Lightbulb!!

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Ryniev

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This is my first post on the forum but I’ve been reading for months. I’ve been contemplating becoming Catholic for years now and have read just about every apologetics book out there, still I have kept resisisting. However, I just had one of those aha moments when you just KNOW what you already knew. It all comes down to this (for me).

Who founded the Lutheran Church? Martin Luther
Who founded the Methodist Church? John Wesley
LDS? Joseph Smith
Christian Science? Mary Baker Eddy
Islam? Mohammed

and on and on and on. Every religion out there was founded by someone right?

Who founded the Catholic Church? Did any one SPECIFIC person say they were founding the Catholic Church (other than Jesus)?

I don’t know why I never thought of this before, I must be an idiot. Glad I finally decided to start RCIA.
 
There are three things I would like to say about the Catholic Church:
  1. The Catholic Church is Christ’s Church: “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
  2. The “rock” is Simon, changed to Peter by Jesus.
  3. This Church is built upon Peter–the rock named by Christ. Peter means rock.
Church Fathers:

Tertullian:

“[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. . . . Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys, not to the Church; and whatever you shall have bound or you shall have loosed, not what they shall have bound or they shall have loosed” (*Modesty *21:9–10 [A.D. 220]).

“Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter, the first fruits of our Lord, the first of the apostles; to whom first the Father revealed the Son; whom the Christ, with good reason, blessed; the called, and elect” (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221]).

Jerome:

“Simon Peter, the son of John, from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, brother of Andrew the apostle, and himself chief of the apostles, after having been bishop of the church of Antioch and having preached to the Dispersion . . . pushed on to Rome in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus, and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord” (Lives of Illustrious Men 1 [A.D. 396]).

Pio
 
If I remember my history correct (and I’m doing this from memory), the actual term “catholic” wasn’t applied to the Church until the 2nd or 3rd century. However, there was only ONE church (what we call the Catholic church). Catholic means universal, or literally (I believe) “of the whole”. What is important to remember is that Jesus established a church through Peter, and the Catholic church is that church. We are the only church that carries on the Chair of Peter. We are the only church that carries on the accurate teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
 
There’s a tee-shirt to this effect out there somewhere.

What about the Orthodox churches?
 
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BrendaM:
Welcome to you on your journey home!
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Thank you so much. 🙂 I’m a little concerned because I just went over to the political side for the first time. :eek: Will they let me in the Church if I don’t think George W. Bush is the next best thing to Jesus? Not trying be a total smart aleck but as drawn as I am to Catholicism, it sure seems like I won’t fit in not being a Bush lover. :confused: (Nope not in love with Kerry either).
 
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Timidity:
There’s a tee-shirt to this effect out there somewhere.

What about the Orthodox churches?
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I thought the Orthodox split from the Church as a whole in 1054 over the Papacy? Didn’t they think all Bishops were equal? It’s been a while since I learned about this.
 
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Ryniev:
Thank you so much. 🙂 I’m a little concerned because I just went over to the political side for the first time. :eek: Will they let me in the Church if I don’t think George W. Bush is the next best thing to Jesus? Not trying be a total smart aleck but as drawn as I am to Catholicism, it sure seems like I won’t fit in not being a Bush lover. :confused: (Nope not in love with Kerry either).
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You dont need to be a “Bush lover”…just a lover of his belief that babies have a right to life…and the same advantage you had in being born and eventually coming into the Church. 😉

God Bless
 
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Ryniev:
Thank you so much. 🙂 I’m a little concerned because I just went over to the political side for the first time. :eek: Will they let me in the Church if I don’t think George W. Bush is the next best thing to Jesus? Not trying be a total smart aleck but as drawn as I am to Catholicism, it sure seems like I won’t fit in not being a Bush lover. :confused: (Nope not in love with Kerry either).
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To be honest, I’m not much of a Bush lover either. However, I like Kerry even less. I think Bush, with all his faults, is the lesser of two evils.
 
