God in that place… repented of my sin and got filled with the spirit of God for the first time in my life.

How could this not be a true church of God?

 

[elvisman]

How could this not be a true church of God?

**With all due respect towards your beliefs, I have known people who had the same feelings of a church truly on fire, yet they were cults. ****A “burning in the bosom” doesn’t make something right. **

When Jesus commanded his Church ro receive his actual body and blood (Matt. 26:26-28, John 6:31-71, Cor. 11:20-29), anyone who refuses to believe this is in rebellion against him, much like those who walked away from him in John 6:66.

 

[Hisalone]

With all due respect towards your beliefs, I have known people who had the same feelings of a church truly on fire, yet they were cults. A "burning in the bosom" doesn’t make something right.

When Jesus commanded his Church ro receive his actual body and blood (Matt. 26:26-28, John 6:31-71, Cor. 11:20-29), anyone who refuses to believe this is in rebellion against him, much like those who walked away from him in John 6:66.

The Holy Spirit has given His seal of approval.

 

[elvisman]

The Holy Spirit has given His seal of approval.

His seal of approval to what?

 

[Hisalone]

His seal of approval to what?

Myredeemerslives church.
Just as He gave approval to Cornelius and his household. When the Holy Spirit speaks God listens,

 

[ckempston]

I would like to hear a non-Catholic, Protestant and “former Catholic” response.

Ok, a little background: I was a nominal Catholic growing up. I was baptized as an infant, but my parents were divorced before I was ever really taught much or confirmed, etc.

I studied the Bible with a church that most consider a cult when I was about 19 (the International Churches of Christ), and was “re-baptized”. That church has largely dissolved into an unofficial fellowship of individual churches, and I still attend one of the churches, though there are some things I don’t agree with.

I’ll just be honest here as far as why I’m not a Catholic. Please don’t take these as “attacks.” From a doctrinal standpoint, I find myself agreeing with very basic Catholic positions more and more, but many doctrines are a bit uncomfortable to me. “Icons” seem awfully close to idols and “veneration” seems awfully close to worship, etc. Other doctrines, such as Transubstantiation, I just find unnecessary. There’s nothing wrong with taking the official position of “we don’t know.”

Other than that, my reasons are mostly subjective opinion. I find Catholic services to be like a funeral, churches to be dead, and most members, and even leaders, to be hypocritical. Evangelization seems non-existent, which indicates to me that the Catholic church is not serious about its mission.

I’ll be glad to listen if you think any of these are misconceptions.

 

[Hisalone]

I’ll just be honest here as far as why I’m not a Catholic. Please don’t take these as “attacks.” From a doctrinal standpoint, I find myself agreeing with very basic Catholic positions more and more, but many doctrines are a bit uncomfortable to me. “Icons” seem awfully close to idols and “veneration” seems awfully close to worship, etc. Other doctrines, such as Transubstantiation, I just find unnecessary. There’s nothing wrong with taking the official position of “we don’t know.”

Other than that, my reasons are mostly subjective opinion. I find Catholic services to be like a funeral, churches to be dead, and most members, and even leaders, to be hypocritical. Evangelization seems non-existent, which indicates to me that the Catholic church is not serious about its mission.

I’ll be glad to listen if you think any of these are misconceptions.

Not at all

 

[ckempston]

Just to rephrase something, I shouldn’t say that most members or leaders are hypocritical. That’s unfair, and an over-broad generalization. That could only be called my personal experience in face-to-face interactions. Present company excepted, of course, because the Catholics that I’ve spoken with in these types of forums seem more involved and interested in living a pious life than your average Catholic…dangit, there I go again with the generalizations. I just can’t help it.

 

[celticcrusader]

Just to rephrase something, I shouldn’t say that most members or leaders are hypocritical. That’s unfair, and an over-broad generalization. That could only be called my personal experience in face-to-face interactions. Present company excepted, of course, because the Catholics that I’ve spoken with in these types of forums seem more involved and interested in living a pious life than your average Catholic…dangit, there I go again with the generalizations. I just can’t help it.

but do you not find this with every other religion also? #2 the idol/icon/statue thing is so so so misunderstood or maybe not so misunderstood but claims to be ,so it can be an point of argument to justify a stand on ones belief . look to O.T. about statues Moses and the poison snakes]

 

[ckempston]

but do you not find this with every other religion also? #2 the idol/icon/statue thing is so so so misunderstood or maybe not so misunderstood but claims to be ,so it can be an point of argument to justify a stand on ones belief . look to O.T. about statues Moses and the poison snakes]

With many, but not all. I guess my point is, if the Catholic church had everything right, you’d think it would work a little better than all the others, it’s members would stand apart, and people would look at them and say, “they act just like Jesus.” I don’t personally know many Catholics that have that accusation leveled at them.