Faithful 2 Rome:
You dont need to be a “Bush lover”…just a lover of his belief that babies have a right to life…and the same advantage you had in being born and eventually coming into the Church. 😉

God Bless
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Nope, no problem with that at all. In fact, I had two things happen in my life that made me switch from the pro-choice camp to the pro-life camp. Someday I might share if anyone is interested but right now I have to make dinner and go to RCIA.😃
 
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hlgomez:
There are three things I would like to say about the Catholic Church:
  1. The Catholic Church is Christ’s Church: “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
  2. The “rock” is Simon, changed to Peter by Jesus.
  3. This Church is built upon Peter–the rock named by Christ. Peter means rock.:clapping:
Pio
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Welcome home…🙂
 
I’m in RCIA.

And all the Saints were Catholic. We Baptists don’t pray to any Saints.

The Communion of Saints is so wonderful. I used to be in the Catholic Chapel Choir when I was in College. I found recently that Father May died about eight years ago. So now I can pray for him in purgatory. Or pray to him as a Saint. Either way, he will be surprised (because I was an evangelical protestant). And either way, he will eventually be able to help me.

And same thing with an elderly man who was a friend of my family when I was growing up. He went to Mass every morning after his wife died.
 
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Ryniev:
I thought the Orthodox split from the Church as a whole in 1054 over the Papacy?
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Something like that. My point is, who founded the Orthodox Churches? Are they still considered founded by Jesus? Or were they founded by the Pope who kicked them out?
 
From a catholic Perspective they are in schim but have all the attributes of the true church except full communion with bishop of Rome succesor of Peter.

Of course they think we are the one is schims and communion with Peter is unnecessary.

The claims of the Papacy is what seperates us. Other things could in time be worked out in time.
 
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Maccabees:
Of course they think we are the one is schims and communion with Peter is unnecessary.
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Orthodox are in communion with Peter, and Paul, James, John, Andrew and all the rest of the Apostles, indeed with all of the church triumphant and militant. Our unity is in our faith and in the mystery of the Eucharist, which along with our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, unites us with all Orthodox Catholics throughout all the ages in the body of Christ 🙂

God bless,
John.
 
Being raised Mormon I had heard many terrable things about the Catholic Church. All of which were not true accept that we are sinners. When I investigated the Church I became Catholic five years ago. Being raised Liberal I had heard many terrible things about conservatives. When I investigated that and lived awhile I became Republican.

In my life the parallel is astounding, but that’s just me. I am a team member of the RCIA in Logan Utah and I am very passionate about our Faith. When I hear our Priest say that Bush is stupid I just let it go. It lets me see the human side of those who hold this office, and this always makes Christ bigger for me. I love our Priest very much. I would not let such divisions take my focus off of Jesus and His love for all of us. He loves us all the same weather we disagree with each other or not. We are called to love each other the way that Jesus loves each of us. Many have been persecuted by the Church. Many never left the Church because of it. They knew something about Christ and gave Him a Chance.
 
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Ryniev:
This is my first post on the forum but I’ve been reading for months. I’ve been contemplating becoming Catholic for years now and have read just about every apologetics book out there, still I have kept resisisting. However, I just had one of those aha moments when you just KNOW what you already knew. It all comes down to this (for me).

Who founded the Lutheran Church? Martin Luther
Who founded the Methodist Church? John Wesley
LDS? Joseph Smith
Christian Science? Mary Baker Eddy
Islam? Mohammed

and on and on and on. Every religion out there was founded by someone right?

Who founded the Catholic Church? Did any one SPECIFIC person say they were founding the Catholic Church (other than Jesus)?

I don’t know why I never thought of this before, I must be an idiot. Glad I finally decided to start RCIA.
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Glory be to Jesus Christ! You are on your way back ‘home’.
My friend, what you experienced with your lightbulb going on, is the scales falling from the eyes of your heart!

The Lord gave you the gift to truly ‘see’ the Truth to His Church!

Enjoy your experience in RCIA and feel free to let us know how things are going on with that!

Go with God!
Edwin
 
Welcome Home!

What is so cool about our Catholic faith is that it is so rich and so deep, even as a cradle Catholic who has studied the faith, I continue to have those “AHA!” moments! Sometimes a truth just jumps out at you, or something you may have struggled with or not quite understood just comes together from a variety of things you have been reading and praying about.

Look forward to many more lightbulb moments throughout your life!
 
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